92 County Tour: Wells County

This past Thursday, as you know, Ryan came to work with me and was a guest on BLT. We drove up together to save gas, but I hated for him to just sit in my office the rest of the day after the show was over, so I took the afternoon off work, and we squeezed in a county tour! I wanted to choose a county that we could fit into just part of a day and also one that was nearby so we didn't have to spend part-of-the-part-of-the-day driving there.

Enter Wells County. It was named for Captain William A. Wells, who was captured {as a boy} by Native Americans and adopted by them. He was killed by the Potawatomi in the War of 1812. There aren't a ton of cities in this county, but we still had a GREAT day visiting.

We went a bit out of our way to work that morning to swing through the tiny {and darling} town of Ossian to visit Heyerly's bakery, which opened back in 1931. It isn't a huge place...somewhere in the neighborhood of 3000 people. And I'm pretty sure Heyerly's had a donut for each of them inside. I have seriously never seen this many donuts in one store: especially a little hometown place!

We bought some for the office and continued on our merry way. {Note to self: if ever moving to Ossian, move in next door to THIS place!}

{Enter the break in the date for us to actually go to work. After eating lunch in Fort Wayne, we headed back to Wells County for part 2 of the date, which was to find a coffee shop.}

I almost thought this would be the first county to break the coffee shop part of the adventure. I'd been told there was a coffee shop inside the public library, which, for the record, sounded like a BRILLIANT plan. But when I called to check on it, they said it had closed. But they mentioned a little shop downtown in Bluffton, so I hunted until I found Grounds and Grains!

 It was in a storefront in downtown Bluffton, right by the courthouse. Cute little shop with some fun things unique to it:

They had maps of the US and world so you could put a pin where you were from. LOVED IT. Also could not find the pins, so our visit is not reflected. Sadness. But it was pretty cool to see pins from all over!!

 A menu inside a window? Yes, please! So Pinteresty!!!

 Ryan and his coffee, which I tasted, and I'm not gonna lie: it was good. It was called the Nutty Zebra.

 Mine was a cinnamon caramel roll. You can't go wrong with that. And it was nonfat, just to make me feel better. :)

 They had an area with items made by local artists. See the row of blue books? That is a devo book written by Zach Bertsch and his brothers. Zach died of colon cancer not too many months ago, and prior to that, he was a guest on Mid-Morning. One of the most memorable guests/stories we've had. I was so glad to see they are still sharing his book!

After we loaded up on coffee, we headed out to Ouabache State Park for the rest of the afternoon. {Per the internet, it's pronounced "Wabash," though you will also hear a lot of people call it "Wa-bach-ee."}

It was THE perfect day to visit a park. Perfect temp, sunny, slight breeze...let's go hiking! {After surviving the bathroom I will NEVER use again.}

Our first stop was to see the bison. There's a 20-acre enclosure in the park that serves as a bison exhibit. Bison used to roam free in Indiana - especially in southern Indiana, where they congregated around the salt licks. The bison were pretty much gone from the state in the 1800's, but they are on our state seal, so it's kind of a cool part of Indiana history. The enclosure had less than a dozen bison in it, but MAN are they ever huge. Glad I got to experience them from the other side of a fence and not roaming free!

After visiting the bison {one of which Ryan named Brutus}, we headed out on a hike - a little over 3 miles. GORGEOUS.

 Leaves were JUST starting to turn. So lovely.

 We only saw one other person out on the trails. So lovely to have the place to ourselves and get to walk and talk!

 Our hike ended around this big lake, which was beautiful!!

 Photo opp!!!!

 Perfect way to end a hike.

Before we left, we stopped by the fire tower, which was open to the public for climbing. We both climbed the one in Brown County the day after we got engaged, and even though I am PETRIFIED of heights - specifically open heights - I did it! So I gathered my courage and started up this one as well.

It was WAY up there. 

 Scared out of my mind and I've barely left the ground.

 Yep! That's where I got stuck! The top of the third flight. Literally froze and could not move anymore. I wanted Ryan to enjoy the tower, though, so I stayed fixed in this position while he climbed to the top and then back to me.

 The view at the top.

 And the spectacular view FROM the top.

 I was disappointed I didn't get to enjoy that. And then a picture like THIS reminds me why.

 Sad girl back on solid ground.

 One more look at that massive thing.

And that was Wells County, my friends! A very fun day - and could not have asked for better weather!!