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Grasshopper Heaven LbNA #31357 (ARCHIVED)

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:May 28, 2007
Location:
City:Avon Lake
County:Lorain
State:Ohio
Boxes:1
Planted by:Spot Marks the X
Found by: ScoopFamily
Last found:Aug 3, 2008
Status:FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFar
Last edited:May 28, 2007
Difficulty: Easy
Equipment needed: Mosquito repellant

You will begin/end your hunt in a place we called "grasshopper heaven." As kids, my brother and I used to go to an open lot off of Electric Blvd. in Avon Lake. Back then, the lot had an old garage and was mostly flat, grassy area -- from the creek bed all the way over to where the bike trail now is. We'd catch all kinds of grasshoppers there with our friends -- and take them home to watch, learn, and even trade.

Grasshopper heaven has changed a bit since that time. The old garage is gone -- all that's left is the foundation. In recent years, the city added a little pavilion with a picnic table and a water fountain. I don't know if the August sun still brings grasshoppers there, but if you follow these clues, you'll have a very good chance of finding one special grasshopper from me and Spot.

Take I-90 to the Avon Lake exit. Exit on Rte 83 (Avon Belden Rd.) and go North into Avon Lake. Follow the jog that takes Rte 83 through an L-shaped turn, then cross the railroad tracks into Avon Lake. Continue North on Rte 83 through a small shopping district and up to Electric Blvd. You'll pass the high school and a funeral home on the right. Turn right onto Electric.

A little Avon Lake history for the ride -- Electric Blvd. got its name because a street car used to run from Lear Road to what is now Artstown. The Artstown building has also been a hotel called The Saddle Inn.

Follow Electric Blvd. until you see a field on the right. This is grasshopper heaven. You can park on Armour (across the street).

Begin your trek at the pavilion. From the pavilion, you can almost see the foundation from the old garage. The garage and the property used to belong to a man named Mr. Thomas. Mr. Thomas sold Christmas trees from another empty lot on the other side of the creek every year. He kept some amazing treasures in that garage -- everything from a huge post card collection to those glass caps they used to put on electric poles.

Follow the bike path into the woods, and keep to it until you come to a four-way intersection with a trail. Turn left onto the trail, and follow it to the creek.

When you get to the creek, turn left again. Take 6 double paces (you'll pass through a shallow drainage ditch). Look left, and you'll see a large, old tree with a thick vine hanging from it. North of the tree, you'll see a small drainage ditch, and then, a stump that is about 1 1/2 feet high. The LB is in the stump.

Hint: If you go up the path along the creek about 10 more double paces, you'll come to an area where it's easy to get off the path and double-back to the stump.

Once you stamp and re-hide the log book, follow the path along the creek back to the North. In the summer, you'll see minnows and water spiders skimming along the creek. As you leave the woods, you'll go through a 20-yard section of path where pine trees grow. Mr. Thomas planted those trees, years ago. he was going to cut them when they got big enough and sell them for Christmas trees, but I guess he had a change of heart. Either way, he's left a great legacy in a little piece of land we call grasshopper heaven.