August 29, 2009

The Aftermath

I had an amazing trip and as much as I loved being on the road, I am looking forward to settling down for 9 months at home with my family and getting my MBA. I got burned out in Colorado being by myself but strangely enough, I was never lonely on the road. My biggest thank you's go out to Jess, Meris, Melissa, McKenzie, and Amy for making the time to see me and host me along the way. It was great to see familiar faces.
I just want to tell everyone to watch Ken Burns' documentary "National Parks: America's Best Idea" on PBS starting September 27. http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/
Most of my trip was devoted to the National Parks/Monuments/Battlefields/Historical sites, etc. They all have something to teach us about our past and I am so inspired by the people who saw the potential all across America for sites devoted to preserving our past in order to teach our future. A lot of people said my trip was a "once in a lifetime" opportunity. I know for a fact I will be doing this again because I still have half the U.S. to see!

I had a week between moving home and moving into RIT and I thought I'd use it to relax and bop around New York but I spent the whole time cleaning and reorganizing my parents house. Maybe it's because I've been gone so long or maybe it's because my only home was a 9x9 tent the last 2 months but I loved throwing out old clutter and even getting a new entertainment center and chair. I somehow managed to sell our 25 year old wicker furniture in one day on craigslist for the price of $60. My Mom bought it brand new for $100! I did go to Conesus Lake one morning with Mom for a nice beachside break.
I also went to my cousin's house to help with hay and that was my favorite day. This is what I missed by being in Colorado: helping out family and knowing everyone around town. While Don raked the hay, Ted and I cleaned out in front of the barn and got the hay wagons out and ready. Then my Uncle Bill and I went up and mowed the hedgerow around the hay field. We needed gas by that point so we drove the tractor into town and after filling up he asked if I wanted to drive back. It was our town festival that day so I said no because it was too crowded. However, right after crossing the bridge out of town he jumped out of the seat and pointed for me to drive! I swerved quite severely at first to get used to the steering. We were going along quite fast and I didn't slow down enough for the turn so we coasted right on by and I had to stop and do a U-turn. Don and Ted had followed behind and were laughing at me. I had never driven that tractor before though in my defense. After replacing a pump, eating pizza and beer, hauling out two more wagons, and finding a flat tire, we got started. The kicker wasn't working so we had to walk along the wagon and pick the bales up off the ground. We made it two rounds like that before Jeff, Don and I were exhausted. Ted and Bill rigged up the kicker and switched out the wagons to a flatbed so we finally got a system down. We all alternated sitting in the borrowed tractor because it had air conditioning in it. Now the hard part began. We had to unload all the hay into the barn. I manned loading the elevator because I was always at the receiving end of the elevator and I did not want a guy throwing bales on one after the other. A few of Don and Ted's friends came over and we got it done pretty quick. It was amazing to work all day in the sun, sweating like a pig, using my muscles and exhausting myself. It reminded me of working on the ranch and how much I missed it.

August 22, 2009

Home sweet home

My last official stop of the road trip was at my college roommate Amy's house. She got married about a year ago and was having a little get together for a few of us Keuka alums that had last been at the wedding together. She lives in Jamestown so I didn't cross over into New York until about 15 minutes before her house. I actually had to stop and turn around because I missed the welcome sign. I'd missed a few on my trip but I did not want to miss the home state. This was the first time I'd been to her and Jay's house and it was really cute. They also have a new puppy named Ritz who is adorable despite his propensity to constantly bite people. Of course it was raining so we stayed in and talked most of the afternoon. I found it funny that the talk consisted of mortgages, loans, insurance, salaries, rent, grad school and other "grown-up" topics. Oh how far we've all come. Except me. I'm the trail bum who after moving three times and having 8 jobs, quit the only consistent job I had to go on a six week road trip by myself. And I used to the the responsible one.

I headed out the next morning, eager to get on the road. Of course, it was still raining all the way down the Thruway. I got a voicemail from Kyle saying it's very important so I called him back, very concerned and he asked if I had room for any passengers. Obviously I didn't, seeing as how I'd been living in my car for six weeks but he apparently wanted me to pick him up along the road in the pouring rain. I did and he started filming me which I thought was cool because it'd document my trip up to the house. Well, lining the field leading up to the house I saw a bunch of signs and when I slowed down, I saw that they were huge signs of the major milestone of my roadtrip! I was floored. I thought they'd been up awhile but Devin and Kyle had painted them only last night and put them up that morning. Then I go to pull in the driveway and Grandma and Devin are unrolling a banner that said "7000 miles and finally home" (or something to that effect). I was supposed to drive through it but it ended up just drifting over the top of my car.

Grandpa Doyle, Grandpa Burns and Aunt Kathy were there along with Mom, Dad, Don and Amber. I was so surprised. Of course my first order of business was seeing Max. He was the one I missed most (sorry, everyone). After hugging everyone and going inside I found out that Kyle had contacted Jess to ask her how to make that amazing tortellini salad she brought me at the Grand Canyon. It was a great homecoming and I'm grateful to everyone that had a hand in it.

August 19, 2009

The final stretch!



I finished up the Skyline Drive and decided to camp at Mathews Arm campground because the rest of my trip was more of a meandering pace. The next morning I drove out of the park and into Harper's Ferry. I didn't see the last 20 miles of the Drive due to intense fog from being up in the mountains. Harper's Ferry is in WV and it is amazing. I knew it was famous for the John Brown raid but I had no idea it was an integral part of so much American history. It is where the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers meet and is located on the border of WV, MD and VA. Washington, Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, WEB DuBois, Stonewall Jackson and many more all passed through. You have to ride a bus into the preserved downtown and all the historic store fronts house different exhibits on the history of the town. Jefferson said the view from the top of the hill is "worth crossing the Atlantic". It's a rare spot that has so many ties to American history across generations. After that I drove into Maryland and went to the Antietam Battlefield. It is best known for being the site of the bloodiest day of battle (23,000 casualties). I attended a ranger program and it was haunting the way he described it. The talk was in a huge room overlooking the entire battlefield and the way he talked, you could envision the battle in front of you. One of the ladies in the group was crying. There was a great video about Lincoln's visit to Antietam and Lincoln is quite the sarcastic man. I did the driving tour. What's great about Antietam is that it is preserved almost exactly as it was when the battle was over. The battle was fought in 1862 and, thanks to the foresight of people, it was set aside in 1890 as a national battlefield. The most famous sights are Bloody Lane (a small ditch of carnage) and the Burnside Bridge.

I love battlefields because they evoke such strong feelings and really help you relate to the history you read about. It was getting late so I headed back to a campground I had passed earlier. However, I had apparently only passed the sign because it was 5 miles from that sign. The next morning when I left Jack took me out a shortcut that went right to the battlefield. Anyway, after driving down a residential street, I finally saw a sign for the campground. I drove along looking for the entrance and saw a pit toilet so I knew I was in the right place. However, I caught sight of some tents and then a van pulled up along the road. I finally realized that you had to park along the road, cross a soggy ditch (there was one bridge in the 1/2 mile the campground stretched) and set your stuff up along the C & O canal! It was the stupidest campground setup I've ever seen. I loaded myself up beause I wanted to make as few trips as possible. It was tough going in my flip flops and the Boy Scouts camped down from me kept giving me strange looks (but none offered to help). I made it and it actually was nice despite being between a canal and a road and the bathrooms smelling and having no toilet paper (thanks again Boy Scouts). I headed out the next day to meet my cousin McKenzie in PA. However, I first stopped at the Antietam cemetery because it was the last stop on the Battlefield tour and I didn't have time for it yesterday. The day after that battle, both sides declared a temporary truce where they could both enter the battlefield and collect their dead. I don't see how you could kill people one day and the next day walk along with your enemy and pick up your dead. It was very organized and the graves were laid out according to what state people were from. There was a huge statue in the middle and surrounding it were a series of plaques with a poem on it. It was quite beautiful and haunting. I drove out of Maryland and into Pennsylvania to meet up with McKenzie. She had a baby about a year ago and I hadn't met him yet so I met up with her for lunch. He is so freakin cute! It was really nice to catch up with her and finally see Connor. I was going to head to Amy's but I decided I wanted one more night to myself before I headed back into civilization. I camped in PA and had an awesome night. I built a fire to burn the various newspapers and random garbage in my car. I took two showers and sat on a swing most of the night, contemplating my trip. It was a perfect way to end the Trek.

Shenandoah National Park



Sorry this blog is a little late. I've been so busy since coming home but this is what I wrote while along the drive, I just didn't have Internet to post it.

One of the things that annoys me about the Blue Ridge and Skyline Drive is some of their “overlooks”. They are basically pulloffs surrounded by trees. Don’t call it an overlook if it doesn’t overlook anything! I wanted to see the Roanoke River gorge but all I could catch was a glimpse of the river. Anyways, it is a gorgeous drive no matter if you're looking at massive vistas or the leaves of a tree. I did a really cool hike to an old cabin that is restored to how it would look in the 1930’s. It was kind of odd because most cabins are restored to represent 19th century America so to see a record player and various innovations was kind of cool. I stopped at Abbott Lake on the way back and it was very picturesque. My favorite spot on the Blue Ridge Parkway was the James River. There’s a small visitor center and you walk underneath the bridge to a restored lock. Growing up by the Erie Canal, I love a good lock. They're so darn simple but amazing how they revolutionized transportation. There’s also a walk through the trees above the river with really nice views. The river was so calm and everything reflected perfectly off of it. It was just a very peaceful place and I loved being there.


I decided to hike around Otter Lake which was a little bit further down the road and then stop at Otter Creek to camp. I went down to the creek and did a bit of crayfishing which was pretty fun. After a good night's rest, I finished off the Blue Ridge Parkway and headed up into Shenandoah National Park. They have the Skyline Drive which is 105 miles long. Over the next couple of days I hiked some of the Appalachian Trail and to a lot of waterfalls. All the overlooks were straight up and down and all the waterfalls were straight down then up. My legs were hurting pretty bad. I’ve always thought it would be cool to say I hiked the Appalachian Trail. Now I am convinced that is the absolute last thing I want to do. It’s pretty but even after two days I was going crazy because you are just surrounded by green. The trail isn’t even in great condition. It’s full of rocks. A really cool hike I did was to Rapidan Camp. It was Herbert Hoover’s presidential retreat and it met his three conditions: less than 100 miles from the White House, high enough to discourage mosquitoes, and good trout fishing. There’s only three cabins left standing and two chimneys. They had great photos and descriptions of how it used to look in the old days. One of the things I’ve loved about these woods are the animals. There were so many deer, turkey and grouse and I even saw more bears. After hiking to Lewis Falls a couple hiking down told me there was a couple of bears up the trail. There was a mama bear laying down napping and she had two cubs draped over her and another two were playing around before they settled down to sleep. It was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. It was like a Wild America episode.


I’ve decided I actually like the North Carolina section of the Parkway the best out of the last 570 miles. It just felt wilder and had more history to it. Through Virginia it mostly passed through people’s backyards and the overlooks were of cities. One interesting thing I did learn at Shenandoah National Park was about segregation. I’ve been to about 12 National Parks this trip and I have never seen this issue addressed before. Virginia was solidly segregated in the 1930’s and when they established Shenandoah as the first national park in VA, it was just assumed to be segregated. They even had an old sign that said “Negro Only Picnic Area”. By the 1950’s it was fully desegregated. My reasoning for this was that the big Western parks (Yellowstone, Glacier, Grand Canyon, etc.) were designed to be reached by rail travel and then you had to stay at the various lodges in the park therefore only very rich people could afford the luxury of seeing these places. Shenandoah, being close to major metropolitan areas, was more accessible as a park to all levels of people.

Well now I can say I’ve driven the entire Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive. There were 2 sections of the Parkway closed though so I will have to come back and finish those off. It would be amazing to come back in the fall and see everything with the leaves changed.

August 3, 2009

Blue Ridge Parkway

While I was posting my last blog, I was sitting in Gatlinburg, TN waiting for the rain to let up. It was noon by the time I got done and I still had a ways to go so I headed out in the rain. I did the Roaring Fork Motor Trail. It is a beautiful road. It’s steep and windy and one way and very narrow but it’s worth it. Within 5 minutes I saw a mama bear and three cubs cross the road in front of me. There were old cabins scattered around and one beautiful waterfall located right next to the road. What I like about waterfalls out here is how they cascade over the side of a hill, rather than roaring straight down. One thing that angers me though is how freakin slow people drive. The speed limit was 10mph and they literally were going 3 miles an hour. I drive a manual and it really hurts my leg to keep my foot constantly on the clutch. I got them all to pull over though. I just can’t maintain that slow of a speed. The first cabin I went to there was a loop trail around through the forest and I grabbed my biggest umbrella and set off in the rain. It went by an old mill that still had the troughs set up which was cool. After that, the rain let up and the sun started peeking through which I was grateful for. I headed back to Great Smoky Mountains and drove the Newfound Gap road. It’s the main road through the park. The Appalachian trail mostly parallels this road and at the TN/NC state line you can hike a bit of it. I went about 500 feet but it was too muddy so I turned around but at least I can say hiked it. I drove a spur road up to Clingman’s Dome and then hiked ½ mile straight up to an observation tower. This is the highest point of the parkway and it was just surrounded by clouds. I did spot a nice pair of redneck boys however.
My next stop was the Mingus Mill. When I saw it I was convinced that it’s the mill in all the puzzles I did as a kid. It has a water trough leading to it and there’s an overflow section and the water pours down and it was really pretty. It’s still in operation.
I went to a Mountain Farm Museum which had a bunch of different farm buildings like the house, barn, apple shed, meat shed, ash hopper, etc as well as an orchard and a garden. It was really cute. They even had 2 hogs and one rooster. After that I went to my campground and when I checked in I told them I’d camped previously at the other campground so I knew all the rules. Well they didn’t give me a map of the campground and just told me my site and it took me 20 minutes to find the damn thing! It was D33 and at the end of the road was D32 and I drove all over (sometimes the wrong way on a one way road) and I could not locate it. I finally parked and stomped around looking for it and wouldn’t you know it was right behind where I parked my car. It was very frustrating.
The next day I started on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It runs 469 miles connecting Great Smoky Mountains NP and Shenandoah NP and I started it right at the very end. It is a gorgeous road. There are so many overlooks but I had a guidebook and only went to the listed ones. I wasn’t a half hour into in when my check engine light came on. I panicked. I had made it 6000 miles and now a problem occurs. Luckily I was right by a turnoff so I headed into a town a few miles away and found a garage. They diagnosed it as some sensor malfunctioning (apparently it looks like an oxygen sensor but isn’t). It has something to do with emissions and the guy has apparently replaced a bunch of them in the past few weeks. He said he could get the part in Tuesday and I said, no I will be a few hundred miles away by that point. I tried to ascertain whether or not I could still drive when he told me that if I let it go it would melt my catalytic converter. I decided to head out anyway and as soon as I turned my car on and hit the road it went off. Ugh! The Parkway was started in 1937 but wasn’t completed until 1987. My plan was to stick to the Parkway with a few exceptions. Sliding Rock was my first exception. I don’t know where I found out about this but it’s a huge rock with a stream running down it and it ends in a big pool and people just line up and slide right on down. The line was very long so I waited a half hour and only went once. It was so much fun even though the water was freezing! I think it was only in the 50’s.
The next diversion was Asheville, NC and I did not enjoy it. First of all, Jack let me down again and could not locate the Biltmore no matter what I typed in and there was no good signage. I finally stopped at a Sheraton and asked for directions. I had planned to splurge at the Biltmore because my park pass got me in free everywhere but I thought it was $20 and I heard it was worth it. Well, I got there and asked the lady what the cheapest way to see the Biltmore is and it’s freakin $55 for basic admission!! I was astounded. I would like a personal guided tour with a 5 course meal and souvenir wineglasses for that price. I guess I’ll go home and do the virtual tour because there is no way I would pay $55 to see some old house even if it is the largest in America. Ugh! I got back on the Parkway and went to the Folk Art Museum. I noticed my eyes were starting to hurt so I put my sunglasses on and when I did I hit my eye and it hurt like hell. I went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror and I looked like a coke addict on a bender. My eyes were bloodshot and swollen and bright red and had ick in them. I thought when in the heck did I develop pinkeye!? I concluded it must have been from that cesspool I’d gone sliding into. I was a mess and did not want to be seen in public so I went to a few more overlooks and then went to find a campground. Ugh! What a freakin mess of a day.
I was worried I would wake up the next day with my eyes crusted shut but they were only a little irritated. 12 hour pinkeye I guess. I hiked to Crabtree Falls and it was beautiful! The trail was a little scary because it was still very cloudy and misty and it was right in the thick of the forest. I felt like I should have a rifle and a coonskin cap. The falls were amazing and I’m glad I hiked out there. I mostly stopped at overlooks and did a few short hiking trails today. I did go into Linville to a shop called Everything Scottish but it wasn’t as great as I thought it would be. It was the same old stuff they sell at celtic festivals. I’m surprised at how slow the Parkway is. Granted it’s been raining off and on but I thought it would be a lot busier for a weekend. Good for me though. I went to an old mansion that now sells crafts and it was nice to see the rich side of life since usually it’s just old log cabins. I did stop by the Brinegar Cabin and the lady lived in it after the Parkway was built but she moved in the 1940’s because it got too noisy. I also stopped at the Puckett Cabin and the lady who lived there was a midwife and delivered over 1000 babies, all the way up until she was 102! What I love about this section of America is the music. I listened to bluegrass and celtic music most of the way (with one exceptional rock out to the Black Eyed Peas). It’s funny how you can tell where you are based on the music. Out west it’s all Spanish and Indian chant but out here they love the bluegrass. I stopped at the Mabry Mill which is the most photographed mill (I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a puzzle with this as the subject too). In fact it’s so famous, Iowa and Vermont have put it on postcards advertising their states! I thought that was really funny. I’m loving this part of the trip because I haven’t planned anything out. I don’t know how many miles I’ll go or where I’ll camp and it’s kind of nice. I just hope I make it to Amy’s on time next Saturday!