Before I get into post-trip posts, I wanted to issue a handful of well-deserved thank yous.
First, thank you to all of you who have followed (and may continue to follow) at any point throughout the summer. I hope I have provided you with a little entertainment from time-to-time and perhaps even a chance to live vicariously through my stories and photos. While I have kept a handwritten journal throughout the trip, I've certainly written about stories which I forgot to include in my journal. Thus, by maintaining this blog, I've essentially created a second journal for myself.
Second, and more importantly, thank you to those of you have contributed to me being able to take this incredible trip. No one deserves more thanks than my parents. Without helping me fund my college career, I would have never had the money to do this. In most life scenarios, my parents play the role of bringing my fantastical ideas down to reality; but in this trip, they maintained a positive attitude and made me think I could actually do this trip (if I went about planning it intelligently). And after two years of planning and saving, I think I did a pretty good job.
My girlfriend sat through two years of me planning what my trip would be. From wanting to go to Europe to seeing the United States, from wanting to travel together to wanting to do the whole thing alone to combining the two into a comfortable compromise. And for being near the phone when I felt lonely and for taking care of the things I could not by not being in Cincinnati, she rocks! Plus, she had to deal with the lack of my magical presence, which can't be easy for anyone.
My employer went against its culture and enabled me the time off and a spot when I came back.
Several people gave graduation presents. And while I had saved what I needed for the trip, these gifts provided a financial backdrop, i.e., I wasn't going to come back broke!
Several others provided me with encouragement. The most spoken phrase to me throughout my last two years of school was, "You definitely have to take this trip while you can." It was this encouragement that I believe really made me think I could do it. Then, after the trip was planned people would ask me, "Who are you going with?" I'd answer, "No one, for the majority of the trip." Most would return with, "Wow! I couldn't do that." This gave me even more incentive to go - to prove I could be on my own for that long.
Finally, for those who joined me. Specifically, my two buddies in Leg 1, my parents and girlfriend (at different times) in Leg 2 and the friends who put me up and put up with me for a night or two in Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Blacksburg, Jacksonville and Atlanta. All, and I mean all, of these people took away the potential for loneliness with their company and also lessened the financial burden in one way or another.
And for anyone else I missed who thinks you may have contributed to this trip, you probably did. Thank you.
No, it wasn't what I had planned, but truthfully, it couldn't have been better.
9.29.2011
Congaree National Park
Have you visited South Carolina before? If you have, you were probably headed to one of the many destination points long the coast, and you may not have realized you weren't all that far from a national park.
Congaree National Park is located just south of Columbia. I wonder how many people in Columbia don't know of its existence.
It is beautiful, while it has a slightly odd setup. It is a small park. Consider the numbers I presented in the last post. The smallest of those parks, Rocky Mountain, has an area of roughly 260,000 acres. Decrease that tenfold to 26,000 acres and you have the size of Congaree.
With that stated, size is not proportional to beauty (insert Michael Scott joke here). Congaree preserves the largest area of old-growth, bottomland, hardwood forest in the United States. That may sound like a lot of specifications, like he's the only pitcher to strikeout three batters in one inning on his mother's 50th birthday, who has a black lab and three goldfish as pets. The truth is it's not that obscure. This forest used to stretch from Northern Virginia to East Texas, or roughly 24 million acres. Remember my rant about not being forward-thinking in the east? Case closed.
Congaree also contains the highest temperate canopies (deciduous inferred) in the world (although some South American forests come close or exceed this forest in certain places).
Congaree is not only a free-entrance park with free camping and the legal collecting of firewood, but it contains virtually no roads within the park.
Day 65
After an early start in GSMNP, I made good time getting to Congaree. I visited the visitor center to obtain my free camping permit and headed out for a hike. Behind the visitor center is a 2.5-mile boardwalk trail through the forest. Walking through the forest, I really didn't feel as though I was in the eastern United States. Although extremely small, it really felt like it was some exotic land not named South Carolina.
Day 66
The next morning I got ready early for a big hike - sadly, my last of the trip.
I began with a section of the boardwalk trail. From this photo you can see the water line on the trees. Here's a tricky-but-cool statistic: 80% of the park floods, on average, 10 times every year. Yet, I don't believe it is technically a rain forest. But the humidity is no less apparent than in Olympic. One woman called the water lines tide lines; I wanted to pat her on the head and say, "Good try, but I don't think the ocean makes it all the way to Central South Carolina."
The park was not very crowded, which was very nice for being my last day in a park. However, because of this, for many of the trails I hiked, I was the first line of defense against last night's cobwebs. Being tangled up in cobwebs is not a great feeling, especially when the spiders look like this. What was amazing is I don't think I was bitten once.
I sat and had lunch on a bridge with this view.
I was also excited to see some new wildlife. Other than a deer, I saw a wild pig, but he was running away so fast, I wasn't able to get a photo of him. Later, I thought I saw a good photo opportunity along a creek, so I stepped off trail to look. It didn't end up being a good a photo, but when I stepped back on the trail, I saw two snakes which appeared to be fighting? Like the bears, I took about a million photos, and a few of them turned out okay.
At one point, they both stopped and had their heads pointed my way. I figured I was a bit too close and went back to pack up the camera. When I turned, I knew one was in the grass next to the trail, but I really could not see it. I began wondering how many times I missed cool wildlife that was blended into the background. And maybe not just animals which blend into the background, but even ones I just missed. For example, at Grand Canyon NP, I followed a giant elk through the woods. He eventually came out onto the road and disappeared into the woods on the other side of the road. The cars which passed immediately following would have had no idea what they missed. Or, if you remember the grizzly bear I saw in Yellowstone, I was only about one minute from missing him entirely.
Congaree National Park Album
This concluded my national park tour.
On Day 67, I visited a high school friend in Jacksonville, Florida. It was great catching up and playing guitar with someone other than my invisible friend. The day following I spent briefly in Atlanta catching up with more friends.
Day 69 was my trip back to Cincinnati and the bittersweet ending to an unbeatable summer.
Like I've mentioned before, the remaining posts will consist of reflections and lists throughout the month of October.
Congaree National Park is located just south of Columbia. I wonder how many people in Columbia don't know of its existence.
It is beautiful, while it has a slightly odd setup. It is a small park. Consider the numbers I presented in the last post. The smallest of those parks, Rocky Mountain, has an area of roughly 260,000 acres. Decrease that tenfold to 26,000 acres and you have the size of Congaree.With that stated, size is not proportional to beauty (insert Michael Scott joke here). Congaree preserves the largest area of old-growth, bottomland, hardwood forest in the United States. That may sound like a lot of specifications, like he's the only pitcher to strikeout three batters in one inning on his mother's 50th birthday, who has a black lab and three goldfish as pets. The truth is it's not that obscure. This forest used to stretch from Northern Virginia to East Texas, or roughly 24 million acres. Remember my rant about not being forward-thinking in the east? Case closed.
Congaree also contains the highest temperate canopies (deciduous inferred) in the world (although some South American forests come close or exceed this forest in certain places).Congaree is not only a free-entrance park with free camping and the legal collecting of firewood, but it contains virtually no roads within the park.
Day 65
After an early start in GSMNP, I made good time getting to Congaree. I visited the visitor center to obtain my free camping permit and headed out for a hike. Behind the visitor center is a 2.5-mile boardwalk trail through the forest. Walking through the forest, I really didn't feel as though I was in the eastern United States. Although extremely small, it really felt like it was some exotic land not named South Carolina.
Day 66
The next morning I got ready early for a big hike - sadly, my last of the trip.
I began with a section of the boardwalk trail. From this photo you can see the water line on the trees. Here's a tricky-but-cool statistic: 80% of the park floods, on average, 10 times every year. Yet, I don't believe it is technically a rain forest. But the humidity is no less apparent than in Olympic. One woman called the water lines tide lines; I wanted to pat her on the head and say, "Good try, but I don't think the ocean makes it all the way to Central South Carolina."
The park was not very crowded, which was very nice for being my last day in a park. However, because of this, for many of the trails I hiked, I was the first line of defense against last night's cobwebs. Being tangled up in cobwebs is not a great feeling, especially when the spiders look like this. What was amazing is I don't think I was bitten once.
I sat and had lunch on a bridge with this view.
I was also excited to see some new wildlife. Other than a deer, I saw a wild pig, but he was running away so fast, I wasn't able to get a photo of him. Later, I thought I saw a good photo opportunity along a creek, so I stepped off trail to look. It didn't end up being a good a photo, but when I stepped back on the trail, I saw two snakes which appeared to be fighting? Like the bears, I took about a million photos, and a few of them turned out okay.At one point, they both stopped and had their heads pointed my way. I figured I was a bit too close and went back to pack up the camera. When I turned, I knew one was in the grass next to the trail, but I really could not see it. I began wondering how many times I missed cool wildlife that was blended into the background. And maybe not just animals which blend into the background, but even ones I just missed. For example, at Grand Canyon NP, I followed a giant elk through the woods. He eventually came out onto the road and disappeared into the woods on the other side of the road. The cars which passed immediately following would have had no idea what they missed. Or, if you remember the grizzly bear I saw in Yellowstone, I was only about one minute from missing him entirely.
Congaree National Park Album
This concluded my national park tour.
On Day 67, I visited a high school friend in Jacksonville, Florida. It was great catching up and playing guitar with someone other than my invisible friend. The day following I spent briefly in Atlanta catching up with more friends.
Day 69 was my trip back to Cincinnati and the bittersweet ending to an unbeatable summer.
Like I've mentioned before, the remaining posts will consist of reflections and lists throughout the month of October.
Blue Ridge Parkway & Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Day 63
My night in Blacksburg was a great time. What I didn't mention before was the friend I was visiting was one of my companions from Leg 1 of this trip. It was great to see him again, to catch up and to tell him how obviously better Leg 1 was because he was a part of it.
That night he had some friends over, and we drank beer and watched a football game. I'd forgot what football was. I still like it.
Blue Ridge Parkway
After leaving Blacksburg, I drove towards Blue Ridge Parkway to finish the second, southern half of the parkway. The parkway is set up similar to the Nacthez Trace Parkway, if you recall that post. The difference was the scenery. What a cool road this is!
Unfortunately for you, I did not take very many photos. Also, it was cloudy, so the photos I did take did not turn out all that well. And believe me, to properly photograph this 467-mile road could take a month or more. Here is the only photo of the parkway I have posted. This road may very well make the list.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
While a beautiful drive, it was also a very long drive (467 miles at 45 mph), and it was good to make it to camp at GSMNP. It was also very cold! When I arrived at camp it was less than 50 degrees. After thinking about this, I believe it was the coldest temperature I'd experienced since the first trip to Glacier NP (a long time ago).
On the way to camp, I encountered some elk along the side of the road. Although I've seen many elk this summer, this was especially cool because the road was not busy, they were close to the road, and I captured one sitting down.
Day 64
I really only had one day to visit the park. I purposefully chose a camp in the southern section of the park so I could get out earlier the next day.
Unlike my first two east coast parks, I've been to GSMNP three times previously. Yet, somehow I forgot how incredibly large the park is (especially for being east of the Mississippi). As a result, I chose to focus more on driving than hiking.
I started by driving the park's main road, which is actually an extension of Blue Ridge Parkway. From there, I connected to the road to Cades Cove, which has a slow, 12-mile, scenic driving loop. Most of my photos of the park were from this loop, including one of the better landscapes.
The speed limit on this road is 20 mph. It's meant for vehicles to move slowly, but not too slowly. Like many of the other parks, signs are posted which say to use turnouts to stop or to let other vehicles pass. I was in Tennessee, where the average teeth per person competes with IQ year after year.
Eventually I came to a place where I could not move. My first thought was, There's a bear up there! My second thought, immediately following, was, If it's a deer or an elk, I'm going to punch somebody.
It wasn't a bear.
It was three bears, in a tree. I took a million photos and tried to keep only the best. This one starts the set. This one, immediately following the set, is of all the people taking photos of the bears. I decided to act as tourist here because I really wanted some black bear photos. And I'd say I got some!
There were two rangers here attempting to move traffic along and keep people far enough from the tree. It was a good strategy - they had everyone drive past the tree, park and get out of their vehicles to take photos. This way, all the tourists were only on one side of the tree, giving the bears proper room and, if they felt uncomfortable, a direction in which to leave the area.
At one point, two morons stepped out of their car directly under the tree in the road. At that point, Mama Bear walked clear over to the other side of the tree, directly above them. This is when the ranger began screaming at them. I wish she wouldn't have, I wanted to see someone (who deserved it) get eaten.
After completing the loop, I headed back to camp, stopping at a trail called Quiet Walkway on the way. There are several of these throughout the park and they are awesome! The park is overcrowded, but much of the population remains either on the road or on the most popular trails. Therefore, these walkways are secluded and a nice break from the people. I tried my hand at some more moving water.
About the Park and Its Bears
I've talked about overcrowded parks on many occasions this summer. I wanted to put it into perspective for you, so I've created a list of the top five most visited parks (from 2010), their area and the ensuing calculation of visitors per year per acre. Here you go:
1) Grand Canyon: 4.4 million visitors / 1.2 million acres = 3.67
2) Yosemite: 3.9 million visitors / 0.76 million acres = 5.13
3) Yellowstone: 3.6 million visitors / 2.2 million acres = 1.63
4) Rocky Mountain: 3.0 million visitors / 0.26 million acres = 11.54
5) Olympic: 2.8 million visitors / 0.92 million acres = 3.04
There are little caveats here that are somewhat important. For example, it looks like Rocky Mountain should be by far the most crowded, yet you can hike through most of the park (compared to Grand Canyon, where you can't hike much of it at all).
The reason I point this out is because I have complained about how crowded some of these parks are throughout the summer. But, Grand Canyon isn't really #1. Great Smoky Mountains is with 9.5 million visitors and 0.52 acres or 18.3 visitors/acre/year. So, #2-6 most visited parks are separated by 1.6 million visitors, while #1 and #2 are separated by 5.1 million!
This park is incredibly crowded. I've been talking about how dumb people are in some of these other parks, but you can almost certainly double that stupidity in this park (also considering its location).
Anyways, the point of all of this is to inform you how busy this park is, even in September. But I also wanted to discuss bears in the park. Black bears do not hunt people. Black bears do not care about people unless they are messing with their cubs (humans likewise defend their babies viciously). Black bears, however, become aggressive when they are given free handouts in the form of food. Afterwards, they expect every human to do the same. Then the parks service hires someone to kill the bear because it is being aggressive.
Anyways, this led me to do some reflecting. What are these national parks really? My best definition is zoos without cages. Places where we let animals run wild, unless they act too wild, then we kill them. I think the park system is fantastic; we are so lucky to have such a gift. Yet, in more ways than not, they are still unnatural places. Beautifully unnatural.
To end with a fun fact: guess how many bears there are in GSMNP? Wrong. There are 1,500, or two bears for every square mile. So when you see three in a tree, it doesn't mean there aren't a dozen more by your campsite.
And yet, there's really no reason to fear them.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park Album
My night in Blacksburg was a great time. What I didn't mention before was the friend I was visiting was one of my companions from Leg 1 of this trip. It was great to see him again, to catch up and to tell him how obviously better Leg 1 was because he was a part of it.
That night he had some friends over, and we drank beer and watched a football game. I'd forgot what football was. I still like it.
Blue Ridge Parkway
After leaving Blacksburg, I drove towards Blue Ridge Parkway to finish the second, southern half of the parkway. The parkway is set up similar to the Nacthez Trace Parkway, if you recall that post. The difference was the scenery. What a cool road this is!Unfortunately for you, I did not take very many photos. Also, it was cloudy, so the photos I did take did not turn out all that well. And believe me, to properly photograph this 467-mile road could take a month or more. Here is the only photo of the parkway I have posted. This road may very well make the list.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
While a beautiful drive, it was also a very long drive (467 miles at 45 mph), and it was good to make it to camp at GSMNP. It was also very cold! When I arrived at camp it was less than 50 degrees. After thinking about this, I believe it was the coldest temperature I'd experienced since the first trip to Glacier NP (a long time ago).
On the way to camp, I encountered some elk along the side of the road. Although I've seen many elk this summer, this was especially cool because the road was not busy, they were close to the road, and I captured one sitting down. Day 64
I really only had one day to visit the park. I purposefully chose a camp in the southern section of the park so I could get out earlier the next day.
Unlike my first two east coast parks, I've been to GSMNP three times previously. Yet, somehow I forgot how incredibly large the park is (especially for being east of the Mississippi). As a result, I chose to focus more on driving than hiking.
I started by driving the park's main road, which is actually an extension of Blue Ridge Parkway. From there, I connected to the road to Cades Cove, which has a slow, 12-mile, scenic driving loop. Most of my photos of the park were from this loop, including one of the better landscapes.The speed limit on this road is 20 mph. It's meant for vehicles to move slowly, but not too slowly. Like many of the other parks, signs are posted which say to use turnouts to stop or to let other vehicles pass. I was in Tennessee, where the average teeth per person competes with IQ year after year.
Eventually I came to a place where I could not move. My first thought was, There's a bear up there! My second thought, immediately following, was, If it's a deer or an elk, I'm going to punch somebody.
It wasn't a bear.
It was three bears, in a tree. I took a million photos and tried to keep only the best. This one starts the set. This one, immediately following the set, is of all the people taking photos of the bears. I decided to act as tourist here because I really wanted some black bear photos. And I'd say I got some!
There were two rangers here attempting to move traffic along and keep people far enough from the tree. It was a good strategy - they had everyone drive past the tree, park and get out of their vehicles to take photos. This way, all the tourists were only on one side of the tree, giving the bears proper room and, if they felt uncomfortable, a direction in which to leave the area.At one point, two morons stepped out of their car directly under the tree in the road. At that point, Mama Bear walked clear over to the other side of the tree, directly above them. This is when the ranger began screaming at them. I wish she wouldn't have, I wanted to see someone (who deserved it) get eaten.
After completing the loop, I headed back to camp, stopping at a trail called Quiet Walkway on the way. There are several of these throughout the park and they are awesome! The park is overcrowded, but much of the population remains either on the road or on the most popular trails. Therefore, these walkways are secluded and a nice break from the people. I tried my hand at some more moving water.
About the Park and Its Bears
I've talked about overcrowded parks on many occasions this summer. I wanted to put it into perspective for you, so I've created a list of the top five most visited parks (from 2010), their area and the ensuing calculation of visitors per year per acre. Here you go:
1) Grand Canyon: 4.4 million visitors / 1.2 million acres = 3.67
2) Yosemite: 3.9 million visitors / 0.76 million acres = 5.13
3) Yellowstone: 3.6 million visitors / 2.2 million acres = 1.63
4) Rocky Mountain: 3.0 million visitors / 0.26 million acres = 11.54
5) Olympic: 2.8 million visitors / 0.92 million acres = 3.04
There are little caveats here that are somewhat important. For example, it looks like Rocky Mountain should be by far the most crowded, yet you can hike through most of the park (compared to Grand Canyon, where you can't hike much of it at all).
The reason I point this out is because I have complained about how crowded some of these parks are throughout the summer. But, Grand Canyon isn't really #1. Great Smoky Mountains is with 9.5 million visitors and 0.52 acres or 18.3 visitors/acre/year. So, #2-6 most visited parks are separated by 1.6 million visitors, while #1 and #2 are separated by 5.1 million!This park is incredibly crowded. I've been talking about how dumb people are in some of these other parks, but you can almost certainly double that stupidity in this park (also considering its location).
Anyways, the point of all of this is to inform you how busy this park is, even in September. But I also wanted to discuss bears in the park. Black bears do not hunt people. Black bears do not care about people unless they are messing with their cubs (humans likewise defend their babies viciously). Black bears, however, become aggressive when they are given free handouts in the form of food. Afterwards, they expect every human to do the same. Then the parks service hires someone to kill the bear because it is being aggressive.
Anyways, this led me to do some reflecting. What are these national parks really? My best definition is zoos without cages. Places where we let animals run wild, unless they act too wild, then we kill them. I think the park system is fantastic; we are so lucky to have such a gift. Yet, in more ways than not, they are still unnatural places. Beautifully unnatural.To end with a fun fact: guess how many bears there are in GSMNP? Wrong. There are 1,500, or two bears for every square mile. So when you see three in a tree, it doesn't mean there aren't a dozen more by your campsite.
And yet, there's really no reason to fear them.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park Album
9.28.2011
Shenandoah National Park
There was still a lot left to Day 60 when I arrived at Shenandoah. So I decided to take a hike up around the campsite.I walked from my campsite to the trailhead and began my hike. After hiking up a fairly significant hill, I came to a junction. I could go left. I could go right. I didn't remember seeing this junction on the map, so I paused.
Then I looked up and saw a black bear cub (seemed to be more like an adolescent) crossing the path on the left, heading to the right. He was about 50 feet away from me! That may seem like enough, but NPS stresses 150 feet as the safe distance. I made a little noise and the bear looked behind himself. Then my instincts kicked in - I backed away, keeping my eye on him, and returned toward the trailhead. The bear picked his head up and looked right at me.
I got back to camp and was relieved. I've been scared of bears all summer, with the warnings from camp hosts and park rangers. All I really wanted was to encounter a bear when I didn't have access to my car. Seeing that bear that close to me did just that. I am no longer scared of black bears (this doesn't mean I'm any less terrified on grizzly bears).
The reason I knew what to do was from listening and reading throughout my travels on the various methods to handling bears when you encounter them. For me, even though I hadn't practiced these techniques, simply knowing them transformed them to instincts. I was happy to learn that.When I returned to camp I told the host of my encounter. She wasn't surprised. She said those bears hang around the camp. She also told me that bear usually hangs around papa bear who is six feet tall! I'm glad I left as soon as I did.
I was a little upset because I wanted a photo of a black bear. I knew it wasn't wise to take one at that distance on foot, but it was disappointing anyways.
About Shenandoah
There is a road - Blue Ridge Parkway - which runs 467 miles from the southern entrance of Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to the southern entrance of Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina. Shenandoah essentially extends this parkway another 105 miles as Skyline Drive; and subsequently, the park is built around the road. Also, like the Smokies, people were displaced from their homes for the creation of the park.Day 61
My campsite was at the 22-mile mark (22 miles from the northern entrance). Because I didn't want to move camp, I knew I shouldn't drive too far in my day of visiting. So I drove a bit and walked a few trails. I continued to work on waterfall photography and think I did okay. Here's one.On the way back to camp, I saw a black bear along the side of the road and got a photo. I was so happy to finally get a black bear photo even though I didn't get his face.
Day 62
The next day I got up and planned to drive the remainder of Skyline Drive, connect to Blue Ridge Parkway and drive until I could exit for Blacksburg, Virginia, where a friend of mine attends Virginia Tech.
I delayed myself a bit in the morning so I could meet my friend when he was available. I sat at my picnic table for a couple hours in the morning, reading and writing. As I was doing so, fog moved in and steadily became thicker. It's funny I call it fog, when what it really is is a cloud. Some of my photos turned out really well. Here's one.I had read in my bible walking through a foggy forest is a magical experience. I can certainly agree with this. As the fog rolls in, it doesn't matter who is around you. As thick as it was, I couldn't see anything or anyone, and the sound was deadened as well. At one point, I stopped and walked to a meadow. I stood just 20 feet from the drive in this wide open field, yet none of the drivers knew I was there. What a cool experience!
Later that day I reached Blacksburg, but not before I stuck my head into West Virginia. Thus, catching up, Massachusetts was 37; Rhode Island, 38; Connecticut, 39; New Jersey, 40; Delaware, 41; Maryland, 42; Virginia, 43; and West Virginia, 44.
Shenandoah Album
Only two more parks remaining. Stay tuned!
East Coast Cities and Roads
Day 58
From Acadia NP, I really wanted to make it to Cape Cod National Seashore. Unfortunately, time did not permit it. I did drive through (or under) Boston.
This brings me to Big Dig. To anyone I told, "I went in the Big Dig Tunnel," they responded questioningly. The Big Dig was a huge project in Boston. You can read about it if you want. But on I-93 the result is awesome! Going south, it appears as though you are going to run right through the city, and then you drop below it in a 3.5-mile tunnel. When you emerge, that giant skyline that rose before your eyes now sits only in your rear-view mirror.
I ended up staying at a private campground in the southern section of the cape.
Day 59
I have friends who live in New York City and Baltimore. Unfortunately for me, they are real people with real jobs, and based on my time, I was unable to meet them. And as I thought more about it, I realized this really isn't a trip focused on cities. And even more, I didn't want to pay for parking in Manhattan and risk my car (doubling as my home) to be broken into.
I drove through NYC via the GWB (to locals) or the George Washington Bridge. There was enough of a view of Manhattan from the bridge to see how incredibly large it is. I am planning a trip for later this year to fly in and visit for the weekend.
That night I stayed in a state park in New Jersey and I had the same problem I had in New York, but even worse. Here, the permits stopped at 4:00 p.m. Hardly ever are people setting up camp before this time. I justified my squatting by dealing with the massive number of mosquitoes as a result of the flood waters not yet fully receded.
Day 60
On Day 60 I drove through Philadelphia, Baltimore and around Washington. I eventually arrived in Shenandoah National Park later that afternoon.
A Rant on Cities
My drive through these cities got me thinking a little bit about cities and an interview I recently heard with an Australian horror novelist. He was asked if American, English and Australian horror stories are similar or different from each other. He explained those which take place in rural communities or in the wild are completely different because those experiences in those countries are completely different; but those which take place in cities tend to be somewhat similar (assuming the setting is slightly fictionalized).
I have no idea if this is true or not, but it seems logical. And from the outside, many of our cities look the same. Sure, there are differences in demographics and attitudes and wealth, but relatively speaking, they are similar. This is especially true when compared to rural areas of our country. The demographics of our towns differ greatly, I mean greatly, in the different regions of our country. Certainly I haven't visited all of our cities, so I can't speak to what is similar and different, but one day I hope to.
My point in this rant is simply to say I think I made the right decision in sticking to rural areas and not to cities.
A Rant on Roads
While you will soon find I do indeed love some of these eastern parks, you will also find I don't like the roads to get to them (with two large exceptions). The East is very crowded. To make time and not see the same-looking town every couple miles, you need to stick to interstates, and that's just not as fun.
I had to take some state and federal routes in Vermont and I remember coming across a town every five miles or so. Out in the West, you usually have about 30 miles between each town. And, because the towns are smaller, you can drive through them in much less time.
If you take a trip out west, make sure you take state and federal highways whenever you can (outside large city areas, obviously). Well, make sure you get there first. Whether you are driving through North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma or Texas, take the interstate.
To have that classic road trip, you really need to be out west. And with that stated, you can read between the lines, into my attitude of the East. Fortunately, though, I kept a positive attitude throughout the trip and looked for beauty and peace in other ways.
From Acadia NP, I really wanted to make it to Cape Cod National Seashore. Unfortunately, time did not permit it. I did drive through (or under) Boston.
This brings me to Big Dig. To anyone I told, "I went in the Big Dig Tunnel," they responded questioningly. The Big Dig was a huge project in Boston. You can read about it if you want. But on I-93 the result is awesome! Going south, it appears as though you are going to run right through the city, and then you drop below it in a 3.5-mile tunnel. When you emerge, that giant skyline that rose before your eyes now sits only in your rear-view mirror.
I ended up staying at a private campground in the southern section of the cape.
Day 59
I have friends who live in New York City and Baltimore. Unfortunately for me, they are real people with real jobs, and based on my time, I was unable to meet them. And as I thought more about it, I realized this really isn't a trip focused on cities. And even more, I didn't want to pay for parking in Manhattan and risk my car (doubling as my home) to be broken into.
I drove through NYC via the GWB (to locals) or the George Washington Bridge. There was enough of a view of Manhattan from the bridge to see how incredibly large it is. I am planning a trip for later this year to fly in and visit for the weekend.
That night I stayed in a state park in New Jersey and I had the same problem I had in New York, but even worse. Here, the permits stopped at 4:00 p.m. Hardly ever are people setting up camp before this time. I justified my squatting by dealing with the massive number of mosquitoes as a result of the flood waters not yet fully receded.
Day 60
On Day 60 I drove through Philadelphia, Baltimore and around Washington. I eventually arrived in Shenandoah National Park later that afternoon.
A Rant on Cities
My drive through these cities got me thinking a little bit about cities and an interview I recently heard with an Australian horror novelist. He was asked if American, English and Australian horror stories are similar or different from each other. He explained those which take place in rural communities or in the wild are completely different because those experiences in those countries are completely different; but those which take place in cities tend to be somewhat similar (assuming the setting is slightly fictionalized).
I have no idea if this is true or not, but it seems logical. And from the outside, many of our cities look the same. Sure, there are differences in demographics and attitudes and wealth, but relatively speaking, they are similar. This is especially true when compared to rural areas of our country. The demographics of our towns differ greatly, I mean greatly, in the different regions of our country. Certainly I haven't visited all of our cities, so I can't speak to what is similar and different, but one day I hope to.
My point in this rant is simply to say I think I made the right decision in sticking to rural areas and not to cities.
A Rant on Roads
While you will soon find I do indeed love some of these eastern parks, you will also find I don't like the roads to get to them (with two large exceptions). The East is very crowded. To make time and not see the same-looking town every couple miles, you need to stick to interstates, and that's just not as fun.
I had to take some state and federal routes in Vermont and I remember coming across a town every five miles or so. Out in the West, you usually have about 30 miles between each town. And, because the towns are smaller, you can drive through them in much less time.
If you take a trip out west, make sure you take state and federal highways whenever you can (outside large city areas, obviously). Well, make sure you get there first. Whether you are driving through North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma or Texas, take the interstate.
To have that classic road trip, you really need to be out west. And with that stated, you can read between the lines, into my attitude of the East. Fortunately, though, I kept a positive attitude throughout the trip and looked for beauty and peace in other ways.
Acadia National Park
On the way to the New York state park, I passed through Pennsylvania, making it State 32 and New York State 33. The next morning, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine became States 34-36.
The trip through Vermont was awful. I shouldn't have been in the state for more than a couple hours, but it seemed like the entire state was under construction. Three times the road I was on was closed and a sign said, "Find an alternate route" (no detour was presented). Three times my alternate route was also closed. But I eventually made it out and up to Acadia in Maine.
Acadia National Park
Just for the record, I am not misspelling this name. There is no R and there is no phantom R sound. Many of those I have discussed this park with have the tendency to call it Arcadia.
I was expecting a lot out of this park. It was the first park east of the Mississippi River and is supposedly really beautiful. It was perhaps too hyped in my mind and I was ultimately disappointed with my experience.
I arrived on Day 55 and planned to stay three nights. It was already dinner time when I arrived, so that made two days of visiting.
About Acadia
Acadia was the first park east of the Mississippi, but it is nowhere near the best. However, it sure can sound quite nice on paper (or computer screen). Like this:
Acadia National Park, the first park east of the Mississippi River, lies mostly on Mount Desert Island on Maine's Central Atlantic Coast. Acadia is a picturesque combination of mountain, forest and ocean. Only in Brasil (Brazil) are the mountains on the Atlantic Coast taller.
Wow, that sounds nice, doesn't it? Ah, yes, but you see, it is because of my mad writing skills. It omits much of the most important information. Like this:
The land owned by the national park service for Acadia National Park has been 100% donated land. Instead of the park demonstrating an initiative and the importance of preserving land, it only emphasizes the lack of importance of natural parks early in our country's history. Was Theodore Roosevelt really forward-thinking and ahead of his time? Or was he, instead, fighting for ideas that should have been important 200 years before his time? The latter certainly seems true in Acadia.
To get to Mount Desert Island, you have to fight through US-1 traffic on Maine's coast. Anyone who has drive any stretch of this road in southern Maine knows how awful of an experience it is. Then, once you are on the island, you have to drive through development for 15+ miles before reaching the park. And if you then want to travel to another part of the park, you may have to drive another 70 miles outside the park.
Don't misunderstand me. The part of this island which was donated back to the government is beautiful. But, one, it's tainted. And two, it's overcrowded because of the local development. Now, I'm not suggesting this shouldn't be a national park. It's beauty can be powerful. I am suggesting, if the parks are this important, why not use a little bit of eminent domain? Make everyone on that island leave; wipe out Bar Harbor - make them all move to Bangor. Then maybe we'll have a peaceful park.
Day 56
The first full day of visiting I chose to drive the Scenic Loop in the park. Before I got going, I took the 10-minute walk from my campsite to this spot. The photo turned out really well. It sure looks peaceful and amazing! Really, I'm about 20 feet from the park road.
The park loop made the top 10 in one of my reference books. This drive, while overcrowded even in September, is beautiful. Finally, once you start the drive, it feels like you are in a park and not outside a town. But that feeling is lessened by the large number of vehicles. Along the route, I stopped to picnic here. I then drove up to Cadillac Mountain for the best overall view of the park. Unfortunately, it was cloudy - I was not fond of any of the photos I took that day. However, Day 57 was a clear day, so I returned to take some photos. Here's one.
Even from that photo you can see the size of Bar Harbor. Here's a closer look. When I was sitting up here, all I could think about was how cool it would be if everything you could see was park.
Day 57
The next day I returned to Cadillac Mountain and then made the 70-mile drive to Schoodic Peninsula (yep, that's the real name). I read this part of the park was often secluded. I was pleasantly surprised this was correct. I was able to climb around some rocks and take some photos. They turned out pretty well. This one is one of my favorites.
Day 58
The next morning I got up and left for a long day in the car.
Acadia Album
The trip through Vermont was awful. I shouldn't have been in the state for more than a couple hours, but it seemed like the entire state was under construction. Three times the road I was on was closed and a sign said, "Find an alternate route" (no detour was presented). Three times my alternate route was also closed. But I eventually made it out and up to Acadia in Maine.
Acadia National Park
Just for the record, I am not misspelling this name. There is no R and there is no phantom R sound. Many of those I have discussed this park with have the tendency to call it Arcadia.I was expecting a lot out of this park. It was the first park east of the Mississippi River and is supposedly really beautiful. It was perhaps too hyped in my mind and I was ultimately disappointed with my experience.
I arrived on Day 55 and planned to stay three nights. It was already dinner time when I arrived, so that made two days of visiting.
About Acadia
Acadia was the first park east of the Mississippi, but it is nowhere near the best. However, it sure can sound quite nice on paper (or computer screen). Like this:
Acadia National Park, the first park east of the Mississippi River, lies mostly on Mount Desert Island on Maine's Central Atlantic Coast. Acadia is a picturesque combination of mountain, forest and ocean. Only in Brasil (Brazil) are the mountains on the Atlantic Coast taller.
Wow, that sounds nice, doesn't it? Ah, yes, but you see, it is because of my mad writing skills. It omits much of the most important information. Like this:
The land owned by the national park service for Acadia National Park has been 100% donated land. Instead of the park demonstrating an initiative and the importance of preserving land, it only emphasizes the lack of importance of natural parks early in our country's history. Was Theodore Roosevelt really forward-thinking and ahead of his time? Or was he, instead, fighting for ideas that should have been important 200 years before his time? The latter certainly seems true in Acadia.
To get to Mount Desert Island, you have to fight through US-1 traffic on Maine's coast. Anyone who has drive any stretch of this road in southern Maine knows how awful of an experience it is. Then, once you are on the island, you have to drive through development for 15+ miles before reaching the park. And if you then want to travel to another part of the park, you may have to drive another 70 miles outside the park.
Don't misunderstand me. The part of this island which was donated back to the government is beautiful. But, one, it's tainted. And two, it's overcrowded because of the local development. Now, I'm not suggesting this shouldn't be a national park. It's beauty can be powerful. I am suggesting, if the parks are this important, why not use a little bit of eminent domain? Make everyone on that island leave; wipe out Bar Harbor - make them all move to Bangor. Then maybe we'll have a peaceful park.
Day 56
The first full day of visiting I chose to drive the Scenic Loop in the park. Before I got going, I took the 10-minute walk from my campsite to this spot. The photo turned out really well. It sure looks peaceful and amazing! Really, I'm about 20 feet from the park road.
The park loop made the top 10 in one of my reference books. This drive, while overcrowded even in September, is beautiful. Finally, once you start the drive, it feels like you are in a park and not outside a town. But that feeling is lessened by the large number of vehicles. Along the route, I stopped to picnic here. I then drove up to Cadillac Mountain for the best overall view of the park. Unfortunately, it was cloudy - I was not fond of any of the photos I took that day. However, Day 57 was a clear day, so I returned to take some photos. Here's one.Even from that photo you can see the size of Bar Harbor. Here's a closer look. When I was sitting up here, all I could think about was how cool it would be if everything you could see was park.
Day 57
The next day I returned to Cadillac Mountain and then made the 70-mile drive to Schoodic Peninsula (yep, that's the real name). I read this part of the park was often secluded. I was pleasantly surprised this was correct. I was able to climb around some rocks and take some photos. They turned out pretty well. This one is one of my favorites.Day 58
The next morning I got up and left for a long day in the car.
Acadia Album
Cuyahoga National Park
Hello again! Welcome to a refreshed look. I was a bit tired of looking at the wildflowers and I'm sure I'm not alone.
For this last leg of my trip, I visited a large number of states. After arriving in Kentucky, I had been in 31 states this summer. That was over 9 or 10 weeks. In the last 3 weeks, I was to hit 17 states. Although it seems like a tall order, so many of the eastern states are drive-thru states and therefore not impossible. But it is also the reason I am going to organize these last few story posts based on park and not state.
On September 7, Day 54 of Leg 2, I visited Cuyahoga Valley National Park on my way to Maine. Yes, the last day I wrote of was Day 48. For those missing days I visited friends and family in Ohio for a bit of a break. Because I had a date I needed to return by, this meant I wanted to get to Acadia National Park in Maine in two days instead of a comfortable three.
This turned Cuyahoga Valley NP into a drive-thru park. I'm happy I planned for it to be this way. And now, for a Cuyahoga Valley National Park Rant.
Why, Why, Why?
Why is Cuyahoga Valley National Park a national park? This isn't the question I was asking while I was there. Instead it was, Why isn't Cuyahoga Valley several metroparks? It doesn't deserve state park status; it doesn't deserve national recreation area status; and it, in no way whatsoever, deserves national park status.
Sure, it's pretty. But what it is is essentially metropark-like facilities and trails adjacent to several small towns. I spent a half hour here and it felt like a bit too much.
The only thing good that came out of it was I figured out how to photograph waterfalls!
The Evening
So I moved on. I had to anyways, as CVNP has no camping facilities - one of the only parks without camping. Other than Petrified Forest NP, it's really the only park without a legitimate reason for creating camping facilities.
Like I wrote, I wanted to get to Maine as fast as possible. Therefore, I was targeting a state park in New York to be my "halfway point." But when I arrived at this park I couldn't find any camping. At this point it had been raining for the past six hours. I was tired and beginning to think I'd be sleeping in the car for the second time. Fortunately, with the help of my family, I was able to target a campground.
When I arrived at this campground, it was 9:30 p.m., and a posted sign said they do not sell permits after 9:00 p.m. I've never heard of this; of course, I've spent most of my nights in national forests and parks. The intelligent thing to do is to is create a self-pay station. Instead, they just don't sell permits that late.
I wasn't about to not camp because of this. And in being one who likes to follow the rules, I decided to tell them and pay in the morning. But when I awoke the next morning, no one was to be found. I reasoned they obviously don't want to be paid. And I continued my trek to Maine.
All seven photos, from two different angles
For this last leg of my trip, I visited a large number of states. After arriving in Kentucky, I had been in 31 states this summer. That was over 9 or 10 weeks. In the last 3 weeks, I was to hit 17 states. Although it seems like a tall order, so many of the eastern states are drive-thru states and therefore not impossible. But it is also the reason I am going to organize these last few story posts based on park and not state.
On September 7, Day 54 of Leg 2, I visited Cuyahoga Valley National Park on my way to Maine. Yes, the last day I wrote of was Day 48. For those missing days I visited friends and family in Ohio for a bit of a break. Because I had a date I needed to return by, this meant I wanted to get to Acadia National Park in Maine in two days instead of a comfortable three.
This turned Cuyahoga Valley NP into a drive-thru park. I'm happy I planned for it to be this way. And now, for a Cuyahoga Valley National Park Rant.
Why, Why, Why?
Why is Cuyahoga Valley National Park a national park? This isn't the question I was asking while I was there. Instead it was, Why isn't Cuyahoga Valley several metroparks? It doesn't deserve state park status; it doesn't deserve national recreation area status; and it, in no way whatsoever, deserves national park status.Sure, it's pretty. But what it is is essentially metropark-like facilities and trails adjacent to several small towns. I spent a half hour here and it felt like a bit too much.
The only thing good that came out of it was I figured out how to photograph waterfalls!
The Evening
So I moved on. I had to anyways, as CVNP has no camping facilities - one of the only parks without camping. Other than Petrified Forest NP, it's really the only park without a legitimate reason for creating camping facilities.
Like I wrote, I wanted to get to Maine as fast as possible. Therefore, I was targeting a state park in New York to be my "halfway point." But when I arrived at this park I couldn't find any camping. At this point it had been raining for the past six hours. I was tired and beginning to think I'd be sleeping in the car for the second time. Fortunately, with the help of my family, I was able to target a campground.When I arrived at this campground, it was 9:30 p.m., and a posted sign said they do not sell permits after 9:00 p.m. I've never heard of this; of course, I've spent most of my nights in national forests and parks. The intelligent thing to do is to is create a self-pay station. Instead, they just don't sell permits that late.
I wasn't about to not camp because of this. And in being one who likes to follow the rules, I decided to tell them and pay in the morning. But when I awoke the next morning, no one was to be found. I reasoned they obviously don't want to be paid. And I continued my trek to Maine.
All seven photos, from two different angles
9.18.2011
A Note To My Readers
Here I sit in my Congaree NP campsite daydreaming of past and future, as my epic journey nears its end. Part of this dreaming led me to the blog, specifically how I'll close it out, as it's not a timeless writing medium.
What I'll do is such. I'll post photos and tell stories of my experiences in the East. This will most likely occur this Friday and possibly later the following week. I'm going to organize these stories slightly different than before, as the East is much different than the West. Soon thereafter I'll begin summing up my summer with lists and other reflections.
Thus, if you care not about the trip as a whole or my reflections and lists, your reading will end next week. Otherwise, plan to he entertained throughout the month of August.
If you have suggestions or would like to see a list of some particular focus, please leave your idea in the comments section of this post.
See you later in the week!
9.06.2011
Kentucky (Mammoth Cave National Park)
After finishing the Natchez Trace Parkway on Day 47, I decided to make it all the way to Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky, State 31. Stationed in Cincinnati, Kentucky in within 10 miles of my place. I find it interesting it falls in the second half of the states this summer.
Mammoth Cave National Park
The campsite at Mammoth Cave was nice and the campground was pretty quiet.
The next morning, Day 48, I drove to the visitor center to find a tour (no self-guided trails here). I asked about the tours available. The ranger told me of the most popular there is one about history and one about geology. Of course, I chose the history tour.
When I went to get a ticket, I learned the tour was $12! I asked if there was a discount for being a pass holder. I was informed because they didn't charge an entrance fee they don't offer discounts. This, of course, makes no sense because the pass waives the entrance fee. So if the substitute for the entrance fee is a tour, the pass should waive at least a portion of the fee. But then you are counting on Kentuckians to put two and two together, which usually results in five. Then when you asked the typical, two-first-names ol' boy (in this case Joe Bob), he smiles through his six teeth, proudly displaying one more than the average West Virginian, and says, "Yar." And then you're dumber for having entered into a conversation with Joe Bob (or from reading my incoherent rant).
I was given the privilege of being led on a tour by an ol' boy. He had it all down - the accent and everything.
By the way, the Kentucky making-fun-of doesn't apply to those of you from Louisville (and maybe even Lexington). Will have to discuss it further if you're from Florence (Y'ALL).
Like many of the other educational experiences I've had, I really don't want to regurgitate everything I learned. Some of the coolest things are Mammoth Cave is the longest cave system in the world. This tour guide also told us every once in awhile he'll get the question, "How many miles of Mammoth Cave haven't been discovered?" What weirder and dumber than the question is that they have an answer for it.
I also learned many of the early tour guides were slaves because "they knew the cave the best." So now, in ranger Joe Bob's own words, I'll demonstrate the ignorance of Southern Kentuckians. I'll do so with an attempt at dialect. Ranger Joe Bob spoke n i c e a n d s l o w.
"That's raight, slauves knew this passageway tha bast. They war tha tore guides fer almost a hunderd in trenty yers. Than tha fedral govinmint sade ain't no colored folk cape-bole of leeding a tore."
Then a few minutes later:
"...Y'all saw that colored man up thar, didn't ya? He's a dar-eck dee-send-int of a slauve that used ta da tores down ear."
He would later use Native American in a context I don't remember. And for those of you unaware, this is not politically correct. The term is now American Indian. And the first people who learn what is politically correct (other than politicians) are those who whose job it is to educate and are employed by the federal government.
Another reason I didn't want to be forced to go on a tour is because it was likely other people would be joining me. Before I met Joe Bob I knew I was going to have some good blogging material.
This particular man of interest, his name was Frank and his friend was George. Frank had a syndrome. I have a name for this, but I don't care to share it here; so I'll explain it. When you talk, Frank isn't sure you know he's listening, so he wants to remind you. This is how a typical exchange would go.
Joe Bob (without dialect): The Native Americ-
Frank: Mmmhmm
JB: -ans came down h-
F: Yeah
JB: -ere million of yea-
F: Okay
JB: -rs ago.
F: Well, of course.
Boy does that get annoying. This syndrome is named after a professor I had the great pleasure of talking with on a number of occasions.
Near the end of the tour, Joe Bob tells us how the next national park (not with national park status, but probably a national historic site) will be a place of importance to Barrack Obama. Queue Frank, who saw a great opportunity to explain that Obama is Joe Bob's boss and then make a joke.
Shortly thereafter, Joe Bob was telling us he worked too much this year and couldn't take care of his farm. Then it's George's turn. He says, "Well how many tractors do ya got?"
Are you kidding me?
Joe Bob says, "Two."
"Ha. Well I got fifty-six," George says.
What, do you own John Deere, George?
Joe Bob is a little offended, "I do have a '59 J-"
"Well I've got a '39 Deere with a twin turbo diesel engine that slaughters the cow and turns her into a pig. She's even got a little frying pan so you can cook the bacon right there!"
You win, George.
The only thing I could think at this point was this:
And then I spent Day 49-53 in Ohio.
Kentucky Album
Next Post: ?
Mammoth Cave National Park
The campsite at Mammoth Cave was nice and the campground was pretty quiet.
The next morning, Day 48, I drove to the visitor center to find a tour (no self-guided trails here). I asked about the tours available. The ranger told me of the most popular there is one about history and one about geology. Of course, I chose the history tour.When I went to get a ticket, I learned the tour was $12! I asked if there was a discount for being a pass holder. I was informed because they didn't charge an entrance fee they don't offer discounts. This, of course, makes no sense because the pass waives the entrance fee. So if the substitute for the entrance fee is a tour, the pass should waive at least a portion of the fee. But then you are counting on Kentuckians to put two and two together, which usually results in five. Then when you asked the typical, two-first-names ol' boy (in this case Joe Bob), he smiles through his six teeth, proudly displaying one more than the average West Virginian, and says, "Yar." And then you're dumber for having entered into a conversation with Joe Bob (or from reading my incoherent rant).
I was given the privilege of being led on a tour by an ol' boy. He had it all down - the accent and everything.By the way, the Kentucky making-fun-of doesn't apply to those of you from Louisville (and maybe even Lexington). Will have to discuss it further if you're from Florence (Y'ALL).
Like many of the other educational experiences I've had, I really don't want to regurgitate everything I learned. Some of the coolest things are Mammoth Cave is the longest cave system in the world. This tour guide also told us every once in awhile he'll get the question, "How many miles of Mammoth Cave haven't been discovered?" What weirder and dumber than the question is that they have an answer for it.
I also learned many of the early tour guides were slaves because "they knew the cave the best." So now, in ranger Joe Bob's own words, I'll demonstrate the ignorance of Southern Kentuckians. I'll do so with an attempt at dialect. Ranger Joe Bob spoke n i c e a n d s l o w.
"That's raight, slauves knew this passageway tha bast. They war tha tore guides fer almost a hunderd in trenty yers. Than tha fedral govinmint sade ain't no colored folk cape-bole of leeding a tore."
Then a few minutes later:
"...Y'all saw that colored man up thar, didn't ya? He's a dar-eck dee-send-int of a slauve that used ta da tores down ear."
He would later use Native American in a context I don't remember. And for those of you unaware, this is not politically correct. The term is now American Indian. And the first people who learn what is politically correct (other than politicians) are those who whose job it is to educate and are employed by the federal government.
Another reason I didn't want to be forced to go on a tour is because it was likely other people would be joining me. Before I met Joe Bob I knew I was going to have some good blogging material.This particular man of interest, his name was Frank and his friend was George. Frank had a syndrome. I have a name for this, but I don't care to share it here; so I'll explain it. When you talk, Frank isn't sure you know he's listening, so he wants to remind you. This is how a typical exchange would go.
Joe Bob (without dialect): The Native Americ-
Frank: Mmmhmm
JB: -ans came down h-
F: Yeah
JB: -ere million of yea-
F: Okay
JB: -rs ago.
F: Well, of course.
Boy does that get annoying. This syndrome is named after a professor I had the great pleasure of talking with on a number of occasions.
Near the end of the tour, Joe Bob tells us how the next national park (not with national park status, but probably a national historic site) will be a place of importance to Barrack Obama. Queue Frank, who saw a great opportunity to explain that Obama is Joe Bob's boss and then make a joke.
Shortly thereafter, Joe Bob was telling us he worked too much this year and couldn't take care of his farm. Then it's George's turn. He says, "Well how many tractors do ya got?"
Are you kidding me?
Joe Bob says, "Two."
"Ha. Well I got fifty-six," George says.
What, do you own John Deere, George?
Joe Bob is a little offended, "I do have a '59 J-"
"Well I've got a '39 Deere with a twin turbo diesel engine that slaughters the cow and turns her into a pig. She's even got a little frying pan so you can cook the bacon right there!"
You win, George.
The only thing I could think at this point was this:
And then I spent Day 49-53 in Ohio.
Kentucky Album
Next Post: ?
Mississippi, Alabama & Tennessee (Natchez Trace Parkway)
Natchez Trace Parkway
Natchez Trace Parkway commemorates Old Natchez Trace, a popular trail supposedly created by American Indians and later used by European explorers. It links the Cumberland, Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers. The parkway today runs 444 miles.
I was expecting something slightly different than I experienced. I did not know it was going to be a freeway (mind you, it's still a 50 mph speed limit). You could set your cruise control at mile 1 and not take it off until the parkway cessation. If it crossed a highway it did so above or below it, never intersecting. I also only saw one road off to the side. Most of the time I could not see past trees on either side of the road. From the negative side, I had expected to see the vegetation change a little more. In Utah, you can walk for 10 miles and experience a completely different landscape. Here, the 350 miles I was on the trail looked essentially the same.
But it was a nice, relaxing and pretty drive. And if it's pretty and unchanging, well, that's not all that bad. The trail is on the lands of each of the title states, meaning by the time I was done, I had visited States 28, 29 and 30.
I stopped about 100 miles north of Jackson to camp for a night and finished the trail the next day. To my surprise, the camping was free! It was a nice campsite too, although I forgot to take a photo.
The cooler things I was able to see was the burial place of Meriwether Lewis and the Tennessee River (I took an hour or so to picnic on the river bank).
Natchez Trace Parkway Album
Next Post: Kentucky (Mammoth Cave National Park)
Natchez Trace Parkway commemorates Old Natchez Trace, a popular trail supposedly created by American Indians and later used by European explorers. It links the Cumberland, Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers. The parkway today runs 444 miles.
I was expecting something slightly different than I experienced. I did not know it was going to be a freeway (mind you, it's still a 50 mph speed limit). You could set your cruise control at mile 1 and not take it off until the parkway cessation. If it crossed a highway it did so above or below it, never intersecting. I also only saw one road off to the side. Most of the time I could not see past trees on either side of the road. From the negative side, I had expected to see the vegetation change a little more. In Utah, you can walk for 10 miles and experience a completely different landscape. Here, the 350 miles I was on the trail looked essentially the same.But it was a nice, relaxing and pretty drive. And if it's pretty and unchanging, well, that's not all that bad. The trail is on the lands of each of the title states, meaning by the time I was done, I had visited States 28, 29 and 30.
I stopped about 100 miles north of Jackson to camp for a night and finished the trail the next day. To my surprise, the camping was free! It was a nice campsite too, although I forgot to take a photo.The cooler things I was able to see was the burial place of Meriwether Lewis and the Tennessee River (I took an hour or so to picnic on the river bank).
Natchez Trace Parkway Album
Next Post: Kentucky (Mammoth Cave National Park)
Oklahoma, Arkansas & Louisiana
I spent Day 44 driving to Hot Springs, Arkansas - approximately 800 miles from my campsite. I left my campsite about 8 a.m. It was no doubt a long day, but it was okay to be in the car all day after having three relatively short days in a row.
Of course, I needed to get to Oklahoma somehow. But who in their right mind would want to stay in Oklahoma. So I drove to the border, took a picture of the state sign, walked into the state, said, out loud, "Hmmm, okay," looked around and left.
I was so excited to leave the desert, although I was very sad to leave The West. Of course, when I entered Arkansas and exited the motor vehicle, the humidity smacked me in the face like a hot rag of old chloroform that isn't working as it was meant.
This reminds me I have some state numbers to catch up upon. If you remember, Nebraska was State 21, while Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California were not new states on Leg 2. Therefore Arizona was 22, New Mexico 23 and Texas 24. This makes Arkansas 25, Oklahoma 26 and Louisiana 27. And for five of the six previous states (not including Louisiana), it was the first time I've ever visited. Joining Nebraska, Oregon and Utah as 8 new states this summer.
Hot Springs National Park
Did you know there was a national park in Arkansas? Neither did I. And there probably should not be.
I spent Day 45 (August 29) visiting Hot Springs National Park. It's very small. And although it's focused upon a natural feature (hot springs), it's main attraction is really the bathhouses which came about because of the springs. This was fascinating to learn about, but it was somewhat weird, too.
It was weird because the park tried really hard to pull the beautiful landscape into play with the hot springs and bathhouses. The problem is the landscape isn't so great. Cincinnati Metroparks are more beautiful than these hills. And with electric lights throughout the campground, it felt as though I was in a Northern Ohio metropark.
Furthermore, you would expect a city like Hot Springs to be over-touristy. It wasn't nearly as much so as I had expected. It was mostly just nice, old bathhouses and the rest of the city was dirty.
I only visited a refurbished bathhouse museum and then headed back to camp to relax for the evening. I could explain to you some of the things I've learned, but that's what Google is for. And seriously, leave it to Google; don't visit this place.
Arkansas Album
Louisiana
The next morning, Day 46, I visited Louisiana. I have previously visited the wonderful city of New Orleans to see my dearly beloved Bearcats get trampled by cry-baby Tim Tebow. I revisited my map to plan my route for the next few weeks. I knew I had to miss a big chunk of the Southeast somehow. Based on what I have visited in the past as well as the ease to get to certain places, I chose to skip the Gulf Coast and Southern Florida. The best way to do this meant I could drive most of Natchez Trace Parkway and later make a pit-stop to see friends and family in Ohio.
Therefore, I was going to knock Louisiana off the list by hitting the northeast corner and visiting what my map said was Poverty Point National Monument. When I got there, I find out it isn't a national monument but a state historic park, which meant I would have had to pay. It looked dumb anyways. So I moved on to pick up Natchez Trace Parkway just west of Jackson, Mississippi.
Next Post: Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee
Of course, I needed to get to Oklahoma somehow. But who in their right mind would want to stay in Oklahoma. So I drove to the border, took a picture of the state sign, walked into the state, said, out loud, "Hmmm, okay," looked around and left.
I was so excited to leave the desert, although I was very sad to leave The West. Of course, when I entered Arkansas and exited the motor vehicle, the humidity smacked me in the face like a hot rag of old chloroform that isn't working as it was meant.
This reminds me I have some state numbers to catch up upon. If you remember, Nebraska was State 21, while Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California were not new states on Leg 2. Therefore Arizona was 22, New Mexico 23 and Texas 24. This makes Arkansas 25, Oklahoma 26 and Louisiana 27. And for five of the six previous states (not including Louisiana), it was the first time I've ever visited. Joining Nebraska, Oregon and Utah as 8 new states this summer.
Hot Springs National Park
Did you know there was a national park in Arkansas? Neither did I. And there probably should not be.
I spent Day 45 (August 29) visiting Hot Springs National Park. It's very small. And although it's focused upon a natural feature (hot springs), it's main attraction is really the bathhouses which came about because of the springs. This was fascinating to learn about, but it was somewhat weird, too.It was weird because the park tried really hard to pull the beautiful landscape into play with the hot springs and bathhouses. The problem is the landscape isn't so great. Cincinnati Metroparks are more beautiful than these hills. And with electric lights throughout the campground, it felt as though I was in a Northern Ohio metropark.
Furthermore, you would expect a city like Hot Springs to be over-touristy. It wasn't nearly as much so as I had expected. It was mostly just nice, old bathhouses and the rest of the city was dirty.I only visited a refurbished bathhouse museum and then headed back to camp to relax for the evening. I could explain to you some of the things I've learned, but that's what Google is for. And seriously, leave it to Google; don't visit this place.
Arkansas Album
Louisiana
The next morning, Day 46, I visited Louisiana. I have previously visited the wonderful city of New Orleans to see my dearly beloved Bearcats get trampled by cry-baby Tim Tebow. I revisited my map to plan my route for the next few weeks. I knew I had to miss a big chunk of the Southeast somehow. Based on what I have visited in the past as well as the ease to get to certain places, I chose to skip the Gulf Coast and Southern Florida. The best way to do this meant I could drive most of Natchez Trace Parkway and later make a pit-stop to see friends and family in Ohio.
Therefore, I was going to knock Louisiana off the list by hitting the northeast corner and visiting what my map said was Poverty Point National Monument. When I got there, I find out it isn't a national monument but a state historic park, which meant I would have had to pay. It looked dumb anyways. So I moved on to pick up Natchez Trace Parkway just west of Jackson, Mississippi.
Next Post: Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee
Texas & New Mexico
Because of the park layout and the way in which I chose to camp, it makes sense to combine these two states.
White Sands National Monument
I did not make it to White Sands until 5:30 p.m. or so on Day 40; and I knew I had to climb in elevation again to camp. It was a less severe (but still uncampable) 102 degrees. The park is very cool. The combination of the storming sunset, white sands, blackish mountains, and hooded picnic benches made the picnic area look like an alien gathering on another planet.
I
ended up camping even higher in Lincoln National Forest, although it
was still in the 70s at night. There is no front country campground in
White Sands even if I wanted to stay. It would be fun to backpack here
in the winter when the temperature is a little more reasonable. I would
bet I could shoot some much better photos if I could get back into the untouched dunes.
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
I reached Guadalupe in good time on Day 41. I set up camp at a site which will certainly compete for top campsite. Afterwards, I set out to hike for a bit.
GMNP is one of those parks that does not have many miles of roads within its boundaries. Like Canyonlands and other parks I have mentioned, the reason most visitors come to it is for its backcountry camping and day hiking. Unfortunately for me, it was about 95 degrees during mid-day, much to hot to enjoy hiking. So I hiked one of the popular trails. But the cool thing about popular trails in the off-season is they aren't crowded (I was the only one on this trail).
The park seasons is another funny thing. Its best contrast is probably between Death Valley and Yosemite. When one is at the height of its tourism, the other is at its lowest point. This was the case all through the Southwest. While it was nice to be there with relatively few people, I wanted to get out - it was just too hot for too many days in a row. More to come on this.
The hike I completed was based around springs from the mountains. The desert and the majority of the mountains were bone dry, even though I was there during rainy season. But the funny thing is, as dry as it was, if I only showed you this, this and this would you have guessed I was in the middle of a vast and scorching emptiness?
Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Carlsbad Caverns NP is within 50 miles of GMNP, although they are in different states. I wanted to do some relaxing these two days, so I decided to keep camp at GMNP and visit Carlsbad for the day and come back. I did this on my second day at GMNP, Day 42.
I've been to other caves before, but I was excited for this cave because I knew they had self-guided tours (free with my pass). But this has to be one of the worst entrance setups I have seen. My car was about 100 yards from the visitor center entrance. Here's what I did.
I packed up my day pack with water and snacks and some emergency items. I walked to the visitor center. I read, on the outside of the door in a font perhaps larger than the No Parking sign at Canyonlands NP, "NO FOOD OR DRINK IN THE VISITOR CENTER." I returned to my car to put the pack with the food and drink away. I returned to the visitor center, asked a ranger for a map and returned to the car with my pack. I read on the map no food was allowed in the cave, so I put my food in the car and grabbed the pack. Then I walked around the visitor center looking for a place to enter the cave. I couldn't find it. I returned my pack to my car and went back in the visitor center. I waited in line for a ride down the elevator into the cave. I was told, when I reached the front of the line, that I needed a ticket for the self-guided tour. So I stood in line for a ticket. I got my ticket and went back to the elevator line. Then I read on a board near the elevator we were allowed water in the cave. So I went back to my car, decided I had to break one of their so-called rules and take water into the visitor center (unless water doesn't count as drink). Then I waited in line for the elevator again.
And I made it in the cave no less than an hour later!
It was a really fun hike. I combined the two trails to make a good workout. Unfortunately, it's very difficult to photograph caves. I have a few that turned out well with a tripod and without a flash. This is my favorite. They also had a gift shop in the cave.
The room where the vast majority of these photos are taken is the seventh largest cave room in the world; it's a little more than 8 acres.
The most popular route to take is to climb down the natural entrance and take the elevator up. I wanted a workout so I did it the other way. Do you remember me talking about the Bryce Canyon hike via Navajo Loop? If so, this was just as steep, but 2.5 times longer. It was quite a climb, but it felt great!
One of the main attractions to Carlsbad Caverns is the batflights at sunset. I wanted to get back to camp before sunset (to make dinner in the light), so I did not hang around.
Big Bend National Park
Day 43 was spent driving to and visiting Big Bend National Park in Southwestern Texas, or as the brilliant residents of Texas would say, "Wast Taxes." So now that I'm in to discussing Texans, I should take an aside.
The Brilliancy of Texans
To my one and only friend from Texas: You may be exempt from these harsh remarks. You clearly don't fit in with these people. And later, when I talk about Kentucky, you may be exempt from those as well. It's a simple coincidence you picked the two most-specialist states to reside within.
I was driving on a road which was going back-and-forth between being a divided and undivided highway. To begin a divided highway in the United States requires a sign - a caution sign nonetheless. This is what it looks like:
Or, if you can't figure out what that picture means, you may use this:
When the divided highway ends, this sign is usually used:
Of course, you could substitute the words, assuming you know how to spell. At one point in Texas, I entered a divided highway to the sign with the symbol for Divided Highway Ends. I simply thought to myself, I suppose people can make really big mistakes at work. I passed it off as not too important, but made a note to look at the sign when the divided highway ends. And sure enough, they used the wrong sign again!
Before I leave my aside, I want to tell you of another funny construction incident. Somewhere in Colorado I saw a funny sign. I'm sure you've seen the construction slogan, Give 'Em A Brake! at some point in your driving. Why they can't write Them I have no idea. Yet, I still find the slogan clever. But this is America - it clearly goes over one out of every three peoples' heads. Which is why the sign in Colorado said, Give 'Em A Break! I'm pretty sure they already have breaks scheduled into their daily routine, and I don't want to give them any more.
Back to Big Bend
I entered Big Bend late morning. The drive there was not all that exciting. When you enter the park from the north, it's on a straight road with a 55 mph speed limit. When you get into the park, the speed limit goes down to 45 mph but nothing changes. And you aren't into the mountains for 30+ miles. So it's another 45 minutes of boring driving. I think it's fine the northern boundary is so far from the mountains, but that should affect the speed limit of a straight, flat road.
I decided to try to find a campsite first and then explore. The campground I tried for was in a little basin and turned out to be one of the coolest sites at which I've stayed. That photo doesn't show everything - the panoramic will be better when it's ready. But if you picture a mountain like that on nearly every side of the site, you'll get the picture.
Within a couple minutes of picking out the site, the camp host comes by and says, "So we just saw a mama bear and two cubs in this area last night. Also, we have skunks. Oh yeah, and this little loop was closed last week because of an aggressive [mountain] lion." I asked him if they'd caught the lion. He told me they had not. "I just wanted to let you know," he said, clearly meaning, "I just wanted to scare you silly." I tried to put it out of my mind, but I couldn't. It tainted the rest of the day.
The park itself is very big, and I knew I couldn't visit it all in one day, so I tried for the best part. I decided upon the scenic drive, considering the temperature (still well above 100 degrees in mid-afternoon). But the drive was beautiful. And I got to stand in Rio Grande! I did not cross over into Mexico and therefore did not go to jail. What surprised me was the temperature of the water. It was hot! It is, after all, from snow melt in the Rocky Mountains. Therefore, I did not swim.
The drive was beautiful and I would definitely return to the park to see more of it. Unfortunately, it was just too hot to do much. And, as I've mentioned, I'd been in the desert for awhile; I was ready to leave. I was tired of being hot and just wanted a little rain. So I was excited to leave. On Day 44 I packed up early and set out for an 800-mile drive to Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Texas & New Mexico Album
Next Post: Oklahoma, Arkansas & Louisiana.
White Sands National Monument
I did not make it to White Sands until 5:30 p.m. or so on Day 40; and I knew I had to climb in elevation again to camp. It was a less severe (but still uncampable) 102 degrees. The park is very cool. The combination of the storming sunset, white sands, blackish mountains, and hooded picnic benches made the picnic area look like an alien gathering on another planet.
I
ended up camping even higher in Lincoln National Forest, although it
was still in the 70s at night. There is no front country campground in
White Sands even if I wanted to stay. It would be fun to backpack here
in the winter when the temperature is a little more reasonable. I would
bet I could shoot some much better photos if I could get back into the untouched dunes.Guadalupe Mountains National Park
I reached Guadalupe in good time on Day 41. I set up camp at a site which will certainly compete for top campsite. Afterwards, I set out to hike for a bit.
GMNP is one of those parks that does not have many miles of roads within its boundaries. Like Canyonlands and other parks I have mentioned, the reason most visitors come to it is for its backcountry camping and day hiking. Unfortunately for me, it was about 95 degrees during mid-day, much to hot to enjoy hiking. So I hiked one of the popular trails. But the cool thing about popular trails in the off-season is they aren't crowded (I was the only one on this trail).
The park seasons is another funny thing. Its best contrast is probably between Death Valley and Yosemite. When one is at the height of its tourism, the other is at its lowest point. This was the case all through the Southwest. While it was nice to be there with relatively few people, I wanted to get out - it was just too hot for too many days in a row. More to come on this.The hike I completed was based around springs from the mountains. The desert and the majority of the mountains were bone dry, even though I was there during rainy season. But the funny thing is, as dry as it was, if I only showed you this, this and this would you have guessed I was in the middle of a vast and scorching emptiness?
Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Carlsbad Caverns NP is within 50 miles of GMNP, although they are in different states. I wanted to do some relaxing these two days, so I decided to keep camp at GMNP and visit Carlsbad for the day and come back. I did this on my second day at GMNP, Day 42.
I've been to other caves before, but I was excited for this cave because I knew they had self-guided tours (free with my pass). But this has to be one of the worst entrance setups I have seen. My car was about 100 yards from the visitor center entrance. Here's what I did.I packed up my day pack with water and snacks and some emergency items. I walked to the visitor center. I read, on the outside of the door in a font perhaps larger than the No Parking sign at Canyonlands NP, "NO FOOD OR DRINK IN THE VISITOR CENTER." I returned to my car to put the pack with the food and drink away. I returned to the visitor center, asked a ranger for a map and returned to the car with my pack. I read on the map no food was allowed in the cave, so I put my food in the car and grabbed the pack. Then I walked around the visitor center looking for a place to enter the cave. I couldn't find it. I returned my pack to my car and went back in the visitor center. I waited in line for a ride down the elevator into the cave. I was told, when I reached the front of the line, that I needed a ticket for the self-guided tour. So I stood in line for a ticket. I got my ticket and went back to the elevator line. Then I read on a board near the elevator we were allowed water in the cave. So I went back to my car, decided I had to break one of their so-called rules and take water into the visitor center (unless water doesn't count as drink). Then I waited in line for the elevator again.
And I made it in the cave no less than an hour later!It was a really fun hike. I combined the two trails to make a good workout. Unfortunately, it's very difficult to photograph caves. I have a few that turned out well with a tripod and without a flash. This is my favorite. They also had a gift shop in the cave.
The room where the vast majority of these photos are taken is the seventh largest cave room in the world; it's a little more than 8 acres.
The most popular route to take is to climb down the natural entrance and take the elevator up. I wanted a workout so I did it the other way. Do you remember me talking about the Bryce Canyon hike via Navajo Loop? If so, this was just as steep, but 2.5 times longer. It was quite a climb, but it felt great!
One of the main attractions to Carlsbad Caverns is the batflights at sunset. I wanted to get back to camp before sunset (to make dinner in the light), so I did not hang around.
Big Bend National Park
Day 43 was spent driving to and visiting Big Bend National Park in Southwestern Texas, or as the brilliant residents of Texas would say, "Wast Taxes." So now that I'm in to discussing Texans, I should take an aside.
The Brilliancy of Texans
To my one and only friend from Texas: You may be exempt from these harsh remarks. You clearly don't fit in with these people. And later, when I talk about Kentucky, you may be exempt from those as well. It's a simple coincidence you picked the two most-specialist states to reside within.
I was driving on a road which was going back-and-forth between being a divided and undivided highway. To begin a divided highway in the United States requires a sign - a caution sign nonetheless. This is what it looks like:
Or, if you can't figure out what that picture means, you may use this:
When the divided highway ends, this sign is usually used:
Of course, you could substitute the words, assuming you know how to spell. At one point in Texas, I entered a divided highway to the sign with the symbol for Divided Highway Ends. I simply thought to myself, I suppose people can make really big mistakes at work. I passed it off as not too important, but made a note to look at the sign when the divided highway ends. And sure enough, they used the wrong sign again!
Before I leave my aside, I want to tell you of another funny construction incident. Somewhere in Colorado I saw a funny sign. I'm sure you've seen the construction slogan, Give 'Em A Brake! at some point in your driving. Why they can't write Them I have no idea. Yet, I still find the slogan clever. But this is America - it clearly goes over one out of every three peoples' heads. Which is why the sign in Colorado said, Give 'Em A Break! I'm pretty sure they already have breaks scheduled into their daily routine, and I don't want to give them any more.
Back to Big Bend
I entered Big Bend late morning. The drive there was not all that exciting. When you enter the park from the north, it's on a straight road with a 55 mph speed limit. When you get into the park, the speed limit goes down to 45 mph but nothing changes. And you aren't into the mountains for 30+ miles. So it's another 45 minutes of boring driving. I think it's fine the northern boundary is so far from the mountains, but that should affect the speed limit of a straight, flat road.
I decided to try to find a campsite first and then explore. The campground I tried for was in a little basin and turned out to be one of the coolest sites at which I've stayed. That photo doesn't show everything - the panoramic will be better when it's ready. But if you picture a mountain like that on nearly every side of the site, you'll get the picture.Within a couple minutes of picking out the site, the camp host comes by and says, "So we just saw a mama bear and two cubs in this area last night. Also, we have skunks. Oh yeah, and this little loop was closed last week because of an aggressive [mountain] lion." I asked him if they'd caught the lion. He told me they had not. "I just wanted to let you know," he said, clearly meaning, "I just wanted to scare you silly." I tried to put it out of my mind, but I couldn't. It tainted the rest of the day.
The park itself is very big, and I knew I couldn't visit it all in one day, so I tried for the best part. I decided upon the scenic drive, considering the temperature (still well above 100 degrees in mid-afternoon). But the drive was beautiful. And I got to stand in Rio Grande! I did not cross over into Mexico and therefore did not go to jail. What surprised me was the temperature of the water. It was hot! It is, after all, from snow melt in the Rocky Mountains. Therefore, I did not swim.The drive was beautiful and I would definitely return to the park to see more of it. Unfortunately, it was just too hot to do much. And, as I've mentioned, I'd been in the desert for awhile; I was ready to leave. I was tired of being hot and just wanted a little rain. So I was excited to leave. On Day 44 I packed up early and set out for an 800-mile drive to Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Texas & New Mexico Album
Next Post: Oklahoma, Arkansas & Louisiana.
Arizona, Round 2
In California, Round 2, Part 2 I had forgotten a day somewhere. In other words, the last day in Death Valley and the show in Vegas were on Day 36 (August 20).
Day 37
While I have not forgotten Day 37 (and most likely never will), it'd be nice to do so. I got used to my passenger chair being populated by a person. A real person. And this person was more to the trip than simply a way to change fellow drivers' gazes from Look't this weirdo talking to a bag of chips to These people really need to clean their car.
So apparently I like being around people. Hooray! I've been enlightened!
Petrified Forest National Park
I stayed at a KOA in Holbrook, Arizona to work on some blog posts. On Day 38, I took a drive into Petrified Forest NP and hiked a few trails.
The park is not broken up into two sections, but it certainly feels like it is. The southern portion of the park contains the "forests" (sections with petrified wood), while the northern portion consists of what is called Painted Desert.
The petrified wood is really cool! They are essentially rocks shaped like logs with some wild colors. And they're just hanging out in this grassland. Painted Desert was also cool, but it didn't feel like a new sight to me. And it probably looks pretty cool to you. I've seen the bad lands of North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska. While these were more colorful than any of the previous three, they certainly were not as deep. Also, they stole the term bad lands from those in the Dakotas.
This realization led to some reflection, mostly focused upon Did I go the right way? In other words, did I set up my itinerary in the best possible way? For example, had I been to Arizona before the Dakotas, perhaps I would have considered the Dakotas lame and Arizona's bad lands terrific. I thought of this in light of a number of various changes I've made to the trip. If I have time, I discuss a few of them, as I find it quite fascinating.
Saguaro National Park
On Day 39 I got up and moving toward Tuscon and Saguaro National Park. Unlike Petrified Forest NP, Saguaro is broken into two sections - West and East. Because I knew I was going to move east the next day, I decided to head toward the West Unit first.
I remember viewing cartoons with a desert setting as a child. My ex-travel-companion did as well. When we were in the Sand Dunes section of Panamint Springs (Death Valley), she said, "This is what I pictured the desert would look like." Undoubtedly, this comes from Aladdin, one of the three greatest movies ever created. My perception of the desert was Saguaro Cacti (apparently cactuses is also correct, but it sounds funny, and it looks funny), but only about 6-10 feet-tall plants.
A few of the many things I've learned on this trip are as follows. The deserts in America are ginormous (now apparently a real word), but they are also ever changing. There is no one perception which will encompass what the desert looks like. Sometimes it is endless dunes and sometimes it's lush greenery. Sometimes it's 80 degrees in August and sometimes it's 129 degrees. In addition, there are many types of cacti. I've always just thought cactus meant Saguaro Cactus, but it doesn't. Also, Saguaros can be 30-50 feet tall.
Saguaro NP is often called a desert jungle. Many of my photos, including this one, show how dense and green this desert is. It was cool, but it was hot. I was not out of my car very often. The park has a nice scenic loop which leads through the coolest part of the west park.
I saw a cool plaque here. It showed the viewpoint of the plaque's location in the 1930s - the landscape was littered with saguaros. There were two years which killed a significant number of cacti. It was determined 20 hours of freezing temperatures could kill a saguaro (which take 70+ years just to grow arms!). In the 1980s, plaques told visitors all the saguaros would be gone by 1990. Later they went through a good stretch where many saguaros were able to germinate. This brings me to two points.
Point #1: Park Names
Several of our national parks are named based on geographical items within the park which we determine to be their most prominent feature. I've written about this before. Perhaps we should consider which items may not be static. For example, Petrified Forest works because the forest are actually getting bigger as the land erodes. But parks like Saguaro, Joshua Tree and Glacier are in danger of becoming arbitrary names to describe their incredible parks.
Point #2: What Are We Fixing?
I had a debate about protecting wild animals with a friend last week. We discussed whether it was right to reintroduce animals into a park or any ecosystem, or whether we should let them naturally die out. I'll spare you the argument, but I will tell you this. Many of these parks talk and preach and beg for us to be more sustainable (what that means is up for debate), because we are killing the environment. Many parks have introduced sustainable practices into their operation (like a shuttle bus system). But guess what one of the biggest problems was/is?
Cattle Ranching. Cattle are devastating to the landscape. Saguaro is still recovering from overgrazing. People even tried to graze on Anacapa Island! This infuriates me so much, I'm going to consider not eating any more beef. Ever.
Okay, I'm back. I had to finish my cheeseburger. Well, at least I considered it.
Day 40
Wow, I've been out here a long time. The problem with Saguaro NP is they are on opposite sides of Tuscon. To get from one to the other, you have to drive through the entire city. It's no fun. It took so long that I didn't get to the East Unit last night, and ended up camping in Coronada National Forest. I had to climb from 2,500 feet to 7,000 feet just to see a temperature around 80 degrees. And then I went back down in the morning. Actually, the Catalina Highway is a really pretty drive.
The East Unit is very similar to the west. I did the quick scenic drive and headed toward New Mexico.
Arizona Album
Next Post: Texas & New Mexico
Day 37
While I have not forgotten Day 37 (and most likely never will), it'd be nice to do so. I got used to my passenger chair being populated by a person. A real person. And this person was more to the trip than simply a way to change fellow drivers' gazes from Look't this weirdo talking to a bag of chips to These people really need to clean their car.
So apparently I like being around people. Hooray! I've been enlightened!
Petrified Forest National Park
I stayed at a KOA in Holbrook, Arizona to work on some blog posts. On Day 38, I took a drive into Petrified Forest NP and hiked a few trails.The park is not broken up into two sections, but it certainly feels like it is. The southern portion of the park contains the "forests" (sections with petrified wood), while the northern portion consists of what is called Painted Desert.
The petrified wood is really cool! They are essentially rocks shaped like logs with some wild colors. And they're just hanging out in this grassland. Painted Desert was also cool, but it didn't feel like a new sight to me. And it probably looks pretty cool to you. I've seen the bad lands of North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska. While these were more colorful than any of the previous three, they certainly were not as deep. Also, they stole the term bad lands from those in the Dakotas.
This realization led to some reflection, mostly focused upon Did I go the right way? In other words, did I set up my itinerary in the best possible way? For example, had I been to Arizona before the Dakotas, perhaps I would have considered the Dakotas lame and Arizona's bad lands terrific. I thought of this in light of a number of various changes I've made to the trip. If I have time, I discuss a few of them, as I find it quite fascinating.Saguaro National Park
On Day 39 I got up and moving toward Tuscon and Saguaro National Park. Unlike Petrified Forest NP, Saguaro is broken into two sections - West and East. Because I knew I was going to move east the next day, I decided to head toward the West Unit first.
I remember viewing cartoons with a desert setting as a child. My ex-travel-companion did as well. When we were in the Sand Dunes section of Panamint Springs (Death Valley), she said, "This is what I pictured the desert would look like." Undoubtedly, this comes from Aladdin, one of the three greatest movies ever created. My perception of the desert was Saguaro Cacti (apparently cactuses is also correct, but it sounds funny, and it looks funny), but only about 6-10 feet-tall plants.A few of the many things I've learned on this trip are as follows. The deserts in America are ginormous (now apparently a real word), but they are also ever changing. There is no one perception which will encompass what the desert looks like. Sometimes it is endless dunes and sometimes it's lush greenery. Sometimes it's 80 degrees in August and sometimes it's 129 degrees. In addition, there are many types of cacti. I've always just thought cactus meant Saguaro Cactus, but it doesn't. Also, Saguaros can be 30-50 feet tall.
Saguaro NP is often called a desert jungle. Many of my photos, including this one, show how dense and green this desert is. It was cool, but it was hot. I was not out of my car very often. The park has a nice scenic loop which leads through the coolest part of the west park.I saw a cool plaque here. It showed the viewpoint of the plaque's location in the 1930s - the landscape was littered with saguaros. There were two years which killed a significant number of cacti. It was determined 20 hours of freezing temperatures could kill a saguaro (which take 70+ years just to grow arms!). In the 1980s, plaques told visitors all the saguaros would be gone by 1990. Later they went through a good stretch where many saguaros were able to germinate. This brings me to two points.
Point #1: Park Names
Several of our national parks are named based on geographical items within the park which we determine to be their most prominent feature. I've written about this before. Perhaps we should consider which items may not be static. For example, Petrified Forest works because the forest are actually getting bigger as the land erodes. But parks like Saguaro, Joshua Tree and Glacier are in danger of becoming arbitrary names to describe their incredible parks.
Point #2: What Are We Fixing?
I had a debate about protecting wild animals with a friend last week. We discussed whether it was right to reintroduce animals into a park or any ecosystem, or whether we should let them naturally die out. I'll spare you the argument, but I will tell you this. Many of these parks talk and preach and beg for us to be more sustainable (what that means is up for debate), because we are killing the environment. Many parks have introduced sustainable practices into their operation (like a shuttle bus system). But guess what one of the biggest problems was/is?
Cattle Ranching. Cattle are devastating to the landscape. Saguaro is still recovering from overgrazing. People even tried to graze on Anacapa Island! This infuriates me so much, I'm going to consider not eating any more beef. Ever.
Okay, I'm back. I had to finish my cheeseburger. Well, at least I considered it.
Day 40
Wow, I've been out here a long time. The problem with Saguaro NP is they are on opposite sides of Tuscon. To get from one to the other, you have to drive through the entire city. It's no fun. It took so long that I didn't get to the East Unit last night, and ended up camping in Coronada National Forest. I had to climb from 2,500 feet to 7,000 feet just to see a temperature around 80 degrees. And then I went back down in the morning. Actually, the Catalina Highway is a really pretty drive.
The East Unit is very similar to the west. I did the quick scenic drive and headed toward New Mexico.
Arizona Album
Next Post: Texas & New Mexico
9.02.2011
Nevada, Round 3
I think I said this was going to be Round 2 in the previous post; I just remembered it was actually Round 3.
Like before, I'm having trouble locating these stories from Las Vegas. They all seem to have anxious and free-spirited legs. I did find one.
One my companion's last night, we bought tickets to watch Love. Love is put on by Cirque Du Soleil, to the music of The Beatles. If you find yourself in Las Vegas and are able to get to The Mirage, go to this show. You will not get the crazy acrobatics like you will with other Cirque Du Soleil shows, but it's by far made up for with music and visuals.
Of course, if you're not a fan of The Beatles, well then, we must have a talk. And you probably wouldn't like the show.
And without spoiling anything, the best part of the show was to this song; take it away, George:
Like before, I'm having trouble locating these stories from Las Vegas. They all seem to have anxious and free-spirited legs. I did find one.
One my companion's last night, we bought tickets to watch Love. Love is put on by Cirque Du Soleil, to the music of The Beatles. If you find yourself in Las Vegas and are able to get to The Mirage, go to this show. You will not get the crazy acrobatics like you will with other Cirque Du Soleil shows, but it's by far made up for with music and visuals.
Of course, if you're not a fan of The Beatles, well then, we must have a talk. And you probably wouldn't like the show.
And without spoiling anything, the best part of the show was to this song; take it away, George:
California, Round 2, Part 3
California is big.
Day 34 began with the bittersweet trip through the park for the purpose of continuing our trip via the east entrance. A beautiful drive; but how sad it was to leave perhaps the most beautiful place in this country (there are still four weeks to refute this).
And so begins a series of hot posts, the emphasized word being unrelated to my profound talent for writing captivating blog posts.
Bodie State Historic Park
We parted from the park via Tioga pass and then, KER-BLAM, hello desert. Fortunately, the Central California desert was tolerable - approximately 90 at mid-day.
I have to go back seven years to set this story up for you. My family and I were on the trip I may have mentioned - a loop from Las Vegas to Death Valley to Yosemite and back. I recall sitting outside a restaurant, somewhere in California (to me as a teenager, the location should have been more excited I was blessing it with my presence). I looked west, to the two-story motel, uneasily placed on the hillside above a parking lot seeming incapable of containing cars. My eyes drifted above the motel to a billboard. How romantic the billboard looked in this tourist trap of a town, with its brown buildings and big, bold fonts. It said, "Bodie. The Largest Ghost Town in America."
Naturally, I turned to my parents and said, "That looks super awesome; can we go?" On vacations with my family, my eyes usually drifted past that line which marks the limit of time availability.
This is why I was caught off guard when my parents looked to each other, then back to me and said, "Sure."
And while it may have been a tourist trap, I've been in love with it and its romance and nostalgia since. I wanted to write a novel about it; and I haven't forgotten my idea. I just wanted to give it time to germinate while I practiced my skills. So why not have another look? Why not see if I still feel the same way? And why not show the splendor to another person?
I may have gotten even more excited this time!
I could spend years telling you about Bodie. You can look it up if you are interested, or perhaps you should even visit it. I'll sum it up by saying it was one of the largest mining boom towns in the country and it pioneered and realized the transfer of electricity over a significant distance. But what really made it what it was was the speed at which the town boomed as well as its lawlessness. One of my favorite quotes of all time is from a little girl whose parents had just informed her they'll be moving to Bodie:
"Goodbye, God, I'm going to Bodie."
If you've been keeping up, you've probably already seen the entire California album. If not, the photos from the park are in that album; you can reach it via the link at the end of this post.
Death Valley National Park
We headed to Death Valley, where we had a reservation at Panamint Springs Resort. Yep, resort. You parked three feet from the room's door, where the foot of the bed sat three feet from the long wall, the bathroom was carpeted, the shower had been worn away to its previous layer. And there was no TV (which I didn't care about), but there was ample dresser space! When you are in the middle of one of the harshest locations in the world, you'll take what you are given, even if it means spending $5.48 per gallon of gasoline.
The next morning, Day 35, we drove through the park on our way back to Las Vegas.
If you have read or ever do read travel books about Death Valley, they probably tell you to visit in the winter. I say, "No Way!" They call it Death Valley for a reason - you aren't supposed to be comfortable in this park. It must be visited in July or August. Plus, if you visit it in the winter, you can't see the two most beautiful overlooks.
Most of the day in the Valley it was about 117 degrees (Fahrenheit). Of course, we traveled through various pockets, included one such microwavable treat where the temperature rose to 129 degrees! Now, my car is precise, not accurate. It seems to consistently read 2 degrees higher than it is outside. Thus, it was probably closer to 127 than 129. Big difference.
People may say you have to visit Grand Canyon before you die. I move Yosemite and Death Valley far above Grand Canyon.
To best describe the Valley, I'll tell you about our trip to Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America.
The thermometer in the car read 117, but once it gets above 110, does it really matter? It all seems equally unrealistic. Maybe it does matter; it read 110 in Joshua Tree NP, but this was significantly more intense.
We stepped out of the car and were blasted with the heat. It was as if the world were an oven and the car was our bomb shelter.
We walked out to the white ground. Why is the ground white? Who cares, it's 117 degrees; let's get our photo and go. We walked to the white stuff to get a good photo. It looked so close to the car; 10 minutes later, the car looked so far away from us. We got the photo and turned.
We knew we were sweating; our brains told us this much. But we touched our backs, our armpits, our foreheads, and we were dry as a boneyard (assuming it hasn't rained in the boneyard recently). During all the other hikes we completed this week we prayed for a breeze. Breeze always feels good, right? Not here. Here we just wanted the wind to stop. As thought we were sitting in that oven, just let us cook in peace, we know the heat is there, why blow to remind us?
We made it back to the car. Had it been days; years? I nearly broke the air conditioning dial, trying to see if it would blow any harder. We felt our backs again. Aha! There's the sweat; so maybe we're not dying.
You couldn't cross this valley in the summer on foot or horse. It's most accurately death to enter.
This leads me to a point I've thought about much recently: we have it so easy. I'll come back to this in future posts.
To point out some points of interest, here's Panamint Springs, Sand Dunes, Dante's View (into Death Valley), Devil's Golf Course and Badwater Basin. Both Devil's Golf Course and Badwater Basin are in Death Valley; Sand Dunes are in Panamint Springs.
Again, the California Album
Next Post: Nevada, Round 2
Day 34 began with the bittersweet trip through the park for the purpose of continuing our trip via the east entrance. A beautiful drive; but how sad it was to leave perhaps the most beautiful place in this country (there are still four weeks to refute this).
And so begins a series of hot posts, the emphasized word being unrelated to my profound talent for writing captivating blog posts.
Bodie State Historic Park
We parted from the park via Tioga pass and then, KER-BLAM, hello desert. Fortunately, the Central California desert was tolerable - approximately 90 at mid-day.
I have to go back seven years to set this story up for you. My family and I were on the trip I may have mentioned - a loop from Las Vegas to Death Valley to Yosemite and back. I recall sitting outside a restaurant, somewhere in California (to me as a teenager, the location should have been more excited I was blessing it with my presence). I looked west, to the two-story motel, uneasily placed on the hillside above a parking lot seeming incapable of containing cars. My eyes drifted above the motel to a billboard. How romantic the billboard looked in this tourist trap of a town, with its brown buildings and big, bold fonts. It said, "Bodie. The Largest Ghost Town in America."
Naturally, I turned to my parents and said, "That looks super awesome; can we go?" On vacations with my family, my eyes usually drifted past that line which marks the limit of time availability.This is why I was caught off guard when my parents looked to each other, then back to me and said, "Sure."
And while it may have been a tourist trap, I've been in love with it and its romance and nostalgia since. I wanted to write a novel about it; and I haven't forgotten my idea. I just wanted to give it time to germinate while I practiced my skills. So why not have another look? Why not see if I still feel the same way? And why not show the splendor to another person?
I may have gotten even more excited this time!
I could spend years telling you about Bodie. You can look it up if you are interested, or perhaps you should even visit it. I'll sum it up by saying it was one of the largest mining boom towns in the country and it pioneered and realized the transfer of electricity over a significant distance. But what really made it what it was was the speed at which the town boomed as well as its lawlessness. One of my favorite quotes of all time is from a little girl whose parents had just informed her they'll be moving to Bodie:"Goodbye, God, I'm going to Bodie."
If you've been keeping up, you've probably already seen the entire California album. If not, the photos from the park are in that album; you can reach it via the link at the end of this post.
Death Valley National Park
We headed to Death Valley, where we had a reservation at Panamint Springs Resort. Yep, resort. You parked three feet from the room's door, where the foot of the bed sat three feet from the long wall, the bathroom was carpeted, the shower had been worn away to its previous layer. And there was no TV (which I didn't care about), but there was ample dresser space! When you are in the middle of one of the harshest locations in the world, you'll take what you are given, even if it means spending $5.48 per gallon of gasoline.
The next morning, Day 35, we drove through the park on our way back to Las Vegas.
If you have read or ever do read travel books about Death Valley, they probably tell you to visit in the winter. I say, "No Way!" They call it Death Valley for a reason - you aren't supposed to be comfortable in this park. It must be visited in July or August. Plus, if you visit it in the winter, you can't see the two most beautiful overlooks.Most of the day in the Valley it was about 117 degrees (Fahrenheit). Of course, we traveled through various pockets, included one such microwavable treat where the temperature rose to 129 degrees! Now, my car is precise, not accurate. It seems to consistently read 2 degrees higher than it is outside. Thus, it was probably closer to 127 than 129. Big difference.
People may say you have to visit Grand Canyon before you die. I move Yosemite and Death Valley far above Grand Canyon.
To best describe the Valley, I'll tell you about our trip to Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America.
The thermometer in the car read 117, but once it gets above 110, does it really matter? It all seems equally unrealistic. Maybe it does matter; it read 110 in Joshua Tree NP, but this was significantly more intense.
We stepped out of the car and were blasted with the heat. It was as if the world were an oven and the car was our bomb shelter.
We walked out to the white ground. Why is the ground white? Who cares, it's 117 degrees; let's get our photo and go. We walked to the white stuff to get a good photo. It looked so close to the car; 10 minutes later, the car looked so far away from us. We got the photo and turned.
We knew we were sweating; our brains told us this much. But we touched our backs, our armpits, our foreheads, and we were dry as a boneyard (assuming it hasn't rained in the boneyard recently). During all the other hikes we completed this week we prayed for a breeze. Breeze always feels good, right? Not here. Here we just wanted the wind to stop. As thought we were sitting in that oven, just let us cook in peace, we know the heat is there, why blow to remind us?
We made it back to the car. Had it been days; years? I nearly broke the air conditioning dial, trying to see if it would blow any harder. We felt our backs again. Aha! There's the sweat; so maybe we're not dying.
You couldn't cross this valley in the summer on foot or horse. It's most accurately death to enter.
This leads me to a point I've thought about much recently: we have it so easy. I'll come back to this in future posts.To point out some points of interest, here's Panamint Springs, Sand Dunes, Dante's View (into Death Valley), Devil's Golf Course and Badwater Basin. Both Devil's Golf Course and Badwater Basin are in Death Valley; Sand Dunes are in Panamint Springs.
Again, the California Album
Next Post: Nevada, Round 2
Killer Bees: Resolved
The Killer Bee issue has been resolved. A few days after my previous post I was organizing the car for the day. Suddenly, I felt an itch in my beard; naturally, I scratched.
Out fell the biggest bee you've ever seen, right onto the passenger's chair. He looked fearsome, blood dripping from his fangs, ready to attack. How sad to have such a weakness that is perishing upon stinging.
I'll keep better care of my beard in the future to avoid these unnecessary stories.
Out fell the biggest bee you've ever seen, right onto the passenger's chair. He looked fearsome, blood dripping from his fangs, ready to attack. How sad to have such a weakness that is perishing upon stinging.
I'll keep better care of my beard in the future to avoid these unnecessary stories.
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