Lest you think Ohio is flat...

When our friend Josh came last winter he commented that he thought it would all be flat around where we lived. It's not. Though flat land and fields may be what comes to mind when one thinks of Ohio, it's not reality around these parts. We live in the foothills of the Appalachia mountain range (technically, where we live is called the "Appalachian Plateau"); about forty miles from our house the land changes from flat to hills and cliffs. About forty miles the other way you'll begin to run into all-out mountains.

Once a week we make the drive to a town thirty miles away for Joshua's swimming lessons (Why not just take lessons in town? Answer: there are none. Thirty miles is the closest ones we could find). This past week I snapped some photos as we drove home so you all could get a better idea of what's out our window...

This is just as we are leaving the other town, which is where the fields start hitting the hills.
I bet the view will be even better once the trees green up.
This one is for perspective. I don't know who actually lives here. Just showing that these hills are no mere bumps in the road, so to speak. In fact, our weather is rarely predicted correctly because it's anyone's guess as to what weather patterns will do when they "hit the hills", as folks around here say. Tonight we had a high percent chance of thunderstorms. We had one thunder, and that was it. Joshy said, "I guess it hit the hills!"
We're almost home on this one. Any doubt as to why my little ones call the road to home a rollercoaster?