USA-C2C Archives

July and August 2006 - Month(s) in Review

2006-08-30T21:18:00.000-04:00

Victory lap? Do-Over? An excuse to take a few weeks off work? Whatever you want to call it, our return trip to several Mid Atlantic and New England destinations was fantastic. Some places we saw for the first time; others we saw with entirely new perspectives. We even remembered to take pictures this time around. Look for new and improved reviews of New Bedford Whaling NHP, Boston NHP, Minute Man NHP and Saratoga National NHP in the coming month as well as loads of brand new reviews. In the meantime, here is our totally biased assessment of the summer months.

Miles Traveled (in Altima) – 2,112

Most Interesting Sign – Mazel Wok, name of a Kosher Chinese restaurant in Woodbourne, New York.

Most Interesting Town Names – Drive east on I-84 through Pennsylvania and you will go through Promised Land on your way to Lord’s Valley.

We are quite happy that our mailing address is not Coxsackie, New York.

Best Opportunity to Test Michael’s “Jacket of the Year” (Worst Weather Day) – We may have had more days of rain on this short jaunt than in the entire trip. July 22 and 23 in Albany, N.Y. were particularly soggy. A thunderstorm soaked us and had us running for cover on July 28th in Boston. But what is the best surefire way to bring on a torrential downpour? That’s right, pitch the tent and build a fire! A short hike to a beaver dam near Chittenden Brook (Green Mountain NF, Vt.) turned into a cross country trail run when Michael’s barometer reading took a dive and we realized we hadn’t put the rain cover up yet. We made it back just as the first of many, many drops began to fall.

Highest Thermostat Reading – Holy heat wave! Temperatures were above 90 degrees almost every day in July. There were rumors of 100+ days in Hartford, Conn. but we don’t have any photographic evidence. Most Talked About Natural Phenomenon – The Raven. Michael had a rare chance to see his favorite bird inside Fort Warren on St. George’s Island in the Boston Harbor Islands NRA. The New England Aquarium and a local wildlife refuge were there to entertain weekend visitors. Kids flocked towards the tiny screech owl and starfish, crabs and other crustaceans in water-filled bins, but Michael only had eyes for the Raven.

"Are ravens rally as smart as they say they are? Can they really problem solve?" Michael asked as the raven tried to untie her bindings. We can’t tell if we entertained or annoyed the young volunteer from the refuge with our barrage of questions and commentary. Gab steered her eager partner away from the table as he was saying, Are ravens your favorite bird because they’re my favorite bird. I really like ravens…..

Most Talked About Unnatural Phenomenon – The influx of folks from “The City” and all that comes with it (more tourism and infusion of cash in local communities – good; increased cost of living and crowds – not so good) was a constant in most conversations we overheard in upstate New York.

Most Beautiful View – Sunrise Burlington! A corner room at the Wyndham Hotel in Burlington, Vt. gave us a stunning view of sailboats and Lake Champlain. We woke early to watch the sun come up and the city come to life. As good as any Sunrise Earth episode on the Discovery Channel.

Incidentally, a few days later we recognized the setting for Sunrise Earth’s “Milk Cows in the Morning” when we stopped at the Marsh Billings Rockefeller NHP in Woodstock, Vt.

Ugliest Park Site Surroundings – Steamtown NHS, Scranton, Pa. We guess there are worse things you can do with an abandoned train yard than make it into a National Park site. But the adjacent mall and parking garage do little for the aesthetics of an already dubious destination.

Most Beautiful Park Site Surroundings – Vermont. Yes, all of it. Before we reached the state, we didn’t want to buy into the all the hype about its lush greenery, rolling hills and striking mountain scenery. Consider us convinced. Vermont just may tie West Virginia as the most beautiful state east of the Mississippi.

Most Unusual Place to Upload www.usa-c2c.com – The one coffee shop in Quincy, Mass. That was not a Starbucks or a Dunkin’ Donuts. The place itself was not that unusual. The fact that it took us all morning to find it was.

Liveliest City Center (Towns) – Burlington, Vt. Have you ever driven into a town that seemed so darn near perfect that you wondered if you drove into a parallel universe? We immediately fell in love with Burlington, Vermont. Great food, friendly folks, restaurants and bars with plenty of outdoor seating, a lakeshore park, large pedestrian-only street in the middle of downtown…Man! Burlington is nice!

Dullest City Center (Towns) – Hanover, N.H. We drove to the home of Dartmouth hoping to grab some lunch, walk around campus and maybe even spend the night. We were surprised to find, well, we didn’t find anything interesting along the main streets of a city we thought would be fun to explore.

Number of Capitol Buildings Visited This Month – Six! (Seven including Harrisburg) Technically, we haven’t toured the inside of our Nation’s Capitol yet but we circumnavigated its grounds all day. That counts, right?

Most Beautiful and Ugliest Capitol Buildings – Nope. Not this time. The last time we called out a capitol of a state which was home to some of our friends, we never heard the end of it. All the capitols we saw this month were equally beautiful. Really they were.

Biggest Disappointment(s) – The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington DC. I guess we expected more than walls and waterfalls. The tribute to one of our favorite president’s was probably our least favorite DC stop. Long, crowded, uninspiring. Sigh.

Finding the Zane Gray Museum in the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River closed until further notice was also a bummer.

Most Pleasant Surprise – On the way home from a long day at Harper’s Ferry NHP, we decided to stop in the small town of Brunswick, Md. where a passport stamp for the C&O Canal NHP was rumored to reside. While searching the streets for anything resembling a Visitor Center, we heard an ungodly roar. We turned a corner to find two NASCAR cars gunning their engines for eager fans. Yes folks, we had stumbled on to Brunswick’s “NASCAR Day” and were rewarded with up close and personal views of the car Tony Stewart ran last year in Chicago. Michael was a little more excited than he will admit.

Most Unpleasant Surprise – Tickets to the top of the Washington Monument were sold out by 9 am the Saturday we drove to DC. We hadn’t even boarded the metro at Shady Grove by then! The ticket attendant told us people often began lining up by 6:30 am on summer days. At that point, we were still in bed. Helpful hint: you can reserve tickets online at http://reservations.nps.gov/ before you go and pick them up at the small kiosk in front of the Monument. A small service fee applies.

Proudest Accomplishment – Filling the tank for under $3/gallon every time - no small task when traveling through Connecticut and Rhode Island, states infamous for pricy petrol.

Unsolved Mystery – Why is there no affordable place to stay between Narrowsburg, Pa. and Albany, N.Y.? Did you know that Poughkeepsie, N.Y. is a top tourist destination? We didn’t.

Mystery Solved – More like revealed in all its glory. We finally saw the inside of Fenway Park! More on this later….

The “Fancy Meeting You Here” Award – When Michael and the Ranger at the Martin Van Buren NHS started chatting while waiting for the next house tour to begin, we learned that he had been stationed at the Tall Grass Prairie National Preserve when we were there two years ago. He recognized Gab!!

Runner Up: A flooded basement and a found address book put one of Gab’s coolest friends back in touch with her a few weeks before this leg of the trip. We promptly took him up on his “if you’re ever back in Boston…” invitation and spent 4 fabulous days in Winthrop, Mass. With Bill and his fiancé Carol watching the planes go by.

Most Gluttonous Day – Even though we had already polished off a huge grilled steak dinner at Leunig’s Bistro (thank you, early bird special!) we simply couldn’t leave Burlington, Vt. without another taste of American Flatbread. We topped off the night with a small flatbread to go and savored fond memories of our days in Burlington.

Best Sporting Experience – Boston Red Sox vs. Anaheim Angels at Fenway Park. This is when having some friends who know a city really helps. We drove to the stadium and parked just steps away from Yawkey Way, where we stocked up with food and drink and chatted with the nice lady on stilts. After a few laps around the interior, we tried a few different views of the game: first in standing room only, then in our proper seats in the bleachers and then, into four impossibly empty seats in the loge level behind third base. We watched extra innings from padded seats in the shade.

Much as we hate to admit it, Fenway is a classic American sports venue, even better than Boston Red Sox fans tell you it is. And we all know how modest they are. July 29 was a perfect day. A million thanks to Bill and Carol for making it happen.

Most Scenic Drive (Highways) – Route 100 through Vt, along the Mad River. A rainy morning gave way to sunshine peeking through the clouds as we toured small towns, stopped at country stores and got out to take photos of covered bridges and waterfalls right next to the road. Route 100 was made for road trips and leisurely drives.

Best Day Hike – A 4-mile morning walk along the carriage paths at the Marsh Billings Rockefeller NHP. We had time to waste before the 10 am tour and hot coffee to drink so we set out into the woods and found ourselves at a duck pond just as the morning light was just right.

Highest Price for Gas – $2.99/gallon, Cumberland Farms, Foxboro, Mass. Phew! This price was actually 5 cents higher than its listing on http://www.gasbuddy.com/ earlier that morning.

Lowest Price for Gas – $2.57/gallon, Giant Foods, Hershey, Pa. Frequent grocery trips to Giant resulted in 30 cents off each gallon with our rewards card. Can’t beat that.

Most Out of the Way Site – Boston Harbor Islands NRA. Ok, it wasn’t that far, but you do need your own boat or a ticket for the ferry to get there. Any place where there is a chance of being stranded by water transport counts as out of the way.

Best Pizza – Any pie from American Flatbread, Burlington, Vt. You can’t go wrong.

Most Helpful Roadside Stop – The Ranger Station (give specific location) in Washington DC. You could track down each stamp and brochure from each DC NPS site, of which there are dozens. Or you could just GET THEM ALL RIGHT HERE. Michael distracted the Ranger with talk of the weather while Gab furiously stamped away and tried not to hyperventilate with excitement.

Most Inappropriately Named Rest Stop – State Liquor Store Rest Stop, I-93, N.H. How was that approved by the highway commission, we wonder?

Best Burger – CH Evans Brewing Company/Albany Pump Station, Albany, N.Y. Gab built her own with gorgonzola and bacon while Michael opted for the signature Pump Station Burger, a delicious concoction which blends beer, bbq sauce and scallions right into the patty. Mmmm…burgers…..

Best Smelling Factory – Ben and Jerry’s Factory Tour, Waterbury, Vt. Is this place really a factory? The tour was slick, perhaps a little too slick, and is it really a “free” sample when you paid 3 bucks to get on the tour? Either way, the scent of ice cream is in the air and it smells good.

Best Giant Statues – Uncle Sam, Santa Clause AND Mighty Mouse (on an elephant no less) are all standing tall in the parking lot to greet visitors at Magic Forest Park, south of Lake George, N.Y.

Best Missing Statue – There are four alcoves on the Saratoga Monument but only 3 statues. The officer who, by most accounts, was the hero of Saratoga was purposefully omitted. Poor Benedict Arnold.

Almost Celebrity Sightings – Gab swears Gallagher and Dr. Z, Daimler Chrysler’s new spokesperson were sitting next to us at American Flatbread in Burlington or at least dead ringers for the two D-list celebrities.

There was a case of mistaken identity at the shipping docks in New Bedford, Mass. A fisherman saw us wandering around with cameras and asked, “are you guys from the newspaper?” He was absolutely baffled that we would choose to vacation in New Bedford and that we thought the ships were photo-worthy.

Best Campground – Chittenden Brook Campground, Green Mountain National Forest, Vt. Many thanks to the forest ranger in Warren, Vt for making the recommendation. Tucked away in the Green Mountains, this beautiful campground next to a babbling brook was shady, clean, comfortable, and hardly crowded. We spotted just a few other campers on our evening walk around the grounds. Even with the rain, we are glad we camped here.

Worst Driving Experience – Traveling north on Routes 9 and 9N alongside Lake George, N.Y. It wasn’t horrible, just unexpected. We expected a quiet scenic drive with a lake view, not a bustling, crowded chain of resort towns filled with factory outlets, mini golf, motels and boat rentals. Kids and families everywhere! Now we know.

Biggest Stretch – Scranton, Pa. as a National Historic Site. We won’t elaborate. This is kind of like picking on the scrawniest kid in class.

Harpers Ferry, WV • Dillsburg, PA • Brunswick, MD • Frederick, MD • DIllsburg, PA • Shady Grove, MD • Washington DC • Hershey, PA • Scranton, PA • Greentown, PA • Lackawaxen, PA • Narrowsburg, PA • Woodbourne, NY • New Paltz, NY • Albany, NY • Kinderhook, NY • Catskill, NY •Hudson, NY • Colonie, NY • Waterford, NY • Saratoga, NY • Schuylerville, NY • Lake George, NY • Bolton Landing, NY • Ticonderoga, NY • Burlington, VT • Waterbury, VT • Montpelier, VT • Inasville, VT • Waitsfield, VT • Warren, VT •Rochester, VT • Woodstock, VT • Hanover, NH • Concord, NH • Lexington, MA • Concord, MA • Winthrop, MA • Boston, MA • Cambridge, MA • Quincy, MA • Dorchester, MA • Foxboro, MA • Providence, RI • New Bedford, MA • Newport, RI • Hartford, CT • Scranton, PA •

Harpers Ferry NHP • Old Post Office Tower NM • World War II National Memorial • John Paul Jones Nacional Memorial • Department of the Interior Museum • Constitution Gardens • 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence Memorial • Vietnam Veterans Memorial • Lincoln Memorial • Korean War Veterans Memorial • DC War Memorial • Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial • George Mason Memorial • Thomas Jefferson Memorial • Ford’s Theatre NHS • Peterson House • Steamtown NHS • Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River • Martin Van Buren NHS • Thomas Cole NHS • Saratoga NHP • Marsh Billings Rockefeller NHP • Saint Gaudens NHS • Minute Man NHP • John F. Kennedy Birthplace NHS • Longfellow NHS • Boston NHP • Boston Harbor Islands NRA • Boston African American NHS • Adams NHP • JFK Presidencial Library • Roger Williams NM • New Bedford Whaling NHP • Touro Synagogue •

May and June 2006 - Month(s) in Review

2006-08-30T08:11:00.000-04:00

We’re Baa-ack! Yes it’s been a while since the last compilation of all that’s good and/or unusual from our travels. But here we are. This edition of our Best Ofs includes highlights from Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia and of course, PA.Best Weather Day – Hard to choose, but probably May 4th, in and around Washington DC. We had nothing but sunshine and pleasant warmth, a perfect day to play hooky from work.

Best Opportunity to Test Michael’s “Jacket of the Year” (Worst Weather Day) – June 1st. We were fully prepared to camp along the Youghiogheny River, but 90+ degree weather, near 100% humidity and ominous skies made us think better of it. We had just finished our meal in Morgantown, W. Va. when the heavens opened and lightning blazed across the sky. We were soaked in the short distance between the car and the entrance to our hotel room, where we watched the nightlong downpour.

Thank God We’re Not Here Next Month Award – Washington D.C. The humidity was just starting to seep into our pores as we tried to navigate the Parkways and walked through Georgetown. Michael’s years in DC tell him that DC is one of the last places one wants to be in July or August. (But wait a minute, we will be here in July and August…)

Most Effective Billboard Slogan – “Free Beer Fridays”, Georgia Street BBQ, Smithfield, Pa.

Most Interesting Sign – “National Chainsaw Carving Contest, June 15th,” Somerset County, Pa.

Strangest Endorsement – Tie. Nate Dogg’s Beer to Go, along I-40 in Fayette County, Penna and the Samuel Hagar Post of the American Legion, Port Marion, Pa.

Most Talked About Natural Phenomenon – The rising Susquehanna River. Days and days of thunderstorms the last week in June freaked out those in flood-prone areas of Harrisburg, Pa. The first two days of Harrisburg’s American Music Fest were prematurely cancelled. City Island went underwater. The Harrisburg Senators were rerouted to their opponent’s field AND the Beach Boys concert was repositioned to take place right in front of our windows. We think Harrisburg may have overreacted, but better safe than sorry, we suppose.

Most Beautiful View – Great Falls, whether that’s the Maryland side or the Virginia side will depend upon which Sedor you ask.

Ugliest Park Site Surroundings – Claude Moore Colonial Farm (part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway). Colonial Farm Road is also the entrance road to the George Bush Center for Intelligence a/k/a CIA Headquarters. The CIA land forms the Park’s heavily guarded eastern border. The Farm Visitor Center is a non-descript and poorly marked mobile classroom unit. A flimsy red and white homemade sign labeled Colonial Farm should point you into the gravel parking lot. (We missed the sign and continued to an indomitable CIA entrance a few hundred yards down the road where we turned around).

Thankfully, the Colonial Farm is positioned so that once through its entrance gates, the high fences, paved roads and security check points of the modern world are undetectable.

Biggest Disappointment – Thomas Stone NHS, the only NPS site dedicated to a signer of the Declaration of Independence for no other reason other than he was a signer. Whoop de doo.
Unsolved Mystery – How do we get to Theodore Roosevelt Island from the George Washington Parkway!?!?

Mystery Solved – We leave the car at our friends’ apartment, take the metro to Rosslyn and walk. That’s the plan for the next jaunt down to DC.

Most Gluttonous Day – Did we really need a giant soft pretzel AND a BBQ sandwich AND a BBQ platter at Camden Yards? Well, yes.

Cheapest Ballgame Ticket – $17 for ridiculously good seats at Camden Yards, Baltimore, Md. We sat in the first row of the right field bleachers for Kevin Thompson’s debut as a Yankee and a major leaguer. He is now Gab’s new favorite Yankee.

Most Expensive Ballgame Ticket – $20 for mid-level seats at Yankee Stadium, the Bronx, NYC. Sure, the difference in ticket price is minimal. Add parking, lunch and a few beers at Yankee Stadium prices and we can see why Yankee’s fans make frequent trips to Baltimore.

Best Sporting Experience – Wait! We almost forgot! We got into a Harrisburg Senators Game for FREE. Gab’s cousin was in town as an umpire and got us tickets to a Saturday game on City Island. Even better, we persuaded Gab’s dad to come along. This was his first trip to the Senators Stadium since they added bleachers (that’s a looong time ago). He had such a good time we are hoping he joins us more often. What’s better than hearing an old timer yell out “that’s a can o’ corn!” every time an easy out pops into the outfield?

Best Short Hike – Along the boardwalks from the Great Falls Tavern and Museum to the Maryland side of the Great Falls of the Potomac. Great blue herons flew overhead, the Falls roared in the distance and everyone on the walk was celebrating the glorious spring day.

Highest Price for Gas – $2.88/gal, Citgo, Accokeek, Md

Lowest Price for Gas – $2.46/gal, Giant, Mechanicsburg, Pa. Note: accumulated points on our Giant Bonus Card got us a 30 cent a gallon savings. Fill ‘er up!

Most Out of the Way Site – Friendship Hill NHS. Poor Mrs. Gallatin. This young socialite was not the biggest fan of New Geneva’s rustic setting.

Best Ballpark Cuisine – Boog’s BBQ at Camden Yards

Best Bartender and Best Pizza - Scotty and pizza at the Subway Café, Herr Street, Harrisburg, Pa. are shoe-ins for these categories any time we are in Harrisburg.

Best Waiter/Waitress – Summer, on the deck at the West Virginia Brewing Company, Morgantown, WV. This sweet, dreadlocked darling steered us towards the best sandwiches, hooked us up with freshly delivered fries and gave a frank explanation of why there were no longer any beer specials – “you see, we are just starting to distribute and we need to make some money somewhere.” Fair enough.

Best Tour Guide – The NPS Ranger at the Clara Barton NHS. Her tour group consisted of a German businessman and us. Questions ranged from wartime logistics to internal workings of the Red Cross to international treaties and agreements both past and present. She tried to address each inquiry as thoroughly and neutrally as possible, never giving a hint of her own political leanings or preferences. A true professional.

Most Helpful Roadside Stop – The Youghiogheny Overlook Maryland VC on 68 towards Cumberland, Md. Finally, a chance to restock our supply of maps and hotel coupon books. Free wildflower seed mix!

Worst Acting in a National Park Service Film – The disemboweled head of Mr. Albert Gallatin at Friendship Hill NHS. The Ranger explained that there used to be a full bodied hologram projected in the middle of the VC lobby, but constant malfunctions shrunk this ambitious project down to its present state – a video of the head of the hologram.

Most Unexpected Local Pronunciation – The Youghiogheny (yuck-kah-GAY-nee) River, Western Pa. Actually, its not really unexpected since we are from P.A.

Best Fast Food – Regular Roast Beef Sandwich, Roy Rogers, Frederick, Md. There are no more Roys in Harrisburg so a regular RB and a red birch beer en route to DC are special treats.

Best Smelling Factory – Stroehmann’s Pennsylvania Dutch Bakers, Paxton Street, Harrisburg, Pa. This has been the benchmark for all other best smelling factories. It doesn’t smell all the time. In fact, the aroma of baking bread wafts onto the highway when you least expect it.

Best American Kabuki – Dizzy Rascal, he’s a dizzy Rascal!

Largest Measuring Device – The canal water gauge painted right on the side of the Cushwa Warehouse, C&O Canal, Williamsport, Md.

Worst Driving Experience – Missing our exit at least three times on the George Washington Memorial Parkway. In our defense, the LBJ Memorial Grove can only be reached going northbound. The good news is we landed right in front of the Netherlands Carillon and the USMC Memorial – 2 other NPS sites on our list to visit.

Biggest Stretch – Trying to write a “Best of” for two months where we have seen more sunrises on the Discovery Channel than we have from a tent. We will be straying a little further from home next month. Stay tuned as we return to New England in July. New Hampshire and Vermont, here we come!

Harrisburg, PA • Frederick, MD • Glen Echo, MD • McLean, VA • Tysons Corner, VA • Arlington, VA • Roslyn, VA • Washington, DC • Oxon Hill, MD • Waldorf, MD • La Plata, MD • Port Tobacco, MD • Accokeek, MD • Washington DC • Harrisburg, PA • Somerset, PA • Farmington, PA • New Geneva, PA • Morgantown, WV • Cumberland, MD • Hancock, MD • Williamsport, MD • Sharpsburg, MD • Towson, MD • Baltimore, MD •

Clara Barton NHS • Glen Echo Park • Clara Barton Parkway • George Washington MEM PKWY • Great Falls Tavern and Museum • Claude Moore Colonial Farm • Great Falls Park • Wolf Trap Farm and Pavilion • Thomas Stone NHS • Piscataway Park • National Colonial Farm • Fort Washington • Fort Foote • Oxon Hill • Marine Corps War Memorial • Netherlands Carillon • Old Stone House • C&O Canal NHP • Fort Necessity NB • Friendship Hill NHS • C&O Canal NHP • Antietam NB • Hampton NHS • Fort McHenry NHS •

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Bad News for Park Budgets

2006-05-08T21:22:00.000-04:00

Happy Easter! We hope that you enjoyed the beautiful spring weekend. Sadly, an article in Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer about severe budget cuts to the National Parks was anything but sunny.

Matt Stearn's article entitled, National Parks Ordered to Squeeze Budgets, Forcing Cuts in Services, reports that, the Bush administration has ordered the United States' national parks to show that they can function at 80 percent or less of their operating budgets, and that's forcing some parks to cut services for visitors as summer approaches.

80%! As you know from our Site Reviews, NPS sites already operate on shoestring budgets. In many sites volunteers take the place of, rather than supplement, park rangers. We have already encountered truncated seasons and limited hours of operations. Interpretive tours and ranger talks, once plentiful and free, are fading fast into memory like a $2 gallon of gas.

For instance, Gettysburg National Military Park..., which just began its core operations analysis, no longer has a historical architect or a monument preservationist...The park has 1,300 monuments and 148 historic structures.Are America's National Parks and the Great American Road Trip in danger? We know what we think; tell us your thoughts at gabandmichael@usa-c2c.com.

After

2006-03-21T07:19:00.000-05:00

Gab:

- Is it over?
-How was The Trip?
-Did you get to all the places you wanted to see?
-Are you sad to be back?

I should probably have some standard responses by now. There has been no conversation/email/phone call since Christmas that didn’t include one or more of these questions. Most of the time all of them at once, showered on me like confetti.

The short answers:
-No, not yet.
-Great. Wonderful. Better than we ever could have dreamed.
-Kind of.
-No! Yes! Kind of….

I am flattered by the inquiries. They mean that my friends, colleagues and even acquaintances noticed that I was gone. In fact, many of them followed our adventures pretty faithfully, either online or via the Sunday Travel Section in the Patriot News every month.

But the newspaper gig ended in January and with such a backlog of site reviews, it is hard to tell where we are anymore just by checking the site. So, about once a week we get an email from one of our pals wondering,

“Where are you? Are you finished yet?”

It is a legitimate question. But I am never prepared to answer. Somehow, even after months of practice, I get caught off guard. I start to stutter and go off onto this long-winded explanation of the park sites that are remaining and how we have to wait until Memorial Day to go back to New England and the dozens of DC sites are just a short drive away and….At this point, my listener’s eyes start to glaze and I wonder if I am that person that people wish they never would have sat next to on the bus.

Why is it so hard for me to say that we are back to work full-time now? That we just rented a beautiful apartment in downtown Harrisburg? That the Nissan is in the parking lot getting some much deserved rest and waiting patiently for a car wash? Hey man, after a solid 18 months of living out of our car and sleeping on the ground and coming up with new stories as to why we are in This Town, Texas or That City, Iowa when it didn’t seem like the 2-year cross country road trip explanation was going to cut it with the audience, we are once again legit.

Sigh. A moment of silence, please.

Some days, most days actually, this is a wonderful feeling. I am a Taurus and a nester by nature. I am doing now what I longed to do many times at the end of a long drive: unpack, unwind, stretch out, relax in a space that was my own. Not worry about who might pull into the campsite next to us, where the car is parked or if our gear is safe in the cheap motel room while we go grab something to eat.

Other days, being “legit” doesn’t seem to suit me at all. Like today, as I sit at my laptop pounding out emails for work at 11 pm on a Sunday night and mentally preparing myself for what I know will be a grueling week. I think to myself, this time last year, I was in Arizona, watching baseball at spring training, exploring ancient cliff dwellings, hiking through fields of cacti and strange lava formations, getting ready to drive to Santa Fe to celebrate one year on the road with a delicious meal.

This week marks the two-year anniversary of USA-C2C.

I have to keep reminding myself that It Is Not Over Yet.

This is hard now that we finally have a couch, I found my favorite fuzzy bathrobe and I spend my Saturday morning, not mapping out the best route from the motel to the nearest coffee shop to the visitors center, but exploring alternate routes between the Ikea and the Trader Joes from the PA Turnpike.

It will be hard, but not impossible.

There are at least six large boxes of things we mailed home from the road. Pamphlets, maps, books we finished reading, coasters, magnets, free stuff we won in trivia contests. They are postmarked from Florida, Montana, Washington, California. I am trying to pick the right day to delve into those treasure chests and unearth the booty.

Would I be exaggerating if I said we had at least a hundred thousand photos of the trip? I don’t think so. The next step is to frame our favorites and cover these empty walls with the scenes I need to see again to know that they really happened.

Our acquired knick-knacks won’t be mementos; they will be miniature monuments to the places where they were found. The photos won’t serve as memorials to the last two years, but as motivators. Motivators to continue what we started, to practice what we have been preaching about making time not finding it, to finally visit every single national park area in the continental United States.

Whatever that number may be.

How Many Parks?

2006-03-13T09:13:00.000-05:00

Michael:

How many National Parks Sites are we traveling to? The better question is how many are there?

388 National Parks Units. That’s what the cover of the “Official National Parks Guide” says. We have seen the same 388 in ads and park pamphlets and heard it quoted by Rangers and know-it-alls.

When we began the trip, we took out the “Official Guide” and subtracted the 30 sites in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and the American Samoa. The book actually lists 31, but there is a Klondike Gold Rush NHP Unit in Seattle so at 30 it stood.

388-30=358.

Now the National Park Service, as you probably know from glancing at our website, breaks their Parks down into an indecipherable alphabet soup of classifications. NP, NPRES, NHS, NHP, WSR and NS to name a few. They stand for, of course, National Parks, National Preserves, National Historic Sites, National Historical Parks, Wild and Scenic Rivers and National Seashores respectively.

Luckily, the same “Official Guide” denotes groups of these classifications with six pictograms. We decided to travel to all but one group, the sunglasses group, defined as “set aside purely for recreational use”. At the time, we felt these were not essential for a ‘complete’ trip. This group of 44 included Nat’l Lakeshores, Seashores, Rivers and Recreation Areas.

358-44=314. That number is do-able in two years.

Early on in the trip, a surly Yankee Ranger taunted Michael, “Oh, so the Recreation Areas aren’t important enough for you to go to? Don’t they count?”

314+44=358.

Traveling to the Recreation Areas has brought its plusses and minuses. The Lakeshores, Seashores and urban NRA’s are terrific. Our trip would not have been the same without them. The NRA’s created by dams and the National Rivers, unnecessary, forgettable and out of our budget because we do not have a boat. There is nothing for us to do at most of these places.

The number wavers.

For sanity’s sake (or lack thereof), when you count the number of Parks with entries in the “Official Guide” you only come up with 377. Turns out, we shouldn’t have been counting down, we should have been counting up.

It is not just our number that wavers.

Either way, a goal is still a goal. To date, we have been to 290 of the 346 official Parks in the continental United States. Nearly 84%.

Somehow, we have managed to write 314 Site Ratings. Sure we have written about non-Park Sites like Presidential Libraries, Hall of Fames and doubled up with mega Sites like Yellowstone, but we have skipped writing a few reviews as well. Why are there 40 more reviews than places visited?

The NPS has these things called “Affiliate Sites”. They are a part of the park system but are under someone else’s jurisdiction. Most of the time, they are privately owned and you must pay to get in; sort of an outsourced National Park. (Get used to it; outsourced Parks are the way of the future). There are also National Heritage Areas and National Scenic Trails, which are kind of, sort of Parks but not really. Sometimes they get the brochure and more frequently, nowadays, they get the Parks Passport Stamp.

Check out the online list of National Park Passport Stamp locations. The list of Parks here easily tops 500 and it is growing. This list gives us nightmares.

But back to the pertinent questions. “How many Park Sites are you traveling to?” and “Are you going to get to them all?”

47 of the 56 remaining Sites are east of the Mississippi. Good news for gasoline use. Fingers crossed, we plan to hit them all within the next year. Ten in Maryland, ten in Pennsylvania and the entire District of Columbia. We will be busy.

That leaves nine.

Two are not open to public: Yucca House NM and Hohokam Pima NM, located in Colorado and Arizona, respectively.

Two are just west of the Mississippi and are definites: Ulysses S. Grant NHS, near St. Louis, and Effigy Mounds NHS in Iowa.

That leaves five.

Two are River-based Parks that we have already driven past but did not enter the water or go to a Visitor Center: the Missouri and the Niobrara NSR, both in Nebraska. We are not going back.

That leaves three official National Park Sites that we are not going to get to Lake Chelan NRA in Washington State, Rainbow Bridge NM in Utah and Gila Cliff Dwellings NM in New Mexico.

Lake Chelan and Rainbow Bridge require expensive boat rides down man-made lakes and are cost prohibitive. The road to the Gila Cliff Dwellings was washed out by a flood and we could not linger in Silver City, as much as we may have wanted to.

Currently we are bunkered up in Harrisburg waiting for spring to come and the New England parks to open. That would be Labor Day. It no longer feels like a road trip but in actuality, the hope to see all the National Park Sites within a two year span is ongoing.
It is not going to happen within two years, but it will happen within two and a half. We guarantee that.

Er, except for those three we just mentioned.

October and November 2005 – Month(s) in Review

2006-02-01T11:17:00.000-05:00

Ah October, ‘tis the season for “newlyweds and nearly-deads.” Retirees and honeymooners know that autumn months are just about perfect for traveling and day trips. As we try to digest our multiple Thanksgiving meals and get ready to get back on the road, we reminisce about our warm October days spent in Virginia and the Carolinas and hope that winter won’t come too soon to Washington D.C., our next destination.

Miles Traveled (in Altima) – 4,320 miles

Best Weather Day – October 17-19, Charleston, S.C. Sunny and 80+ degrees. We wore shorts and T-shirts and hundreds of bikini-clad College of Charleston coeds sun-bathed in Marion Square Park.

Most Interesting Sign - “Use less gas; tow your car,” Hitch World, Beckley, W.Va. Huh?

Most Interesting Roadside Attraction – “Vend a MOO.” Ever get a craving for an ice cold glass of milk after midnight? We don’t either, but if you lived in Blacksburg, S.C., you could hop in your car and stop at Vend-A-MOO, which is essentially a trailer the size of a small U-haul with several spigots parked alongside a commercial road. What did we ever do without a “24-hour milk service?”

Most Talked About Natural Phenomenon – Fall colors. October in the Appalachians means the reds, yellows and oranges of changing leaves as well as the highest motel rates of the year. We consulted leaf-changing web-sites, newspaper article and unending word-of-mouth but did not see the peak colors until we returned to Harrisburg, Pa. in mid-November. An unseasonably warm fall delayed western Carolinas leafy show until later in the year than anyone could remember.

The “Thank Goodness We’re Not Here Next Month” Award – All Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Centers were closed by 5 pm November 1 st, even though the fall colors had barely begun. Ice from an early winter storm closed off two sections of the Parkway, forcing us to take some circuitous detours. Locals told us there is no winter maintenance on the Parkway; once winter hits for real, the “Road Closed” gates will go up until spring thaw. Good thing we got our Passport stamps!

Best (non NPS) Historic Site – Monticello, Charlottesville, Va. Virginia and the Carolinas have hundreds of top-shelf historic destinations: Colonial Williamsburg, various founding father plantation homes, Jamestown, Yorktown and innumerable Revolutionary War and Civil War battle sites. Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s home, stands above them all with its pristine grounds, World Heritage Site-level architecture, quirky interior touches and impressive storytelling.

Liveliest City Center (Towns) – Chapel Hill, N.C., or perhaps Charlottesville, Va. We have a hard time deciding which of these college towns wins the prize. Both have impressive college campuses and quaint main streets filled with restaurants and shops. We wouldn’t have minded 4 years in either of these towns. Charleston , S.C., Asheville, N.C. and Knoxville, Tenn. were also lots of fun.

Dullest City Center (Towns) – Spartanburg, S.C. The name says it all.

Strangest Claims to Fame - Middlesboro, Ken. is both the home of Lee Majors and the only town built inside a meteor crater.

Friendliest People – Kill Devil Hills, Outer Banks, N.C. We had very high expectations for the Outer Banks since thousands of Central Pennsylvanians vacation here every summer. What’s the draw? Well besides the world class fishing and pristine national seashores, it might have something to do with the friendly and laid back welcome we felt every place we went. Locals, renters, vacationers, snow birds: very rarely have we seen all of the above co-mingle like at Kill Devil Hills. Limited off-season dining options and a karaoke machine might have had something to do with it.

Longest Day – A 399-miledrive from Chapel Hill, N.C. to Charleston S.C. via Wilmington, N.C. with one Revolutionary War Park Site ( Moore’s Creek NHS) and at least 4 mugs of coffee in-between.

Most Beautiful Capitol Building – Columbia, S.C.

Most Mysterious Capitol Building – Richmond, Va. This big boy is under construction until at least 2007. Good luck getting anywhere near it.

Biggest Disappointment – Gab couldn’t stop sighing as we walked through the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill campus. Why oh why did you wait-list me, Tar Heels?

Most Pleasant Surprise – Finding a Hard Times Café in Fredericksburg, Va. Funny how a big bowl of good hot chili can soothe frazzled nerves after a long day.

Most Unpleasant Surprise – Mosquitoes at the Pea Island National Wildlife Reserve are ruthless! Our morning birding walk came to an abrupt end when we both realized we were covered in bugs and blood. We ran back to the car and watched our bites turn into welts as we vowed not to be lured back into nature without first finding the bug spray.

The “Fancy Meeting You Here” Award – We walked into Colonial Williamsburg and Gab was shocked to hear Michael say, “Hello, I think we’re related!” to a nearby volunteer. It was one of Michael’s mom’s cousins who had relocated to Virginia several years before. Michael recognized the name on the nametag and started up a conversation.

The “We Got Robbed!” Award – TIE
Both Manassas NBP and Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania Counties NMP have decided to waive their entrance fees and simply charge a “user” fee to watch any of the films at their Visitor Centers. Eastern National employees explained that this made the fee “optional.” We explained this made the fee a fee, since our Annual National Parks Pass covers the cost of admission but no additional park fees. We cringe whenever there is a price put on learning, no matter how small.

And speaking of education, did you know that Duke University charges $2 for visitor parking, even on Sundays?!? One would think that the university with the 5 th largest endowment in the United States wouldn’t need to nickel and dime those who want to see its campus. Don’t you guys have enough money?

Best Sporting Experience – October 10 th. Rafting the Upper Gauley River, W.Va.

Most Scenic Drive(National Parks) – The drive to the top of Clingman’s Dome, Great Smoky Mountains NP, Tenn. The dramatic changing fall colors gave way to a winter wonderland as we climbed in elevation; a freak late-October snow shower had draped the scenery with a glistening white coat.

Most Scenic Drive (Highways) – There is a reason the Blue Ridge Parkway (N.C.-Va.) is America’s most famous scenic drive; it is SOOOOOOOOO beautiful.

Best Day Hike – Through the Wilderness Area of the Fredericksburg NBP. Rustling autumn leaves and a light drizzle added to the mystique of the quiet walk through the woods where thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers died in a bloody tangle of bodies and underbrush. Although we had the trail to ourselves, it hardly felt like we were alone. Highest Price for Gas – $2.83 at the RaceWay, Fredericksburg, Va., October 6 th.

Lowest Price for Gas – $2.04 at the Kroger, Roanoke, Va., November 2nd. One mile further down the same road, we saw a $1.99 Petro price tag, the first sub-$2 rate we have seen since mid-March.

Most Out of the Way Site – Cape Lookout NS, Outer Banks, N.C. The closest we got was a sneaking glance through a telescope, located at the landlocked Visitor Center. The National Seashore is accessible only by a privately-hired boat, has no facilities and would have made a troublesome visit given the high winds and unpredictable temperatures of late-hurricane season.

Most Out of the Way Site (Landlocked Version) – Cape Henry NMEM on the Fort Story Military Base, Virginia Beach, Va. The guard at Gate 2 turned us around and sent us to Gate 1 a few miles down the road where our car was searched and our photo IDs were presented. They gave us a visitor’s pass and told us to keep it on the dashboard, next to the alligator.
We carefully kept our cameras pointed at the Memorial and the Cape Henry lighthouses – they are a little strict about these things on active military bases.

Best Local Cuisine – Brunswick stew, Old Dominion Ham Biscuits and Carolina BBQ met us at every turn. Not to mention the Black-eyed Pea Fritters, Low Country Boils and Cheese Grits. We put on a few pounds but it was well worth it.

Best Multi-Tasking – Asheville Pizza and Brewing Company, Asheville, N.C. offers delicious pizza and beer as its name implies, but also a massive game room and a $2 movie theatre. Both Halloween evening showings of the Rocky Horror Picture Show were sold out by the time we found this gem.

Best Tour Guide – Once again a guide from Appalachian Wildwater takes the cake. Kevin steered us safely down the Gauley River in West Virginia. It’s hard not to give this prize to someone who pulled you out of churning whitewater and back into the raft. Twice.

Worst Acting in a National Park Service Film – Michael Longfield was the star of a one man tour de force at Fort Moultrie, part of the Fort Sumter NM, S.C. Michael, listed as “Sergeant” in the credits, portrayed soldiers from the Revolutionary War all the way up to the closing of the Fort in 1947 - using a wide array of costumes, various modes of facial hair and no less than 8 accents. Never mind that the origin of the accent was usually unclear.

Most Disputed Historical Statement – Kings Mountain NMP, Cowpens NB Guilford Courthouse NHS and Ninety Six NHS all claim to be “The Turning Point in the Revolutionary War”.
Best Smelling Factory – The entire town of Winston-Salem, N.C. smells like tobacco, particularly around the RJR Road and King Tobaccoville exits. Just follow the aroma to Tobacco Road.

Best Giant Statue – The “Stonewall” Jackson Memorial at Manassas NBP, Va.. We were amazed by the general’s awesome Superman-like physique. A Ranger at Stonewall Jackson’s Shrine in the Richmond NBP confided that they called this the “Steroid Statue.”

Almost Celebrity Sightings – Who’s that on stage belting out Elvis? We can hardly see her over the dancing and singing crowd. Why, my goodness. Is it…no it can’t be. Yes! It’s GAB, debuting as a karaoke queen at the Jolly Roger in Kill Devil Hills in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Michael has a feeling this will not be her last time behind the mike.

And did you know that Cooter from Dukes of Hazzard fame has his own restaurant in Gatlinburg, Tenn.? We weren’t hungry so we didn’t stop, although the “Cletus here today” marquee was inviting. (now, which one was Cletus?)

Most Excessive Use of Public Funds – Give a Hoot. Don’t Pollute! Wartburg, Tenn. is serious about keeping their town clean of litter. So serious that its litter patrol actually has its own patrol car. Is that a Smokey? No, it’s Woodsy.

Best Campground – umm, we only camped once this month. It’s getting kind of cold you know…

Manassas, VA • Dumfries, VA • Pope’s Creek, VA • Fredericksburg, VA • Richmond, VA • Kents Store, VA • Charlottesville, VA • Beckley, WV • Oak Hill, WV • Lexington, VA • Lynchburg, VA • Appomattox, VA • Petersburg, VA • Richmond, VA • Jamestown, VA • Williamsburg, VA • Yorktown, VA • Newport News, VA • Norfollk, VA • Virginia Beach, VA • Kitty Hawk, NC • Kill Devil Hills, NC • Nags Head, NC • Manteo, NC • Hatteras Island, NC • Ocracoke Island, NC • Beaufort, NC • New Bern, NC • Greenville, NC • Raleigh, NC • Durham, NC • Chapel Hill, NC • Wilmington, NC • North Myrtle Beach, SC • Georgetown, SC • Charleston, SC • Mt. Pleasant, SC • Sullivan’s Island, SC • St. Matthews, SC • Camden, SC • Columbia, SC • Ninety-Six, SC • Spartanburg, SC • Cowpens, SC • Blacksburg, SC • Campobello, SC • Flat Rock, NC • Hendersonville, NC • Asheville, NC • Cherokee, NC • Gatlinburg, TN • Pigeon Forge, TN • Knoxville, TN • Alcoa, TN • Oak Ridge, TN • Wartburg, TN • Oneida, TN • Middlesboro, KY • Greeneville, TN • Mars Hill, NC • Asheville, NC • Greensboro, NC • Mt. Airy, NC • Roanoke, VA

Manassas NBP • Prince William Forest Park • Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania NMP • George Washington Birthplace NM • Richmond NBP • Maggie Walker NHS • Gauley NRA • Appomattox Court House NHP • Petersburg, NB • Jamestown NHS • Yorktown Battlefield • Colonial NHP • Cape Henry MEM • Fort Raleigh NHS • Cape Hatteras NS • Wright Brothers NMEM • Cape Lookout NS • Moore’s Creek NB • Fort Sumter NM • Fort Moultrie NM • Charles Pinckney NHS • Congaree NP • Historic Camden • Ninety Six NHS • Kings Mountain NMP • Cowpens NB • Carl Sandburg NHS • Blitmore Estate • Great Smoky Mountains NP • Obed WSR • Big South Fork NRRA • Cumberland Gap NHP • Andrew Johnson NHS • Blue Ridge PKWY • Guilford Courthouse NHS • Booker T. Washington NM

August and September 2005 - Month(s) in Review

2006-01-02T14:17:00.000-05:00

This Month in Review (which actually reviews 2 months) stretches from coast to coast, through our favorite time zone (Mountain) and even stops for a visit back home in Harrisburg. A pancake syrup spill almost wiped out our notes, (Note to Gab: waffles are perfectly ok without syrup, especially when eaten in a moving car) but they were recovered. We hope you enjoy this double dose of sticky fun!

Miles Traveled (in Altima) – 7,782 miles

Best Opportunity to Test Michael’s “Jacket of the Year” (Worst Weather Day) – a mid-afternoon, mid-August hail storm at Rocky Mountain NP caught us off guard. Good thing we had already packed up camp. We watched the heavens open from the comfort of one of the Park’s several Visitor Centers.

Most Effective Billboard Slogan – “Face It. You’re Too Old to Sleep on the Ground,” Arapaho Motel, just outside of Rocky Mountain NP, Granby, Col. Can’t say we didn’t think about stopping. And this was before the hail storm. But we continued up the mountain and into the park. We did camp, and were rewarded with a crisp and lovely night.

Best Day Hike – TIE.
Through the Lava Tubes at Lava Beds NM, near Tule Lake, Calif. We had minimal expectations and expected to spend no more than an hour or two at this small park, focusing most of our time at Captain Jack’s Stronghold, the site of several battles between the Modoc Indians and the U.S. Army. While that short hike was indeed fascinating, it didn’t hold a candle to the twists and turns of the several dozen lava tubes located in the south of the Monument. We chose 3 – Sunshine, Hercules Leg and Juniper. We donned our headlamps, put on our boots and crouched and crawled and wound our way through these amazing caves. This is the first time we have ventured into lava tubes or caves unescorted and it was scary and cool. Low effort; maximum reward.

To Dog Lake and Lembert Dome, in the Tuolumne Meadows portion of Yosemite NP. This strenuous high altitude hike culminated in a couple hundred yard scramble up a granite rock to what might be one of the nicest lunch spots in all of Yosemite. The top offers a 360 degree panorama of Tuolumne Meadows and the backside of the Yosemite Valley. In case you were wondering, Half Dome is just as impressive from behind.

Most Out of the Way Site – John Day Fossil Beds NM. This NPS area consists of three separate units, all found in the middle of nowhere.

Most Curious Billboard – “Come to Dumas, Texas. Home of the Ding Dong Daddy.” Do you know what a ding dong daddy is? We didn’t.

Most Interesting Sign – “Jim Ray Nissan - Home of the Trunk Monkey,” Fort Smith, Ark. Now we love monkeys as much as the next person, probably more. But we aren’t sure if this slogan inspires confidence in a used car dealership. Is a trunk monkey a good thing?

Most Pleasant Surprise – There is an In-N-Out Burger in Reno, Nevada!! In fact, there are two. These two sites were added to the In-N-Out roster in August of 2004, after our current In-N-Out location guide (yes, we have one. So??) was printed. This was a wonderful, glorious, surprise and made us love Reno that much more.

Here’s another surprise. On August, 15, 2005 we were exactly on schedule and where we thought we might be: Reno, Nev. We can count the number of times our actual location has matched our planned location on one hand.

Strangest Promotion – Happy Labor Day! To celebrate the holiday, a local orthodontist in Omaha, Neb. gave away free iPods with the first 100 sets of braces of the school year. It had to be true; we saw it on TV.

Most Vitriol Inducing Site – plastic bags covering gas pumps as the price per gallon jumped 50 cents in one day and several towns we were driving through started to run out of the cheaper octanes. This is the last thing you want to see over 1,000 miles away from home.

Most Interesting Name for a Roadside Attraction – “Fossil Fuel” is the name of a gas station in Fossil, Ore.

Most Talked About Natural Phenomenon – Up until, August 29th, it was the Perseid Meteor Shower on August 12th. Did you see it? We were fortunate to have clear skies and a campsite outside of Yosemite NP. We saw at least 4 huge shooting stars before our necks started to hurt from looking up.

Hurricane Katrina consumed all our thoughts in the last days of August and into the next month.
Most Talked About Unnatural Phenomenon – The hourly “Wilderness Show” at the pool at the Peppermill Casino and Hotel, Reno, Nev. A few minutes before every hour, we would hear disturbing noises, and then remember it was just the animatronic animals coming to life outside. Our 11th story room gave us a perfect view of the fake rock face, home of 2 bighorn sheep, a wolf, a mountain lion a black bear and dozens of pigeons. Unfortunately, from our bird’s eye view we could also see the steel rails and poorly concealed joints which moved the “animals” to and from their caves. It lost a little of its magic, but not much.

Most Beautiful View – My heavens, Crater Lake really is one of the most beautiful things we have seen.

Most Unusual Place to Upload www.usa-c2c.com – Michael’s parents’ living room. It felt odd doing our daily travel reports from the comfort of one of our old homes.

Liveliest City Center (Towns) – Harrisburg, Penn. Of course, we are going to give a shout out to our hometown. In the short time we were home, we sampled dinner from some of the city’s newer restaurants on 2nd street, visited some of our old favorites and even found ourselves at the opening social for a statewide conference for Pennsylvania young professionals. Not sure if we blended in at that last event, but it sure was fun.

Friendliest People – Grand Junction, Colo. Or maybe Joplin, Missouri. We can’t decide. Both towns greeted these weary travelers with smiles, large portions of food and spirited matches of NTN Trivia. It’s the little things, really.

Longest Day – September 6, 2005. Omaha, Neb. through Iowa, Illinois and Indiana to Columbus, Ohio. We traveled almost 1000 miles in one day – not a common occurrence for us.

Ugliest Capitol Building – Carson City, Nev. Is this the only U.S. state capitol situated in the same block as a casino?

Most Beautiful Capitol Building – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Simple, elegant. One can never have too much white marble.

The “Fancy Meeting You Here” Award – The Master Brewer at Deschutes Brewery and Public House in Bend, Oregon shares our last name! We sent an email to Mr. Larry Sidor and received a very friendly response. And a t-shirt!

The “We Got Robbed!” Award – Devil’s Postpile NM, Calif. This is the first time, in the history of the USA-C2C trip that this award has been given to an NPS site. If one were to consult the 2005 AAA Guide to Northern California or inquire at any US National Forest Visitor Center en route to the Monument, one might think that it was free to view this elusive pile of rocks. WRONG. A mandatory shuttle (a/k/a repainted school bus) will take you down to the Postpile for $7 a person or $20 maximum per family. Have a National Parks Pass? So? Have an upgraded Golden Eagle hologram? Big deal. NO passes or discounts apply here. Not even a measly 10% off for AAA. Shame on you, Devil’s Postpile NM.

Most Gluttonous Day(s) – There were several. Remember, we stopped in Harrisburg to say hello. Would you say no to free meals?

Best American Kabuki – Maggie Moo, who posed with Gab during Adams Morgan Days in Washington DC.

Highest Price for Gas – $3.07 on September 2 at the Citgo, Lansing, Kans.

Lowest Price for Gas – $2.28 on August 2 at the Chevron, Beaverton, Ore. No commentary needed.

Best Pizza – Pizza Mondo, Bend, Ore. You know the pizza’s going to be good when there is a line almost out the door; you know it is going to be cheap when most of the customers are adolescents dressed in punk attire. We devoured our 15” pepperoni pizza in record time, searing the roofs of our mouths and impressing those seated nearby.

Best Bartender(s) – Scottie at the Subway Café, Harrisburg, Penn. who welcomed us warmly and ordered our favorite pizzas for us, even though it had been almost two years since our last visit.

Best Line Cook – The lady at Arthur Bryant’s who returned our jokes and smiles with double portions of the most delicious barbecued meat in the entire Midwest. BBQ doesn’t get better than Kansas City.

Most Helpful Roadside Stop – Powell’s City of Books, Portland, Oreg. We actually made a return trip to this awesome city to give this place the attention and time it deserves. Hours after our entrance we emerged with 6 (big) new books, a new crossword collection and a magnet all for under 40 bucks.

Best Ranger – Ranger Sarah from the Sheep Rock Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds NM. Not only did she sneak us into the new exhibit slated to open later that week, she led us through it, explaining the placement of the exhibits, what “testable hypothesis” means, the reasoning behind the murals and texture and color of the walls and even telling us a little about each of the Park staff that created each of the displays. We felt like VIPs. Thank you, Sarah, for sharing your enthusiasm and knowledge with us. It made the long drive well worth it.

Worst Acting in a National Park Service Film – Hot Springs NP, Ariz. The instructional How to Take a Bath video takes one step by step through selecting and then enjoying a bath package at one of the still functional bath houses in the Park. If the actors’ wooden and uncomfortable expressions are any indication of what we can expect for our money, we think we’ll pass.

Best Burger – J-Town Billiards, Joplin, Missouri. These half pound handfuls were real, hand-molded patties. Thick and juicy and full of flavor. These are the best burgers we have had since Harrison, Neb.

Best Campground – Great Basin National Park. Our quiet spot next to the swiftly running glacier stream was exactly where we wanted to end our day. The weather was more mild than we anticipated; the views were prettier. A perfect place to sit and read a book. What makes it even better? The Ranger told us the water from the campground faucets is among the purest and best tasting in the United States. We don’t disagree.

Greatest Altitudinal Difference in a 24-hour Period – Reno, Nev. to Great Basin NP, Nev. From sea level to nearly 13,000 ft. Bring a sweater.

Worst Driving Experience – Through Arkansas during the last week of August, as the sounds from our brakes evolved from a squeak to a very unfriendly and metallic grinding. A quick trip to Midas and a new set of brake pads did the trick. Phew!

Biggest Stretch – Route 50, America’s Loneliest Road stretches across Nevada desert and into the horizon. What appear to be lakes are actually salt flats; that hill in the distance is really hundreds of miles in the distance. This wasn’t our longest day, but it felt like it.

Most Appropriately Named Town – Sulphur, Okla. Inhabitants claim water from the sulphur springs have medicinal purposes and several filled their bottles and took their daily swig from the local fountain. We tried. We really did. But it smelled like, well, sulphur. As did the whole town.

Most Inappropriately Named Restaurant - Re-Pete’s Place, Fort Smith, Ark. No offense to Pete, but we try to avoid places which refer to gastrointestinal distress in their names.

Hillsboro, OR • Portland, OR • Bonneville, OR • Hood River, OR • The Dalles, OR • Government Camp, OR • Fossil, OR • Kimberly, OR • Dayville, OR • Mitchell, OR • Bend, OR • Elk Lake, OR • Crater Lake, OR • Klamath Falls, OR • Tulelake, CA • Reno, NV • Carson City, NV • Lee Vining, CA • Mammoth Lakes, CA • Tuolumne Meadows, CA • South Lake Tahoe, CA • Reno, NV • Eureka, NV • Ely, NV • Baker, NV • Delta, UT • Nephi, UT • Provo, UT • Heber City, UT • Vernal, UT • Dinosaur, CO • Rangely, CO • Grand Junction, CO • Clifton, CO • Montrose, CO • Gunnison, CO • Leadville, CO • Georgetown, CO • Grand Lake, CO • Estes Park, CO • Fort Collins, CO • Denver, CO • Colorado Springs, CO • Capulin, NM • Amarillo, TX • Fritch, TX • Cheyenne, OK • Oklahoma City, OK • Moore, OK • Norman, OK • Sulphur, OK • Ada, OK • Fort Smith, AR • Hot Springs, AR • Gould, AR • Little Rock, AR • Leslie, AR • Silver Hill, AR • Harrison, AR • Eureka Springs, AR • Pea Ridge, AR • Branson, MO • Springfield, MO • Diamond, MO • Joplin, MO • Fort Scott, KS • Kansas City, KS • Beatrice, NE • Omaha, NE • West Des Moines, IA • Peoria, IL • Brownsburg, IN • Columbus, OH • Zanesville, OH • Wheeling, WV • Bentleyville, PA • Shanksville, PA • Harrisburg, PA • Dillsburg, PA • Washington, DC

John Day Fossil Beds NM • Crater Lake NP • Lava Beds NM • Devils Postpile NM • Yosemite NP • Great Basin NP • Dinosaur NM • Colorado NM • Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP • Curecanti NRA • Rocky Mountain NP • Alibates NM • Lake Meredith NRA • Washita Battlefield NHS • Oklahoma City NMEM • Chickasaw NRA • Fort Smith NHS • Hot Springs NP • Arkansas Post NMEM • William J. Clinton Presidential Library • Little Rock Central HS NHS • Buffalo NR • Pea Ridge NMP • George Washington Carver NM • Wilson’s Creek NB • Fort Scott NHS • Homestead NM of America • Flight 93 NMEM •

Flight 93 National Memorial

2005-09-10T08:04:00.000-04:00

near Shanksville, Pa.
NPS Website; Local Website

Four years ago a plane carrying 40 people crashed into a rural Pennsylvania field located adjacent to an abandoned strip mine. It is unnecessary to elaborate; the events of September 11 2001 are etched indelibly into our collective psyche.

In September 2002, Congress and the President set aside the crash site land for the purpose of creating a memorial to honor Flight 93’s heroic passengers and crew.

The National Park Service seems to have done little since. There is no official memorial. There is no museum facility, no bookstore, no exhibits and no displays to distinguish the hallowed ground. There are no brown NPS signs to help the visitor find this out-of-the-way Site.

There is no visitor center, only a barren weather shelter donated by the staff at the Assateague National Seashore. Local residents designated as “Ambassadors” man the shelter and answer questions. They provide a first person perspective of the day that only Shanksville, Pa. residents could. No Rangers staff the site.

No matter. 100,000 people somehow find there way here every year. Busloads travel down the still unpaved Skyline Drive. The temporary Memorial that they find is elaborate, heartfelt, haphazard, overwhelming, organic and highly personal.

Both sides of a ten-foot high, thirty-foot long chain link fence are littered with thousands of personal items, donations and remembrances: a local firefighter’s jacket, license plates, flags, personalized crosses, quilts, hats, photographs and thankful letters.

Park benches emblazoned with the names of the deceased face the crash site. In between stands more remembrances: 40 individualized hand-painted wooden angels, granite blocks with biblical verses, crying ceramic angels, the American flag, a Pennsylvania flag and an eight-foot high cross, its horizontal section draped with a white cloth.

The parking lot’s guard rails have been inundated with magic-marker written notes of thanks, Support Our Troops magnets and bumper stickers.

A permanent Memorial is years from reality. In fact, the design contest winner was announced the day of our visit, September 7; local news stations filmed segments during our stop. Their conclusion was, “citizens want to know why the plans for a permanent Memorial have taken so long.”

We initially felt the same way. Heck, the Oklahoma City NMEM broke ground in 1998, just three years after that tragedy, and its massive interactive Museum opened on the bombing’s five-year anniversary. Is September 11th still too fresh in our memory? Are its implications still too powerful? Can we understand it objectively and analyze the situation like other NPS historic sites?

The temporary Memorial achieves a level of individuality that cannot be realized at an official federal government site. The religious paraphernalia on Site is astounding. Passionate crosses, angels and Christ figurines could never appear at a National Park Site.

As Americans, we are a very religious people. Most of us cannot understand the events of Flight 93 without our belief in God and/or Jesus Christ. In that sense, this National Memorial feels real, as if it is a spontaneous response from the masses. It feels powerful, so much more than a stylized walkway or artsy symbolic granite monoliths.

The Flight 93 temporary Memorial is more a pilgrimage spot than Park site. The emphasis stands more on what people have brought and given than on the distant fallow field.

If you wish to make the pilgrimage, be careful. It is very easy to get lost. Take PA Turnpike Exit 110, Somerset. Go northeast on Pa. Route 281, Stoystown Road, for about 10 miles until you reach U.S. 30, the Lincoln Highway. Turn right. Travel east for 2½ miles on Route 30, then turn southward, right, onto Lambertville Road. A makeshift sign should point you in the correct direction (if you have quick eyes).

Travel southward on Lambertville Road for about 2 miles until you reach Skyline Drive. Another makeshift sign should point you towards the memorial. Skyline Drive soon becomes unpaved. No worries, the Memorial is just 1 mile from the turn.

www.usa-c2c.com
© 2005

Traveling in Katrina's Wake

2005-08-29T08:06:00.000-04:00

Michael:

Our Site Ratings indicate that we are in the Pacific Northwest but, in actuality, we are over a thousand miles to the southeast, in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Our day began with thundershowers. We emerged from our rain soaked tent with the sun, at 6:00am, packed up and left the sweltering confines of Hot Springs National Park.

We spent the drive riveted to the radio and the exploits of Hurricane Katrina. We listened to the live CNN feeds, from Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Gulfport and Biloxi. Last December we spent 10 days in the affected area. We knew the Mississippi Gulf Shore motels and the levees that line the delta. We had been to the Superdome. We had spent time with the people who were bracing themselves for the worst.

That same December we did not head eastward to the Gulf Shore Islands NS in Pensacola, Florida. A Ranger told us that 2004’s string of hurricanes had wiped it out. Instead, we continued on to Orlando, Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte and saw their yet-to-be-cleaned-up devastation. At the time, Gab’s brother was working in Orlando with friends in the roofing business.

People in Alabama and Florida saw our out of state license plates and assumed we were relief workers. And this was months after the hurricanes hit. Now it is happening again.

We did not expect to be affected by Katrina. Maybe a shower here and there but Little Rock is more than a stone’s throw from New Orleans. We have a Park Site, a Presidential Library and a State Capitol to see while we are here. All are indoors.

But first, we needed a motel room. We pulled into a Comfort Inn to use their wireless internet. Our attempts to Priceline a room failed, as it had the night before. Odd. And why was the hotel parking lot full at 2:00pm? Usually all motel parking lots are empty until much later in the day. We looked at the plates. Louisiana, Mississippi, Mississippi, Louisiana, Louisiana. Could they possibly be evacuating this far north?

Plan B: bring out the coupon books. There were plenty of options so we headed to North Little Rock, an area rife with cheap hotels. Parking lots were full. Kids, dogs, trucks brimming with clothing and personal items, families, adults chain smoking outside and men returning to the motels with six packs.

Holiday Inn. No Vacancy. Red Roof Inn. No Vacancy. Travelodge. No Vacancy. Calls to five other motels. No Vacancy. “Do you have any suggestions”, we asked. The response, “I reckon every hotel in town is booked. Maybe you could find a room in Clinton.” “That’s 20 miles to the north.” “Yep.”

We imagined this scene in every city outside of Katrina’s wake. Shreveport, Lafayette, Houston, Monroe, Port Charles, Jackson, Memphis, Vicksburg, Montgomery, Texarkana, Greenville and every other city within 500 miles of the Gulf coast. Heck, Little Rock is 450 miles north of New Orleans. The mass exodus breaks your heart.

This morning in the car, the hurricane was just a topic of conversation. Tonight, we drove behind cars hastily packed, parked next to trucks filled with makeshift suitcases and coolers, watched people walk their dogs in any available space outside the motels and make conversation with other unwilling travelers. Katrina became real.

In 1979, during the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island, my family left Harrisburg. We journeyed to my grandparents’ house in New Jersey. We had somewhere to go in that time of stress, anxiety and uncertainty. We are fortunate that during TMI we did not have to find a motel room in strange city and did not have to drive 400 miles to find vacancy.

Eventually, we found a room here in Little Rock, but it does not feel like a motel. No one wants to be here. They want to be home. Tomorrow they will begin their return. We can only pray that everything will be OK.

July 2005 - Month in Review

2005-08-24T08:09:00.000-04:00

Songs from Pearl Jam and Nirvana wafted out of every shop, storefront and car window, making us nostalgic for our college dorms in the early 90s. Where are we? The Pacific Northwest: Home to hundreds of coffee shops, birthplace of grunge music, final destination for both Lewis and Clark and thousands of settlers who set across America on the Oregon Trail.

Our adventures this month took us through Oregon, Washington and throughout Northern California. Here are highlights from our stops in July.

Miles Traveled (in Altima) – 2,933 miles

Best Opportunity to Test Michael’s “Jacket of the Year” (Worst Weather Day) – The weather forecast for July 17th and 18th wasn’t just for rain; it called for “substantial precipitation.” We don’t know what that means but we guessed we didn’t want to be camping in it. We decided against a backcountry trip into the rainforests of Olympic NP and opted instead for a warm and dry motel room in Anacortes, Wash. Sissies. We know.

Most Talked About Natural Phenomenon – ORCAS! We saw hundreds of killer whales from the cliffs of San Juan Island, Wash. We just pulled over along the side of the road and there they were. Here’s a free whale watching tip: just point your binoculars towards the swarms of sight seeing boats. They know where to find what they are looking for.Funniest Billboard – Next to the Mount St. Helen Hotel, Wash: “Hope You Had a Blast!”

Most Out of the Way Site – TIE

San Juan Island, Wash. Accessible only by ferry. Luckily, Washington has a great ferry system specializing in frequent and affordable trips around the Strait of San Juan de Fuca.

Getting to the North Cascades NP isn’t a problem. But getting to the actual Cascades is, at least when you are driving a Nissan Altima with very low clearance. 18 miles of steep unpaved road lay between us and the most accessible trailhead leading to a peak. Don’t worry ‘Tima, we wouldn’t do that to you, especially since you need to get us home

Funniest Slogan – TIE

Seen on the back of a bakery delivery van near Mount Vernon, Wash: “Drive Carefully. The Loaf You Save Could Be Your Own.”

Shultzy’s Brats and Beer, Seattle, Wash: “Seattle’s Wurst Restaurant.” Get it? Don’t worry. It took Gab a minute or two.

Strangest Endorsement – “John Wayne’s Five Star Mufflers,” Port Angeles, Wash.

Most Pleasant Surprise – Watching people net smelt at Beach 4 in Olympic NP. We went for a drive to escape the sounds of the crowded campground and came upon a beach full of families and fishers taking advantage of high tide to pull in buckets of tasty little fish. An informal survey of beachgoers told us that most people enjoyed their smelt smoked or fried. Smelt are also super for freezing. Say that 5 times fast.

Most Unpleasant Surprise – July 8th at the Covered Bridge Station, Sunny Valley, Oregon. Gas prices rose 15 cents in 2 days! Ay yay yay.

Best Adopt-A-Highway Sponsor – A section of route 101 east of Sequim, Wash. is maintained “In Memory of Jerry Garcia.” Oh, Jerry! Fare you well, my honey. Fare you well my only true one….

Most Ineffective Spokesperson – Seen in Port Angeles, Wash. We didn’t have the heart to tell the rotund teen wearing the dirty “I Fling Poo” T-shirt that he might not be the best person to stand on the roadside and advertise his school’s car wash.

Strangest Roommates – The Bean Espresso Coffee Shop shares the same roof as High Caliber Guns on route 101 outside of Port Angeles, Wash. We wonder if caffeine and high caliber rifles are really the best combination.

Most Beautiful View – Mount Rainier NP.

Ugliest Park Site Surroundings – Clear cut forests and tree farms line the roads leading to Olympic National Park. While we understand that people need wood, seeing fields of once towering trees razed and swerving to avoid debris from lumber trucks was hardly the introduction we wanted for one of our most anticipated destinations.

Most Beautiful Capitol Building – Salem, Ore. We are suckers for art deco. Betcha didn’t remember Salem was the capital of Oregon, did you?

Most Beautiful Park Site Surroundings – San Juan Island NHP. The San Juan Island is one of over 700 islands and reefs that make up the San Juan Archipelago, half of which are set aside as wildlife preserves. 240 days of sunshine shine on 3 resident pods (groups) of Orca whales. Bald eagles share the skies with gulls, murres and rhinoceros auklets. And that sky is almost as blue as the deep channels in the Juan de Fuca strait. Need we go on?

Liveliest City Center – Portland, Ore. We recommend the Nob Hill neighborhood on a Monday evening. 23rd street was filled with people strolling along enjoying Alotta Gelato. Miser Mondays and a lovely patio at the New Old Lompoc Brewing Company is within walking distance from 50 cents taco night at the Nob Hill Bar and Grill which is located right next door to aforementioned gelato café. Lots to do (and eat) in this lively city connected by a comprehensive public transportation system. It is easy being green!

Longest Day – 331 miles on July 5th. We started in Paradise and ended in Eureka. California is a big state.

Biggest Disappointment – July 14th. Our morning in Oregon spent searching for Lewis and Clark stamps for our NPS Passport book proved fruitless. Dismal Niche? Rest area was closed. Station Camp? Can’t find it. Fort Columbia? Not paying the parking fee. Chinook County Camps? Can’t find the Visitor Center. Is there one? Cape Disappointment? Not developed yet. A disappointment indeed.

Most Gluttonous Day – July 16th. As if Michael’s bourbon burger and Gab’s Dungeness crab chowder at the Port Townsend Public House weren’t enough, we just had to top it off with ice cream at Ebey’s Landing, Wash. Everyone, we mean everyone, was carrying a cone from K’Paws Iskream Worldwide Headquarters. Who were we not to conform?

Cheapest Ballgame Ticket – $10. Family night at SafeCo Field. We watched the Seattle Mariners beat the Detroit Tigers 5-3 and saw the sunset over downtown Seattle from our seats on the east side of the stadium. As an added bonus, we found a space for the ‘Tima on the street, saving us well over $10 in parking fees. We would have tried some “Ichirolls” at the sushi stand, but we already ate.

Best Sporting Experience – Emerging from the Eugene Emeralds Front Office in Eugene, Ore. with an armful of baseball goodies and Gab’s dad’s pitching stats from 1962. A phone call from the parking lot revealed that Mark conveniently forgot his ERA but was able to name most of his fellow players and the league’s top pitchers. Not bad, dad!

Most Scenic Drive (National Parks) – Lassen Volcanic NP. Snow covered slopes and ice encrusted lakes were exactly what we wanted to see after 100+ degree days in Sacramento, Calif. It felt like a breath mint commercial.

Best Long Hike – July 26th. Starting at the Sunset VC in Mount Rainier NP, we took the trail to the second Burroughs Peak, back down to Frozen Lake, up to the Mount Fremont Lookout then back to the Sunset VC using the Sourdough Ridge trail. When we weren’t staring at Rainier’s largest and most impressive glaciers, we were distracted by fields of wild flowers and rolling glacier meadows. Driving to Mount Rainier NP, we anticipated a big mountain formed by a volcano and not much more. We arrived and found hundreds of miles of trails that could be connected and combined to hike as much or as little as we wanted. Mount Rainier is a hiker’s paradise.

We planned this 8.5 mile hike with the help of the lovely Ranger, who graduated from Brown University last year. Here’s to go ol’ Brown!

Highest Price for Gas – $2.69 on July 6th at the Shoreline Market, Onck, Calif.

Lowest Price for Gas – $2.19 on June 13th at the Chevron, Beaverton, Ore. and full service to boot!

Friendliest People – Anacortes, Wash. We met an unforgettable cast of characters at the Rockfish Grill. Michael chatted with a wonderful couple from Bellingham and listened to bad jokes from Salty, the fisherman while Gab and Vanessa, a local baker, discussed cakes. (FYI - Gab loves cake.) Irish Mike, you were right. The Seattle Public Library is amazing. A postcard is on its way.
Best Coffee Shop – RayJen Coffee Cafe, Crescent City, Calif. Each table has a DSL plug for your computer and ample space to rest your locally roasted coffee and homemade scone. We spent hours here and they didn’t mind. Good coffee, good vibes – RayJen gets Michael’s vote for favorite coffee shop of the trip.

The Blue Bottle Coffee Shop in Yelm, Wash. deserves a mention here, not necessarily for its coffee or free wifi, but for the girls behind the counter. When a hungry traveler came in and asked for the special of the day, a tuna sandwich, they told him they were out, but offered to make him one if he ran to the store to get tuna. Shortly after that, we overheard their conversation which contained, in no particular order, the following topics: details from one girl’s wedding (occurred a few days ago), underground shelters (“they’re everywhere, you know”), explanations of an unspecified religion, the end of the world (“I’ve done my research, you know”) and Selma Hayek. What a trip.

Most Helpful Roadside Stop – The Six Rivers Brewery, McKinleyville, Calif. All we were hoping for was a lunch special. But when fellow patrons saw us pull out our map of the Redwoods NP, we received great hiking (go to Fern Canyon) and camping (Mill Creek is the best) advice AND a tip on where to find the cheapest gas in the area (Klamath).

PS – the meatball sub special was great.

Most Unexpected Local Pronunciation – Willamette, Ore. Pronounced Will-AM-ett

Best Giant Statue – Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox, greeting visitors outside the Trees of Mystery, near Klamath, Calif. Paul towers at over 49 feet. Babe stands tall at 35. What are these Minnesota legends doing so far from home?

Almost Celebrity Sightings – Astoria, Ore. Does the Walsh’s house from Goonies count?

We also almost saw the Governator at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The throngs of reporters and cameras posted patiently outside the closed doors of the Governor’s Chambers told us that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was in the building. We waited around for a while before we got bored and left.

Worst Campground – TIE. Kalaloch Campground, Olympic NP, Wash. and Altaire Campground, Olympic NP, Wash. Two nights at the Olympic NP developed campgrounds had us running for a cheap motel room for a good night’s rest. At Kalaloch, we were kept up all night by no less than a dozen partying teens with an affinity for bad country music crammed into the space (made for no more than 8 people) behind us. One of our other neighbors warned us his cooler was pilfered not by raccoons but by other campers the evening before. The next night, we retreated to a much smaller and allegedly more remote campground, only to hear generators and the sounds of Fleetwood Mac all night long. If only the former were louder.

Best Campground – Mill Creek Campground, Redwoods SP, Calif. The guy at the Six Rivers Brewery was right – this campground is sheltered among majestic trees and rarely fills. We especially liked our site – site #19 – which was raised like a loft above the road.

Best Hotel Experience – Larkspur Landing, Sacramento, Calif. The Larkspur Landing calls us like a siren song. We can’t resist its pull – especially when we can get a suite for $40 or less via http://www.priceline.com/. Kitchens stocked with snacks, free high speed internet and VCRs are standard in every room. What sets Larkspur apart is its free video and board game library, free Starbucks coffee available at all hours, its quality breakfast and FREE LAUNDRY machines. Oh man, we love this place.

Most Anticipated Purchase – Hair Clippers, Target, Sacramento, Calif. Michael was looking a little shaggy, don’t you think?

Saddest Realization – July 19th. Boarding the ferry from San Juan Island back to Anacortes, Wash. This was our final Western stop. All remaining sites send us eastward, closer and closer to the close of USA-C2C.

Sacramento, CA • Marysville, CA • Paradise, CA • Chico, CA • Mineral, CA • Redding, CA • Arcata, CA • Eureka, CA • McKinleyville, CA • Orick, CA • Klamath, CA • Crescent City, CA • Cave Junction, OR • Grants Pass, OR • Eugene, OR • Salem, OR • Beaverton, OR • Portland, OR • Seaside, OR • Astoria, WA • Warrenton, OR • Ilwaco, WA • Aberdeen, WA • Quinault, WA • Forks, WA • Port Angeles, WA • Port Townsend, WA • Coupeville, WA • Anacortes, WA • Friday Harbor, WA • Roche Harbor, WA • Mount Vernon, WA • Marblemount, WA • Newhalem, WA • Winthrop, WA • Twisp, WA • Bridgeport, WA • Grand Coulee, WA • Electric City, WA • Ephrata, WA • Renton, WA • Seattle, WA • Enumclaw, WA • Longmire, WA • Olympia, WA • Toutle, WA • Hillsboro, OR • Portland, OR

Lassen Volcanic NP • Whiskeytown NRA • Redwood NSP • Oregon Caves NM • McLoughlin House NHS • Fort Vancouver NHS • Lewis and Clark NHP • Olympic NP • Ebey’s Landing NHR • San Juan Island NHP • North Cascades NP • Ross Lake NRA • Lake Roosevelt NRA • Klondike Gold Rush NHP • Mt. Rainier NP • Mt St. Helens NVM •

Channel Islands - Day 4

2005-07-26T23:39:00.000-04:00

Michael:

We arrived on Santa Rosa three days ago at 11:00am. The Captain assured us that the boat’s schedule would be identical on Wednesday, our departure date. Be at the pier by 2:00pm. From the beach near our campground, we watched the Islander pull away from the pier and give a farewell toot of its horn. It was 2:56pm.

It is now Wednesday. We have had a lot of time to think about a lot of things. I am already on Page 350 of Moby Dick. I started the book yesterday. It is 11:00am and we decide to read some more. We walk to one of Santa Rosa’s beautiful white sand beaches.

It is a little windy today. Pages 351-360 are slow going. Sand has wedged in between those pages and has wallpapered my back. There is no boat at the pier. It is 11:45am. 12:00 noon. Still no boat. Binoculars are out. Nothing in the horizon.

I do not need to go there but I do. I turn to Gab, with my most sincere voice, “What if nobody picks us up?” At this point, I just want to make her nervous. It is 12:15pm. Then I get to thinking. We are the only ones on Santa Rosa getting picked up. There are obviously no day-trippers. Would I travel two hours out of my way to pick up two people? With gas prices what they are nowadays?

No, I wouldn’t. I would tell them we had boat troubles, or something, and pick them up on Friday when I have a full boat of tourists coming to Santa Rosa.

OK, maybe I wouldn’t be that unscrupulous but I sure would think about it.

It is 12:30pm and I am starting to get nervous. Gab is nearing full panic. There was no need for me to even think about the boat not coming. It was a bit sadistic to mention it, out loud even, to someone prone to worrying. But it happened and now I’m worried.

Let’s go back to the campsite. We need to pack up and hike the mile and a half to the pier. It is 12:45pm. We need to get moving.

Now there is a Ranger at the campsite. Phew. He is unloading bags of concrete. Is that a good sign? Gab asks him about the boat. He tells her that it left late and just arrived on the Island. We must have missed it. That is odd. It is 1:00pm.

We pack up the tent, clear the campsite and load our packs. I am still not sure about the boat. Gab seems a little relieved. I try to pull my backpack straps tighter. Too tight in fact. I break one of them. Now I am anxious and angry. It is 1:20pm and we have to get moving.

After some tense words, we get to a vista point, a place where we can see the pier. We simultaneously rip our binoculars from our hips. It is 1:30pm. We already know what we see. No boat.

Gab has a theory. “There are no passengers coming to Santa Rosa, right.” “Right,” where is she going with this? “Well, they probably are just docked around the corner, surfing.” This makes more sense than anything I can come up with. I am a little at ease and I think she is too. Maybe.

We get to the pier at 1:59pm. There is no one here. No boats. No Rangers. No Archeologist Passengers (They came to the Island with us). No nobody. Nothing on the horizon. Nothing in the binoculars. Nada nada nada nada nada. They wouldn’t leave us, would they. I think that it is a good thing we did not make hotel reservations for tonight.

2:15pm and still nothing. “Gab, maybe you should go to the main road and see if there is anyone, Ranger or whatever in sight.” “OK,” and she leaves. I wonder why I still have my backpack on. So I take my pack off and sit on it.

I stand up. Something is moving in the distance and its coming fast. Could it be. It’s 2:25pm. I look through my binocs. Yes, yes, yes, it is! I am an idiot, why did I even think…

…where’s Gab. She left ten minutes ago. I hope she didn’t walk back to the campsite or even worse, the two miles to the Ranger residence. I sprint back to the crossroads. She is not there. I yell, “Gab, Gab, Gab” and whistle loudly. No response. It is so windy she couldn’t hear me if I tried.

Oh no, oh no, oh no. The boat’s gonna be here soon and Gab’s gone. It is 2:30pm. I stop to think, ‘this is pretty funny’. Deserted in multiple ways at multiple times on a deserted island. I laugh to myself. Serves me right.

Then Gab comes around the corner. “It’s here,” I say. “It’s almost here!”

“Really, you mean it?” she says as we both run back to the pier. “Where is it? I don’t see it,” she says.

“Get out your binocs and look there,” I say pointing towards our savior.

“Ooh. I see. Thank heavens. I really thought we were going to be here ‘til Friday.”

“Me too.”

2:40pm and the boat arrives at the pier. We hop on and we leave at 2:42pm. Copies of Surfer Magazine are spread out on a table in the galley. The crew looks tan, happy and a little worn out.

Channel Islands - Day 3

2005-07-25T00:27:00.000-04:00

Gab:

Loggerhead shrikes and stellars jays woke us with their shrieks. Thank you, birds. Yesterday morning we watched the sunrise from the comfort of our tent and then regretted the missed photos all day. Today, we rise.

Blurry-eyed and half-dressed we stumble through the canyon and up to a ridge that overlooks the ocean. Pairs of California quails scurry out of our paths, throwing us annoyed glances. Deer watch us from their own elevated perches. Ravens have congregated and are holding conference on a flat piece of rock. I always forget that I love mornings. I usually love sleeping more.

From the ridge we can see the cloud-shrouded island of Santa Cruz, another Channel Island. Within minutes, its curtains unfold, the sun emerges, and then it’s over. Good morning!

The afternoon holds even more delights. An eight mile hike takes us to the eastern end of the island and a rocky shoreline filled with hundreds of little pools.

Tide pools! Is there anything I like more than a sandy beach? Yes! A rocky beach filled with tide pools. Just stand still and look down. Peer into any water-filled nook or cranny. Even my less than 20/20 eyes can see hermit crabs, snails, sea anemones, little fish and sometimes, if I am really lucky, a starfish.

I first discovered these microcosms at Cabrillo National Monument in San Diego. I had no idea the creatures that filled so many aquariums’ “touch me” tanks could be found so readily outside. This was a whole new world to me.

At Cabrillo, I had to watch my step. Not so much because of the thousands of nickel-sized hermit crabs but because of the dozens of other humans sharing the same slippery rock surfaces, peering into the waters and (gasp) sometimes sticking their hands in. Today, Michael and I share the rocks with sunbathing seals and oystercatchers or, as we like to call them, demon birds.

The seals are a distance away and occupied with games in the surf. The red glowing eyes, bright red beak and red legs of the black demon birds are all focused on one task. Catching, picking apart and eating oysters. Michael is in search of the biggest crab. My eyes are fixed on the splendid orange starfish clinging to the underside of a rock that is getting pummeled by the incoming waves.

Being near the ocean is a joy in itself. But searching for creatures and colors in the pools gives me a reason to lengthen our visit to the beach. A purpose in my step as I scramble from rock to rock. What’s in here? What’s over here? Exploring tide pools is better than beachcombing; (here I’ll whisper so Michael won’t hear me) even better than birding.

Concentrated, slow moving, brightly colored, beautiful and unique. These are adjectives that someone with bad eyesight and an old pair of glasses can really appreciate. Tide pools were made for me.

**

As I squat and squint into yet another pool, I wonder if I’ll see any abalone. That’s what the girl in Island of the Blue Dolphins used to eat. In fact, the entire time we have been on the island I have been thinking about her. I can’t remember her name but I remember how she was left behind as her village moved away, how she overcame her fear and loneliness and learned to love the island. Today, I love this island.

Santa Barbara, another Channel Island, is the setting for Scott O’Dell’s children’s book. But that’s close enough. This is only our third day on Santa Rosa. Three long days filled with walks, talks, observations. It seems there is a choice here. You can go crazy with the solitude and sounds from the wind, water and wild. Or you can accept them. Embrace them. Enjoy them. Like the girl in the Island of the Blue Dolphins did. Like I am learning to do.

Channel Islands - Day 2

2005-07-24T23:28:00.000-04:00

Michael:

So which is it exactly. Which was Robinson Crusoe on? A DESERT island as in the Sahara or the Kalahari or the Mojave. Or a DESERTED island as in no one else is there?

Do these words have anything to do with each other? Does deserted start with the root word desert (noun) or desert (verb).

Is Santa Rosa technically a desert island? I don’t think so, there are shrubs and trees and creeks. Are desert islands even possible? I have not ever heard of one actually existing. It does not really make sense, does it?

Is Santa Rosa technically deserted? I don’t think so either. We did come here and there are Rangers and archeologists and researchers and a farmer family and two other campers just about 100 yards from our tent.

It sure feels deserted though. We have not seen anyone yet today. It is 4:00pm. Technically, we could signal that boat sailing on the horizon but I don’t really want to. We are fine by ourselves. But I’m sure we could. Just get back to reading your book.

….

Santa Rosa Island. Your mind just sort of wanders here. There is nothing else for it to do. There are no people, no buildings and no artificial sounds in any direction. Even in remote Parks like the Grand Canyon, Kings Canyon and Isle Royale you hear airplanes. Not here. No one is flying over the Santa Rosa.

The silence is beautiful and disconcerting, especially after spending the last two months in and around the population centers of Los Angeles and San Francisco. What is there for you mind to do? Cars are not attacking from all directions. Decisions do not need to be made. There is no one to talk to and nothing to do except walk around, watch birds and read The Call of the Wild.

….

Water is such an effective barrier. Maybe not in practice but in my mind. We got here in less than 3 hours but I feel so much farther away. We’ve been more isolated and more remote but nothing feels like being on an island. An island in the Pacific Ocean. We are not even on a continent any more. (Yes we are) So what.

We went on a long hike this morning to the top of Black Mountain, the Island second highest peak. The trails were old automobile roads, used during Santa Rosa’s ranching days. The trail did not zig and zag through switchbacks; it just went straight up. The trail was blazed for cars, not people.

Deer and elk met us at every hillcrest. They investigated our presence and continued on their way. Dense fog enveloped us. We marched on without the views we had expected. Once we reached the top, we rested. Magically the fog disappeared. Infinite shades of blue emerged. Islands appeared around us. San Miguel to the west. Santa Cruz to the east.

We saw the Rangers residence and we saw more boats. We were standing by a telephone tower but we still felt alone. We still felt as if the Island was ours. Or at least we were a part of it. The mountains highest peak is named Soledad, Spanish for solitude. We did not need to climb any higher. We had all the isolation we needed right there.

Channel Islands - Day 1

2005-07-23T23:47:00.000-04:00

Gab:

I hope the fog clears. I hope there aren’t too many people. I hope the island is pretty. I wonder if we’ve packed enough fuel.

My objective is to look calm. I wonder if I am pulling it off. Cars are pulling up to the dock. Dozens of people, some with light daypacks; others with an outrageous amount of supplies are congregating in the parking lot awaiting instructions and permission to board the boat that will take us out to the Channel Islands. The Channel Islands: This place has been on our minds for months.

The Channel Islands National Park consists of five islands off the coast of Southern California. The islands vary in size, topography, wildlife inhabitants, climate and accessibility. After a scouting mission in May to the Park’s Visitor Center in Ventura, a long conversation with a crew member at Island Packers and much deliberation, we chose Santa Rosa, one of the outer islands, as our destination. Miles of hiking trails, sandy beaches, bird-filled canyons. Yes! That’s the one. Now, how to get there?

The crewmember wholeheartedly approved of our choice. Then she told us it would be a month until the next excursion.

Ugh. Four weeks to wait until the next boat sailed to Santa Rosa. Out come the maps and highlighters. We rerouted our June travels to minimize the distance we would have to backtrack to catch the boat. We painted central California with bright yellow spirals and circles, all ending on June 26th at the Ventura Harbor.

The first few weeks of June flew by. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, Yosemite: Spectacular sights and sounds filled our days. Each night I went to sleep, all I could think of was Santa Rosa. Except for at Sequoia. There, I had bear on the brain.

But now it is 7am Sunday morning. The wait is over. This boat in front of me will take us 3 ½ hours away from the shores of the Continental U.S., drop us off on an island and then pick us up 4 days later.

Our backpacks are being loaded on to the Island Adventure. I am trying very hard not let the flurry of last-minute questions and doubts escape through my lips.

Are three nights too long? What if it rains? Why do they have so much stuff? Do we have everything we need? Will the car be ok here? Should we have just have gone to Anacapa for the day? Will this be worth it?

This isn’t the first time we have been dropped on an island to hike and camp, at the mercy of the elements until we see another boat on the horizon. Waiting in Grand Portage, Minnesota for a ride to Isle Royale was just as exciting and nerve-wrecking. But Isle Royale was in the middle of a lake. Fine, a Great Lake, but a lake all the same. This is the Pacific Ocean we are talking about here.

We board the Island Adventure and scramble to the top deck in search of a choice seat. It is still early in the season but I am holding on to the hope that we will see a whale en route to the island. Through the fog, we see dolphins, sea otters, sea lions, sooty shearwaters. So far, no whales.

The boat nearly empties at the island of Santa Cruz. Most people have chosen the closer island for a day excursion. Santa Cruz had been on our short list for an overnight trip, until we read more about its mouse and feral pig population. We wave goodbye to the couple from Vermont we had been chatting with, keeping the mouse info to ourselves, and look around to see who’s left.

Almost everyone seems to be connected to the Park Service or a member of a research team. Archeologists? Anthropologists? That explains the heavy gear and boxes of supplies. I notice one other couple braving the mist of the upper deck and squinting their eyes in search of whales. I’m not the only one.

**
I must have dozed. I open my eyes to see the sun shining and a series of slippery figures amid surf and waves. Seals? No. Surfers! Michael and I watch as one rides a crest that seemingly never breaks. A few small boats are anchored a short distance away. We are approaching the eastern end of Santa Rosa. I think we have just spied on a secret surfing spot.

As we approach the island, the winds die down, the sun gets brighter. We can see several people along the coast, more on the island’s hilly ridges. This place looks packed! The dock is crowded with NPS workers and volunteers there to meet the boat. The silhouettes that we saw from the boat are now moving towards us, filtering down from the hills, climbing up from the sand. It seems they have been eagerly waiting for our arrival, like castaways who don’t want to miss their one chance to get back home. On second thought, that’s exactly how it is. We won’t see another boat for at least 4 days. It’s Sunday afternoon. Miss this ride and you are stuck.

A few tourists are here only for the day. Not many. A few campers have lingered at the canyon campground, packing slowly. Not many. Once the Island Adventure sounds its bell and heads east, we will be left alone. The researchers are here somewhere, as are the Rangers. But where? The only people in our periphery are the whale-watching couple from the boat who are retreating to their tent to sleep off the Dramamine they took this morning.

**
Although we have braced ourselves for gale force winds, typical on the outer islands of Santa Rosa and San Miguel, only a soft breeze is cooling the afternoon. We set up camp and walk down to the beach. Our beach.

Just a few footprints are left from the day. The rest have blown away. I trace the lines of wind cut cliffs with my eyes and almost walk over a nest of pigeon guillemots hidden in the rocks. We retreat back to the campground, which is so quiet that we can hear seals and sea lions barking even when we are a mile inland.

Back at the tent, Michael unfolds the Sunday edition of the LA Times; I pull out a crossword. We snack. I nap. Just as I get lulled into thinking this could be any Sunday afternoon anywhere, the sun begins to set. Reds and purples swirl together as the fog returns. This was a great idea.

June 2005 - Month in Review

2005-07-21T12:24:00.000-04:00

California, continued

June was a month of firsts on the USA-C2C trip. We sighted our first starfish and first bobcat on the same day – June 9th at the Fort Ross State Park. We saw our first whale (we think) from the Point Reyes Lighthouse on June 20th. And Michael ate his very first s’more at the Butano State Park on June 3rd. June was a stellar month. Here are more highs and lows (mostly highs) from our second C2C June.

Miles Traveled (in Altima) – 2,306

Best Palindrome - Tie. 99999 and 100001, both logged in Mill Valley, Calif. Winding roads and an uncooperative camera made documentation of these milestones tricky, but we did it!

Best Weather Day – June 26th. High winds and low fog are de rigueur on the outer Channel Islands. But the fog that lingered all morning suddenly lifted to show glorious sun as our boat pulled into Santa Rosa’s harbor. We felt hardly a breeze as we unloaded our backpacks and hiked to the camp that would be our home for the next four days. Good omen? We thought so.

Best Opportunity to Test Michael’s “Jacket of the Year” (Worst Weather Day) – Those same elements were no so kind to us at Fort Ross State Park in Manchester, Calif. Sure, the campsites with a view of the Pacific are pretty, but make sure your tent is staked down and your rain cover on at any northern California coastal campsite. Most Talked About Natural Phenomenon – Tsunami! Four earthquakes shook California this month. Not exactly what you want to hear when your next campsite lies directly on the San Andreas Fault.

Most Beautiful View – Gosh, where do we start? Almost any mile marker along the Pacific Coast Highway, the city of San Francisco from the Marin Headlands, the Pacific Ocean on all sides of Santa Rosa Island, the Golden Gate Bridge from any angle….One camera wasn’t enough for the month of June.

Ugliest Park Site Surroundings – John Muir National Historic Site, Martinez, Calif. The remaining 8.5 acres of what was the home and orchard of our nation’s foremost conservationist now sits in the shadow of a busy Freeway.

Worst Campground – The only bad campground in California is one that is already full.

Best Campground – TIE

Bicentennial campground, Marin Headlands, Golden Gate NRA. Three two-person sites tucked in a clearing with the Golden Gate Bridge framing the City of San Francisco across the Bay. Sites are first come, first served and listen to this: THEY ARE FREE!

Campground on Santa Rosa Island, Channel Islands NP. Tucked in a small canyon 1 ½ miles from Bechers Bay. Each of the 15 sites is sheltered from the wind by a very nice wooden lean to, complete with hooks for hanging wet gear and a big storage box. We shared the island with one other camping couple. Does a private beach and solitary trails sound good to you? Santa Rosa might be a nice mid-week destination. FYI – NPS is in the process of building modern bathroom facilities for the camp.
Best NPS Ranger – Ranger Christine doing double duty at the Eugene O’Neill NHS and Port Chicago NM and driving the shuttle. These are two very different Sites located in the East Bay area. Christine was knowledgeable and engaging as a tour guide for both. And she pulled out NPS Passport Stamps for two places that don’t even have visitors centers. Score!

Liveliest City Center (Towns) – San Luis Obispo, Calif. “How did you find out about this place?” That’s what a fellow guest asked Gab as she was checking us into the Travelodge. “Um, we didn’t. We are tired and need a place to stop for the night.” Seems we chose wisely. We walked downtown and right into a crowd of people enjoying live music in the plaza of the San Luis Obispo Mission. There was a beer garden, people of all ages dancing and laughing and hundreds of kids and blankets underfoot. This is the liveliest mission we’ve ever seen.

Longest Day – We saved the best ‘til last. June 30, 417 traffic infested miles from Oxnard to Sacramento up Interstate 5. July 4th traffic started early this year.

Unsolved Mystery – Is the Hilton in Santa Rosa really haunted? We met two former Hilton employees at the Russian River Brewing Co. who swore it was. But they also admitted to being perpetrators of pranks that perpetuated the rumor. Is there any truth to the tales?

Mystery Solved – June 3rd. What’s that smell? And that sound! It’s hundreds of elephant seals molting at Año Nuevo State Preserve, Calif. The pungent aroma hits your nose as you cross over the sand dunes. Grunts and barks soon turn into a din. Round the corner and all of a sudden you are nearly snout to snout with these big guys sunning themselves on the sand. What a sight. A California State Park Naturalist is posted at each beach to answer your questions, introduce you to their guests and make sure you don’t get too close.

Biggest Disappointment – We took a 2-day trip to Santa Cruz with the steamy beach nights Lost Boys on our minds. All day in our hotel room listening to the screams of roller coaster riders, built the anticipation of the Boardwalk with each shriek. Only to find that the Santa Cruz Boardwalk was already boarding up for the night by the time we got there….at 6 pm! What?!? What ever happened to “gonna have a good time tonight; rock-n-roll music gonna play all night?”

Most Pleasant Surprise – Fort Funston is a dog lover’s paradise. We had no idea that this section of the Golden Gate NRA just south of San Francisco was where hundreds upon hundreds of dogs flock for their afternoon walks. We felt empty-handed without a leash and a puppy but enjoyed the camaraderie of dozens of poodles and their owners. What a nice day.

Most Unpleasant Surprise – Our beloved Panasonic Lumix digital camera’s decision, after 6 months of 200+ photos a day, to stop working. She was a good camera; she will be missed.

Most Anticipated Boat Ride – Ventura to Santa Rosa, the island not the city. One of the Channel Islands, part of the Channel Islands NP. Unlike most of our camping adventures on the trip, this one actually took some planning. We had 30 days to wait in between making the reservation and getting on the boat.

The “Fancy Meeting You Here” Award – A.J. Ferrari, Santa Rosa, Calif. Gab’s pal from high school, Michael’s buddy from his years in San Francisco – A.J. had no idea that we knew each other, let alone were married and on our way to his doorstep. We let him recover from his initial shock and then spent a fantastic weekend in Sonoma County with our very gracious host.

Most Gluttonous Day – June 16th. We blame A.J. A visit to Willi’s Seafood and Raw Bar in Healdsburg, Calif. wasn’t over until at least 10 plates of tapas were devoured. Wine was drunk. Oysters were shucked. It was all so rich and indulgent, Michael worried about getting the gout, in between mouthfuls, of course.

Most Scenic Drive (Highways) – Route 1. Up and down the Pacific Coast Highway. So this is where all of those car commercials are filmed. And for good reason. Winding turns, up and down hills, downshifting like you know how, and the whole time the Pacific coast beckons alongside. Here’s how our week along the northern coast of California: Wake up. Pack up camp. Drive to next small town. Get fresh roasted coffee and organic baked goods. Drive some more. Stop for photos. Drive. Stop for photos. Drive. Get out of car. Stretch. Take more photos. Drive to next small town. Have lunch. Switch drivers (Michael can’t have all the fun). Find next campsite. Stop. Next day, repeat.

Best Day Hike – Along the Golden Gate Promenade, Golden Gate NRA, San Francisco, Calif.

Highest Price for Gas – $2.37 on June 10th at the Circle K, Fort Bragg, Calif.

Lowest Price for Gas – $2.23 on June 17th at the Valero, Vallejo, Calif.

Most Out of the Way Site – Santa Rosa Island, Channel Islands NP. Access is via seaplane or a 3 ½-hour boat ride from the Ventura Harbor, Calif. Once you’re there; you’re there. Boat trips are infrequent until July and August. Even then, they do not run every day.

Best Pizza – Pizza My Heart, Santa Cruz, Calif. Big slices, open late, saucy female behind the counter who never stopped singing to “Do Wa Diddy” the entire time she took our order. When we got back to the hotel, we found that she blessed us with an EXTRA SLICE!

Best Burger – Frankie’s Bavarian Café, San Francisco, Calif. Of course, burgers always taste divine after a few days camping but it helps when those burgers are ½ lb. and topped with garlic pesto and feta cheese (for Michael) or cheddar cheese and alongside garlic fries (for Gab).

Best Smelling Factory – Ghirardelli Square in Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco, Calif. So its morphed into a full scale shopping and dining center. There are still scents of chocolate and cocoa circling the buildings from the chocolate-making equipment making chocolate. Kind of reminded us of home.

(Almost) Celebrity Sightings – June 9th. We arrived at the Fort Ross State Historical Park, site of the Southernmost Russian settlement in North America just as a film crew was cleaning up from a day of filming. “The Legend of Mary Worth” is a horror flick set in New England and allegedly has some “big names” in it. It has absolutely nothing to do with Fort Ross or Russian settlers, much to the chagrin of both Michael and the Fort Ross curator.

San Francisco, CA • Pacifica, CA • Santa Cruz, CA • Pescadero, CA • Mill Valley, CA • Stinson Beach, CA • Point Reyes Station, CA • Inverness, CA • Bodega Bay, CA • Plantation, CA • Manchester, CA • Albion, CA • Mendocino, CA • Fort Bragg, CA • Navarro, CA • Boonville, CA • Ukiah, CA • Hopland, CA • Rohnert Park, CA • Santa Rosa, CA • Healdsburg, CA • Sonoma, CA • Vallejo, CA • Danville, CA • Pleasant Hill, CA • Concord, CA • Pleasanton, CA • Martinez, CA • Richmond, CA • Berkeley, CA • Oakland, CA • San Rafael, CA • San Anselmo, CA • Inverness, CA • San Francisco, CA • Menlo Park, CA • Palo Alto, CA • Gilroy, CA • Salinas, CA • Big Sur, CA • San Luis Obispo, CA • Santa Barbara, CA • Ventura, CA • Oxnard, CA • Port Hueneme, CA • Santa Rosa Island, CA • Sacramento, CA •

San Francisco Maritime NHP • Golden Gate NRA • Butano SP • Año Nuevo SR • Muir Woods NHS • Fort Ross SHP • Manchester SP • Mendocino Headlands SP • Navarro River Redwoods SP • Hendy Woods SP • Eugene O’Neill NHS • Port Chicago Naval Magazine NMEM • Rosie the Riveter NHP • Fort Point NHS • Mount Tamalpais SP • Point Reyes NS • Channel Islands NP

Mist Net Morning

2005-07-20T16:11:00.000-04:00

Michael:

We opened the door to the Point Reyes Bird Observatory (PRBO) with nervous excitement and no expectations. A Park Ranger told us that they mist netted here from dawn until about noon. We did not know what mist netting meant.

For me, the term evoked dreamy fog-like imagery. I imagined the Lady of the Lake rising out of the water to give King Arthur his unbreakable sword, Excalibur. Gab imagined one big volleyball net near the shore, obscured by thick morning pea soup fog.

We knew we had to be at the PRBO early so we woke up at dawn, broke down camp, packed our bags and hiked the mile from the campground to our car. The Observatory was over an hour’s drive away. We arrived just before 8:30am.

We saw no nets on our walk from the small loose gravel parking lot to the pre-fab PRBO office. The office door displayed a listing of the birds captured in the past few days. Exclamation points and smiley faces indicated rare finds. A mist nest run was about to start in five minutes.

I was scared and overwhelmed despite our recent bird watching crash course. The people here are professionals and we are interrupting their workday.

We went in. Two recent female college graduates were sitting behind a large desk. Both greeted us with hellos while they diligently entered information into large notebooks.

One had something colorful in her left hand. Are my eyes deceiving me? Is that a bird? It can’t be alive. Can it?

“Do you know what kind of bird this is?” the woman asked Gab as she stretched her left arm our way.

“A grosbeak,” Gab stammered. It was hard to get over the amazement of someone holding a live bird.

“Close,” she reassuringly added while tenderly blowing on the bird’s wing. “It’s a purple finch.” We learned later that the blowing calms the captured birds while keeping them alert.

“Can I take its picture? Is a flash OK?” Gab asked.

“Sure, it’s already pretty nervous. Nothing is going to spook it anymore. We just need to get some info,” she added while placing the bird head first into a small hollowed out cylinder. The bird wiggled its feet while she placed the cylinder onto a scale. Yes, this looked as comical as it sounds. We gawked and giggled. “It’s the best way to weigh it. Do you want to join me on a mist net run?”

Of course we did. A young male PRBO volunteer joined us on the run. Gab asked him, “Why do you volunteer here?”

His earnest response was, of course, “because I love birds.”

We left the office and walked into the dense trees. Oh my heavens, there is the net and oh my, there’s a bird in it. The volunteer quickly noted from over 20 feet away, “It’s a Swainson’s Thrush.”

And it was. The woman quickly and skillfully removed it from the net and placed it into a small cotton sack. She tied the sack up, handed it to the volunteer, who then took it too the office.

Gab’s mental picture of mist netting was much closer than mine. The nets did resemble volleyball nets and they were placed among the trees, practically invisible when the early morning sun shone through them.

Birds fly into the net and drop into pockets of mesh which hold them until someone comes to retrieve them. Which they do, every 20 minutes. Birds are not harmed in the netting. Not always the case with PRBO workers.

We continued through the trees, moving from net to net, seven in all, peppering our host with questions the entire way. Here are some of the most incredible answers:

“What’s the biggest bird you’ve caught in the nets?” “A Pileated woodpecker (the Woody Woodpecker type). He was very angry and very loud.” We gasped when she told us that he pecked her in the forehead. “It left a mark and hurt a lot, but I’m OK now.”

“Have you caught any raptors?” “Some smaller hawks. You have to carry them much differently.” We guessed correctly that sharp talons and piercing beaks required more than a cloth bag to bring them back to the office.

“Do you ever catch any crows or ravens?” “No, they are much too smart. Even if they flew in, they would probably figure a way out in less than ten seconds.” I silently cheered for my favorite bird. Ah corvus corax, you are too wily!

“Do you catch hummingbirds?” “All the time. You should see how small the bands are.”

Our host was working as an intern at the PRBO. She was a biology major from Illinois but knew very little about bird identification before she began her job here. She learned quickly. Throughout our walk she ID’d birds by their song and lovingly described them all. Her passion and love of birds has grown and warmed our hearts. She never stopped smiling, never complained and seemed so at peace with her life and her work.

During our visit, the mist nets held four birds and one wonderful affirmation. Nature is so wonderful and so calming. We are thankful for places like PRBO that monitor its well-being and invite all of us to participate.

For more information and a better explanation of what the Point Reyes Bird Observatory is all about, go to http://www.prbo.org/.

Junior

2005-07-07T17:29:00.000-04:00

Gab:

What is the best thing about our two-year trip across the United States? What is our favorite place? Answers were clear this Fourth of July.

Our trip across the United States has allowed us to become reacquainted with people we never really knew. Dozens of friends and family members have opened up their homes to us, allowed us to take part in their daily routines, given us their time and their love. These stopovers are the best things about our trip, especially when they coincide with holidays or special events.

Last year, we sang Happy Birthday to the United States in its heartland: Omaha, Nebraska with our dear friend Bruce Jones. This year, we thought we’d try someplace different. How about Paradise?

Paradise, California is home to my Great Aunt Martha and my Great Uncle Joe. Often referenced in familial conversations with the following sentence: “You know, your Aunt Martha lives in California….” This is often said with a mix of awe, admiration and curiosity. Among the older generations of the Opatt family, Martha is unique in that she chose to find her home outside of Western Pennsylvania.

Aunt Martha is the younger sister of my dad’s dad; daughter of my Great Grandma Opatt. Childhood trips to Washington (PA, that is) acquainted me with her siblings Uncle Harry, Aunt Mill and Aunt Betty, but Martha remained a mystery.

We knew she used to manage a hotel somewhere along the Pacific Coast. Or was it East of Los Angeles? The answer varied depending on who you asked. We knew that she and Uncle Joe were now retired and still living in the Golden State. But where? Dad called Aunt Betty who gave him a phone number, which he called and was greeted with a shriek:

“Junior!!!”

Yes, Junior. My brother and I still get a kick out of the fact that our dad, towering at 6’3” will always and forever be known as Junior in all cities west of the Breezewood exit on the PA Turnpike. Junior reconnected with Aunt Martha and told her that we would soon be in her neck of the woods, which we now know is Paradise, Calif. A phone call from us confirmed the date and we were on our way.

Hugs and kisses and frenzied barks from Kaluha, an adorable Yorkshire terrier greeted us at the door. From that moment on, I had known Aunt Martha and Uncle Joe my entire life. We shared stories and pictures of relatives, including one of my dad as twelve year old with a devilish grin. We told them about our trip, how we met, the places we have been; they entertained us with stories about their own travels and life as hotel managers.

“We ran a motel in the Redlands with 18 rooms; sometimes we rented 24. Oh, it was an education!!” exclaimed Aunt Martha. We listened to tales of truck drivers, visiting dignitaries, shady characters and lifelong friends. We sat on the porch and talked and laughed until none of us could keep our eyes open any longer. Then we picked up the conversation the next morning.

That day happened to be the Fourth of July. We made plans to meet their son and his family for fireworks in Chico. A stop at the In-N-Out Burger also found its way into the itinerary. It wasn’t even our suggestion, I swear!

We drove to Chico, found a parking spot at Wal-Mart and went in search of the rest of the O’Connors. Once found, we spent next four hours tossing footballs, comparing camping notes and playing a dice game we were thankful that Martha and Joe taught us earlier in the day. Second cousins? Third cousins? After a few half-hearted attempts we quit trying to figure out the family tree and just had a good time.

In the first days of the trip, I feared that the west would be an unknown territory, void of familiarity and familial connections. I was wrong.

And our favorite place? A cozy kitchen, a comfy couch and into the arms of someone who is happy to see us - these are the destinations we look forward to the most.

May 2005 - Month in Review

2005-06-19T01:09:00.000-04:00

The California Edition

Miles Traveled (in Altima) – exactly 2,500 miles.

Most Pleasant Affirmation – Natural beauty can unite people in a shared and joyful experience. Of the several languages we heard on top of Moro Rock, high above the clouds in Sequoia NP, there were three we could understand: English, Spanish and Polish. Exclamations were exactly the same in every tongue: “It’s like being in an airplane!” and “Be careful with the camera!”

Best Weather Day(s) – Central and Southern California brought a whole month of hot, sunny, low humidity days. Bakersfield, Fresno, Los Angeles, Merced, Orange County, Oxnard, San Diego, Santa Cruz, Ventura. We love you all.

Best Opportunity to Test Michael’s “Jacket of the Year” (Worst Weather Day) – None! Only one day of rain the entire month, a light sprinkle in San Diego, Calif. on May 5.

Most Effective Billboard Slogan – “Last Chance! Next Best Pizza 3000 miles away – on the East Coast,” Pinocchio Pizza, Gilroy, Calif. Sadly, we had just eaten lunch so we couldn’t test their claim.

Most Talked About Natural Phenomenon – Snow melt in the high Sierras is no joke. We watched news about flooding in the Yosemite Valley and icy nights in Kings Canyon from our warm motel room in Bakersfield, Calif. After delaying our visits by a few days, we were left with some snowy trails in Kings Canyon and breathtakingly powerful waterfalls and cascades in Yosemite NP.

Most Talked About Unnatural Phenomenon – Random shootings on the LA Freeways. Two actually occurred as we were driving on a (different) LA freeway. Don’t tell the moms.

Most Fun with World Leaders – The Richard Nixon Museum and Birthplace in Yorba Linda lets you mingle with life-sized statues of Golda Meir, Winston Churchill, Mao Tse-Tung and Leonid Brezhnev among others. Most are much shorter than we’d have guessed. Imagine the conversations at that dinner party.

Longest Day – May 4. 179 miles from Los Angeles to San Diego through heavy traffic in time to catch an afternoon Padres baseball game. Not such a long day, really, but we definitely would not want a daily commute into either of these congested cities.

Most Beautiful Capitol Building – No capitols for the second month in a row. Are we really on a road trip?

Biggest Disappointment – Our early morning trip to the Fox and Hound in Studio City to watch the final games in the English Soccer Premier League and seek out Nick and Steven – hosts of one of our favorite radio talk shows World Soccer Daily. We wanted to tell Nick and Steven how we listen to them every day and share in the excitement of expats cheering on their beloved teams.

Instead of a rowdy crowd of soccer fans, we found a quiet street and closed doors. A quick check on the internet showed that all of the morning’s games were postponed due to bad weather. Did everybody get the memo but us?

Most Pleasant Surprise – Finding the Dog House Grill within walking distance from our motel after scouring the internet for clues where to find cheap eats and a comfortable place to be in Fresno. Delicious sandwiches, friendly wait staff and NBA Playoffs on every TV. We highly recommend the tri-tip steak sandwich and a side of onion rings.

Most Unpleasant Surprise – Finding out that black bears don’t really need a reason to break into your car. When we arrived at the Potwisha campground in Sequoia National Park, the camp host and a Ranger informed us that there had been two bear/car incidents the previous night, one in the site right next to ours and for no apparent reason. No food or scented items were in the violated car. Ugh. Even after removing every single removable item from the ‘Tima and placing it in the Bear Box, we wondered if our trusty vehicle would make it through the night. She did, but we can’t say we slept well.

Almost Celebrity Sightings – None! We did, however, drive past two movies and a car commercial being filmed on Mulholland Drive in the Santa Monica NRA.

First Rattlesnake Sighting – on the trail to Marble Falls, in the foothills of Sequoia NP. We waited patiently for the rattling tail end of the reptile to disappear from view before walking (swiftly) past.

The “Fancy Meeting You Here” Award – The Los Angeles Rams 1951 World Championship Banner and autographed photos of Rams Tom Fears and Norm Van Brocklin found in the dark recesses of Tom Bergin’s Irish Pub near the Miracle Mile in LA. Michael shed a silent tear for his beloved Rams and ran outside to call his dad about the find.

Most Gluttonous Day – Sunday Brunch, celebrating the marriage of two wonderful friends, Greg and Emily in Tujunga, Calif. Bagels, Bloody Marys and all the leftovers from the previous evening’s festivities were hauled out and devoured. Who brought the delicious blintzes?

Most Expensive Ballgame Ticket – $12 left field reserved seats at PetCo Field to see the San Diego Padres.

Cheapest Ballgame Ticket – $2 upper deck, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, Calif. Yes. We were there at the last of Dodger Stadium’s infamous $2 True Blue Tuesdays. Brawls, teenagers running onto the field, 10 minutes of debris being thrown onto the field and incredible amounts of foul language. Everything you would expect for a $2 major league ticket. And guess which celebrities were there: long forgotten rappers Tone Loc and Coolio.

Best Sporting Experience – We had a great time a $2 Tuesdays but it probably wasn’t the best place to bring kids.

Scariest Night – What’s scarier than $2 Tuesdays in the nosebleed seats? A night spent amongst rogue black bears at the Potwisha Campground, Sequoia NP. The car next to ours was broken into the night prior to our stay for no apparent reason. Michael knows he heard bears walk near our tent during our sleepless night.

Scariest Mannequins – Cabrillo NM, San Diego. Everywhere we turned these dudes were staring at us. Ack!

Most Scenic Drive (National Parks) – Southside and Northside Drives in the Yosemite Valley, Yosemite NP, Calif. Waterfalls in every direction, Half Dome and El Capitán. Just wish there weren’t so many cars.

Most Scenic Drive (Highways) – Calif. Route 180 between Sequoia NP and Kings Canyon NP. The road takes a dramatic descent into Kings Canyon (a deeper canyon than the Grand Canyon), following the rushing Kings River. Absolutely breathtaking.

Most Scenic Drive We Chose to Walk – The world’s crookedest street. Lombard Street, San Francisco. The traffic line to drive this famous stretch went on for blocks in all directions and was managed by several traffic police. All to test your brakes and skill at downshifting. We preferred to walk alongside the winding cars. The view was just as nice.

Best Day Hike (Ever?) – Mist Trail to Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls, Yosemite NP, Calif. Walking up the side of a 317-foot high waterfall rushing at full blast. Can anything be better?

Worst Day Hike – Pinnacles NM. If the swarming flies weren’t enough to keep us moving at a fast pace, the vultures circling overheard provided extra incentive. Steep climbs. Rising temperatures. No shade. No fun.

Best American Kabuki – “Thermy” at Carnival in San Francisco. We can’t remember which stand he was from, but he certainly “warmed” up to Gab and our friend Emily.

Best Paper Mache Sculpture - We found this colorful creature at Carnival as well. And look, he matches Emily’s glasses.

Highest Price for Gas – $2.49 on May 6th at Citgo, San Diego, Calif.

Lowest Price for Gas – $2.25 on May 24th at Lucky Gas and Liquor, Fresno, Calif. Gas prices actually went down this month. Yippee!

Most Out of the Way Site – Kings Canyon NP. Only one road leads into this High Sierra wonderland and most of the Park is accessible only on foot.

Most Welcome Uninvited Guests – The sea lions who have taken up permanent residence on Pier 39 in the Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco. These bad boys are big and loud and the object of everyone’s attention. We think they like it.

Best Burger – In-N-Out Burger. Again and again. This is our California mainstay for lunch on the road. We can personally vouch for locations in Placentia, Laguna Niguel, Oxnard, Ventura, Tujunga, Bakersfield, Visalia, Fresno, Salinas….Are we embarrassing ourselves?

Best Bagels – The Bagel Shack, San Clemente. These may be the best bagels we have had in a year and a half. And they brewed a fresh pot of coffee for us. This stop brightened up our foggy morning drive to San Diego. So much so we stopped again on the way back to LA. Sadly, they were closed for the afternoon.

Best Free Samples – Garlic World, Gilroy, Calif. How many ways can you marinate garlic cloves and olives? How garlic-y is garlic marinated with more garlic? Gab wasn’t leaving until she found out.

Most Unusual Food – Garlic Ice Cream from Garlic World, Gilroy, Calif. Tastes just like you would imagine. Gab loved it, Michael didn’t. P.S. Gilroy is the Garlic Capital of the World.

Best Local Cuisine – The tri-tip taco from the second street vendor, Old Town, San Diego. Cinco de Mayo brought some of San Diego’s best Mexican kitchens right out on to the streets. Our first two burritos were OK. Not great. The couple perched next to us on a bench alerted us to the much tastier fare a few steps away. We felt compelled to get yet another dinner. In the name of research, of course.

Best Impulse Purchase – A fabulous pair of sunglasses from a street vendor at Carnival, San Francisco. Gab thinks she looks like a rock star, and so did a set of women dining at an outdoor café who stopped her to ask where they could get a pair. Michael rolls his eyes.

• Los Angeles, CA • Fullerton, CA • Placentia, CA • Yorba Linda, CA • West Hollywood, CA • Beverly Hills, CA • Bel Air, CA • Westwood, CA • San Clemente, CA • San Diego, CA • Pacific Beach, CA • San Juan Capistrano, CA • Laguna Niguel, CA • Dana Point, CA • Laguna Beach, CA • Newport Beach, CA • Huntington Beach, CA • Malibu, CA • Oxnard, CA • Ventura, CA • Thousand Oaks, CA • Simi Valley, CA • Studio City, CA • Burbank, CA • Tujunga, CA • Bakersfield, CA • Tulare, CA • Visalia, CA • Dunlap, CA • Fresno, CA • Wawona, CA • Yosemite Village, CA • Merced, CA • Gilroy, CA • Monterey, CA • Salinas, CA • Soledad, CA • Castroville, CA • Santa Cruz, CA • Pacifica, CA • San Francisco, CA • Berkeley, CA • Oakland, CA •

Richard Nixon Museum and Birthplace • Cabrillo NM • Santa Monica Mountains NRA • Ronald Reagan Museum and Library • Sequoia NP • Kings Canyon NP • Yosemite NP • Pinnacles NM • Golden Gate NRA • San Francisco Maritime NHP •

April 2005 - Month in Review

2005-05-24T20:36:00.000-04:00

Miles Traveled (in Altima) – 2,355

Best Weather Day(s) – April 21 through 23 at Zion NP, Utah. Blue skies, glorious scenery, 80-degree days and 50-degree nights. The copious winter rains had made Zion NP a living, green springtime wonderland.

Best Opportunity to Test Michael’s “Jacket of the Year” (Worst Weather Day) – TIE

April 18 - Canyonlands NP, Islands in the Sky, Utah - 50 mph winds combined with a treeless high altitude to cause an inhospitable dust storm. After a 15 minute fruitless attempt to pitch the tent, we drove back to our trusty Moab motel.

April 24. Zion NP, Utah – After three picture perfect days we were not ready for a tumultuous Saturday night. From midnight until six am the rain did not stop. And they were big, hard hitting rain pellets, the stage right before hail. Our campsite was at the bottom of a slope, next to the rushing Virgin River. By the morning, our tent’s interior had turned into a lake. Everything was soaked. Thank heavens a warm Las Vegas, Nev. hotel was nearby.

Thank God We’re Not Here Next Month Award (Actually, That’s Not True) – The gorgeous National Parks of southern Utah, Arches, Zion, Canyonlands and Natural Bridges as well as the town of Moab, seemed to be preparing for a late Spring rush. The May temperatures are perfect. No cold April nights and no scorching June days and probably no campsites or motels to be had.

Nonetheless, we would love to be their in May. Who cares about the crowds and other inconveniences when the weather and scenery are ideal?

Most Talked About Natural Phenomenon – “Spring is just around the corner, trust us” Heard in every high desert city from Flagstaff, Ariz. (in mid-March) to Torrey, Utah (mid-April) as we walked through snow and shivered our way through campground nights. Spring finally came when we hit the low altitudes of Zion NP, Utah and Las Vegas, Nev. Or did we just find Spring ourselves?

Most Beautiful View – Almost unfair to decide when you have spent the month in Colorado Plateau country. Our choice is Sunset Point at Capitol Reef, NP, Utah, naturally, at sunset. Colors, sharp angles, mountains, red sandstone and the stunning rock formations below make this a remarkable sight among many remarkable sights.

Most Beautiful Park Site Surroundings – Mesa Verde. It is like being on top of the world.

Most Beautiful Bird – The Park Ranger at Big Bend NP in Texas told us that the best bird is the one in your binoculars. He’s right, but the Golden Eagle we saw at Zion NP was so majestic and so handsome. Since the Eagle helps with educational projects throughout the southwest, we got to stand just feet from this regal bird. He was a part of the fun Earth Day celebrations at Zion NP.

Liveliest City Center (Towns) – Durango, Colo. is so much fun! This old west town is hidden in the southwestern corner of Colorado. The restaurants, shops and bars, all located along the town’s main street, are always crowded and full of life. It was hard for us to leave. We love Colorado.

The crazy mountain bike center of Moab, Utah comes in a distant second, not because of the raucous, mainly tourist crowd, but because of Utah’s arcane restaurant laws.

Dullest City Center (Towns) – Blanding, Utah. No restaurants open after 9pm. Why does everyone need to be home so soon? Can’t they bear to miss Desperate Housewives?

Friendliest People – Durango, Colo. Everywhere we went, people talked to us. The locals were all happy and gregarious. Why not, they have found paradise.

NTN Trivia Downfall – We got our butts kicked in trivia at the Spectators Sporting Grill in Albuquerque, N.M. To add injury to insult, the cigarette smoke was so thick that Michael ended up getting sick.

The “Fancy Meeting You Here” Award – We showed up, yet again, at out friend Dave’s Los Angeles doorstep five days ahead of schedule. Thanks, Dave, for you hospitality, your good nature and for the many heart-to-heart phone calls.

Longest Day – April 30. 300 miles, from the Mojave N PRES to our friend Dave’s doorstep in central Los Angeles.

Snowiest Park Return – Bryce Canyon NP, Utah. We made a short return to Bryce’s orange hoodoos and found them covered in snow, their character so changed from our last visit. Just as beautiful but much more mysterious, their essence even more unattainable.

Biggest Disappointment – We couldn’t hike the Zion NP Virgin River Narrows for Gab’s birthday. We should have expected the River to be at dangerously high levels, the southwest received a lot of winter precipitation. The Narrows hike will not be an option until late July.

Most Unpleasant Surprise – The Natural Bridges NM aftermath. No campsites, a bumpy ride down an unsuitable-for-Nissan-Altima unpaved road, rural night driving past lurking mule deer and a night in Blanding, Utah, officially America’s worst town.

Most Pleasant Surprise – The NM State Spirit Competition, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 10,000 screaming fans in Albuquerque famous arena, The Pit. Hundreds of cheerleaders and dance squads from New Mexico’s largest towns fought hard for their trophies. Everyone was here, rich, poor, White, Black, Navajo and Hispanic. It was like the Pennsylvania High School Wrestling Championship except more animosity between competitors and much more fun. Who doesn’t love cheesy techno music?

Best Sporting Experience – See Most Pleasant Surprise

Best American Kabuki – Lucy the Lobo, the University of New Mexico’s intrepid female wolf ably cheers alongside her high flying squad mates. The woman who plays Lucy is from Anchorage, Alaska, the only UNM Lobo cheerleader not from the Land of Enchantment.

Most Scenic Drive (National Parks) – Capitol Reef NP

Most Scenic Drive (Highways) – U.S. 550 from Durango, Colo. to Silverton, Colo. a/k/a the Million Dollar Highway. 11,000-foot mountain passes, incredibly high snow banks, sledders, awesome views and old western mining towns. Incredible stuff.

Most Scenic Drive (Miscellaneous) – “Utah’s First All American Road” SR12 through Dixie Forest up into mountains, snow and conifers, along rim of multicolored canyons, serious elevation changes. Wildflowers a plenty.

Best Day Hike – 8.5 miles in the Canyon, Natural Bridges NP, Utah. Walking under three imposing Natural Bridges is amazing in itself. The route, through steep canyon walls, past ancient petroglyphs and over difficult creek crossings, made the hike unforgettable.

Best Long Hike – 11 miles through Canyonlands NP, Needles district. Elephant Hill on the Joint Trail Loop through Chester Park. Scrambling up and down slick rock, squeezing in between rock fissures, walking across broad meadows – this hike had it all. Its variety kept us occupied and interested and left us very, very tired.

Highest Price for Gas – $2.45 on April 21 at the Texaco, Torrey, Utah. You have to bite the bullet when there are no other gas stations for the next 100 miles.

Lowest Price for Gas – $2.15 on April 3 at Tiwa Mart, Albuquerque, N.M. This gas price low was 34 cents higher than last months ($1.81) and 48 cents higher than February’s ($1.67).

Most Out of the Way Site – Chaco Culture NHP, N.M. 21 miles down an unpaved road from U.S. Route 550.

Strangest Museum Display(s) – Bradbury Science Museum, Los Alamos, N.M. This is a hard choice. Was it the one trumpeting nuclear radiation as beneficial (Three Mile Island is in our backyard, not yours), the interactive kid’s display that allowed you to detonate a nuclear bomb or the timeline history of nuclear bombs that ends before the stunning cold war buildups of the 1980’s.

Best Cheap Bar Food – The Del Charro Saloon, Santa Fe, N.M. Shockingly low prices, dare we say the only affordable dining option in the entire town. Who would have thought the food would actually be good? We tried the whole menu and especially enjoyed the $4 burger, the $2 hand cut potato chips, the heaping pile of $4 nachos and the $2 soup.

Best Coffee – The 100% necessary and aptly titled Rocket Fuel at The Bean Scene in, of all places, St. George, Utah.

Worst Campground – Natural Bridges NM, Utah

Best Campground – Chaco Culture NM, New Mexico

Largest Measuring Device – On April 29 we retraced our October route and passed the world’s largest thermometer in Baker, Calif. This time Gab made sure to get a good photograph.

Biggest Stretch – On April 25, we placed a long shot bet on Liverpool winning the Champions League. Somehow they squeaked by Chelsea in the semifinals and face AC Milan on Wednesday, May 25. Come on Reds!

Albuquerque, NM • Mountainair, NM • Chilili, NM • Santa Fe, NM • Pecos, NM • Las Vegas, NM • Watrous, NM • Los Alamos, NM • Aztec, NM • Durango, CO • Silverton, CO • Mancos, CO • Cortez, CO • Four Corners, CO, NM, AZ and UT • Kayenta, AZ • Mexican Hat, UT • Blanding, UT • Moab, UT • Green River, UT • Torrey, UT • Escalante, UT • Tropic, UT • Rubys Inn, UT • Springdale, UT • St. George, UT • Las Vegas, NV • Primm, NV • Cima, CA • Kelso, CA • Baker, CA • Barstow, CA • West Covina, CA • Los Angeles, CA

Salinas Pueblo Missions NM • Petroglyph, NM • Pecos NHP • Fort Union, NM • Bandelier NM • Chaco Culture NHP • Aztec Ruins, NM • Mesa Verde NP • Navajo NM • Monument Valley NTP • Hovenweep NM • Natural Bridges NM • Canyonlands NP • Arches NP • Capitol Reef NP • Mojave N PRES

Spirit!

2005-05-09T13:13:00.000-04:00

Gab:

Albuquerque, New Mexico, born as a rest stop along Route 66, the Mother Road, is a city still growing. Not as sanitized as Santa Fe, not as small as Flagstaff, not as homogenous as Tucson or Phoenix, Albuquerque felt alive last Saturday night, just ripe for exploration.

You know we like to explore. Baseball parks, football stadiums, basketball arenas – if the gates are unlocked, we are going in. Albuquerque makes it easy by placing Isotopes Park, the University of New Mexico Stadium and the University Arena a.k.a. The Pit all in one block, one block away from our hotel.

The lights were still on at Isotopes Park. Workers were cleaning up from an Arizona Diamondbacks exhibition game. We snapped a few photos and ran across the street to see the Stadium. Nice enough, a little plain. What we really wanted was to get a glimpse of the famous Pit, supposedly one of the loudest, most intimate and most intimidating (to visiting teams) basketball arenas in college sports.

Wait a minute. The Pit’s parking lot was full. People were streaming in, rushing in really. Security was posted at every door. What is going on? Michael and I quizzically looked at each other and mentally scanned through the possibilities. NCAA Tournament? Over. Gymnastics? Maybe. Wrestling? Could be. If we were curious before, we were driven now. Inquiring minds want to know!

The closest security guard filled us in. It was the final hours of the New Mexico High School Spirit Competition. If we wanted to see The Pit, he suggested that we come back in an hour or so once the crowd cleared and the event was over.

No way! What’s the fun in that? A parking lot full of people are clearly excited about something. Just what is a “Spirit Competition”? Peeking through the doors showed us throngs of costumed girls all abuzz, glitter and hairspray everywhere. Girls of every shape and size were running in groups hugging each other, saying “great job! You were great!” or getting consoled by boyfriends or just milling about looking too cool for school, talking trash about the other girls. We want in.

$6 got us entrance to The statewide competition for cheerleading and dance squads from every high school in the state. Only two hours left, but the dance squads were just beginning to compete. I love dance squads. As much as we wanted to stay in the hallway, we knew the real action was inside.

Oh yes. This is exactly where we want to be. Dancing AND a competition AND a perfect seat to observe the fascinating social behavior of post-adolescents, the $6 tickets suddenly seemed like a steal. Black, White, Hispanic, Navajo – the only colors that mattered tonight were the ones on their uniforms.

Let’s talk about the uniforms, shall we?

Cheerleading uniforms rarely digress from the standard sweater, skirt and sneakers. Dance squads, however, are a different story.

Costumes ranged from silvery or green or black full body, skintight cat suits (that were not kind) to dominatrix-meets-J. Lo combinations. Some high schools flaunted their well-funded program with matching hair extensions and fitted blouses while others looked like they ran to Wal-Mart to buy 10 pairs of identical yoga pants at the last minute. Two of the teams had the SAME costume (gasp).

Our tickets were for the bleachers. Rowdy groups from Del Norte, El Dorado, Roswell, Artesia, Gallup and Albuquerque were barely contained in the reserve seats. “Frothing at the mouth” was how Michael described them. Huge clusters of school colors erupted with applause, clapping thunder sticks and yelling to welcome each new performing group. And those were the parents!

The routine went like this: The emcee would announce the high school; the team would march out and take their positions on the basketball court while the next two teams would file into the wings. The faculty coordinator/responsible adult would crouch (as if we couldn’t see them) and run along the sidelines, taking their place at center court. For some reason, they always carried a dated boom box with them. The music medley would start; the girls (and occasional male member) would do their thing.

The first two squads were relatively tame. Dressed primarily in black, they swayed in sync to the music with an occasional risqué move borrowed from the latest music video. The next group strutted out in silver tops and matching bandanas and baseball caps. I liked the look of them. They danced to a hip hop mix and their attitudes were even bigger than their smiles.

Only 8 girls represented Gallup, a town we had just left. Their tough faux leather caps and vests contrasted sharply with their cute smiles and small frames. Adorable biker girls? Was that the look they were going for? When the music started, they showed they were not to be taken lightly. They were my favorites to win.

After a few more smaller groups performed, the large schools moved in. Now 20 to 40 girls covered the court. Los Lunas HS nearly blinded us with their silver cat suits, especially when several of their members started doing the dolphin across the floor. Albuquerque’s 12-person team featured a gyrating, salsa-dancing male member. They were, of course, a crowd favorite.

Our eyes just couldn’t keep up with everything going on around us. We kept passing the binoculars and camera back and forth as the techno music and flurries of arms swirled around us.

Del Norte, outfitted in a bizarre bright blue Swiss Miss get up, prided themselves in their precision military marching moves. El Dorado’s high kicks would have put the Rockettes on notice. These two schools definitely had the largest parent contingent present. We are guessing they also had the largest budgets. We were fans of neither.

Routines ranged from so-so to spectacular. Music selections spanned decades. One poor squad was cursed with a dated Janet Jackson mega mix. Others were unafraid to shake their stuff to the latest hip hop and dance hits.

Did those moms really cheer wildly as their little girls made their butts move at incredible speeds?

Once all of the groups had performed, we though we might have some time to check out the hallways. Not a chance. To entertain the crowd while the scores were tallied, Albuquerque’s own UNM all-girl and co-ed cheerleading squads, the UNM dance squad and Lobo Lucy strutted their stuff. Co-eds were flipped and spun three stories high while the competition’s contestants were reminded that UNM cheerleading tryouts were in just a few weeks. You, too, could be a Lobo!

Over two hours had passed. Michael and I still had not left our bleacher seats, sticky with two days worth of soda and snacks. The parents around us looked exhausted. Most had been here for the entire weekend. Cheering, consoling, primping, and trying to gauge their own child’s chances against the rest. Del Norte’s parents were the only ones that seemed confident that their squad would take home first place. We’ll see about that.

Soon the judges were ready. All the squads were invited down to the court to hear the final verdicts. The speakers played the standard pump-up-the-crowd mix as hundreds of girls danced down the bleachers and on to the floor. They clustered by school and formed small circles, holding hands, eyes closed, fingers crossed or praying as their divisions were announced.

And now, the winners…Some were totally ticked when they were called for second or third place. They could barely hide their displeasure. Others, like Gallup, were so stunned they won they couldn’t stand still for the obligatory photo. When Albuquerque got third place, there was an audible gasp from the stands, including Michael.

In just a few hours we had turned from bemused bystanders to invested participants, hoping and wishing for our favorites to win. I was so happy for Gallup whose name has been in the papers for some nasty crimes over Easter weekend to have some good news to take home. Michael was shocked that Albuquerque got robbed. We both took some mean-spirited pleasure in the fact that Del Norte went home empty handed.

And just like that it was over. The winners were asked to stay behind for press photos; the parents congratulated each other and started back to their minivans or into the hallways to find their children. We reminded ourselves to have a look at the Pit, you know, the reason we came in in the first place.

Even with half of the seats blocked off, the Pit was impressively loud. The bleachers spread down to the court – no barrier between the fans and the players. To sit in the upper deck would require some confidence in your depth perception. Seats are at a steep angle and the ceiling isn’t far above you. The roof is flat which concentrates the noise and the excitement; there is no place for it to go but to circulate. Michael reminded me that the NCAA Basketball Finals were held here 1983. That must have been electric.

But then again, what could be more exciting than the Spirit Competition? In one evening we had a retrospective of all of the New Mexico towns and cities we had already driven through and got a preview of what lies ahead. How appropriate that they all converged in Albuquerque, rest stop on the Mother Road, a city ripe for exploration.

Geronimo

2005-05-02T20:05:00.000-04:00

Gab:

Empty coffee cups and wine glasses, two clean plates and a very full and happy Michael and Gabby resting contentedly on plush pillows in the corner booth: That was the scene at the end of a wonderful evening at Geronimo, Mobil’s only four star restaurant in all of New Mexico. If Mobil is looking for personal testimonies, we gladly submit ours.

The decision where to celebrate one year on the road and seventeen years in remission was a difficult one, particularly since Santa Fe, New Mexico probably has more gourmet restaurants than gas stations. We searched the internet, the local papers, even the ad-filled magazines supplied by the hotel. We took a scouting mission the night before, circling the Plaza, memorizing the menus posted on doors. It doesn’t matter where we started; what matters is that we ended up at Geronimo.

We were warmly greeted at the door of the small white adobe house on Canyon Road – a place we hadn’t explored the previous evening. The menu looked so good, the atmosphere so inviting, we just had to ask: “Do you have any seating left for this evening? Oh wait, are we dressed ok?”

Yes and yes the maitre’d smiled. And in seconds we were seated at a spacious corner booth. Linens white and crisp. Fresh flowers on the table.

We leaned on the large pillows placed around us and continued to peruse the menu. Reading the menu is my favorite part of dining. I hate to be rushed. I like to picture each dish in my mind, try to envision the colors and blending of the ingredients listed and how they might taste. Then I move on to the next selection and do the same thing. Lucky for Michael, Geronimo’s menu is short and sweet. It is printed daily to reflect that night’s options.

We ordered the organic spinach salad with fresh strawberries, Maytag blue cheese and apple vinaigrette to share. Michael chose the Mesquite grilled “Maverick Ranch” filet mignon of beef with country ham and Reggiano butter gratin, baked provolone potato cake and Creole mustard veal sauce and I asked for what I had been dreaming about all day, their signature dish: Peppery elk tenderloin with apple wood smoked bacon, roasted garlic fork-mashed Yukon gold potatoes, sugar snap peas and creamy brandied mushroom sauce.

Is your mouth watering? Ours were. Giddy. We were simply giddy. We ate our freshly baked bread and sniffed our wines, just savoring the moments before our food arrived.

Two large plates emerged quickly from the kitchen, each a stunning presentation. The sauce anchored the potato and vegetables which in turn held the centerpiece, the delicious portion of meat. The serving size was substantial, giving us plenty of opportunity to try each flavor and each combination of flavors on our dishes. We were enjoying every minute of our anniversary celebration.

We ate our meals as slowly as possible, savoring the tastes and cutting the meat into smaller and smaller pieces so it would last longer. Each plate was a perfect combination of textures and flavors complete in themselves. Had we asked for the check after our last bite, the evening would have been delightful. But this was just the beginning.

Because of a misplaced salad, we were presented with chilled glasses of dessert wines, compliments of the house. One was an Antiqua Muscat de Frontignan, the other was a Grahams 20 year old Tawny Porto. Dessert wine! I’ve never had dessert wine. We waited excitedly to see just what we were supposed to do with these treats.

The answer came soon enough. Placed in front of Michael was a brown sugar crème brulee with fresh raspberries and oranges to be paired with the Muscat. For me, a flourless chocolate cake with raspberry Chambord syrup and freshly whipped cream to go with the Porto.
Are we so transparent? These are our favorite desserts. Somehow the sweetness of the dessert wines brought out the rich bitterness and solid texture of the chocolate cake and the creaminess of the crème brulee even more. So this is dessert wine. Two fresh cups of coffee also appeared at the table to help us wash down our delectable desserts.

Our server was fantastic. Professional and friendly, his wine recommendations perfectly suited our meals, his gifts greatly appreciated. How did he know which sweet was whose weakness?

Geronimo’s chef, Eric DiStefano is from Hershey, Pennsylvania. Born and raised just down the road, apprenticed and later chef at the beautiful Hotel Hershey. We felt even better about our decision knowing we were supporting a fellow Pennsylvanian. PA represent!

Tonight was indeed a special night. Thank you Jill and Mike and Mark and MaryAnn for this anniversary gift. Thank you Chef Eric DiStefano and the staff of Geronimo for making us feel so at home as we commemorated one year away from it.

www.usa-c2c.com
(c) 2005

Spring Training 2005

2005-04-21T12:51:00.000-04:00

Gab:

After a harrowing morning at Coronado National Memorial, our goal driving into Tucson was to find a) a place to stay and b) some entertainment to take our minds off being pulled over by a Federal agent. Not necessarily in that order.

We had just reached the southern edge of the city when we saw the scaffolding of stadium lights and signs directed towards large parking lots. Instinctively, we followed the arrows.

It wasn’t until after we paid three dollars for a parking pass that Michael thought to ask, “Are there tickets left for the game?” Sure, sure. The stadium seats 10,000; we’re only expecting about seven. Next questions: “By the way, who’s playing and what time does the game start?”

Yes, folks it’s Spring Training in Arizona, home of the Cactus League. We drove right into a 1 pm game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Francisco Giants, sponsor of all of my dad’s minor league experience. Is there anything like an afternoon baseball game to wash away your troubles?

We parked the car, stripped off some layers of clothes, lathered up on sunscreen, stuffed a bag with camera, binoculars and bottled water and off we went. Hello, baseball season!

On the way to the box office we had plenty of time to phone our fathers and rub it in. What’s the weather in Harrisburg? Cold and rainy. What are you doing? Waiting for the rain to stop. We gloated in the details of our surroundings. Cloudless sky, 90-degree heat, almost full stadium, terrific seats.

Our dads are so great. They humor us. Michael’s dad tried to guess who was pitching for each team. My dad tried to name each of the members of the Cactus League and the location of each of their training camps. Both were amazingly accurate.

We watched the first few innings then decided, like we always do, to wander. We rarely get something to eat at games, but we talk about it a lot. Garlic fries or hot sausage? Too hot. Ice cream or dippin’ dots? Uh, I don’t really want ice cream. Stir fried teriyaki noodles? Hmm, that sounds good…

We always discuss our eating options as we circle the stadium, inspecting the crowd and optimum placement to watch the game. Is there really a bad seat?

No matter how incompetent Bud Selig is, no matter how scandalous the latest steroid accusation, no matter how bad the latest ad campaign (“I Live for This!” – is that supposed to make us feel pathetic? Because it kind of does), baseball is still America’s game.

There is no place I feel more American than in the stands or on the lawn at a baseball game. There is no time I feel closer to my dad than when we are talking baseball. I think Michael feels the same. Baseball connects me with my country and more importantly with my pop. Does it really matter who’s playing?

Who won the game? We don’t know. We left the game around the 8th inning, sun burnt and happy, thinking of which stadiums would be along our route this summer, which teams we might be able to see and what chances we would have to share summer evenings with thousands of other people flocking to see America’s favorite pastime. I do live for this, you know.

March '05 - Month in Review

2005-04-18T13:04:00.000-04:00

Miles Traveled (in Altima) – 4,045

Best Weather Day – Every day south of Phoenix, Ariz. in March is the best weather day. For once, we timed it right.

Best Opportunity to Test Michael’s “Jacket of the Year” (Worst Weather Day) – Arriving in Flagstaff, Ariz. and snow after weeks of southern Arizona sunshine. From flip-flops to fleece in less than two hours.

Most Talked About Natural Phenomenon – “Have you seen the wildflowers at Organ Pipe yet?” This was practically all we heard as soon as we crossed into Arizona. Unusual amounts of rain this winter were supposed to lead to breathtaking, once in a lifetime displays of wildflowers of every color. Well, we saw them, but not here. The show at Organ Pipe Cactus NM was actually disappointing compared to what we saw along the road of the Tohono O’Odham Indian Reservation and along I-60 through Devil’s Canyon. Now that’s some pretty stuff.

Most Interesting Name for a Roadside Attraction – Java-Linas Coffee Shop, South Tucson, Ariz. Get it? Javalinas? Well, we thought it was cute and coffee is always attractive.

Most Beautiful View – into the Canyon at Canyon de Chelly NM, Ariz. But beware: the low and sometimes nonexistent guardrails at overlooks make this site a challenge for those with a fear of heights.

Best Day Hike – Massai Point, through the Heart of Rocks to the Visitors Center, Chiricahua NM, Ariz.. A free shuttle takes you to the highest point of the park. Choose your route and make your way back. How nice to have your car waiting for you at the other end! A great service and a beautiful hike.

Most Scenic Drive (National Parks) – Chiricahua NM, Ariz.. This was a tough one. Several of the NPS sites we saw this month offered scenic drives, each with their own beauty. Chiricahua wins the prize because we didn’t do the driving. An SCA volunteer chauffeured us to our trailhead and pointed out several features of the landscape, like the head of Cochise, we may have missed alone.

Most Scenic Drive (Highways) – I-60 east from Phoenix to Globe, Ariz straight through Devil’s Canyon. Fields of wildflowers added even more color to the brilliant scenery. Deep gorges and colorful cliff walls almost made us forget how long we’d been in the car.

Liveliest City Center (Towns) – Flagstaff, Ariz. And not just because this is where we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day. Some of our most interesting conversations begin here. Flagstaff is small with a population of less than 50,000 but there is always something going on downtown and someone who wants to chat.

Runners up - Cloudcroft, N.M. and Silver City, N.M.

Friendliest People – Flagstaff, Ariz. This place feels like home. Especially since people are starting to recognize us after our third stay here in five months. We are sure we will find a reason to come back here again before the trip is over.

Runner up - Silver City, New Mex. If we do end up working in Antarctica, blame it on David. Back just a few days from his latest tour, David convinced us that there just might be a way to see the seventh continent that fits our budget. He gets extra points for sending us to the Silver Café before it closed for the night.

Ugliest Capitol Building – Phoenix, Ariz. The Capitol itself is fine; it’s the scrap metal yards and vacant lots that surround it that minimizes the grandeur of Arizona’s seat of government. The old capitol building no longer houses the Legislature or the Government. When it became too small, both houses and the governor moved to new buildings on either side and behind the original structure, leaving the domed building to serve as a visitor center and free museum.

Most Beautiful Capitol Building – Santa Fe, N.M. No dome here. No towering columns. None of the usual trappings of a state center. This three story adobe roundhouse showcases New Mexican artists in every hallway and every available space. This might be Michael’s favorite capitol building yet.

Biggest Disappointment – Finding out the only road to the Gila Cliff Dwellings NM, N.M. was completely washed away. In fact, the river was still too high for any repairs to begin. Who know how or when we will find ourselves back here. The helpful receptionist at the National Forest headquarters said it could be months before the road is passable.

NOTE: the road actually opened 4 days after we left Silver City.

Most Pleasant Surprise – (TIE)
Cloudcroft, N.M. – We weren’t expecting snow as we drove across southern New Mexico. We also weren’t expecting to find a funky little town, complete with a main street with a western feel at 9,000 feet above sea level. This was a great lunch stop in between Carlsbad Caverns and El Paso, Texas.

Silver City, N.M. – An affordable room in a charming historic hotel set us in the middle of Silver City’s downtown. There we found two unique food stores to stock up on camping snacks, some of this month’s friendliest folks and the best local cuisine, all within walking distance. What cliff dwellings?

Most Unpleasant Surprise – see Biggest Disappointment.

Cheapest Ballgame Ticket – $4 for lawn seats to see the Chicago White Sox play the Colorado Rockies at the Tucson Electric Park, Ariz. We love Spring Training!

Most Expensive Ballgame Ticket – $8 for bleacher seats at the same park, this time to see the Arizona Diamondbacks v. the San Francisco Giants.

Best Sporting Experience – Spring Training in Arizona. 80 degrees and sunny, cheap seats and giveaways at every game. Like a minor league game, only better. We are very happy that we didn’t attend the March 24th Diamondbacks game; a bee invasion (!) forced the players off the field just after the 5th inning.

Best American Kabuki – Power Cat, Tucson Electric Park, Ariz.

Highest Price for Gas – $2.15 on March 16th at Chevron, Phoenix, Ariz.

Lowest Price for Gas – $1.82 on March 6th at Albertsons, El Paso, Texas. We fondly remember gas prices under $2.00.

Most Out of the Way Site – Gila Cliff Dwellings. So out of the way we couldn’t get there.

Runner Up: Fort Bowie NM. Eight miles down a dirt road. 3-mile round trip hike to get to the actual site.

Most Vitriol Inducing Site – Thefts Occur Frequently from this Parking Lot, says the sign posted at the Boquillas Canyon trailhead in Big Bend NP, Texas. Watching another person watch you across the Rio Grande didn’t make us feel any better about leaving nearly all of our earthly possessions unattended. So much for that hike.

Best Pizza – Fratelli Pizza, Flagstaff, Ariz. In fact, after at least 6 return visits and sampling, no devouring, a number of different pies we just might say, with apologies to Christopher’s in Harrisburg, Pa. that Fratelli Pizza is the best pizza in the United States of America.

Best Local Cuisine – Combo platters at the Silver Café, Silver City, New Mex. Stacked with a taco, chile relleno, 2 enchiladas, beans and rice AND sopapillas. All for $7.

Best Burger – In-N-Out Burger. Did you know they were in Phoenix? We didn’t. Gab takes hers animal style. Michael prefers double meat no cheese lettuce tomato and grilled onions only.

Best Barista(s) – The men at Raging Sage Café, Tucson, Ariz. “Does anyone ever get black coffee?” Michael asked. “Yes and I love them,” our barista responded without missing a beat or spilling a drop of the iced double mocha soy latte he was preparing. Locally known as the best brew in Tucson, Raging Sage was crowded both times we stopped to fill our mugs. Amazingly, we were out in minutes. And the maple scone, oh my.

Best Bartender – Sharon at the Mogollon Brewery, Flagstaff, Ariz. Picture this: It is St. Patty’s Day. You’re out with all of your friends. The joint is packed. Irish Stouts are on special and everyone has one – double poured. Now picture this: There is one person behind the bar! Sharon was amazing. Never looked hurried, never seemed stressed. These are her words: “Don’t’ worry about me; I’m Irish. I could pour stout all day.”

Best Live Music – Saturday night at the T Lounge in El Paso, Texas. Thank you, Everett, for taking us to one of your favorite places and reminding us what music should be like. We watched in awe as four Tejano high schoolers rocked so hard Gab thought one of them was going to fall off the stage. This night has single-handedly resurrected Gab’s desire to learn how to play bass. She does play a mean air guitar….

Runner Up – Pat Gahn singing and playing guitar at the Olde Town, Bisbee, Ariz. Country and folk classics, songs from people we have never heard of, and the best rendition of the Grateful Dead’s Jack Straw that Gab has ever heard. We stopped here for a bite to eat before bed. We got the food to go and stayed to hear Pat.

Most Interesting Sign – A banner stretched across the main street of Alpine, Texas told us that we missed the Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering by just a few days. Oh give me a home…

Most Helpful Roadside Stop – The Northwest New Mexico Visitor Center, I-40, exit 85, Grants, N.M. Jointly run by NPS, the National Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, which in itself is no small feat, the NW NM VC offers visitors a fantastic introduction to their corner of the state. Walk in and gather all the info you might need for your stay: official NPS brochures, maps, and the prized discount hotel coupon books that have proven so invaluable to us. Then use any of the large open tables to spread them all out and plan your trip. If you have time, choose any of the thirty movies to watch in the theater or browse the museum, which is actually a walk through of area attractions complete with suggested routes for hiking, biking or driving. Nice!

Most helpful to us was a long conversation with one of the NPS staff. After discussion Grants, uranium mining and the logistics of running a multi-agency center, he helped us think through the equally challenging logistics of some of our upcoming stops. Thank you, Rick.

Best Campground – TIE.

Guadalupe Mountains NP – Tenters are the honored guests here. 18 comfortable sites are available on a first come, first served basis. The ground is level, the water pump nearby, the view is of El Capitan and the RVs are placed out of sight (generators out of hearing range) across the street in the parking lot.

Chiricahua NM – 25 sites on a first come first served basis, tucked away in a pleasant wooded canyon with a free hiker’s shuttle pick up at the restrooms every morning at 8:30 am. A high elevation makes this campground a little chilly, but you can handle it, right?

Runner Up: Madera Canyon NF, Valle Verde, Ariz. Maybe we’re just still celebrating the fact that we pulled into one of the last available sites in this highly popular area. The site itself was nothing special, but access to hummingbirds and other birds that migrate through the canyon was. We watched at least a dozen vehicles circle the campground in vain as we chatted with a professional bird photographer who had also gained a spot for the weekend.

Proof that Texas thinks it’s its own country – Did you know that Texas celebrates its own Independence Day every March 2nd? We didn’t.

Best Bumper Sticker - Don’t Postpone JOY. Seen in the Casa Grande Ruins NM, Ariz. parking lot. Exactly!

Big Bend, TX • Alpine, TX • Marfa, TX • Van Horn, TX • Carlsbad, NM • Artesia, NM • Cloudcroft, NM • Alamogordo, NM • El Paso, TX • Las Cruces, NM • Deming, NM • Silver City, NM • Lordsburg, NM • Willcox, AZ • Dos Cabezas, AZ • Tombstone, AZ • Bisbee, AZ • Sierra Vista, AZ • Tucson, AZ • Carmen, AZ • Madera Canyon, AZ • Why, AZ • Lukeville, AZ • Ajo, AZ • Coolidge, AZ • Tempe, AZ • Flagstaff, AZ • Phoenix, AZ • Superior, AZ • Miami, AZ • Roosevelt, AZ • Payson, AZ • Strawberry, AZ • Flagstaff, AZ • Holbrook, AZ • Gallup, NM • Window Rock, NM • Ganado, NM • Chinle, NM • Grants, NM • Albuquerque, NM • Santa Fe, NM •

Big Bend NP • Guadalupe Mountains NP • Carlsbad Caverns NM • White Sands NM • Fort Bowie NHS • Chiricahua NM • Coronado N MEM • Saguaro NP • Tumacácori NHP • Organ Pipe Cactus NM • Casa Grande Ruins NM • Tonto NM • Petrified Forest NP • Hubbell Trading Post NHS • Canyon de Chelly NM • El Morro NM • El Malpais NM •

Silver City

2005-04-12T10:10:00.000-04:00

Gab:

If you ask my dad, he will tell you New Mexico is his least favorite place on earth. His memories are of playing minor league baseball here, of games being called because of dust storms and thunderstorms, sometimes on the same day; of unbearable heat and of long, long drives back east. He is especially unkind to Artesia. So I was unsure what to expect from the 47th state.

Lucky for us, the land of enchantment is unaware of my father’s strong feelings. Everywhere we go we are greeted with smiles and conversation of the sincere kind. New Mexico might be the friendliest state yet.

And at the end of the day we keep ending up in these funky, artsy, who-knew-this-was-here? kind of towns. Like Silver City.

Silver City got its start in the 1860s as a mining town. Its commodity? You guessed it. Silver. The mines dried out towards the turn of the century but by then Silver City had shipping, cattle ranching, Western New Mexico University and had birthed its most famous son, Billy the Kid.

We were there because we needed a place to stay on the way to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument which lies 44 miles north of the city.

As we entered the city limits, we liked what we saw. Several car washes, a handful of budget motels and more than one coffee shop with high speed internet access – all of the ingredients for an efficient pit stop. Downtown consisted of one street, but that street was lined with small art galleries, a few cafes and Mexican restaurants and the historic Palace Hotel.

The historic Palace Hotel just happened to have a small room available for the very right price of $40, breakfast included. Oh yes. So glad we asked.

- “So what brings you to Silver City?” The receptionist asked as I filled out the registration card.

- “The Cliff Dwellings. How are the roads?” We knew that part of the route was unpaved.

- “Oh honey,” her smile faded and she looked like she was the one who had to tell a little kid that the Easter Bunny really doesn’t exist. “The roads are not there. There’s been so much rain the river is completely over its banks. I don’t know when you’ll be able to get there. You might want to talk to the Forest Service’s office down the road. They usually know about those things.”

Sheesh. So glad she asked.

And she was right. Both the Chamber of Commerce and the National Forest Office confirmed the impassability of route 15. Both suggested alternate day trips and hikes and tried their hardest to make us feel like we weren’t fools for driving so far without calling to check on these things first. It would be months before anyone was driving anywhere near the Cliff Dwellings.

So what do we do? Might as well see what Silver City has to offer.

North Bullard Street is the place to be. The wide street gathers most of the local businesses and sets them in a very walkable nucleus, all housed in storefronts no taller than a few stories. A few neon signs pop out here and there but for the most part, we had to peek through the windows to see which doors led to restaurants, which to the food co-op, which to apartments. Some of the downtown buildings keep an historic appearance while others choose to brighten the scene by painting themselves hot pink, orange or red. Bullard Street looks like a street off the set of a Wild West movie where someone got the paint cans mixed up.

We spent all day at the coffee shop next to our hotel. It was appropriately named Rejuvenation. After we rejuvenated we walked the streets with a caffeine buzz looking for someplace to be. The Silver City Brewing Company was the only other place with people in it this sunny mid-afternoon. So we went and had a seat.

As soon as we walked in, I could see a man at the bar, actually more like a counter in a small prefab mobile unit, looking for a reason to start talking to us. All he had to say was that he had just returned from six months working in Antarctica. Michael took it from there.

How cold is it, really? How many people live in the research settlements? Do people go crazy with darkness and cold? Can you hike? What’s there to see? What do you do there? What does anybody do there?

Hours passed. Michael was happy to have some of his curiosity sated. David seemed thrilled to have anyone listen to his stories. People came and went and joined in the conversation. We suddenly realized we hadn’t eaten all day and were very, very hungry.

After some conference, everyone decided we should try to get to the Silver Café before it closed. No one could remember whether it was open on Mondays. All agreed it was worth a shot. So we shook sets of hands and said our goodbyes and hoped that the neon sign would still be glowing by the time we reached the little eatery.

The sign was lit. Almost every booth and table was full, except for one in the corner near the kitchen window. We snuck past the lively crowd and sat down to bowls of freshly deep fried tortilla chips and liquid fire. Neither of us made it past the first thing listed on the menu: the $7 combo platter.

Taco, chile relleno, two enchiladas, beans, rice and sopapillas. Red sauce for Michael; green sauce for me. Dinner was filling and delicious. We finished our meals around the same time everyone else did, in time for the waitresses to start tidying up and turn off the neon sign. It was seven o’clock.

We strolled back to our room almost thankful that the river ran a little wild. Getting back to Gila presents a bit of a logistical challenge for us now, but at least we can look forward to another night in Silver City. New Mexico isn’t bad at all.

www.usa-c2c.com
(c) 2005

One Year on the Road - FAQ's

2005-03-22T12:46:00.000-05:00

The other day, our friend Bridget grilled us with a great set of questions that made us reflect on the last year, where we’ve been, what we’ve done and what it all means. Here are some of our responses. You’ll have to wait for the book for the rest

Have you covered the ground you expected to cover?
Amazingly yes, just not in the order we expected. It’s like the entire route has flip flopped and we are doing everything in reverse order. Despite the planning and order imposed by the park sites, the trip still presents constant spur of the moment of where we are going to go.

If you were to abandon Harrisburg to settle somewhere else, where would it be? Michael: Harrisburg is a lot cooler place than we ever imagined.

But of the 10 cities we might relocate to, here is our list in no particular order:
1. Boulder, Colorado
2. Fort Collins, Colo.
3. Denver, Colo.
4. the Fort Myers-Naples-Bonita Springs, Fla area
5. Miami, Fla.
6. Flagstaff, Ariz.
7. Boise, Idaho
8. what the heck, New York City
9. Lawrence, Kansas
10. Philadelphia, Pa.

There are a lot more coming up with a lot of promise but Harrisburg really shines. Our hometown needs a better publicist. Maybe me! Note to the city of Harrisburg: we are available!

What was your worst on-the-road marital fight/argument?
Michael: The first thing that pops into mind are the over the top screaming matches we have every time we go canoeing. I am sure I've repressed some others. When the canoe doesn't move as fast as I'd like, I blame Gab for not rowing steady enough and on course. Then she blames me and it escalates into madness. Especially difficult when you are going through South Florida mangroves and maps are useless.

What has been the most beautiful (physical, emotional, both) experience of the trip?
Gab’s list:

1. Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty/finding my mom’s old apt in Brooklyn.
2. Listening to This Land is Your Land while driving up highway 61
3. Feeling the big sky phenomenon for the first time – I think it happened somewhere around Bismarck, ND.
4. Hiking past the mule train of women wearing the Race for the Cure t-shirts inside the Grand Canyon.
5. Emerging from a 4-day hike inside the Grand Canyon – I don’t think I’ve ever felt so invincible.
6. Listening to “Raindrops keep falling on my head” LBJ’s favorite song, as we finished touring his Ranch in Texas.
7. Watching 4 high school boys in a rock band pour their souls into a 3-song set at the T Lounge in El Paso with our friend Everett last week. This is what music should be.

What was the best meal under $7?
Another tough question! Is here where we confess our affection for Little Caesar’s large pepperoni pizzas for $5? Or how good the 2 spicy chicken burritos for $2 from Del Taco tasted last night?

We don’t usually resort to fast food chains, but when we do, In-n-Out Burger and Whataburger are our favorite regional chains. Phoenix, Ariz. is the first city we have been in where both are available.

The Chimes in Baton Rouge, La. has 25 cent oysters on the half shell almost every day of the week. We found ourselves there more than once.

You can get a bento box filled with rice, veggies, soup, small salad and meal of your choice at Yashimatsu in Tuscon, Ariz. for under $7. We were pleasantly surprised at the quantity and quality of the meal.

Einstein Bros. is tops for bagels and coffee. We like them because they only charge us 99 cents for coffee since we use our own mugs. The coffee is strong and delicious and refills while you are there are free.

When we feel a need to ingest more green things, the salad bar at Ruby Tuesdays is not bad. Not the best, but definitely cheaper than we could purchase the greens from the grocery store. Contrary to what some may think, buying stuff from the store is not always the cheapest option. We look for daily specials, 2 for 1 offers, and half price deals and almost always fill our stomachs for less than $30 a day.

Have either one of you gotten sick while on the road? Flu? Wisdom teeth, whatever?
Thankfully, nothing that heavy doses of multi-vitamins and several fruit smoothies haven't cured. Dramatic changes in climate and/or altitude have the potential for making us feel a little funny. A good night’s rest usually puts us back in working order.

We can only think of one cold (Gab’s) that was bad enough to make us reconsider camping and get a hotel room. That was at Craters of the Moon NM. It was pretty chilly outside; neither of us really minded the change of plans.

Do you crave home-cooking?
Gab: I don't miss home-cooking, but I do miss the act of cooking. There is only so much you can do with a Coleman stove.

What do you miss most about being away from home?

Michael:
My favorite puppy.

Gab:

1. Taking our morning walk along the Susquehanna River.
2. Watering my plants on the fire escape in the morning.
3. Cooking in my own kitchen.
4. Digital cable and the NBA League Pass
5. Sunday morning coffee and Sunday evening pizza at Michael's parents’ house.
6. Curling up under a blanket on our (admittedly uncomfortable) couch and doing nothing.

But here's what I like the most about being on the road:

1. Driving on the open road. Actually, I'm the passenger most of the time.
2. Finishing a long hike.
3. Eating a burger and taking a shower after a week of backcountry camping.
4. Meeting new people.
5. Recognizing a bird I’ve never seen before
6. Celebrating local festivities - like St. Patty's Day in Flagstaff last week.
7. Playing NTN Trivia and winning.
8. Learning.

One Year on the Road - Numbers

2005-03-21T12:42:00.000-05:00

One year has passed since we said goodbye to friends and family in Harrisburg, PA and set out on our two year journey. Our route looks nothing like we originally planned it. Even with detours and side trips, we are making excellent time. We want to thank all of you for reading the site and following our travels. Many of you have opened your homes to us and played active roles in this cross-country adventure. Thank you.

Here is a look at our first year on the road. First, the numbers:

Days on the road: 365

Miles traveled in the Altima, not counting 2 flights to Harrisburg or miles traveled as passengers in other people’s cars: 42,412

Nights spent with family and friends: 115

National Park sites visited: 185

National Park sites missed because they were seasonally closed: 11

National Park sites missed because of exterior forces: 2 (the road to Gila Cliff Dwellings NM was flooded and destroyed; all the furniture at the Vanderbilt Mansion NHS was covered up because of a new heater billowing out smoke.)

National Park sites missed because it was hunting season: 1 (Mojave N PRES in California)

Presidential Libraries and Museums, including Jeff Davis' Beauvoir: 8

Sports-related Halls of Fames visited: 5 (Baseball, Basketball, Boxing, Football and Tennis)

Sports-related Halls of Fames driven past but not entered: 6 Horse Racing (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.), Swimming (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), Greyhound Racing (Abilene, Kans.), Pro Rodeo (Colorado Springs, Colo.); Auto Racing (Indianapolis, Ind.); U.S. National Skiing (Upper Peninsula, Mich.)

NBA Arenas seen from outside: 14

NFL Stadiums seen from outside: 13

Major League Baseball Stadiums seen from outside: 12; inside: 6

NCAA Division I Football Stadiums seen from outside: 36; inside: 7

Factory Tours: 5

Palaces covered in vegetables: 1

Former residences driven past, including our beloved Front Street apt in Harrisburg: 4

State Capitols: 33

States: 43. Arkansas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, South Carolina and Vermont remain unseen.

Natchez Trace - Mississippi Universities

2005-03-19T12:39:00.000-05:00

Gabrielle:

Day 3 on the Trace – Oxford, Miss.
My husband woke me this morning with a kiss and informed me of our very special Valentine’s Day plans – not one but two Civil War battlefields.

We only got to one of our destinations, the Tupelo National Battlefield which consists of one acre, on the opposite corner of the car wash and a Papa Johns at a busy intersection in the town where the King (Elvis Presley) was born. Of course, we stopped at his humble cabin, but we didn’t shell out the bucks for the tour or the museum. We snapped our photos and got back on the Trace. We wanted to be in Oxford, Mississippi by nightfall.

Oxford, Mississippi: site of Ole Miss, showcase of the South, home to Archie Manning, rumored watering hole and favorite karaoke spot to son Peyton. We didn’t want to believe the hype, but this place is great. The weather was unseasonably warm today. Not only was the entire city out and about, but they were excited and energized by the sunshine.

A co-ed behind the Tourist Information Desk pointed us towards the Ajax Diner for lunch. “Everybody likes it there,” she smiled. After making a round of the town square, we decided to follow her advice.

After a long stroll through campus to walk off our weighty lunch, we found two seats on a second floor balcony overlooking a corner of the town square and waited for the Valentines’ promenade to begin. What a treat. We have to say that the women of Oxford, Miss are probably some of the most beautiful we have seen. Most of the girls looked stunning, but resigned; their dates bored in borrowed sports coats. The couples sauntered in and out of the square’s restaurants and cafes all evening. Perfect people watching.

We had time for one last treat before calling it a day. Calls home revealed that Michael has a new sibling - a white-haired poodle puppy. Welcome, Sophie! We can't wait to see you.

Day 4 on the Trace – Jackson, Miss.
A quick stop at Brice’s Crossroads Battlefield and then we were back on the Trace. We were debating whether or not to get off and have lunch in Starksville, home of Mississippi State University when I came across this statement on page 155 of the Mississippi Welcome Guide:

“Penn State University just thinks they have the best college dairy.”

What?!? Mississippi has a beef with PSU? When was the last time you were in Happy Valley and even thought about Mississippi, let alone had issue with MSU? Our jaws dropped. We were stunned.

That’s it. The gauntlet had been thrown. Starksville it is and this dairy better be good.

Once on campus, this “dairy” was no where to be found. Not on any map. Not near any obvious locations like the stadium or student union. We saw no one with ice cream cones. The closest we came to finding it was locating the “historical” dairy, which is nothing more than a burnt set of ruins. Historical indeed. We left campus and grabbed some bagels on the way out of town. No one on staff at this busy bagel joint knew anything about a creamery. Hmph. We were satisfied.

The Nittany Lions are still #1 – at least in the dairy department.

Natchez Trace in Tennessee

2005-03-18T12:37:00.000-05:00

Gabrielle:

Day 1 – Columbia, Tenn.
The Natchez Trace Parkway follows the path of a series of trails used first by Native American then later explorers, tradesmen, settlers, you name it. Tennesseans would float their goods down river to Natchez or New Orleans, sell the raft for timber, then start the long hike home. The Trace is dedicated to Americans as movers, people on the go.

After milling about in the South for so long, circling back and forth to reach battlefields and budget hotels, getting on this road and moving in a straight line felt really, really good.

We ended our first day’s drive in the small town of Columbia, Tennessee, birthplace of Memorial Day. We found a seat at a diner and talked to an auto worker from Flint, Michigan who informed us that most of Columbia was populated by fellow workers from Flint. He left and an older man known only as “coach” took his place, collecting the TV remotes and switching the channels to the sport du jour, which today, was college hoops. Even though he disliked basketball and complained there wasn’t a thing on, he still urged each of the players on by name.

Day 2 on the Trace – Corinth, Tenn.
Day two on the Trace was rainy and grey, not the kind of weather you want when you’re wandering aimlessly in search of a NPS Passport stamp. We knew that there were several to be had along the Trace. We also knew that most of the seasonal info stops would be closed. Still, it pains us to press our noses up to the glass only to see the prized passport stamp sitting on the desk behind bolted doors. Oh the misery.

A few more loops around the Meriwether Memorial site, which was the site of the stamp in question, and we found a maintenance garage with a NPS truck parked outside. Gab meekly knocked, slipped inside and emerged victorious. We were the first people to use the stamp since the last time the date was changed - Oct 2004.

For anyone who’s interested, as of today, we’ve collected 262 official NPS stamps from 174 NPS units ranging over 8 of the 9 geographical regions. We laugh at our Pokemon behavior, but it’s no joke. Gotta get’em all!

Our Civil War

2005-03-17T15:30:00.000-05:00

Michael:
Our trip through the South, thus far Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and southern Tennessee, has been defined by the notion of owning history. Confederate flags are ubiquitous and laden with so many meanings, some of them honorable (remembrance of your ancestors who fought in the Civil War) and some despicable (symbolic of the 50’s and 60’s movement to suppress voting rights).

Either way, the Stars and Bars are a constant reminder of the battle for ownership of the past and in every way the present and the future.

“Well, you know, they (Selma, Alabama’s old white southern establishment) had to let us and our (Voting Rights) Museum in. They knew they were on the wrong side of history.”

Was our guide at Selma’s Voting Rights Museum correct? Had the Civil Rights Workers really triumphed in the end? Did they own history?

The same mayor who presided over the beatings on Bloody Sunday in 1965 served until the year 2000, when an African American defeated him. The mayor’s response to his loss was “I was on the wrong side of history.”

The day before we visited Selma, we toured the Jefferson Davis Presidential Library. The lone Confederate President’s story was told in a way I had never seen in my school textbooks. The Confederates were State’s Rights heroes fighting for the Constitution and the lifeblood of the Union. They were the true Patriots when faced with the invasion, the Northern incursion, led by the diabolical Abraham Lincoln.

My textbooks and teachings always portrayed Southerners as defiant aristocrats who preferred trading and enslaving Africans to work. The Southern economy was an outdated feudal system that was bringing down the precious Union. We fought the War to save them from themselves.

The truth is always somewhere in the middle.

I did not know that 90% of Confederate soldiers were not slave owners and were not fighting for that system. If I had, perhaps my prejudice against Southerners would not have been so strong. Perhaps I would have feared our trip to the Deep South less. When I thought of the South, I thought of gentried Gone With the Wind landowners, Peter Fonda getting shot at the end of Easy Rider and the vicious Alabama State Troopers beating people on Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge. Who defined that history?

As we moved from National Park Historical Site to Historic Site, I began to realize that we Northerners were also making a strong claim on the South’s history. The southern National Park Battlefields - Fort Pulaski, Kennesaw Mountain (the NPS presents it as the Battle for Atlanta), Chickamauga and Chattanooga (again presented as one), Stones River, Fort Donelson, Shiloh, and Vicksburg – all represent Northern victories.

Most of these Battlefields are littered with monuments, most of them honoring the North. We came, we saw, we conquered.

Only Tupelo NB and Brices Cross Roads NBS show Confederate gain. The Federal government affords those sites only an acre apiece. No Visitor Center and little mention of Nathan Bedford Forrest, famed Confederate General and early leader of the KKK. In response, Mississippi residents have started their own private Museum to remember Brices Cross Roads and cavalry hero Forrest.

I was afraid when Gab asked Brices Cross Roads private curator why they consider the Battle a Southern victory when it resulted in no land gain or a significant loss of northern troops. And even more afraid when we purchased a book titled Confederates in the Attic. Thankfully, the Museum guide was polite and did not respond as if insulted. She knew we were from the North.

Southerners assume that we do not understand the way of life down here. For the most part, they are right. Social cues are different. We are clearly outsiders. It is not especially comfortable. It is not a coincidence that our best time in the South was spent with football fans from Montana.

Nearly every Southerner we have met has greeted us with a friendly sense of defiance. Their sweet drawls has without fail offered us the same two welcomes, “you’re not from around here, are you?” and “Oh, Pennsylvania, you’re a long way from home.” We have been called Yankees, Northerners and carpetbaggers.

The carpetbagger comment is difficult to understand. We are just traveling through. Our fellow central Pennsylvanian, Newt Gingrich, is not afforded the same comment. Maybe his affected drawl changes things. Still, parkgoers reverentially refer to him and his Civil War “What If?” books in the lavish Park Site bookstores. His books stake claim to a different history, a re-imagined past where the South is triumphant.

But is Newt’s history incorrect? Did the South actually win the Civil War? Did the Selma protestors march in vain? Has the South risen again through its Presidential electoral power and it economic prowess? The South has chosen Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Bush I and Bush II and Clinton is a native son. The South created and controls corporations that shape the image modern America: Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Clear Channel, Coca Cola, NASCAR.

The so-called cultural war and battle for America’s morality is seen by both sides as a fight between the North and South. We both harbor distinct and clouded opinions of each other based on mistaken notions of the past and self-superiority.

The two months we spent traveling in the South was not the happiest portion of our trip. Every stop reminds you that you are an outsider. Mississippi’s state visitor’s slogan is “It Feels Like Home.” For us, nothing could be further from the truth. We felt guarded courtesy and no acceptance.

We never stopped talking and thinking about the Civil War. With every Confederate flag seen, the War seeps further and further into your blood until it defines every tree, every building and every person.

Even us.

Only we Northerners do not own history, the present or the future as much as we think we do. Not everyone has the same idea of what America is.

February 2005 - Month in Review

2005-03-14T11:54:00.000-05:00

Miles Traveled (in Altima) – 4,401 miles

Best Palindrome – 88888. Logged near Lake Charles, La.

Most Beautiful Park Site Surroundings – The views of Little River Canyon N PRES near Fort Payne, Ala. dramatic gorge could not even be spoiled by rainy weather and a perpetual mist.

Most Beautiful View – Somewhere west of San Antonio, Texas. The sky gets bigger and bluer, there are more cacti and less traffic. The roads are straighter and the gas stations rare. The rolling hills get higher and you are in the West. It is not a specific place or view; it is a feeling, a feeling of openness and adventure. We first saw that view on the way to and at a friend’s goat ranch near Barksdale. What a wonderful sight.

Most Talked About Natural Phenomenon – The mysterious lights in Marfa, Texas They got mentioned by everyone we met, except for host extraordinaire and expert on all things Texan, our friend Everett. We drove through and took a picture of the hotel that hosted the cast and crew of Giant but opted to stay in the cool town of Alpine, Texas for the night.

Ugliest Park Site Surroundings – Fort Caroline NM, Jacksonville, Fla. Unless, of course, you like seeing a busy industrial seaport and smoke stacks on your nature walk.

Best Question to a Ranger – “Do you know the way to the San Jose Mission?” asked by Gab with a straight face at the San Antonio Missions NHP, Texas. Michael started giggling immediately. Gab didn’t get it until much, much later. Like, today.

Liveliest City Center – Both Austin, Texas and Nashville, Tenn. live up to their reputations as Live Music City U.S.A. We side with Nashville as America’s Music Capital (everyone in town seems to be carrying a guitar) but with Austin as a more fun place to be.

Liveliest Town Center – Oxford, Miss. The charming town square was alive on Valentine’s Day with stunning coeds and their dates enjoying meals at its many fine restaurants. We took it all in from our perch on a restaurant’s second story outdoor balcony.

Longest Day – February 2nd in a driving rain. Starting in St. Augustine, Fla., we drove through Jacksonville, Fla., St. Marys, Brunswick and St. Simons Island, stopping to see four NPS sites along the way, before finally finding a warm and dry bed in Savannah, Ga, 291 miles from where we started.

Our 416-mile day from Lafayette, La. to Round Rock, Texas on February 21st was technically the longest, but it was a great day. We arrived at 5:00 in Round Rock and had Texas BBQ with wonderful company; Michael’s Cousin Alan and his family.

Biggest Disappointment – The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, Atlanta, Ga. You know we love Jimmy. We had high expectations but found little more than surface explanations of significant events like the Camp David Accord and the Panama Canal Treaty. Even worse was the candy-coating summary of our 20th century presidents. Jimmy’s most significant accomplishments may be occurring next door at the Carter Center, which is closed to the public.

Most Pleasant Surprise – The washer and dryer at the Courtyard Marriott in Lafayette, La. are FREE. Over a $10 savings for the freshly laundered Gab and Michael.

Most Unpleasant Surprise – Savannah, Ga. is kind of stinky. This beautiful town definitely emits an odor similar to boiled cabbage or a gas leak. Is there a paper mill nearby?

Most Unusual Place to Upload www.usa-c2c.com – Sitting in the ‘Tima outside of the coffee shop that had just closed in Marathon, Texas We hadn’t had a connection in days and heading into Big Bend NP, we knew this would be our last chance. We missed coffee by minutes, but thankfully, this little shop kept their wireless connection on after closing time.

Highest Price for Gas – $2.11 on February 28th at the Shell, Marathon, Texas. We only purchased three gallons here, a necessity because we were headed southward into Big Bend NP where gas was even more expensive at $2.17 a gallon.

Lowest Price for Gas – $1.67 on February 16th at Zippy B’s, Jackson, Miss. We are already missing the Deep South’s cheap gas prices. Most Out of the Way Site – Big Bend NP.

Most Scenic Drive (National Parks) – The Natchez Trace Parkway is every bit as beautiful as advertised. The road is the rural Deep South at its most picturesque.

Most Scenic Drive (Highways) – U.S. Route 385 South from Marathon, Texas to the entrance of Big Bend NP. This rugged road tells you that you are about to see something spectacular.

Best Day Hike – The hike up the mountain at Kennesaw Mountain NMP, Ga., our first uphill climb since we left West Texas in November. The 1,000-foot elevation change was invigorating and a reminder of how much Texas BBQ, Southern cooking, Cajun food, bagels, etc… we have ingested since we left the west.

Most Vitriol Inducing Site – French Camp, Miss. Gab went into the little gift store alongside the Natchez Trace Parkway looking for an NPS passport stamp. She found a rotund store owner and her pudgy son all too willing to share their ugly opinions on the black population of Mississippi. After 10 minutes, Michael came in to rescue the open-mouthed, incredulous Gab who is still fuming over the incident.

Most Beautiful Capitol Building – Austin, Texas. Its rotunda is the only Capitol dome higher than the one in Washington, DC. Cheeky Texans.

Ugliest Capitol Building – Atlanta, Ga. We arrived on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, walked in the tourist entrance, put our camera onto the security tabled and prepared to walk through the metal detector. The two guards curtly said, “We are closed on weekends.” “But you are here and the doors are open,” we thought as we turned around, not wishing to anger the surly pair.

Best Local Cuisine – TIE
Plate lunches at the Ajax Diner, Oxford, Miss. Michael had a sandwich stuffed with chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, cabbage and pickles while Gab enjoyed southern fried catfish, sweet potato casserole and black-eyed peas. It took all day to digest.

Coffee and croissants in Lafayette, La. It’s hard not to like a city that loves their coffee strong and their bread hot and fresh every morning.

Most Expensive Cup of Coffee – $5 at Reynolds Plantation Ritz-Carlton, Greensboro, Ga. We didn’t get one, but we did try to sneak into the marriage retreat to get to their refreshments. It didn’t work.

Best Live Music – Our friend Richard’s jazz band’s intrepid 3-hour long performance at the Reynolds Plantation Ritz.

Best Opportunity to Test Michael’s “Jacket of the Year” (Worst Weather Day) – Even more rain on February 3rd in Savannah, Ga. Michael could not protect his camera’s lens from rain long enough to photograph the John Wesley Memorial at Fort Pulaski NM. Gab did not even get out of the car, unimpressed by the New World landing spot of the founder of the American Methodist Church.

Worst (but most entertaining) Acting in a National Park Service Film – John Ireland and the entire cast of “This is Frederica” at Fort Frederica NM, Ga. The script has Mr. Ireland, floating in and out of dialogues with other characters, knocking on imaginary doors of fort ruins and leaping decades of time in his explanations. We know we keep talking about this movie, but it was such a fun and quirky highlight on our Longest Day.

Note: By the time you read this, “This is Frederica” will be but a memory. Fort Frederica unveiled a new film on its anniversary weekend of Feb 12th.

Most Unexpected Local Pronunciation – TIE. Kosciusko, Miss., birthplace of Oprah Winfrey and Natchitoches, La. The Kosciusko Town Visitor Center phonetically displays the correct pronunciation for the town, kah-zee-ESS-koh and the Polish hero, koh-SHOOSH-koh, who the town in named in honor of. But why are they pronounced differently? No one knew.

Somehow, Natchitoches, La. is pronounced NACK-uh-tish.

Best Burger – Huge ½ pounders at the Sports Page, Columbia, Tenn.

Most Appropriate T-Shirt – Everybody Loves a Southern Girl worn by our beautiful waitress at the Sports Page, Columbia, Tenn. More than a few of the patrons agreed.

Best Giant Statue – The Road Runner in Fort Stockton, Texas. The first and the biggest of the birds we would see. Gab spotted her first real roadrunner just a few miles down the road.

Best Campground – Rio Grande Village, Big Bend NP, Texas. A birder’s paradise. We spent an entire day just wandering around with our binoculars and bird book. Mated-for-life pairs of Road Runners delighted us with the playfulness and nest building.

But beware, this campground fills fast in March and April, mostly with RVs. We were lucky to find a big grassy space, one of the only ones that wasn’t already reserved. Our space was so coveted that we had several visitors daily asking when we were leaving.

Worst Campground – Rio Grande Village, Big Bend NP, Texas. See above.

Worst Driving Experience – Trying to take the Altima off-roading in Big Bend NP, Texas. Even though the ‘Tima Brava had earned her new nickname the day before crossing streams and dodging rocks on the way to a friend’s ranch in Barksdale, Tex. the 14-mile unpaved Maverick Drive proved to be too much for our trusty vehicle and Michael, the white-knuckled driver.

St. Augustine, FL • Jacksonville, FL • St. Marys, GA • Brunswick, GA • Savannah, GA • Tybee Island, GA • Macon, GA • Atlanta, GA • Greensboro, GA • Marietta, GA • Fort Payne, AL • Mt. Carmel, AL • Chattanooga, TN • Nashville, TN • Clarksville, TN • Columbia, TN • Corinth, MS • Tupelo, MS • Oxford, MS • Starksville, MS • Baldwyn, MS • Kosciousko, MS • Jackson, MS • Vicksburg, MS • Epps, LA • Natchez, MS • Natchitoches, LA • Lafayette, LA • Round Rock, TX • College Station, TX • Austin, TX • Johnson City, TX • Fredericksburg, TX • San Antonio, TX • Barksdale, TX • Fort Stockton, TX • Marathon, TX • Big Bend, TX

Fort Caroline NMEM • Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve • Cumberland Island NS • Fort Frederica NM • Fort Pulaski NM • Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum • Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. NHS • Kennesaw Mountain NBP • Chattahoochie River NRA • Little River Canyon NPRES • Russell Cave NM • Stones River NBP • Fort Donelson NB • Natchez Trace PKWY • Shiloh NMP • Brices Crossroads NB • Tupelo NB • Poverty Point SHS • Vicksburg NB • Cane River Creole NHP • George Bush Presidential Library and Museum • Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and Museum • LBJ NHP • San Antonio Missions NHP • Big Bend NP

Feb. 8-14 - Week in Review

2005-02-28T23:08:00.000-05:00

Day 1 – Chattanooga, Tennessee
As we were leaving Georgia, a strange and horrible noise starting coming from the ‘Tima - a rattling, grinding, expensive sounding noise. Did a belt break? Did something snap? Was our engine tearing itself apart as we drove?

We pulled over at the nearest gas station and popped the hood, pretending to know what we were looking at. Nothing looked glaringly wrong. In an act of desperation, I called my brother, our personal mechanic, at work. Of course he was busy and couldn’t talk but he was willing to lend his partial attention to our dilemma. Just as I was doing my best ‘Tima impression, Michael emerged from underneath the car with a huge, I mean monstrous, tree limb that had attached itself to our underside. Mystery solved.

Day 2 – Nashville, Tennessee
Choo choo! Last night we stayed at the famous Chattanooga Choo Choo hotel. Thank you, Priceline!

This was actually our second stop in Chattanooga, the first time being for the 1AA Championship Football Game between the Montana Grizzlies and James Madison. You remember.

We felt silly as we recalled how stressed we were entering the city the first time. Things were much calmer this time around. Being familiar with your surroundings changes everything. We had a delicious dinner at Big River, played some trivia at Buffalo Wild Wings and walked back to the Choo Choo, reminiscing about the Grizzlies Pre-Game Pep Rally that overtook the hotel the last time we were here.

Day 3 – Nashville, Tennessee
We arrived in Nashville, Tennessee late yesterday afternoon singing the one line we know from Bobby Bare, Jr.’s song about the city. Our hotel was the Best Western Music Row – what did that mean?

We soon found out. Music Row consists of blocks and blocks of studios, record companies, agents and agencies and other businesses that have sprung up around the idea of making music. This morning, the hotel lobby was filled with people and guitar cases. We were the only people here sans instruments.

It was cold and dreary today so we spent the afternoon indoors. When we did venture out, it was to eat. And oh, did we. Christopher Pizza Co. was just across the street from the hotel and offered the insane special of any 16” pizza and a bucket of beer for $15. We kept waiting for the catch; it never came. We left with full stomachs, leftover pizza and cash to spare for the rest of the evening.

We walked through Vanderbilt University and along the side streets of Nashville and ended our evening at the sports bar right next to Christopher’s, where Southern girls sent by Miller Lite gave us free beers, a free winter hat, and a pair of fingerless gloves, all of which came in handy for the brisk walk back to Best Western.

Day 4 – Nashville, Tennessee
We checked out of our hotel this morning, made a stop at the State Capitol and went north towards Clarksville, once again with a song stuck in our heads. We weren’t looking for the last train; the Fort Donelson National Battlefield was our destination.

This weekend was the anniversary weekend of the Civil War battle so re-enactors were setting up Union and Confederate camps and the Rangers were getting frequent calls from their off-site supervisor, which they didn’t seem to appreciate. We debated whether or not to come back the next day for all the hoopla and then we remembered – we’re not really big fans of encampments and costumed Civil War re-enactors.

But we did stop and visit the Dover Hotel, site of the Confederate surrender to U.S. Grant. Nurse Mary Bickerdyke, resurrected by a costumed interpreter, was making a special appearance at the hotel as part of the Fort Donelson anniversary events. Once you got over the fact that these ladies were speaking in the first person about events which occurred over 100 years ago, it was a pretty nice conversation.

Lunch was at the Blackhorse Saloon and Pub in Clarksville. Dinner was back at Nashville in our new hotel, half priced courtesy of our Priority Club membership. Michael teases about my laundry list of membership numbers, pass codes and points, but sometimes they work!

We enjoyed our cheap meal while listening to bands perform at Writer’s Night, a special amateur night held three times a week at the hotel. Performers must write their own music. No covers allowed. Once again, the lobby was filled with guitar cases. Were we the only ones here not waiting for our turn on stage? My gosh, this really is Music City.

Feb. 1-7 - Week in Review

2005-02-20T23:03:00.000-05:00

Day 1 - Jacksonville, Florida
We were feisty the day we left St. Augustine. I blame NPR. We sipped our essential morning coffee and huffed and puffed as we listened to an expert “generationalist” amaze listeners by telling us that we are all very different and have different ways of doing things but we do share some things in common. Brilliant.

Note to self: after this trip, we are both becoming expert consultants.

I think we set a personal record by visiting four NPS sites in one day – all snoozers. We watched cruise ships get escorted by tugboats into their temporary terminals in Jacksonville, climbed around reproductions of French forts, drove down dirt roads in search of sea cotton plantations just miles outside of town, all in the pouring rain.

All week, we listened to local news personalities assure us that although the weather was miserable now, the skies would clear for Super Bowl Sunday. J’ville naysayers would be proven wrong. The weather would be great; the city would be ready for the influx of fans. We remained unconvinced.

We trudged into Georgia and through St. Mary’s, Brunswick, and landed in Savannah. With its wet dark streets and dripping Spanish moss framing stately antebellum homes, Savannah had a spooky feel when we finally arrived after a frustrating, funny, crazy day.

Day 2 – Savannah, Georgia
We always forget that the breakfast lounge at the Fairfield Inn is a high anxiety environment, It is free, therefore it is packed. Michael usually requires at least an hour to de-stress. After our initial attempts to reach the toaster failed, we set out to Fort Pulaski with empty stomachs. That gave us an excuse to stop for lunch at the Crab Shack on Tybee Island later that day.

Savannah came highly recommended by a number of our friends so we made sure to spend some time on the River Walk and at their suggested stops downtown. But we honestly weren’t that enamored by this beautiful city until we met some of its inhabitants. Ronnie, the very, very large former lineman from Florida State and Jack and Gia, billiards-playing troublemakers, made sure we’d remember their city fondly.

Day 3 – Atlanta, Georgia
Sunshine prompted us to take a lap around the city before we said goodbye to Savannah, which looks much less foreboding in fair weather. Lovely as it is now, we bet Savannah with its imposing architecture, tree-lined streets and shaded squares, is stunning when spring is in full bloom.

Now on to Atlanta! Our friend Richard let us tag along as he played a gig at the Ritz-Carlton near Lake Oconee, Georgia. We pulled out our laptops and relaxed in the lounge, listening to Richard play all evening. As the night progressed, we watched the lead singer of the jazz quintet skillfully deflect an amorous female who danced a little too close as her husband looked on not amused. This was especially curious since most of lounge’s patrons that night were fresh from a marriage retreat hosted at the hotel.

Day 4 – Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta continued to confound and confuse us. No point in trying to make heads or tails of the place. The downtown is anchored like a mall by the large corporate structures of CNN and Coca Cola and a revamped food court/restaurant/night club complex called Underground Atlanta. After a morning spent at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Museum and the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Site, we drove around for what seemed like ages, trying to find a place to be.

Hunger drove us to Varsity – the World’s Largest Drive-In on the corner of Spring and North, near Georgia Tech. We opted for a seat inside the restaurant since the last thing we need is more time and more smells in the little ‘Tima.

“What’ll ya Have? What’ll ya Have?” This is what is screamed at you when you enter the doors. You better know, because the lines move fast. We chose some pork bbq and a cheeseburger because they were the first things we saw and quickly sat down. We were surrounded by cowboy hats and pointy boots. Is there a rodeo in town?

There was a rodeo in town. Right next door to a sold out Atlanta Hawks game. Richard was performing at the game, so we entertained ourselves downtown. We found a seat at the Max Lager Brewery, watched the game and listened as the bartender explained why no one was eating wood-fired pizza, even though it was one of their signature menu items.

“One of our cooks set the oven on fire. He doesn’t work here anymore.” – Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta continued to confound and confuse us. No point in trying to make heads or tails of the place. The downtown is anchored like a mall by the large corporate structures of CNN and Coca Cola and a revamped food court/restaurant/night club complex called Underground Atlanta. After a morning spent at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Museum and the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Site, we drove around for what seemed like ages, trying to find a place to be.

Hunger drove us to Varsity – the World’s Largest Drive-In on the corner of Spring and North, near Georgia Tech. We opted for a seat inside the restaurant since the last thing we need is more time and more smells in the little ‘Tima.

“What’ll ya Have? What’ll ya Have?” This is what is screamed at you when you enter the doors. You better know, because the lines move fast. We chose some pork bbq and a cheeseburger because they were the first things we saw and quickly sat down. We were surrounded by cowboy hats and pointy boots. Is there a rodeo in town?

There was a rodeo in town. Right next door to a sold out Atlanta Hawks game. Richard was performing at the game, so we entertained ourselves downtown. We found a seat at the Max Lager Brewery, watched the game and listened as the bartender explained why no one was eating wood-fired pizza, even though it was one of their signature menu items.

“One of our cooks set the oven on fire. He doesn’t work here anymore.”

Day 5 - Atlanta, Georgia
Super Bowl Sunday! What did we do today? Nothing! We dropped Richard off at the airport, headed north to Marietta, got a stack of take-out from Pappadeaux and did what all good Americans do on a winter Sunday – fell asleep on the couch watching football.

Day 6 – Atlanta, Georgia
This is the day we finally found out where to be in Atlanta – Buckhead and historic Midtown. Is it possible to squeeze more restaurants and specialty shops in one area? Luckily, we didn’t have to navigate the maze of menu options because we already had dinner plans with Michael’s cousin Stephen (a/k/a Ward) and Joe.

A great meal, great conversation and a day bed that was more comfortable than it should have been topped off our stay in Georgia.

January 2005 - Month in Review

2005-02-07T11:19:00.000-05:00

This month, we returned to several places that treated us well the first time around. We had just left Bradenton when we found a good friend had just moved there. Back we went. Jack’s Bait Shack in Bonita Springs entertained us years ago while visiting the area for a wedding – it’s still there, still great. And one of our favorite camping spots of the trip, Monument Lake at Big Cypress NPRES, saw our tent a couple more times as we made our way back and forth across the Tamiami Trail.

The ratio of friends and relatives increased greatly in Florida. Wonder why? Aunt Brenda, Uncle Paul, Kim, Doug, Princess Megan, Colin, Uncle Owen, Aunt Esther, Joe, Arlene, Josie, Seizo, Chris and Brandi all entertained us as very grateful house guests. Thank you all for your hospitality. This was our warmest winter, in more ways than one.

Miles Traveled (in Altima) – 1,995 miles all within Florida borders

We wish we were here Next Month Award – La Florida es mi vida. We love it here.

Most Curious Billboard – Seasons Greetings from Rutgers Football, seen on I-95, south of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 1,243 miles from the nearest Rutgers campus that we know.

Strangest Sign – Concealed Weapons Classes, advertised at Buck’s Gun Rack, Daytona Beach, Fla. Is there homework? What’s the final exam? Forget it. We don’t want to know.

Most Interesting Name for a Roadside Attraction – Master Bait and Tackle, Bonita Springs, FL. Michael’s Uncle Paul pointed this one out to us.

Most Talked About Natural Phenomenon – The 2004 summer storms that battered Florida. Towns like Port Charlotte are still slowly piecing themselves back together. Everyone we spoke to was affected by at least one of the storms in some way. No one was untouched.

Most Beautiful View – Every single Florida sunset, especially on the Gulf coast and in the Keys. Every seat is the best seat in the house.

Best Bird Watching Site – tie. Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Dry Tortugas NP.

Liveliest City Center (Towns) – Old Town, Key West, Fla. And we went on a slow week.

Longest Day – Saturday, January 22nd. See Worst Campground Experience

Biggest Disappointment – When, oh when, will Gab get to see a manatee?

Most Pleasant Surprise – Haircuts really do improve your self-image. Michael and Gab both experienced renewed confidence after shedding pounds of hair this month.

Most Unpleasant Surprise – Raccoons know how to pull off duct tape and we’re pretty sure they could have unhooked a bungee cord, too. Only an overturned canoe resting on the lid kept our food and water safe on the Pavilion Key beach, Everglades NP.

Unsolved Mystery – Just what got killed and what did the killing late at night in the mangroves of Sunday Bay, Everglades NP? We heard shrieking, wings flapping, and some deep growls. A gator? Bobcat? Panther? We had no idea and were safe on a chickee (raised wooden platform) so we weren’t terribly concerned. We sparked quite a discussion in the VC when we returned, but came to no conclusions.

Mystery Solved – Charlie Robeson is the country singer that was filming his video at the Santa Monica Pier (see Celebrity Sightings in the Best of October). We watched the singer (who we now know as Charlie) stumble through the surf in his tux, cuddle with his lady and lip sync to the music track, but no matter how hard you squint, you can’t see us on the Pier.

Best Florida-related Book – The Orchid Thief, Susan Orleans. Left behind by Uncle Paul for our reading enjoyment in Bonita Springs, do we have this book to blame for Gab’s new orchid obsession?

Most Gluttonous Day a.k.a. A Cheeseburger in Paradise – January 24th. Burger and a beer for $6 in the middle of Key West? That sounds great! No one told us the burger was ¾ lb and came with more fries than one’s stomach should even consider eating. This late lunch at Jack Flats weighed us down for the rest of the day. No matter how many times we walked up and down Duval Street, the cow still lodged itself in our intestines. Ugh.

Sketchiest Strip Mall – Hard to say, really, since everything in Florida seems to be a strip mall and looks can be deceiving. The fanciest restaurants, the most popular hang outs, the most curious shops and all kinds of services were usually housed under the same roof. Most of our meals were eaten and purchases made in some strip mall in Florida.

Most Scenic Drive (National Parks) – SR9336 from Royal Palms Visitor Center to Flamingo Center through the Everglades NP and 9 different ecosystems.

Most Scenic Drive (Highways) – Highway 41 from Carnestown to the Shark Valley Visitor Center. Construction and delays on 41 through Fort Meyers, Bonita Springs and Naples makes getting to this beautiful stretch lined with gators and wading birds even sweeter.

Highest Price for Gas – $1.879 at the Fort Lauderdale Cruzin-N-Go

Lowest Price for Gas – $1.799 at the Key Largo Hess

Most Out of the Way Site – Dry Tortugas National Park. 70 miles west of Key West, Florida, accessible only by ferry or airboat. We had to extend our stay in Key West since high winds and choppy water postponed our ferry trip the first day. Don’t worry. We managed.

Best Local Cuisine – Southern Florida must be the bagel capital of the South. Do you really want to know how many we devoured this month? Asiago and Everything are probably our favorite flavors, but there were many, many more.

Estimated Number of Bagels Eaten this Month – 72. And that’s a conservative estimate.

Best Bartender(s) – Matt at Buffalo Chips, Bonita Springs, Fla.

Celebrity Sightings – Pat Croce, former President of Operations for the Philadelphia 76ers Basketball team, hanging out in Key West. We missed former President Bill Clinton’s stop in the Keys by just two days.

Worst Hotel Experience – The Thunderbird Motel, Daytona Beach, Fla. Sure the price was right, but nothing else seemed to be. Bad vibes and some sketchy patrons made us reconsider this room and find lodging elsewhere. Gab’s teary breakdown (only partially acting) got us a refund and then we went inland. Big thumbs up to the Hilton Garden Inn across the street from the Daytona Speedway. It saved the day, er night.

Worst Campground – Flamingo Campground, Everglades NP. Drunk boaters pulling down firewood (from live trees) for their all night party, truck engines running, spotlights on, classic rock on blast is both annoying and a little scary. Are you going to go and ask them to quiet down?

Best Campground – Monument Lake Campground, Big Cypress NPRES. We know we mentioned this place last month, but it stands in such sharp contrast with our exhausting night just a little further down the road, we needed to remind ourselves that camping in Florida can be a wonderful experience.

Number of Bald Eagles Spotted – 6. One at close range canoeing through the Gulf Coast portion of the Everglades NP; two hanging out with buzzards in Bonita Bay; one flying overhead while walking along the West Lake trail, Everglades NP; one relaxing on a power line during the drive north through the Keys and one soaring above I-95 near Palm Coast, Fla. Its never not a thrill.

Bradenton, FL • Ybor City, FL • Bonita Springs, FL • Everglades City, FL • Fort Lauderdale, FL • Fort Myers, FL • Naples, FL • Shark Valley, FL • Homestead, FL • Florida City, FL • Flamingo, FL • Key Largo, FL • Marathon, FL • Key West, FL • Coral Gables, FL • Altamonte Springs, FL • Titusville, FL • New Smyrna Beach, FL • Daytona Beach, FL • St. Augustine, FL •

Big Cypress NPRES • Everglades NP • Dry Tortugas NP • Biscayne NP • Canaveral NS • Merritt Island NWR • Fort Matanzas NM • Castillo de San Marcos NM •

Super Bowl XXXIX

2005-02-04T11:16:00.000-05:00

Gabrielle:

What do the New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles, 100,000 football fans and us have in common? We were all scheduled to arrive in Jacksonville, Florida earlier this week.

We knew that our extended stay in Florida would put us near Jacksonville the week of the Super Bowl. Back when the St. Louis Rams and my Pittsburgh Steelers were still in the running, this was exciting. Once they both lost their playoff games and reality set in, we started to get a little nervous.

Just how many people would be in Jacksonville? How big is this city? Coupons and discounts never apply for Special Events. The Super Bowl certainly counts as one of those. How high will the prices get? My gosh, do you think we’ll have to camp? Newspaper articles criticizing Jacksonville’s lack of accommodations and rumors that even Willie Nelson and Hank Williams, Jr. were stuck at a Days Inn did not alleviate our stress.

Why not avoid the city altogether? Four National Park sites lie in and around Jacksonville and St. Augustine. If we didn’t see them now, it would require a significant detour to get back. Like the King says, it’s now or never.

So after a harrowing hour in Daytona Beach, followed by a necessary splurge at the Hilton in Daytona, we slowly made our way to St. Augustine, hoping that Super Bowl fans hadn’t arrived yet and that they hadn’t stretched as far south as America’s oldest continually occupied city. We were in luck. God bless the Ramada.

We spent our first afternoon touring the Castillo de San Marcos and wandering around the Old Town. On the way home, we walked past the Colonial Spanish Quarter, a 2-acre living history museum offering free admission all week. We made a mental note and kept going, nearly walking past the tiny Taberna del Gallo adjoining the museum. Not only was the Tavern open and occupied by several costumed interpreters; it was functional. Beer and cider were on tap and huge bowls of peanuts were on the tables.

Come in! Come in! The bartender saw us peeking and beckoned us inside. He didn’t have to ask twice. We found a seat along one of the three wooden tables. Good thing we did. The little place started to fill. More folks in 18th century colonial costumes came in, some carrying take-out pizza. A few other tourists wandered inside. A quartet of locals from Jacksonville and St. Augustine joined us along the bench we occupied.

The Jacksonville locals filled us in – the Tavern wasn’t normally open on a Monday. The Bilge Rats, shanty singers who entertain Tavern goers every weekend, were giving a special performance. Good Morning America would be there to film this taste of St. Augustine for their pre-Super Bowl edition. They urged us to stay.

We wouldn’t think of leaving. I knew there was no place I wanted to be other than cuddling next to Michael and four strangers, huddling on a wooden bench for warmth, talking and shelling peanuts in the glow of the candles and lanterns, waiting for the boys to sing.

And sing they did, and so did we. Accompanied only by the rhythmic banging of a large wooden stick on the hard floor, a young Englishman led three older sailors in songs about sailing, leaving home, drinking yourself silly and loving your lady, in no particular order. Everyone knew the words and if they didn’t, they sang along anyway. A camera crew came and went. People stayed as long as the Bilge Rats were still singing.

There’s a reason some songs have been sung for hundreds of years. Their singing brings people together and gives a sound to camaraderie. The entire evening, Michael and I were longing for the return of the small tavern. No TVs, no huge dining rooms cluttered with kitsch, no mirrored bars stretching for miles. Just a few wooden tables with benches, not seats; a couple of drinks and one snack shared by all. Dim lighting, communal space. Could such a place exist, if not in the guise of a museum?

Our ponderings quickly took a back seat to the other conversations and sounds around us. We were formally welcomed to St. Augustine and given temporary local status, at least for the evening. And who do we have to thank for these Perfect Storm conditions? Super Bowl XXXIX.

So if you are watching Good Morning America Sunday morning before the Big Game, look for us. We’re the folks in the corner, banging on the table and trying to sing along.

A Special Lesson

2005-01-13T14:43:00.000-05:00

Note: This article also appeared in the January 2, 2005 Sunday Patriot News, Harrisburg, PA.

Why rise at 5 am to drive across Georgia from Macon to Plains, population 700? Among Plains’ residents are Rossalyn and Jimmy Carter, and the former President and Nobel Peace Prize winner was teaching Sunday school that morning.

We were thrilled and excited, but we had doubts. Would we be welcome in this small town? The Maranatha Baptist Church is tiny, with room for only 300. Would there be room? It is not our denomination. Is it ok if we attend?

We arrived at the Church at 8 am. The Greeter smiled, laughed and erased our worries, The Secret Servicemen took our picture to ensure that our camera really was a camera and then urged us in, “you never know when the buses will show up.” We were fine.

Once seated inside, the pews filled around us, save the few cordoned off for active members. Before we knew it, a quiet man had slipped through a side door. Jimmy Carter was standing just six pews away.

He asked where we were all from. California, Uganda, Poland, Germany, Florida. People from dozens of countries and states had made the same pilgrimage. Gab eagerly yelled out Pennsylvania. Jimmy’s response, his warm wide smile of acknowledgment, made us all feel loved.

His lesson’s topic was Joseph’s part in the Christmas story, but his lesson invoked elections in Mozambique, vacationing with his grandchildren and a profound biblical knowledge. We felt blessed and thankful for the teachings of such a pious, humble and great man.

Jimmy left saying, almost apologetically, that in two weeks he would be unable to teach in Plains. He was going to Palestine to oversee an election. He reminded us of what Anwar Sadat told him at Camp David that “regardless of religion, we are all sons of Abraham.” We must learn to live together.

November and December 2004 - Months in Review

2005-01-10T19:19:00.000-05:00

Here is the Best and the Worst of the last two months of 2004. Highlights include entering the last of the 48 states that Michael has seen (Alabama), seeing friends and family from home, numerous celebrity sightings and an unbeatable winning streak on NTN Trivia.

Low points include big rocks falling from trucks and puncturing one of our tires, necessitating an emergency stop in Mobile, Ala. In these months of thanksgiving, we were most thankful for the Fix-A-Flat in the bag of emergency supplies given to us by Gab’s brother and the gift card to Pep Boys which was a departing gift from the Board of Directors at PAR.

So the ‘Tima has a new set of tires. We think she’s earned them, don’t you?

Miles Traveled (in Altima) since Oct. 31st – 6,156 miles, almost spanning the entire width of the continental U.S.

Miles Traveled (in Altima) for 2004 – 33,338 miles

Best Giant Statue – Smiling Peanut, Plains, Ga.

Most Effective Billboard Slogan – "A reminder about going near power lines. DON’T!" Seen on the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail a.k.a. the Jefferson Davis Highway in Ala.

Funniest Bumper Sticker – "EAT RICE. Potatoes Make Your Butt BIG". Pick-up truck leaving the Rice Mill parking lot in Crowley, Louisiana.

Most Inappropriately Named Convenience Store – Hit-N-Run, Baton Rouge, La. We still haven’t decided if we averted a hold-up with our timely entrance.

Most Interesting Sign – The Best Little Warehouse in Texas, Mini-storage facility, Brownsville, Tex.

Proof that Texas thinks it’s its own country –
Lone Star Beer – The National Beer of Texas
God Bless America and Texas - Sign on I-45 between Houston and Galveston

Ugliest Capitol Building – Tallahassee, Fla. By far the least attractive of the four skyscraper capitols.

Most Unusual Place to Upload www.usa-c2c.com – In the dark on the picnic bench about 15 feet from a resting gator at Monument Lake Campground, Big Cypress NPRES.

Biggest Disappointment – All out of jalapeno ice cream free samples at the McIllheny Tabasco Factory, Avery Island, Louisiana.

Most Pleasant Surprise –

Finding our friend Josie in Bradenton, Fla.

Gab can still speak Spanish. Of all the people in the Atlanta airport, a lost man chose Gab and started pointing at his ticket and asking (in Spanish) just where he was supposed to be. Gab calmed him and showed him the way to the Southwest Gates, leaving Michael and a woman in line slightly stunned. Unfortunately, the directions Gab gave turned out to be completely wrong.

Most Unpleasant Surprise – Forgetting that we can’t afford Las Vegas on a weekend. How is it that the hotel room we Pricelined for $40 on a Thursday has a $278 value the next day? On to Laughlin.

Worst Hotel Experience – The Flamingo Hotel and Casino, Laughlin, Nev. Hotel hi jinks included a midnight fire alarm, loud knocking housekeepers at 6 am and someone running and screaming, “REDRUM!” through the halls around 8 am. This is what you get when you can’t afford Vegas on a weekend – all of the excitement; none of the fun.

Biggest Stretch – located just across the street from the Galleria, claims the Fairfield Inn in Houston, Tex. That street is an un-crossable, under-construction, six lane highway of doom. We watched two fender benders take place while waiting for the hotel shuttle to take us to said Galleria.

The “Fancy Meeting You Here” Award –
The SCA volunteer from Wupatki NM is now a Ranger at the Jean Lafitte NHP in Thibodaux, La.

The Ranger from the Home of FDR NHS in Hyde Park, N.Y. is now stationed at the Jimmy Carter Birthplace NHS in Plains, Ga.

Cheapest Ballgame Ticket – $15 Arizona State University v. Washington State, Tempe, Ariz. Our apologies to the man who sold us the tickets who swore that they were great seats and that we would get free food. We scoffed and nearly walked away until he lowered the price to under face value. 4 hamburgers, 2 bags of popcorn and an uncountable amount of ice tea later, we felt really bad for doubting him.

Most Expensive Ballgame Ticket – $20 each. IAA Championship Football Game, Chattanooga, Tenn. Worth every penny, even with the loss.

Best Sporting Experience – Spending time with 2000+ Montana Grizzlies in Chattanooga, Tenn. especially our new pals Curt and Jill.

Worst Driving Experience - Houston, Tex. See also Biggest Stretch.

Best American Kabuki – Popeye and Bluto at Islands of Adventure, Orlando, Fla. Monte from Montana won a few months ago, and these guys had some anatomically challenging costumes. With a huge head, bulging arms and legs stuck on a shoestring body, how did Popeye stay standing?

Most (un)Scenic Drive (Highways) –

Tuscon, Ariz to El Paso, Texas on I-10. 5 hours through New Mexico. Oh look, there’s a tumbleweed.

Mobile, Ala. to Selma, Ala. on 43. Is there really no place we can get coffee?

Highest Price for Gas – $1.99 on November 13th at the Pilot, Lake Havasu, Ariz.

Lowest Price for Gas – $1.46 on December 18th at the Citgo, Adairsville, Ga. This is the cheapest gas of the trip.

Best Pizza – Magpies Gourmet Pizza, winning best pizza in Tuscon, Ariz. every year since 1989 for good reason.

Best Local Cuisine –

Bill Miller’s BBQ, San Antonio, Tex. Full plate of meat, beans, slaw and potatoes plus a full fixin’s bar with brown bread, rolls, sauce, pickles and salsa

Blue Dog Café, Lafayette, Louisiana – spicy Andouille sausage, Crawfish Etouffee, Chicken Bayou Teche (seafood stuffed chicken breast) and bread with garlic honey butter made us so full we couldn’t even contemplate bread pudding or pecan pie, although we tried.

Best Bartender(s) – The Chimes, Baton Rouge, La. 25 cent oysters on the half shell, shucked to order, was just one of the menu items that kept us coming back to the Chimes.

Worst Acting in a National Park Service Film – The Union and Confederate soldiers/narrators of the multi-media experience at Chickamauga National Battlefield Park, Chattanooga, Tenn. The premise was a “reunion” 130 years after the battle. From what we’ve seen in our own travels, we doubt whether these two would be so chummy, even with so much water under the bridge.

Most Unexpected Local Pronunciation – Thibodaux, La. [TEE-b-dough]

Best Doughnuts – Beignets at Café du Monde, New Orleans, La. Covered in powdered sugar and washed down with coffee you could cut with a knife.

Best Smelling Factory –
McIllheny Tabasco Factory, Avery Island, Louisiana
Tropicana canning factory south of Bradenton, Fla.

Celebrity Sightings – Jimmy Carter, Maranatha Baptist Church, Plains, Ga.

Runners up:
Rickey Medlocke of Lynyrd Skynyrd en route to Primm, Nev. We weren’t crazy about sharing the same plane with a member of a band who had lost three of its founders in a fiery crash, but we enjoyed talking with Rickey as we waited out the flight delays plaguing Atlanta that evening.

Jimmy Buffett, Margaritaville, New Orleans, La. Some of our friends travel across the country on the rumor that Jimmy will appear at one of his restaurants. We were on our way back to our hotel and to bed when we heard the ruckus across the street. Jimmy sang three songs to the adoring audience and then went home himself. Have faith, Parrotheads – sometimes the rumors are true!

Almost Celebrity Sighting – Jimmy Carter (again!) visiting the Clyde Butcher Big Cypress Gallery along the Tamiani Trail through Big Cypress NPRES.

Worst Campground – The Colliers-Seminole State Park, southeast of Naples, Fla. At $18 a night, it was the most we have paid to get crunched between large groups spilling out of their assigned spaces and a horrible smelling bathroom. State parks have minimal restriction on RVs, so generators ran all night, at least drowning out the sounds of yipping dogs and the highway behind the trees.

Best Campground – Monument Lake Campground, Big Cypress National Preserve. 30 miles down the road from the Colliers-Seminole State Park, but a world away. We shared a man-made lake with a few alligators and a handful of snowbirds, all of them friendly. A beautiful spot you could speed right past on Rt. 41 if you weren’t looking. We stayed here on three separate occasions.

Las Vegas, NV • Laughlin, NV • Bullhead City, NV • Needles, CA • Lake Havasu City, AZ • Phoenix, AZ • Tempe, AZ • Tucson, AZ • El Paso, TX • Ciudad Juarez CHIH • Fort Davis, TX • Alpine, TX • Del Rio, TX • Uvalde, TX • San Antonio, TX • Alice, TX • South Padre Island, TX • Brownsville, TX • Corpus Christi, TX • Victoria, TX • Houston, TX • Galveston, TX • Beaumont, TX • Kountze, TX • Lafayette, LA • Opelousas, LA • Eunice, LA • Abbeville, LA • New Iberia, LA • Jeanerette, LA • Charenton, LA • Morgan City, LA • Thibodaux, LA • Houma, LA • Donaldsville, LA • Baton Rouge, LA • Vacherie, LA • New Orleans, LA • Marrero, LA • Barataria, LA • Arabi, LA • Chalmette, LA • Gulfport, MS • Biloxi, MS • Ocean Springs, MS • Mobile, AL • Jackson, AL • Selma, AL • Montgomery, AL • Tuskegee, AL • Auburn, AL • Alexander City, AL • Birmingham, AL • Huntsville, AL • Fayetteville, TN • Lynchburg, TN • Winchester, TN • Sewanee, TN • Chattanooga, TN • Fort Oglethorpe, GA • Macon, GA • Americus, GA • Plains, GA • Andersonville, GA • Albany, GA • Cairo, GA • Tallahassee, FL • Gainesville, FL • Salt Springs, FL • Altamonte Springs, FL • Orlando, FL • Lake Buena Vista, FL • Bradenton, FL • Marco Island, FL • Everglades City, FL • Ochopee, FL • Naples, FL • Fort Myers, FL • Punta Gorda, FL • Port Charlotte, FL • Venice, FL • Sarasota, FL • Tampa, FL • Ybor City, FL

Chamizal NMEM • Fort Davis NHS • Amistad NRA • Palo Alto Battlefield NHS • Padre Island NS • Big Thicket NPRES • Acadian Cultural Center (Jean Lafitte NHP) • Prairie Acadian Cultural Center (Jean Lafitte NHP) • Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center (Jean Lafitte NHP) • French Quarter (Jean Lafitte NHP) • New Orleans Jazz NHP • Barataria Preserve (Jean Lafitte NHP) • Chalmette Battlefield (Jean Lafitte NHP) • Gulf Islands NS • Tuskegee Institute NHS • Tuskegee Airmen NHS • Horseshoe Bend NMP • Chickamauga and Chattanooga NMP • Ocmulgee NM • Jimmy Carter NHS • Andersonville NHS • DeSoto NMEM • Big Cypress NPRES

Grizzlies Invade Chattanooga

2005-01-03T18:35:00.000-05:00

Michael:

Tonight, the University of Southern California and Oklahoma University will play in the Orange Bowl. It is supposed to decide the NCAA Division I college football national championship. But really, it decides nothing.

We are currently in Fort Lauderdale among behemoth yachts and the official hotels of OU’s Boomer Sooner-chanting faithful. For as big a game as the 250+ media credential types prove, the town is awful staid. Not to say that there is anything wrong with bikinis, beaches and 80° days. There is just not a lot of excitement.

Unlike two weeks ago. We were in Chattanooga, Tennessee for the NCAA Division I-AA college football national championship, Montana vs. James Madison. The weather was sub-freezing, the only people in the streets were Montana fans. No tourists, no media, no bikinis and no beach.

We had a raucous, good time spoiled only by the Grizzlies’ shocking loss to JMU. The Griz started the season ranked number one. They won the Big Sky conference and won an automatic bid into the 16-team I-AA playoffs. After three decisive home field wins, they were in their fifth championship game in ten years.

As an easterner, I did not know much about Montanans and their rabid love of football until my sister started attending school in Missoula. “They love their Griz here,” she implored while I shrugged, “C’mon, it’s Montana, not Florida, Texas, Ohio, Michigan Louisiana or Alabama.”

Even before attending the sold-out Griz season opener against Maine, I knew I was wrong. Everyone in that massive state is football-mad. Whether Helena, Billings, Great Falls or Missoula, nearly every car sports a Montana, or their rival Montana State, license plate.

We arrived in Chattanooga on a Wednesday evening. The championship game was Friday night. We ambled downtown. Things were dead. We asked about the game; the locals responded with a passing knowledge, if that. We got a hotel room at a heavily discounted rate. That surprised us, but we smiled and took the keys.

By Thursday, the climate in Chattanooga started to change. The weather turned brisk and charter planes began to arrive from Big Sky country. We had taken notice of the handful of Griz fans at the Chickamauga Battlefield Park Site but did not realize that they had taken over southeastern Tennessee.

They had. When we entered the downtown Sticky Fingers Rib restaurant, which according to all the accolades posted outside seemed like the place to be, we were the only customers not covered head to toe in maroon. “You’re from PA? What are you doing here? Going to the game?” Actually, yes. Eyebrows raised and seats were found. We were looking for an early 5 o’clock dinner but discovered fun.

Montana people are some of the most fun, most generous and definitely most fun-loving people we have met. Montanans have opened up their houses to us, bought countless drinks for us and have always made us feel welcome. They want to show you their wonderful country as well as all their favorite places.

Even at five, there was a long wait for tables at Sticky Fingers. The fans had definitely arrived. We heard about 10 full 200-person charters from Missoula, flights in to Memphis (350 miles away), Atlanta (100 miles) and Nashville (130 miles). “Heck, we are from Montana, we drive 100 miles just to get to the next town,” they told us. I know my sister has to drive 170 miles just to get to a Bed, Bath and Beyond. Montana is big.

Who knows how the rest came, but UT-Chattanooga’s stadium holds 25,000 people and there were at least 10,000 in Maroon and Silver. More fans than James Madison, located in Harrisonburg, Virginia; a state school in a state whose border lies just 200 miles away. None of the JMU fans were downtown Thursday night.

We never got our ribs. We ended up moving on to the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel with the rest of the crowd for the Montana pep rally. We met a player’s mother, got a picture with Monte the award-winning mascot and were caught up in a whirlwind of excitement.

We left the pep rally still hoping for ribs. We sat down at about 10; the restaurant was still full of Griz fans. The waitress started, “now I know this is going to sound funny, but before you get hopeful, we ran out of ribs. This has never happened before. I am so sorry.” We were distraught. “You’re here for the football game. With Montana, right” she stated without asking. “Come back tomorrow, here is a gift certificate.” Montanans ate all the ribs in town. I bet the same applied for alcohol sales.

When we returned to the hotel, a quickly drawn sign was taped on the lobby door: “No coupons taken. Special Event Weekend Rates Apply.” The storm had hit.

Game day was spectacular, except for the game’s result. We called our terrific friends that we had met the day before and tailgated under the awning for the Chattanooga marketplace. Again, the Montana fans outnumbered their Dukes counterparts in droves. Sports karma had to be on our side. It wasn’t.

After the game, we returned to the hotel but most Montana fans went back downtown or to the tailgate site where the Griz alumni association was distributing free beer to thousands. We hope that their trip to Tennessee was as fun and worthwhile as ours.

James Madison was a deserving champion and an unlikely underdog. They do not enjoy Montana’s tradition and did not have an easy road to the title game. They had not been ranked in the Top Ten during most of the season and had to win three straight playoff road games. That is what is great about I-AA and every other American sports competition for that matter.

American sports are about playoffs. It is how we choose our champions; fight it out to the end, last man standing, king of the hill wins. I won’t bore you with the debate, the dire injustices and the shameful greed of major conference exclusivity except to say that Utah deserves better. And I really wish the Boise State Broncos could have had a chance. JMU earned their title, it was not anointed. It would be nice if either USC or Oklahoma had had to run the same gauntlet.

Christmas Mailbag

2004-12-27T20:31:00.000-05:00

Over the summer, our hometown newspaper did a feature on the USA-C2C trip based on a phone interview from the road. When the reporter asked for advice for others who might be planning a cross-country trip, Gab’s response was, give yourself plenty of time, expect the unexpected and most importantly, make sure you really like your travel partner.

All still true. But now that we have nine months under our belts, are there things we would have done differently? Other items we would have brought along to make life easier? Inquiring minds want to know. Here are answers to these and other questions we have received from C2C readers.

Would a minivan have made the trip more comfortable?

Probably.

Click and Clack, the car guys recommended a Silverado Pick-up truck for the trip, but many of their listeners disagreed. Experienced campers and travelers suggested a minivan – hollow out the back, build a basic platform bed and we would always have a place to sleep and room to stuff our stuff. We have met a few people on the road with this set-up and they seem quite happy with it.

Truth is, the time leading up to our departure was so hectic, we never got around to following their advice. We may eventually upgrading to a minivan, but for now, the Nissan Altima is great. There is ample space in the trunk and the gas mileage can’t be beat. The *Tima is pretty near and dear to our hearts. We’ve been through a lot together, most recently a set of tires. I doubt we’ll be parting ways any time soon.

So, yes and no. Yes, if we had a minivan we would have many more sleeping options. We would not have had to worry about sleeping in the ice storm in Yellowstone or the windy madness of Death Valley. Just pop in the minivan. Definitely more comfort. Along the same lines, a minivan would allow us to disregard the weather forecast and stay primarily in campgrounds.

The no side of the story is that after driving all day nothing sounds worse than spending the night in the same vehicle for months on end. If we had a minivan, we would probably go stir crazy.

Would a small pop-up tent trailer make life easier?

Probably not.

We don’t have that much stuff and prefer the flexibility of a compact car and a two-person tent. Less is more, especially when navigating city traffic and searching for parking. Not all NPS sites have parking lots. You might be surprised how many are in urban settings. We don’t want to think about driving in Houston or Atlanta with something in tow.

Could you have taken a dog along? Sadly, no.
We love dogs, especially poodles. Smart, energetic, fun – everything you want in a travel companion. John Steinbeck thought so. We do too. But most National Parks do not allow pets. Those that do require they be on a short leash at all times. Some motels allow pets for an additional fee (sometimes as much as the room itself). Having a dog would seriously limit what we could do and where we could sleep.L But we have definitely thought about it.

Would a bike have been very usable?

Yes.

Some NPS sites have extensive bike trails. Cities like Boise, Idaho have beautiful greenbelts that wrap around the downtown and college areas. Other cities like Flagstaff, Arizona and Gainesville, Florida have a bike lane on nearly every road. There are plenty of places to use and enjoy a bicycle.

We chose not to bring bikes, opting instead to stay on our two feet for treks into the woods. Probably a good idea since, despite her insistence, Gab’s middle name is not Grace.

How often do you stay at motels?

Pretty often.

We use websites like http://www.priceline.com/ to get the best deals. Coupons from State Welcome Centers also come in handy. We never spend more than $50 for a room, but we try to keep it in the $25-$45 range. We would rather not camp within city limits – just a safety/security thing.

Nights in a motel let us recharge all the batteries, clean up, do laundry, and most importantly, work and write and update the website. We signed up for all the rewards and frequent travel programs from national hotel chains – maybe eventually we’ll get a free room or two.

Do you plan to stay in warmer climates during winter?

That’s the plan!

It is still a little chilly down South. Hopefully, once we get down to the Everglades and the Florida Keys we can do some camping and burn off some of this winter weight.

Why do Parks that have no entrance fee still receive 4 out of 5 in your Site Ratings?
Early on, we decided to assign a perfect 5/5 only if we received a gift/memento from the Site in addition to no entrance fee. So far, we have experienced this sort of hospitality at all factory tours (not rated) like free Tabasco, free chocolate, free beer, free tea and free Maker’s Mark-laced bon-bons. A few NPS sites have given us coffee (Fort Union Trading Post NHS), pen and ink prints (Herbert Hoover NHS) and food (Pipe Spring NM).

In retrospect, we should have given a perfect score to those Sites that offered free tours, but at this point, it would take a lot of work and Site revamping. It could happen but not anytime soon. In the meantime, our philosophy has changed, but not our scoring.

Want to know more? Email us at gabandmichael@usa-c2c.com or stop by the USA-C2C Message Board and ask us!

Happy New Year! Bring on 2005!!

Birdwatching - Our New Obsession

2004-12-15T15:31:00.000-05:00

This all started innocently enough: A pair of binoculars we received as a wedding present, a set of Sibley Field Guides to Birds purchased in preparation for the trip and a few conversations with a mild-mannered government employee who happens to travel the world in search of birds.

Months later, we are driving down the Gulf coast of Texas, which we now know is a mecca for migratory birds, and I nearly cause my husband to veer off the road and into a marshy ditch by screaming, “Oh my God it’s a ROSEATE SPOONBILL!!” at the top of my lungs.

Witnessing all of this from the back seat is our good friend Sarah, whom we just picked up from the Houston airport.

“You guys totally lied to me. You are way more into this than you let on.”

Can you blame us? We have just come from an “Important Bird Area”. Two, in fact. South Padre Island and the Padre Island National Seashore have both been proclaimed as “Globally Important” by the American Bird Conservancy. Perfect places for us novice birders to practice our new obsession.

Being novice birders, we need to focus on distinctive species and types. The larger the better. Brown and White Pelicans, I can spot those. Herons – easy, and often color-coded. Blue herons are blue. Reddish egrets are red. Crested Caracaras – gaudy and unmistakable, even from a moving vehicle. Michael is getting quite good at spotting various raptors from the road. I can always tell when he’s looking when we start to stray into oncoming traffic. I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to tell the difference between a sanderling and a snowy plover, although we spent an entire afternoon at the beach trying.

Perhaps the highlight of our birding afternoon in South Padre Island was witnessing firsthand, the “extremely long bill” of the aptly-named Long-Billed Curlew. In case you had any doubts, the picture in the Sibley Field Guide points to the disproportionately long proboscis and notes, this is an “extremely long bill.”

Shorebirds are fun. They are usually in plain sight and let you get relatively close before they fly away, leaving us flipping through the guide book wondering if that was a Royal or a Caspian Tern. Was the beak really red? Or more like an orange-y red? Why can’t they just stay still?

Whenever I find myself tiptoeing and creeping up to an unsuspecting fowl with my binocs and bird book, I can’t help but think of the pencil-thin, hook-nosed, birdwatching spinster from the old Woody Woodpecker cartoons.

Is birding for nerds?

Hardly. While we were celebrating Thanksgiving in Galveston, we read several newspaper articles in the local and Houston papers about how the area was courting birders (and their wallets) to the Island. Birders apparently are very good for business. Birders are no longer seen as solitary individuals who sneak off into the woods for days; they are couples, families, groups of friends who like to look at birds and then go out to dinner, stay at nice hotels and occasionally upgrade their birding equipment. Texas, particularly the Rio Grande Valley, is crazy about people that are crazy about birds.

Birding appeals to the collectors in us. Like stamps in our prized National Parks Passport Book, each new bird we see is another way to remember this fantastic journey across the states. Another way to catalogue the places we’ve seen and walks we’ve taken. We saw our first flock of white ibises in Galveston, a faint glimpse of a California condor in the Grand Canyon, every time we see a Bald Eagle is a moment of reverence. The Roseate Spoonbill will always remind me to use my quiet voice when in the car.

Sunshine Daydream

2004-12-09T23:06:00.000-05:00

Gab:

Think of a place you want to be, more than any other place in the world.

Don’t think too hard. What is the first place that comes to your mind? For me, the choice is easy. The beach. A beach. Any beach with white sand, black sand, seaweed-strewn shores, frigid white–capped waves, or warm ripples of water. Preferably the ocean, but in a pinch a lakeshore will do. This is where I need to be.

We are on South Padre Island, just off the gulf coast of Texas, a place infamous for its wild and crazy Spring Breaks. Today, it’s just me, some Winter Texans who are settling into their seasonal condos and an occasional family. We all know the beauty of a beach town off-season and have come down to the water this afternoon to enjoy it together. Michael is in the motel room, choosing college football on TV over sandy hair and soggy clothes. The beach isn’t for everyone. Actually, I think he knows how much it is for me and has decided to let me savor it alone.

I can’t explain the magic the seashore holds for me. I can tell you that when all else failed, conjuring the sights and sounds of the ocean relieved the sickness that no traditional medicine could.

Like most people receiving chemotherapy, I suffered from nausea and vomiting that would take me out of commission for days after a session. The day of my first treatment, we found out the hard way that I was allergic to the anti-nausea drug usually administered to kids. In subsequent treatments, my parents and doctors tried using other meds, wristbands touted to prevent motion sickness, special teas - you name it. I was a guinea pig and I didn’t mind. Anything to stop the sickness.

When it seemed as if we had tried everything, my Child Life Specialist Trudy suggested self-hypnosis. Fine. Whatever it takes. I went into the experiment willing, but not too convinced.

We found an unused room at the clinic, dimmed the lights and then Trudy said to me,

“Think of a place you want to be, more than any other place in the world.”

So I did. I closed my eyes and let her quietly talk to me. I wasn’t really in Hershey, PA. I was on my raft, not far from shore, letting the waves pick me up and set me down, the sun making my eyelids warm and the water making my skin sticky. Before I knew it, the nurse was taking out my IV and mom was going to get the car. What?! Not only did I not get sick during treatment, but I made it the entire car ride home, well almost, before the first wave of sickness broke through.

Now this is where it gets cool. The next week, we tried something a little different. Before we found a quiet place, I was connected to a biofeedback device. This little machine measured my heart rate and body temperature. We had used it before with the other (failed) anti-nausea experiments. With the wristbands, my mom and nurse actually knew when I would get sick before I did by watching the readings on the monitor. Novel, I suppose. This time, we would see how well the self-hypnosis worked.

Like a charm. This time, I could see for myself that I had power over my bodily functions. I was in control, not the chemo. A little bit of empowerment goes a long way. I made it home that week and if I remember correctly, I think I even went to school the next day.

According to a research article on the American Cancer Society website, Self-hypnosis can be especially successful with children and adolescents. Progressive muscle relaxation, biofeedback, and guided imagery can help patients of all ages .Of course, I didn’t know that at the time. I was just thankful it helped me.

So today, I’m walking alone in my happy place, smiling and having conversations with myself. Every sense confirms my affection. The heat making my day pack cling to my back; the sight of gulls, terns and pelicans swooping and gliding through the haze; the scent of salt mixed with sunscreen and my own sweat; the constant yet arrhythmic crash of waves and the feel of the tiny shells, each with a pinpoint hole in them, that I’ve been collecting as I rub them between my fingers. This place is real and wonderful and for as many things as I have seen and done, I never feel as alive as I do at the beach.

www.usa-c2c.com

Sun Devils Celebrate A Native Son

2004-11-17T09:49:00.000-05:00

Michael:

On Saturday, we went to see a college football game that took a backseat to a halftime ceremony. Pat Tillman’s #42 Arizona State jersey was retired.

A few days after September 11, Pat Tillman abruptly retired from his professional football career with the Arizona Cardinals and joined the Airborne Rangers. Earlier this year he died, a victim of friendly fire during a raid in Afghanistan.

Emotions ran high at Sun Devil Stadium. Half the crowd seemed to be wearing #42 jerseys or T-shirts emblazoned with the word “Hero”. Signs highlighting his courage as well as his superman-esque jaw draped over the stadium’s tiers. His picture was on the ticket, his number was inescapable. Pat Tillman was everywhere.

Arizona State scored 28 points in the blink of an eye. The game was never close and never contested. The Sun Devils played possessed; no team could have beaten them that night.

Halftime approached with a tangible tension. The ceremony would soon begin. No one left their seats. The contestant in the $5,000 kick a field goal contest promised to donate all his winnings to the Pat Tillman foundation. He missed but received a standing ovation.

The band marched in to patriotic songs and then formed U-S-A on the field. The situation did not feel overdone or contrived. Later, we overheard a youth with neck tattoos bashfully admit to his friends that when the band marched in he nearly cried. He was not the only one.

The emcee started by saying that tonight was about celebrating Pat Tillman not as a soldier, not as an All-Pro safety and not as a patriot but as an Arizona State Sun Devil. That made a lot of sense. They were celebrating one of their own and it felt good. The moving ceremony primarily honored his football accomplishments: All-American, Academic All-American and the only undefeated Arizona State regular season.

Even if Tillman had not volunteered for military service, someday this commemoration still would have happened. He had always been the most loved and most respected Sun Devil. He had never left. His pro career was for the Cardinals, his games played in the same stadium. The native son who remained, the athletic hero who represented Phoenix.

When Tillman enlisted, he embodied the idealized self-image of a community. The down-to-earth Arizonan who was always there would vanish, leaving the people who had depended on his steady defensive play for years. He was going to an unimaginable place, an unknown dot on a map and a place of unbelievable horror and death.

He left his reasons and motivations unsaid. While he trained and later fought we all substituted in our own romanticized notions of why. We placed him on a pedestal. We mythologized him. We may have even forgotten that he was a human being. He was our outlet, our excuse, our understanding of what we could be if we somehow were better Americans. We were being unfair to both Mr. Tillman and ourselves.

The half-time program reminded me that he was born the same year as my younger sister and now he is dead. His widowed wife looked uncomfortable and just tired. We have simultaneously lost and gained a hero, but she has just lost her husband. All the adulation in the world will never bring him back.

Dozens of his Arizona State teammates stood on the field in his remembrance. A camera unfairly focused in on one’s tears. The whole stadium was crying for the loss of an abstract, he was crying because he had lost a friend. For those close to Tillman, this reunion must be so tragic.

For those that did not know him he is a symbol. His death strengthens our admiration and allows us to visualize whatever we would like. What exactly are we imagining when we remember Pat Tillman?

We were touched by the celebration because it remembered him as a Sun Devil. It recalled his accomplishments and his on-field triumphs. It was a wonderful memorial to a man who died too young.

www.usa-c2c.com

October 2004 - Month in Review

2004-11-16T19:18:00.000-05:00

Miles Traveled (in Altima) during October – 1,792

Total Miles Traveled (in Altima) – 27,188

Total Miles We Predicted We Would Travel (in Altima) – 27,030

Luckiest Palindrome – the ‘Tima’s odometer turned 77777 just when we needed some lucky sevens – as we pulled into Las Vegas, Nev.

Strangest Endorsement – The Zane Grey RV Park, 175 miles south of Sedona, Ariz.

Most Beautiful View – the night sky at the base of Mount Whitney, Inyo National Forest, Calif. Like nothing we have ever seen. Was there a meteor shower on October 14th and 15th?

Most Pleasant Surprise – Driving to Santa Monica, Calif and seeing the Pacific Ocean for the first time on the trip, making USA-C2C truly coast to coast. We left Joshua Tree NP days earlier than expected, so we called our friend Dave in Los Angeles and spent some time in the big city. Quite a culture shock after spending so much time in small towns and in our tent.

Most Unpleasant Surprise – Death Valley NP, the driest place on earth, sustained serious damage to roads and buildings during a flash flood in late August. Two inches of rain managed to wash out one of the only two paved roads in the south of the park, forcing us to detour.

Best Sporting Experience – The first day of the Phoenix Suns Training Camp, Flagstaff, Ariz. Steve Nash smiled at Gab!!! The door to the NAU dome was open, so we walked in, just in time to take a seat in the stands and see the Suns walk in to start practice. Steve was the first in line. He looked straight at Gab and flashed a shy smile. She melted.

Best Giant Statue – The Lumberjack at Northern Arizona University. We think it even chops wood after the football team scores a touchdown.

Most Gluttonous Day – the Rio Buffet, Las Vegas, Nev. Michael hates buffets, but when in Rome, what can one do? Especially when $20 a person will get you access to more food than you have seen in weeks.

Best NPS Rangers – Tie.

Tuzigoot NM – Jose gave a great tour, then spent at least an hour talking with us and another couple on the roof of the Tuzigoot National Monument. After a very frustrating morning at two other “Sinagua sites,” a knowledgeable and friendly Ranger was a welcome relief.

Manzanar NHS – Once again, Alisa went out of her way to talk to us and answer as many of our questions as she could. This is a very young site and she has been there since the planning stage. She didn’t shy from any of our inquiries even when they strayed from the topic of Manzanar. Other visitors lingered near the desk just so they could listen to the conversation. This is the first Ranger who has ever given us her personal business card and email. Added bonus: Alisa is the person that convinced us to camp at the Mount Whitney Portal in the Inyo National Forest. Her drawn directions were perfect, as was her suggestion.

Least Helpful Rangers – Oasis Visitors Center, Joshua Tree NP. Here’s a sample of our conversation with the two female Rangers lounging behind the desk: “Hi. Where should we camp?” ”Wherever” “Ok. What trails do you recommend?” ”Whichever you’d like.” “How much time to people usually spend here? Well, how long should we plan to stay?” “As long as you want.” “Um, thanks. I guess.”

Best Long Hike – The Corridor Trail, Grand Canyon NP, Ariz.

Most Vitriol Inducing Site – The gas stations in Needles, Calif. $2.79! $2.99? We crossed the border and almost immediately pulled off the road in a cold sweat. We contemplated changing course so that we wouldn’t have to fill the tank in the Golden State. We calmed ourselves, drove a little further and found some cheaper gas, but not by much.

Highest Price Seen for Gas – $3.09, Panamint Springs, just inside Death Valley NP (we didn’t buy any)

Highest Price Spent for Gas – $2.42 at the Pace in Lone Pine, Calif. near the base of Mt. Whitney.

Lowest Price for Gas – $1.97 at the Giant in Flagstaff, Ariz.

Best Pizza – Fratelli’s Pizza, Flagstaff, Ariz. Oh man. But which one? We had the Meat Lovers pie first, and then the Chicken Pesto pizza a few days later. And then a pepperoni pie to finish off the week. Bonus: there is a bat phone at the Mogollon Brewery which connects directly to Fratelli’s. Call in your order, relax, and have a beer. Fratelli’s delivers to the bar, and just about anyplace else in the Flagstaff area.

Best Waiter/Waitress – Mamma Ellis, Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles, Los Angeles, Calif. Even though she scolded Michael twice for putting his feet on the seat, Mamma Ellis gave us superior service at this LA institution of late night eating. Besides, he made up for it by cleaning his plate and winning the praise of our matronly server.

Best Burger – Flagstaff Brewing Company. But once again, which one?? Gab’s was smothered with grilled pears, blue cheese and a balsamic vinaigrette reduction. Michael chose the “Stink Burger.” Roasted garlic cloves, blue cheese and a huge onion ring. We’ll let you choose.

Best Campground - Tie Bright Angel Campground, the bottom of the Grand Canyon, next to the Bright Angel Creek. Hidden Valley campground at Joshua Tree NP.

Worst Campground – Tie.

Mesquite Springs and Texas Spring, both at Death Valley NP, Calif. Heat. Wind. No shade. No relief. Sand scratching into our eyes and skin. Did we mention wind? We paid $10 for a spot at Mesquite Springs but didn’t even stay, choosing instead to try our luck further south rather than linger in the sweltering heat with nothing to do all day. There were a few more facilities closer to Texas Spring. We expected the temperature to drop when the sun went down. It did, but not by much.

Celebrity Sightings – Gab spotted Melissa of Real World New Orleans and Real World/Road Rules Battle of the Sexes fame at the Farmer’s Market in Los Angeles. She’s the one they had to physically remove from the “sitting on the ice block as long as you can” challenge because she is so tiny and her blood pressure dropped so low, the on-call EMTs feared for her health. Melissa is author the author of one of Gab’s favorite blogs http://www.princessmelissa.com/.

Runners Up: Flava Flav walked past us in the Hard Rock Casino, Las Vegas, Nev. Dressed in a pink knit poncho and his trademark time piece. “Who’s that guy acting like he’s Flava Flav?” Gab asked Michael. “Uh, Gab, that’s Flava Flav. No one’s making money off of Flava Flav impersonations these days.”

We saw Nikki Hilton at the Las Vegas Bellagio, too.

There was a country music video being filmed on the beach in Santa Monica, Calif. but we couldn’t figure out who the singers were so that probably doesn’t count as a celebrity sighting.

Greatest Altitudinal Difference in a 24-hour Period – Lone Pine Lake, Mount Whitney (highest peak in the Continental US) to the Badwater Basin, Death Valley, lowest point in the western hemisphere.

Largest Measuring Device – The World’s Tallest Thermometer, Baker, Calif.

Sketchiest Strip Mall – Maryland Street, next to UNLV, Las Vegas, Nev. Home to one of Michael’s favorite websites http://www.hiphopsite.com/.

Grand Canyon, AZ • Flagstaff, AZ • Sedona, AZ • Camp Verde, AZ • Cottonwood, AZ • Clarkdale, AZ • Jerome, AZ • Prescott, AZ • Kingman, AZ • Laughlin, NV • Bullhead City, AZ • Needles, CA • Twentynine Palms, CA • Joshua Tree, CA • Palm Springs, CA • Beaumont, CA • Los Angeles, CA • Santa Monica, CA • Lone Pine, CA • Stovepipe Wells, CA • Death Valley, CA • Primm, NV • Las Vegas, NV

Grand Canyon NP • Sunset Crater Volcano NM • Wupatki NM • Walnut Canyon NM • Montezuma Castle NM • Tuzigoot NM • Joshua Tree NP • Manzanar NHS • Death Valley NP

Flagstaff

2004-11-14T23:57:00.000-05:00

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This Week's Adventure: Flagstaff, Arizona

Where does one go after an exhausting and exhilarating week at the Grand Canyon? Flagstaff! We hopped in the car and headed towards the historic Route 66 and a long-awaited hamburger. Charlys was the setting for our first Flagstaff meal. There would be many more. Two days in Flagstaff to regroup, do laundry, some writing and relaxing turned into five. Three Fratelli pizzas later, we finally left town. It happens. We had a fantastic time in the first town we’ve seen in a while. The National Park areas around Flagstaff didn’t delight as much as the town itself. Luckily, we had friendly people, good food and sunshine to dull our disappointment.

For full reviews, stories and photos of all of the National Park areas we have visited, check out www.usa-c2c.com.

Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument is a recently-created, eruption occurred only about 1,000 years ago, cinder cone volcano that we couldn’t help but compare to the other volcano we have seen so far. Unlike fellow cinder cone volcano at the Capulin Volcano NM in New Mexico, you cannot climb or get anywhere near Sunset Crater Volcano. We did not have much fun here. We don’t care for hiking around lava beds. Climbing up and looking into the dormant volcano would have been much more fun. But we understand.

Sunset Crater unveiled its new Visitor Center Museum on June 7, 2004. The exhibits are snazzy and interactive. They include a flat-screen intro to volcanoes, a Geiger Counter that you affect by jumping up and down and a video reenactment of the eruption whose visual angles you can change with the provided joystick. The Museum is high-tech, the information is there, but we learned a lot less at Sunset Crater than we did watching the outdated “how it happened” video at the Capulin Volcano NM in New Mexico.

At Sunset Crater the fun, superficial and gimmicky exhibits brought up more questions than they answered. Geologic terms were not simply defined, little was put in regional context and the fancy displays’ flash was awful distracting. We have often found that once NPS museums remodel, they cut back on Ranger staffing. Such was the sad case at Sunset Crater.

Wupatki National Monument preserves red limestone and sandstone brick ruins of pueblos believed to have been built some 1,000 years ago by ancestors of present-day Hopi and Zuni Indians. The structures were inhabited for about 100 years until they were abandoned around the year 1225. Archeologists believe the life at Wupatki to have been intrinsically tied to the volcanic eruption at nearby Sunset Crater Volcano NM.

It is troubling when you leave an unknown historical site knowing less and being more confused than you did when you arrived. Such was the case at Wupatki NM. You enter the Visitor Center and either pay $1.00 for or borrow and return a well done but intellectually vexing Wupatki Pueblo Trail Guide. Then you go out to the Pueblo and try to sort things out for yourself.

The brochure is chock full of information but is unclear about where that knowledge comes from. Speculation? Native oral tradition? Archeology? Local rumor? Ranger clarification would have been nice. We cannot emphasize how much we wished that a Ranger could have led us through the ruin. How can you throw tourists into a 1,000-year-old ruin built by an unknown culture, give them a few pieces of paper and tell them to sort it out?

Walnut Canyon National Monument is a collection of unimpressive cliff dwellings built in low ceiling rock ledges on the side of Walnut Canyon. The NPS indicates that the Sinagua Indians first constructed the makeshift brick abodes in the year 1125 and fully abandoned them by 1250.

The Walnut Canyon NM parking lot was full when we arrived. We quickly moved out of the Visitor Center and onto the trail. The room permeated the distinct fragrance of body odor. We soon found out why. The many tourists, mostly old and a bit hefty, had overestimated their physical abilities, decided to hike the 240-step Island Trail and were stuck wheezing atop all the path’s few park benches. Our hike out of the Grand Canyon may have shaped us up a bit, but we wanted to sit and relax too. No luck with that. Our quest for rest took us back to our Flagstaff motel and away from the Canyon’s beauty.

www.usa-c2c.com

Grand Canyon - Day 6

2004-11-07T22:07:00.000-05:00

Indian Gardens to the South Rim

Michael:

I have been dreading this day. Up and out of the Grand Canyon. 4½ miles, 3000 feet up. The numbers actually make the task seem easier, believe it or not. Looking straight up toward your goal is more than a bit troublesome. But we are ready.

The morning started off rather ominously. The sun had not yet risen and we were already packed up and ready to go. We are going to get this done before the sun starts weighing us down. Just then, Gab turned to me, “Oh my gosh, Michael, there is a big bird on the roof.” “You must be kidding.” “No, I saw it. Go and look,” she vehemently stressed in a quiet manner.

So I stepped out from under the roof which covered our campsite’s picnic bench and lo and behold there was something: a full-grown male Barn Owl not more than two feet from us. A beautiful bird indeed but if I’m not mistaken, most cultures view that as an awfully terrifying omen. Owls = Death. Gab easily shrugged off my fears, “yeah, and some cultures think they’re smart, too. Let’s go.”

So we did.

A few days earlier, at the Phantom Ranch campground, we asked a Volunteer Ranger about the distance and climb of the last day’s hike. He gave the numbers and I said, “so it’ll take only a couple of hours, right?” “Uh, maybe for me, but for you probably about 3 or 4.” The gauntlet had been thrown. Who does this punk think he is? Sir Edmund Hillary? This hike can’t be that hard. Can it?

From the Indian Garden campground, the National Park Service has set up two rest stations, one at the 3 miles to go mark and another at the 1½ mark. The three sectors of the hike are exactly the same. Our plan was to rest and eat our remaining Clif Bars at the two stations.

I made it to the 3-mile mark and then the 1½ in no time at all. We had not yet passed many people, we were shaded from the sun and were in great condition. Only an hour had passed. I can’t believe how well we are doing. This Grand Canyon ain’t nothing. We kept moving.

Our hikes generally follow the same pattern. I’m the hare and Gab is the tortoise. I race out in front, pushing myself, sweating profusely going as hard as I can. Gab goes much slower, at a more manageable pace. She always looks so content when she hikes. And as you know, slow and steady always wins the race.

Gab sings songs to keep momentum. I try but I generally get caught on a Price is Right jingle: the Yodeling Song. The one where the Swiss Shepard is moving on a conveyor belt at a 45 degree angle up the mountain and you have to stop him from falling off. doo do dooo do daaaah dah dee dee doooh do deee deee doooh ad nauseum. That’s what I’m thinking. I don’t want to but I just can’t stop it.

Shortly after the 1½ mark the flood of day hikers coming down started in earnest. One of them must have thought he was doing a nice thing by telling me, “you’re almost there,” when we weren’t even close. Thanks a lot. I am doing my best to convince my body and mind that this is not a big deal but we have a ways to go. You come in and confuse everything. My calves immediately stiffened and my soreness quickly crept into my thighs. They beckoned, “We’re there right? We can relax. That’s what the man said, right?” “No!” I shot back at my body parts, “there’s still a lot of work to do, you can’t let up know, OK?” Their response was somewhere in between. My legs were understandably confused.

At about this time another obstacle coming down started en masse. Mule Trips. In the last 1½ miles, six different trains, at least 50 mules and a steady amount of donkey poop. Just when I had caught that second, third and fourth wind the mules came and I had to move to the side. No problemo. I needed the rest anyway.

After turning a corner around yet another switchback I saw the Kolb Studio. It would not be much longer. Only a few hundred more yards to go. The crowds were heavy but mostly polite. Only a few did not allow me space to come up. I made sure to smile and say hello to everyone, they can’t know how tired I am. Near the top I waited for Gab and we exited together. One hour and 45 minutes after we had begun. Take that Mr. Ranger. We did it!

We threw our bags off and asked the first person we saw to take our picture. We just climbed out of the Grand Canyon. What an incredible buzz. What do we now? Our focus had been only on the Canyon. All future planning non-existent. “Let’s go get a hamburger,” we simultaneously thought. What a great idea. Let’s go.

www.usa-c2c.com

Grand Canyon - Day 5

2004-11-04T22:31:00.000-05:00

Cottonwood to Indian Gardens

Gab:

I am a cancer survivor. I know that at least one out of ten Americans can (fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you look at it) can say the same thing. I don’t think I am anything special. I don’t necessarily feel good when people say that I “beat” or “conquered” the disease because to me that implies that all of my friends who didn’t somehow fell short, or maybe didn’t fight as hard as they could. I know that’s not the case.

Having cancer has shaped who I am. It is a part of my identity. But it is not My Identity. There are people that have known me for years that had (have?) no idea that I was once really sick. It’s not that I avoided the issue. I just never thought to mention it.

There are times when I am reminded, sometimes gently, sometimes like a punch to the gut, that being in remission from cancer does make you different. One of those times was climbing the Inca Trail to Macchu Picchu where oxygen is already scarce because of the high altitude. Scar tissue over my lungs and diminished lung capacity, two leftovers from cancer days, combined with the physical exertion to make me feel like I was going to die. Seriously die. Thank God for my patient husband who climbed ¼ mile back down the trail to retrieve the blubbering, shuffling mess that I let myself become.

That entire day I was feeling sorry for myself, constantly reminding myself that I had serious disadvantages over the rest of the people on the trail. That may or may not have been true. I used my cancer as a crutch and clearly it wasn’t a very good one because it didn’t get me very far. Michael’s perfect walking stick ™ would have worked much better.

That was four years ago. I am much stronger, physically and mentally now. I know that there is probably nothing I will do that will be more physically challenging than the Inca Trail. It is my benchmark. As in, “Is this as hard as the Inca Trail? No? Then keep moving!” That’s my toughy inner voice, which shares space with my not-so-tough inner voice and the virtual jukebox in my head when I hike.

My not-so-tough voice was getting ready to note her objections to the switchbacks that steadily lead the way up to Indian Gardens, our next camp, when I had to step aside and make way for a mule train that was coming down the trail. I glanced up from my boot-gazing stance to say hello and found myself looking at at least twenty women wearing Race for the Cure t-shirts astride the mules. Some had short spiky hair. Are you a survivor?? I couldn’t help wondering. Are you a survivor? My heart started racing. Because I am a survivor, too! Hey! I’m a survivor!! I was so excited I think I was trembling. I kept smiling and trying to speak but I couldn’t. The words were caught in my throat. I am a survivor, too!!!

The mule train passed, probably wondering what the heck was wrong with this teary mute on the side of the trail, and I continued on my way. As usual, Michael was distances ahead of me. I was alone with my thoughts, which were no longer mundane. I felt alive, elated, proud of myself, proud of those women. I felt grateful. I felt thankful. My steps had new purpose. I am hiking the Grand Canyon. I can hike the Grand Canyon. I am a survivor! Darn it if I that darn Destiny’s Child song wasn’t stuck on continuous loop on Gabby’s virtual jukebox.

I made it to camp in record time. I don’t think I stopped once. Michael was shocked and amazed. He had barely put down his pack and filled his water bottle when I turned the corner. I didn’t need him to come to my rescue this time. I did it on my own. My cancer wasn’t my crutch; it was my motivation and my reason. I don’t think I am anything special for being a cancer survivor, but boy do I feel lucky.

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Grand Canyon - Day 4

2004-11-02T20:41:00.000-05:00

Bright Angel to Cottonwood

Michael:

Forget what makes sense. Going down into the Canyon is much harder than coming back up. OK, I haven’t yet come back up but it must be true. My left knee is soooooore and only sore when I am going downhill.

Plus the psychology of going down 5,000 feet knowing that in a few days you are going to have to scale it, is a little much. That trepidation has spread throughout the beautiful Bright Angel Campground. Yesterday everyone talked loudly, joked, laughed and smiled. This morning there are no smiles and no hellos. It is a beautiful morning capped by a tangible pall. But we’re not going up today, so we don’t really care. To bad for everyone else. We’ll enjoy our good fortune while we can.

Problem is my knee really hurts. We head up the Bright Angel Canyon on what should be an mildly uphill 8-mile stroll. I’m fine going up, but even the slightest downhill brings wincing. Gab interjects, “You really don’t take pain well, do you?” I’m speechless. She’s right. “Why don’t you pick up a stick or something.” “I’ve been trying. I’m looking everywhere, but there just aren’t any.” This is a complete lie. I have been making mental notes to look, but just haven’t.

Then, out of blue, it appears: THE PERFECT WALKING STICK. Dead branch yes, but ergonomically bowed, pointy tip and a carved handle. It could not have been better designed. I realize the excellence and am almost scared to pick it up, but once I do, it becomes a part of me. The soreness gradually disappears and I have my companion through the desert. No, it does not turn into an asp, but it is sheer perfection nonetheless.

Gab and I are talking and keeping a nice pace. We pick our heads up and a man is running towards us. He’s got two water bottles, running shoes, running shorts and a sheer tank top. It hits us, he is running the Canyon from rim to rim. And we thought we were tough. That guy is nuts. Why would you ever want to run the Grand Canyon. Gab adds, “he probably is thinking, why would they want to walk the Canyon with 40-pound backpacks?” Fair enough.

He is only the first. One after another races through. At least ten. Haven’t they read all the warnings? Don’t they know it is the Grand Canyon? Either way, we suddenly don’t feel so tough. And no, my knee doesn’t hurt at all.

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Grand Canyon - Day 3

2004-11-01T22:06:00.000-05:00

South Rim to Bright Angel Campground

Michael:

Almost 15 years ago, my Uncle Dave took me to see the Grand Canyon. I was so excited. He was so excited for me. He popped Ferde Grofé’s Grand Canyon Suite into the tape deck and the anticipation just built. Soon I would see America’s most famous attraction in person. I had been warned, “it’s nothing like the pictures” and “it’s really big” among other things. All from people who still had that look of amazement in their eye even in remembrance.

Getting to the Canyon was more trouble than we had expected. There were roadblocks, helicopters, car searches and a lot of start and stop traffic. The Suite was never allowed to build; the volume kept getting turned up and down. We would soon learn that an escaped prisoner from the Arizona penitentiary had made his way into the Canyon. The fugitive had become an Arizona cause celebre, noted for, above all things, his politeness. Somehow, he had intimate knowledge of the Canyon and was living off the land somewhere below. When the police realized he was not hiding out in our trunk, they let us through.

Amid all the hubbub, it was hard to focus on the wonder to come. My Uncle parked the car and giddily proclaimed that it is just over the Rim, right there. We hurried out and I stood, mesmerized. I could not react, it was too awesome, just too big. Then a thought overwhelmed me, I wanted to hike into it.

The notion obsessed me. I could not accept the view from the top. My Uncle was even a little disappointed. “Isn’t it amazing?” I may have not look amazed, but I was. “Yes it is, but I want to hike down.” “See what you can do, we have a few hours,” he responded.

As crazy as this sounded, escaped felon on the loose and all, I started walking. Even though I was in great shape, high school football season was about to start, the Canyon’s steep switchbacks intimidated me completely. It was over 90 degrees and I was going to have to come back up. The path seemed to go on forever, straight downhill. After twenty minutes of going down, I had had enough. The vista angles had not changed; I was going nowhere. This is some Canyon.

After slogging my way back up, my Uncle had a wry grin on his face, “That’s a big Canyon, no? Indeed. We moved onto the Visitors Center where I bought a Hiking in the Grand Canyon book. It did not make much sense at the time. We were leaving soon and who knew if I’d ever be back. But I wanted to read it. I wanted to know how I could get to the Colorado River. I had to hike the Canyon. It became a dream of mine. Someday I would have the chance.

Today was that unbelievable day.

We both did not get much sleep. We emerged from our tent before sunrise and started to pack in the dark. Yesterday, a last minute shopping spree at the Grand Canyon Supermarket ensured our food needs, we thought. But the Park pamphlets do their best to impart holy terror into the hikers mind. They read, “Be careful, people die on the trail,” and show pictures of 20-30 year-old males being carried out of the Canyon, strapped to gurneys. The hike could not be that bad, could it? The elevation change of 5,000 feet does not sound that treacherous.

We hopped on the hiker’s shuttle scared. Much more scared than the day before. The thought of the Grand Canyon echoes around in your mind and spreads fear. Are we crazy? Nobody else on the bus has a huge backpack. Have we overpacked? Am I going to regret my three pound sleeping bag? Did we really need all those Clif Bars? Remind me again why I’m doing this? Because it has been a dream of yours, your whole life. Because hiking the Grand Canyon is the reason you are on this two-year trip. Right. Thank you, voice of reason.

We exited the shuttle and walked with proud, confident strides to the trailhead and the Canyon rim. Oh man, it’s the Grand Canyon. What are we doing? Are we crazy? Hold on. Breathe deeply. Today’s the easiest day. Straight downhill for a few hours. We will be done before noon. Let’s get cracking. Grand Canyon here we come.

P.S. They did end up finding the fugitive somewhere near Phoenix, at I think his cousin’s house. He had spent some time in the Canyon but slipped right under the police’s nose and the numerous roadblocks. Arizona felt a collective loss when he was finally caught.

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Grand Canyon - Day 2

2004-10-31T18:28:00.000-05:00

The South Rim

Gab:

We woke shortly after dawn, shook the ice from the tent and wondered what to do until the Backcountry Office opened. We drove to the Lodge in search of coffee and perhaps a warm place to occupy. Unbeknownst to me, Michael had other plans.

When we arrived at the Lodge, he went straight towards the restaurant menu and suggested that with so much time to waste, breakfast might not be a bad idea. I could see the biscuits and gravy and fresh fruit on the buffet. I could smell the French toast with walnut butter being served. Weak willed when it comes to good food, I will never be the one to say no to a meal.

An hour later, we were waiting, along with four other hopeful hikers in the cold outside of the office/trailer for a Ranger to arrive. She opened the door, surveyed the small crowd and told us to pile in and get warm. She had “a few” openings for tomorrow. How many is a few? You could see the panic flash in everyone’s eyes. We were all thinking the same thing. With my stomach turning, I suddenly wished I hadn’t taken a second helping at the buffet.

The first two people in line were actually hiking together. Good news. The second hiker only wanted to go in and out in three days starting at the North Rim. More good news. Our turn! We wanted to start from the South Rim, stay at Bright Angel, then Cottonwood, back to Bright Angel, then Indian Gardens, then up and out. The computer said No.

We nearly cried. We offered to switch around the nights, spend two days at one spot – still no. Finally, the Ranger realized there was a three-night limit along the “corridor” the popular Rim-to-Rim trail that we planned to take. The computer was balking at our length of stay, not our choice of camps. We gladly said ok to a shortened trip, paid our $40 and walked away with a prized permit. We got it!!

We packed up camp and drove the circuitous route to the South Rim to begin preparations for the next day’s hike. The mood in the ‘Tima was celebratory, which is a good thing because that drive is lo-ong. Only ten miles apart as the crow flies, the North and South Rim of the Grand Canyon are separated by 215 miles of road.

Before we knew it we had arrived at the South Rim entrance of the Grand Canyon. You hear it all the time, but the view really is completely different than its colder, less crowded Northern companion. As we were admiring the colors from the Desert View viewpoint, I heard Michael meekly say, “Mr. and Mrs. Hill? It’s me, Michael…” After he was smothered with a shriek, hugs and handshakes, Michael explained to me that the Hills had been neighbors of his family. They marveled at his beard and his wife and how time flies. We marveled at how small the world really is – this isn’t the first and certainly won’t be the last time we run into faces from home. It is great.

That celebratory feeling that had lingered all afternoon was now turning a little anxious, at least for me. What started as a “wouldn’t-it-be-cool-if” had now turned into a “there-is-no-excuse-not-to” kind of hike. How far is it to the bottom? How hot does it get? We can do this, right? I can do this, right?

Michael tried to calm my nerves by reminding me that we had hiked a canyon once before – the Colca Canyon in the South of Peru. If you ask a Peruvian, they will tell you that Colca Canyon, not the Grand Canyon, is the deepest in the world. We’re not quite sure how that measures up. I do know that, yes, it was a canyon and, yes, I did hike it. But that was years ago. Am I up to it now? Am I up to it tomorrow? Our final dinner of cheese and salami and red wine bought cheap in Boise brought back more South American memories and made me a little less anxious about the morning.

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Grand Canyon - Day 1

2004-10-28T18:21:00.000-04:00

North Rim

Gab:

“…Well, let’s just see if we can get a permit/ticket/campsite/cheap room and then we’ll make a decision from there…”

This sentence starts at least two conversations daily.

Somewhere in Michael’s computer is a very large, detailed Excel spreadsheet which plots our two-year trip to the day. Mileage, cities where we might spend the night, distance to parks and sites, names of friends and family who might be nearby – all of this information is painstakingly noted on this sheet which we look at from time to time and shake our heads. Planning ahead was a useful exercise, but is impossible in practice.

Since we rarely know where we are going to be or how long we will be there, and since Michael for some reason is staunchly opposed to reservations, our trip is shaped and sculpted by first-come, first serve opportunities. Sometimes this works; sometimes it doesn’t.

Hiking the Grand Canyon does not seem like it would lend itself to a spur of the moment decision. We have heard stories of lotteries for limited campsites and reservations made months in advance for trips into the Canyon. As we approached the North Rim of this very big hole, we resigned ourselves to a few nights looking in from the outside but secretly held onto the hope that Ranger we met at the Badlands would be right – we just might have a shot at obtaining a hiking permit in October.

We were still an hour away from the North Rim when we saw a very bad sign, actually two: DeMotte Campground - Closed for the Season. North Rim Campground - Full. With heavy hearts, we trudged into the National Forest Visitor Center in Jacob Lake, AZ to ask for advice. A quick phone call from a kind clerk resulted in this response:

“If you two get out of here right now and haul *ss, there might be a spot left at the campground. Now git!”

We paused only to shake his hand, ran to the ‘Tima and began our mad dash to the North Rim. An hour and several passed cars later, we were the proud occupants of the last available site. We pitched the tent, did a celebratory dance, and went in search of the Backcountry Office. Heck, if luck is on our side, why not push it?

The “Office” was a little wooden trailer the size of a closet. Two Rangers were inside: one young and easygoing, one older and a bit manic. Both told us the same thing, if we were willing to wait a day or two, there might be space at the bottom. They took our names and told us to be at the office the next morning when it opened at 8 am. “Maybe a little earlier,” whispered the younger Ranger.

Back at camp, we took a short hike, explored the historic Grand Canyon Lodge, made dinner, built a fire which wouldn’t stay lit, read books, did crosswords, anything to make the night go faster. A monstrous thunderstorm which echoed through the Canyon and pelted us with ice (More ice??) did not help.

It will never be 8 am.

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The Grand Tetons

2004-10-15T13:01:00.000-04:00

Michael:

The first person we met at Grand Teton NP was a young bespectacled female Ranger at the Colter Bay Visitor Center permit station. We asked her what hikes she would recommend. Before she could say a word, her eyes lit up and she looked giddy.

“Just wait,” she said as she hurried to her desk area and began to pull out almost a dozen pamphlets. “OK,” she said while taking a deep breath. She rapidly explained the handouts with a tangent-prone excitement. I know exactly how that kind of mind works; I have one. Even before I could say a word, we had connected. If Gab and I can ask the right questions, we will get the best answers.

As she moved southward on the map, past Colter Bay and into the Teton Range she got excited and her words quickened. “OK. On this hike, you start by going around Jenny Lake, whichissobeautifulohmygoshtheblues, (her voice crescendoing the whole way) and then you go up to Inspiration Point whichisalittlesteepbutyougetagreatviewofthelakeanditssoprettyandsoworthit, and then you can continue up the Cascade Canyon whichisterrificandnotsosteepbutsobeautifulthe mountainsareonallsidesandtheresagreatviewofMountMoranohmygoshyoullloveit!

She continued like this, explaining long hikes, short hikes, day trips, backpacking routes, hikes reached by aerial trams and strolls through marshes. She had done them all. Most importantly, she was ecstatic about the place she worked. We felt her exhilaration and her love. We were already enamored with the Park and equipped with more hikes than our two days allowed.

We had originally wanted to do a three to five night backpacking trip but a snowstorm was coming on Sunday. It was Thursday afternoon. We promised ourselves and the Ranger that we would return someday and decided on our shortened itinerary: The Cascade Canyon hike on Friday and the hike to Amphitheater Lake on Saturday.

To fully appreciate the Tetons, you have to go up them. The hike to the Forks of the Cascade Canyon is 13 miles round trip with a 1000-foot elevation gain. The hike to Amphitheater Lake is only about 10 miles round trip, but the elevation gain is about 3000 feet.

These numbers are scary and the hikes are strenuous to all but the hardiest of mountain men (or women). We were scared both mornings, hastily trying to convince each other of flatter routes. But we did not give in to our wimpier halves and we experienced two nearly perfect hikes.

The hikes, no matter how strenuous, are never as difficult as you believe them to be. The rewards are always greater than you first thought. At mile 11 of the Cascade Canyon hike, we were both tired. The terrain was flat and skirting Jenny Lake. We had seen the Lake for hours and were pretty hungry. Gab said, “look up, what’s that?” I looked through my binoculars, “oh my, it is a Bald Eagle and it is flying right at us.” I tried to follow its swift pass through the binocs, but Gab got a great look at it, just 20 feet above a heads. How beautiful, how regal, how unexpected.

Once you get on the trails at most National Parks you realize that you are not the oldest, not the youngest, not the most out of shape, not the most overweight, not the strongest, not the one having the most trouble, not the least experienced and not the most fearful of bears. Everyone hikes. Everyone tackles these seemingly impossible elevation changes. You just have to get out on the trail. You have to leave the smell and roar of traffic. You have to try.

The experience is yours to take. Not every Ranger is a wonderful as our friend from the Tetons, but they come close. They will tell you their favorite hikes and point you in the right direction. Don’t miss the rarefied air of the Tetons, it is one of the most stunning places in the world.

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September 2004 – Month in Review

2004-10-10T23:37:00.000-04:00

That time already? Yes! Here’s the Best and Worst of September. Lots of noteworthy stuff this month, therefore, lots of ties. We just couldn’t decide which bumper sticker, day hike, and celebrity sighting we liked best. One thing’s for sure, luck was with us this month as we scored tickets for the Best Sporting Event and found our Most Pleasant Surprise at the Grand Canyon. If there are other categories you’d like to see, email us at gabandmichael@usa-c2c.com with your suggestions!

Best Long Hike – To the Kolob Arch, Northern section of Zion NP. 14 miles round trip.

Miles Traveled (in Altima) – 3,729 miles in September. 25,396 total miles.

First Snow – September 20th Park City, Utah. Big white flakes. It was beautiful.

Best Day Hike – The Narrows, Zion NP. The route is very simple. Stick your feet in the river and follow it between the cliffs. When you get tired, turn around and come back. Although we had only planned to walk the boardwalk along the river, the siren call of the water was too much to resist. We grabbed one of the walking sticks, cringed once at the 52 degree water and headed into the Narrows. Hours and hours later, we returned to dry land, but not before a fellow Brown alum spotted Gab’s hat and shook her hand. This is the first time on the trip anyone has recognized and accurately placed the “B” on Gab’s head. She was overjoyed. This is also in the running for Gab’s favorite hike ever.

Funniest Bumper Sticker – Tie
No Roads Lead to Pullman. Seen across the street from the Boise State Stadium, Boise, Idaho. Funny since we had just been to Pullman, home of Washington State, a few days earlier and could verify that statement.

If God didn’t want us to eat animals, then why are they made of meat? Seen at the Bulldog Saloon, Whitefish, Mont.

Most Interesting Sign – Welcome to Milton-Freewater: Home of Low Cost Utilities. Get it? Free water.

Most Unusual Place to Upload to www.usa-c2c.com – Women’s bathroom outside the Visitors Center, Zion NP. Hey, it was the only place we could find with an outlet. As quaint and convenient as Springdale, Utah is, there are no internet cafes and the one coffee shop where we asked to use an outlet totally shocked us by saying yes, but only for 15 minutes. Gab snuck into the busy ladies’ room down the road and uploaded to her heart’s content. Thank you, Zion.

The “Fancy Meeting You Here” Award – Mr. and Mrs. Hill, Michael’s parents’ former neighbors. While at the Desert View Overlook on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, Michael meekly inquired, “Mrs. Hill? It’s me Michael from Harrisburg.” He was greeted by hugs, shrieks and a guest appearance on his old neighbor’s vacation videotape.

The “We Got Robbed!” Award – Getting fifth place in the live trivia contest at Sean Kelly’s, Missoula, Mont. Some might have been pleased with our showing, especially as first timers. But first through fourth places got cash and prizes and we swear that the points racked up by the combined brains of Michael, Gab, Amy and Adam should have placed us in the top 4. Michael contested the adding skills of the judge but to no avail.

Liveliest City Center (Towns) – Boise, Idaho

Dullest City Center (Towns) – Tie. Pocatello, Idaho. Idaho Falls, Idaho. Thank goodness for the Applebee’s Gift Card from Gab’s brother’s girlfriend, or else we would have been bored senseless. At least a free meal in Idaho Falls gave us something to be excited about. Thanks, Brandi!

Friendliest People – Boise, Idaho. Especially Aaron, and fellow Rams fans Matt and Erin. Dinner was delicious!!!

Biggest Disappointment – Jackson Hole, Wyo. We can’t afford anything here!! And it’s the off season.

Most Pleasant Surprise – Getting a backcountry permit to hike into and camp at the bottom of the Grand Canyon NP. This is a big deal. All we have ever heard about the Grand Canyon is how you have to plan your trip early, make reservations months in advance and then pray that your itinerary is accepted. Not so! If you are willing to risk it, you can get up early and sit outside the Backcountry Permit office and wait for it to open at 8 am. If you’re lucky, you can grab one of the permits set aside for first come, first serve hikers. All of us that waited in the frosty chill came away happy. Gab asked the Ranger handing out the prized permits if she ever felt like a fairy godmother.

Most Unpleasant Surprise – Tie
Gabby getting a bad cold somewhere in between Boise and Hagerman, Idaho. It was awful enough to keep us from camping and in hotel rooms for the next few nights. Oh wait, that’s no so unpleasant.

Finding out that getting to Rainbow Bridge NM will be near impossible. Options: a.) $110 per person boat ride or b.) a 34 mile round trip hike. That’s not so bad, but to get to the trailhead, you must travel over 30 miles down a dirt road. A 4x4 is strongly recommended. Poor little ‘Tima. We couldn’t do that to her.

Cheapest Ticket – Free for a Missoula Osprey v. Great Falls White Sox Rookie League baseball game. We tried to go in during the sixth inning but an usher insisted that we still had to pay. Instead we sat with about twenty other on a lawn in centerfield. Great seats and great entertainment from two playful retrievers and a set of infield sprinklers that accidentally went off in the middle of the seventh inning.

Best Waiter/Waitress – Megann (with 2 n’s) from breakfast at the Grand Canyon Lodge, North Rim, Grand Canyon NP. She somehow knew that the meal was a treat for us and allowed us to enjoy it with minimal interruption. She had the wonderful talent of talking just enough. Friendly, but not overbearing. Attentive, but not obsessive. Man, she was good.

Most Expensive Ticket – $25 for a South end zone General Admission ticket to the Boise State v. Oregon State Football Game in Boise. The game was oversold and we didn’t really have seats, but who cares?

Highest Price for Gas – $1.99 at the Maverik in Page, Ariz.

Lowest Price for Gas – $1.73 at the Maverik in Thayne, Wyo.

Best Sporting Experience – Boise State v. Oregon State. Best American Kabuki – the female Boise State Bronco. Decked out in a cheerleading uniform, she didn’t miss a step. Is there such a thing as a female bronco? A bronc-ette?

Most Out of the Way Site – Tie.
City of Rocks NM, Almo, Idaho
Golden Spike NHS, Promontory, Utah.

Best Local Cuisine – Idaho potatoes. French fried, grilled with onions and peppers, you name it. Delicious. There is no way we could ever stay on the Atkins Diet.

Best Line Cook – The beautiful woman running the place at the Dutch Goose, Boise Idaho. We don’t know her name, but everyone else at the place did. Sunday afternoon football crowd – chowing down on both breakfast and lunch specials. All cooked before your eyes on the small grill behind the bar. She was the only cook and she made it seem effortless. She made a special batch of fried Idaho potatoes just for us. As if she didn’t have anything better to do. Oh yeah, and she was gorgeous. You go, girl.

Most Helpful Roadside Stop – The AAA Office in Lewiston, Idaho. Not only did we pick up our usual stash of State Guides and maps, but we scored free sunglasses and postcards and got great advice – basically, keep driving. We left Lewiston, went to Moscow, Idaho and followed the guidance of our friends at AAA. Don’t miss the fishbowls at Gambino’s!

Best Smelling Factory – The Ore/Ida Potato Factory, Ontario, Oregon. Imagine the scent of tater tots, French fries and hash browns wafting into your car. A welcome change from all the paper mills, but torture nonetheless. We’re getting hungry just thinking about it.

Celebrity Sightings – Tie
· Lester Hayes, former Oakland Raider signing autographs while the Steelers/Raiders game was on the big screen at the Dutch Goose in Boise, Idaho.
· Steve O, of MTV’s Jackass and Wild Boyz fame. Steve O was in Boise for a show/concert/whatever he does for $20 a ticket. He drove past in a limo pleading a young woman (not the term he used) to ask for his autograph. He would have been offensive had he not sounded so sincere. It was hilarious.

Most Excessive Use of Public Funds – Five police cruisers, a fire truck and a phalanx of cops positioned outside of the Steve O show, just in case. The local paper had warned Boise residents that at the last Steve O appearance, cars were tipped and even set ablaze. Boise wasn’t taking any chances. But this still seemed like a bit much.

Best Campground – Backcountry spot #12 inside the Kolob Canyon, Northern section, Zion NP. Far from anyone else, nestled in between the Beaver Creek and a spring which ran in a series of waterfalls to meet the larger body of water. Bright red cliffs rose on either side of us, giving us a stunning sunrise and sunset.

West Glacier, MT • Whitefish, MT • Kalispell, MT • Missoula, MT • Lolo, MT • Wisdom, MT • Deer Lodge, MT • Kamiah, ID • Spalding, ID • Lewiston, ID • Moscow, ID • Pullman, WA • Walla Walla, WA • Pendleton, OR • La Grande, OR • Boise, ID • Hagerman, ID • Twin Falls, ID • Jerome, ID • Almo, ID • Pocatello, ID • Arco, ID • Idaho Falls, ID • West Yellowstone, MT • Jackson, WY • Montpelier, ID • Logan, UT • Tremonton, UT • Promontory, UT • Salt Lake City, UT • Park City, UT • Lehi, UT • Panguitch, UT • Tropic, UT • Cedar City, UT • La Verkin, UT • Springdale, UT • Kanab, UT • Fredonia, AZ • Page, AZ • Lee’s Ferry, AZ • Jacob Lake, AZ • Desert View, AZ • Grand Canyon, AZ

Glacier NP • Big Hole NB • Grant-Kohrs Ranch NHS • Nez Perce NHP • Whitman Mission NHS • Hagerman Fossil Beds NM • Minidoka Internment NM • City of Rocks N RES • Craters of the Moon NM and PRES • Yellowstone NP • John D. Rockefeller MEM PKWY • Grand Teton NP • Fossil Butte NM • Golden Spike NHS • Timpanogos Cave NM • Bryce Canyon NP • Cedar Breaks NM • Zion NP • Pipe Spring NM • Glen Canyon NRA • Grand Canyon NP

Go Boise State Broncos!

2004-09-29T01:24:00.000-04:00

Michael:

I have been a Penn State Football fan my entire life. I have been lucky enough to attend many games at Beaver Stadium. But recently, Saturdays bring nothing but a sense of dread, an acceptance of the ugly things to come. I keep the Nittany Lions close to my heart, but another team has caught my unendingly loyal but wandering eye, the Boise State Broncos. I don’t care what anyone says; the Broncs are a Top Ten team and put on an incredible show of football.

We arrived in Boise at 11am on Friday, September 10th. The front page of the Idaho Statesman spoke only of that night’s football game: Boise State vs. Oregon State. “Boise State Ready to Avenge Last Year’s Only Defeat”, “Beaver Fans Flood Into Area Hotels” and “Sea of Orange Expected at Game”.

We had to go.

I had seen games on ESPN played on Boise State’s infamous blue Astroturf field. But I had to be there. In person. We were going to try to get in, sell out or not. We left our hotel at 5pm, into the sunny 85 degree afternoon. Game time 8:00.

The stories of confused ducks trying to land (and sadly dying) on the turf became real as we strolled to the game along Boise’s serene greenbelt river walk. Ducks were everywhere. “Don’t fly near the stadium,” I beckoned. “Save yourselves!”

The peaceful nature walk ended as we crossed a bridge onto campus. Tailgating had already started. The atmosphere was a lot less professional than at Penn State. No catered extravaganzas, no bands and generally no semblance of order. RV’s, SUV’s and regular cars parked wherever there was space. There are no open fields in downtown Boise.
Side roads, boulevards, parking lots and driveways all filled with Orange and Blue clad revelers. It was great.

We first made a beeline to the ticket office. “Sorry, we have nothing. We’ve been sold out for weeks. (Oversold, we later learned) I think there are scalpers out on the corner. That’s your best bet.” We did not think 6pm was the best time to scalp, but we asked for the price anyway, “60 bucks a piece, good seats, you’re not going to get any better than that.” “We’ll try later.” “Good luck with that.”

We wandered across the street and into a makeshift beer garden situated across from the stadium and right along a main thoroughfare. Rowdy, stuffed-to-the-gills cars piled past where we imbibed $2.50 32oz PBR’s. A group of girls yelled out “Go Beavers. Go OSU. Go Beavers.” A woman standing next to me shouted a response, “Where’s your kicker, I’d like to buy him a beer.” (The week prior, Oregon State lost to #3 ranked LSU because their kicker missed three extra points.) The car’s occupants immediately went silent. Everybody cheered.

We watched the crowd steadily pile into the stadium from our perch, waiting for the right time to get tickets. 7:50. Let’s go. We returned to the scalping spot to find only one guy selling tickets. He wanted $30 apiece and had two left. “No way,” we said, walking away disgruntled and disappointed. Soon the same guy was bicycling past us offering $25 general admission tickets at face value. We bought ‘em and hurried to the entrance. The ticket lady did not want to let us in. “I don’t know. You’re awful late. There isn’t much space left. You can go in at your own risk.” We rushed in a little scared. Kickoff was about to happen.

We saw no available seats but scrambled into the end zone bleachers with confidence, moved to the top row, only about 15 rows from the field, and sat down on the stairs amidst a sea of Beaver fans. We made friends, I told them how great Steven Jackson and T.J. Houzmanzadish were and they forgot that we were sitting on the stairs.

Things started well for our Oregon friends as the Beavers took a quick 14-0 lead. The OSU fans grew cocky, taunting the Bronco faithful. Retribution would be swift. By the third quarter, Boise was ahead 34-14. Their coach took chance after chance. Throwing deep while way ahead, attempting a fake punt late in the fourth quarter. The coach knows his team is desperate for attention. They must do anything to catch the eye of the Top 25 voters. They must win and win big.

They did, 53-34.

Boise State plays with undeniable passion and heart. The fans feel this desire and feed off it. The game’s announced attendance was 30,950, the largest in school history. What a crowd it was. Loud and fun. Everyone was jumping around, happy to be watching high-flying aggressive football. We cheered, we yelled, we hugged the few Bronco fans around us.

Without question, the fans were louder than the 100,000 at Penn State. My parents told me about the Nebraska-Penn State game in 1982. How the atmosphere was electric. Has the excitement reached that level since?

As we left the stadium, Gab and I wondered how Boise State would fair against the Michigans, Southern Cals and Georgias. Pretty well, we thought, if only the BCS or those mega schools would give them a chance. As we might have expected, everyone around us was having the same conversation. “Do you think we could beat Oklahoma?” and “What happens if we go undefeated?”

Let’s hope they go undefeated. Let’s hope they get a chance to prove themselves in the bright NCAA spotlight.

Oh, and the blue Astroturf? Yes, it was strange and cool and distracting. Everything you think when you see it on TV. After a while, you accept it and place it in the background where it belongs. The Broncos are the attraction here. The performers shine much brighter than their peculiar stage.

www.usa-c2c.com

Park Budget Cuts (What's the Big Deal? )

2004-09-15T01:19:00.000-04:00

Gab:

We are sorry that our Visitor Center is not open today. In order to maintain visitor services during our busiest times, we have had to reduce our hours of operation during the shoulder seasons and late in the day because of budget operations.

This sign greeted us at the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Visitor Center after a very long drive in May. It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon. A day that would have been perfect for exploring the islands, maybe even camping. First we were disappointed, then we were angry, then we were really angry, and then we resigned ourselves to driving another hundred miles to find a place to stay.

A month later, we found ourselves in the middle of Lake Superior, twiddling our thumbs while we waited for a nasty storm to subside and Captain Ryan to come rescue us from Isle Royale National Park. Practically all educational programs have been eliminated there, along with Rangers that used to patrol the backcountry area, which accounts for 98% of the island. No Ranger talks to attend. Not even a video to watch. No refuge from our own imaginations other than huddling together in our shelter with a crossword book or harassing the teenager working in the Park store.

A pamphlet at Isle Royale explains what was at the park, what isn’t now, and what it would take to get those things back. The answer: money. Environmental and cultural interpretation programs at the Park Service have been suffering from budget shortfalls for over a decade. As a result, parks are forced to reduce staff, hours of operation, and services.

In some parks, touch screen computer monitors and palm pilots have taken the place of people. In others, volunteers attempt to answer questions they are not qualified to answer, leaving inquisitive visitors only more confused, or worse, misinformed.

Rangers at the Florissant Fossil Beds National Historic Site proudly tell visitors that those who stop at the site received personalized attention. They then have to let us know that they close two and a half hours early because they simply cannot staff the regular hours.

In my other existence, outside of the USA-C2C expedition, I work for a nonprofit association which represents services and supports for people with mental retardation in Pennsylvania. Like most social services, these providers are suffering from budget cuts which, when compounded year after year, have created a system in crisis. I fear that the same thing is happening to our national parks system.

What is the big deal? Providers aren’t going out of business. People aren’t being put out on the street. Even though you complain every year, you seem to be able to do more with less. Maybe if you managed things better, you wouldn’t have a problem.

This is what I hear when I advocate for more funding for services for people with mental retardation.

Why are you panicking? None of the parks have closed. They are still there. They are not going away. So there are less staff and fewer programs; some parks seem to be able to compensate or at least make do. Maybe they didn’t need that many rangers in the first place.

This is what I hear when others speak out about serious problems in the National Park system.

Both the mental retardation service system and the National Park Service are dependent upon public funds. Both rely on legislative allocations to let them know what they can and cannot do for the upcoming year. These allocations may or may not allow them to fulfill their mandates to the American public. What happens when there is a gap between what they are obligated to do and what they are funded to do?

The North Unit of the Badlands National Park relies solely on volunteers to lead their “Ranger-led” talks and have cancelled this summer’s Ranger Night Crawl altogether. This will be the final year for the “Pig Dig,” an archeological research project that has existed in some form since the Badlands was made a national park. The Badlands South Unit, now called the Stronghold Unit, has been all but forgotten.

Agate Fossil Beds NHS and Scottsbluff National Monument offer Ranger walks sporadically, only when staffing allows. Staffing did not allow the talks to happen during our visits.

Fort Laramie NHS, once teeming with Rangers, one in every building baking bread, running the store, working in the blacksmith shop, now has one to run the entire grounds. Visitation to this site has not decreased. It seems as if the desire to accurately explain one of the most significant sites in our nation’s history has.

We have been on the road for almost six months. We have visited over one hundred National Park areas. In many ways, we are living a dream. We have met wonderful and dedicated Rangers who want nothing more than to share their love of the parks with those who are interested. We have also met incredibly overworked, frazzled Rangers who are hesitant to admit the real reasons why they are unable to offer tours or why they cannot spend as much time with us as they would like.

Fortunately, The Coalition of Concerned National Park Service Retirees are not afraid to speak their minds. Unfortunately, what they have to say does not bode well for the future of our nation’s parks.

There is no doubt that cuts to the environmental and cultural interpretation portions of the NPS budget have affected our journey. Unlike most people visiting the parks, we have the luxury of unlimited time. Imagine that you had one week to share with your family. You choose one of our national treasures as the setting, only to find a sign just like the one on the door to the Apostle Islands Visitor Center. What could you do?

A quarter of the way through our trip, we are realizing our National Parks are in danger. What began as a very personal journey – a celebration of health and life and our relationship is rapidly turning into a mission. Some of you have written and told us that you are planning future trips and vacations using our reviews. Some of you have told us that we’ve sparked your interest in a place that you never knew existed. We are overjoyed. The more people that visit the parks and are aware of the obstacles they face, the better chance that their current situation, which in many ways is a crisis, will be addressed.

www.usa-c2c.com

August 2004 – Month in Review

2004-09-10T16:03:00.000-04:00

We have seen some beautiful stuff this month. Extended amounts of time in Colorado (we didn’t want to leave!) and Montana ensured both the most wildlife spottings and brew pub visits since the trip began. If you think we’ve missed something, or would like to see some new categories, please email us at gabandmichael@usa-c2c.com. We love to hear from you.

Miles Traveled (in Altima) – 4963

Longest Distance Coasting in Neutral – Five miles. From Capulin Volcano NM to Pueblo, Colorado on Interstate 25.

Best Opportunity to Test Michael’s “Jacket of the Year” (Worst Weather Day) – August 25th. Pelted by 2 inches of ice at Yellowstone National Park. But it’s August!!

Most Curious Sign – Pom Pom Zombie Auditions – sign outside the Parson’s Theatre and Recreation Center, en route to Denver Colorado. Who do they cheer for?

Liveliest City Center – We love Colorado! Boulder and Fort Collins get special mentions. And school hadn’t even started yet. We bet these cities are great fun once students from The University of Colorado and Colorado State move back into the area.

Strangest Billboard Endorsement – Hoochie Mamma Mountaineering, Woodland Park, Colorado. Even hoochie mammas need a vacation.

Most Talked About Natural Phenomenon – Glaciers at Glacier National Park. Get there fast. Scientists predict they will be completely melted in thirty years. Global warming anyone?

Most Beautiful Park Site Surroundings – The Shoshone and Gallatin National Forests wrap Yellowstone National Park with gorgeous tall pines and majestic mountains. A beautiful introduction and peaceful conclusion to the time you spend at the world’s first national park.

Friendliest People – Billings, Montana. Especially Jim, John and the guy we met in line who gave us his box seats at the Billings Mustangs baseball game, and Donna and Bobbie who gave us and our Gary Redus bobbleheads a ride back to the hotel. Thanks everyone!

Best Day Hike – From the Many Glacier campground to Swiftcurrent Pass, Glacier National Park. Approx. 16 miles. Many campers choose to do this as part of a backcountry trek, or split between two days, spending a night at the Granite Park Chalet at the top of the pass and returning the next day. We went up and back in one day. It’s doable, but we were awfully tired by the end of it. Almost too tired to remember to talk. See Bears at Close Range.

Celebrity Sightings – Sara from MTV’s Road Rules/Real World Challenge: The Gauntlet. We spotted her giving her parents (?) a tour of Boulder, Colorado. She was beautiful. Great hair. Fabulous shoes. She was always our favorite. By far, the Road Ruler with the most personality. I hope she didn’t see us stalking her.

Number of Bears Seen This Month – 5. 2 black. 3 grizzly. All at Glacier NP.

Number of Those Seen at Close Range (within 20 feet of us) – 2(!) Thankfully, both were black bears. The kinder, gentler type (we have convinced ourselves).

Longest Day – August 7th, 408 miles from Dodge City, Kans. to Golden, Colo.

Ugliest Capitol Building(s) – four way tie. Cheyenne, Wyo.; Denver, Colo.; Helena, Mont.; Topeka, Kansas. We had to review our photos to remind ourselves what they looked like and which one was which. Sorry. No monuments of great beauty here.

Biggest Disappointment – Full house at Rocky Mountain National Park. Not only were almost ALL of the campgrounds full by the time we arrived early afternoon, but most of the popular backcountry routes were overflowing as well. Bummer! But we spent a good amount of time with a Ranger at the Backcountry office and have a pretty good idea of where we want to go once things open up. It wasn’t a wasted trip. We’ll check back again later.

Most Pleasant Surprise – The Rodeo in Abiline, Kansas. It’s not everyday that one drives right into Wild Bill Hickok Days. Indian tacos, curly fries and a performance by the funniest Rodeo Clown ever made it a day to remember.

The Fancy Meeting You Here Award – Finding ourselves in Colorado Springs, Colorado the exact same day as Gab’s boss from Pennsylvania and her family were vacationing at Garden of the Gods. Neither of us planned to be in Colorado this month. Serendipity! We drove back to Golden together and had a wonderful week as guests of the Butler family.

Cheapest Ballgame Ticket – $5.00 general admission to see the Billings Mustangs. But wait, did we mention they came with not one, but two free Gary Redus bobble head dolls? And a free seat upgrade? A season ticket holder we met in line offered us his box seats since he rarely sat still for the entire game. Thank you, Billings!

Most Expensive Ballgame Ticket – $7.00 to see the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. But a kind usher led us into the $14 section – another free upgrade!

Best American Kabuki – See Most Elusive Mascot

Most Elusive Mascot – Dinger the Dinosaur of the Colorado Rockies. Every time we saw him in the stands, he managed to disappear down the stairs or back into wherever Dinosaurs hang out during a game. We were not alone. We commiserated with a dad and his daughter who had also been seeking the ‘saur for half the game.

Most Scenic Drive (Highways) – Route 212, over the Beartooth Pass to the Northeast entrance of Yellowstone. Our friends in Billings insisted that we take this route into Yellowstone. We hadn’t planned to, but we're glad we took their advice.

Most Scenic Drive (National Parks) – Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier NP

Most Displaced Reptiles – Alligators in Hooper, Colorado. These gators were brought in to help keep local fish farms free of fish guts. Now they live and stay warm in Artesian Wells near the Great Sand Dunes NM under the shadows of the Rockies.

Best Burger – Sioux Sundries, Harrison, Nebr. Home of the 32-ounce Coffeeburger. 2 ice teas, 2 8-oz black angus burgers (one with fries, one with onion chips) and 2 ice cream cones set us back $13.88. The sign outside Sioux Sundries boasts the “Best Burgers in Nebraska.” We believe that their reign expands beyond one state. These are the best burgers we have ever tasted. No lie.

Lowest Price for Gas – TIE - $1.72 at the 1st Stop, Phillips 66 in Denver, Colo. on August 9th and $1.72 at the 7-11 in Denver, Colo. on August 18th. These two gas stations are on Colfax Ave., just west of downtown, a few hundred yards from each other.

Highest Price for Gas – $2.06 at the Sinclair in Gardiner, Mont. just outside of the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park. Gas inside the Park was selling for $2.19 a gallon.

Best Pizza – Howard’s Pizza, Great Falls, Mont. Great price. Thin crust. Tangy sauce. We had a large Howard’s Special (spicy sausage, green peppers and onions) for $10.00 and were tempted to drive back to get the medium pepperoni that was on sale for $7.22.

Best Local Cuisine – Barbeque in Kansas City. Fiorella’s World Famous Jack Stack Barbeque in Kansas and Arthur Bryants in Missouri gave us more meat than we could handle. Burnt Ends rock. We carried the extra sauce from Jack’s Stack around in our cooler for the entire month, looking for good stuff to pour it on. Crust from Howard’s Pizza did the trick.

Best Front Desk Personnel – Amerisuites, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
“Do you guys have microwave popcorn for the room?”
“Wait, let me think….yeah! Oh. Hang on. No. That’s some other hotel.”
We laughed so hard we almost forgot we were still hungry.

Best Bartender – Coopersmiths, Fort Collins, Colo.

Best Brew Pub – Coopersmiths, Fort Collins, Colo.

Worst Acting in a National Park Service Film – The over-eager student in the Race and the American Creed film series at Brown v. Board of Education NHS.

Worst Campground – the outsourced Xanterra campground at Canyon in Yellowstone NP. $4.50 MORE than the lovely NPS-run campground in Mammoth Hot Springs with no added benefit. PLUS we couldn’t choose our own site AND we had to give everything but the name of our dogs to make the reservation. Reservation???

Best Campground – Mammoth Hot Springs Campground, Yellowstone NP. Friendly camp hosts, an entire box of firewood which lasted us three nights for $6.00, just around the corner from the Visitors Center, Lodge and other amenities, sections set aside for tents and extended quiet hours. Just about perfect and cheaper than their Xanterra counterparts in other parts of the park.

Burlington, IA • St. Joseph, MO • Independence, MO • Kansas City, MO • Overland Park, KS • Lenexa, KS • Lecompton, KS • Lawrence, KS • Topeka, KS • Strong City, KS • Manhattan, KS • Abilene, KS • Hays, KS • Nicodemus, KS • Larned, KS • Dodge City, KS • Lamar, CO • La Junta, CO • Colorado Springs, CO • Castle Rock, CO • Golden, CO • Denver, CO • Boulder, CO • Estes Park, CO • Florissant, CO • Cripple Creek, CO • Salida, CO • Mosca, CO • Walsenburg, CO • Trinidad, CO • Raton, NM • Capulin, NM • Longmont, CO • Fort Collins, CO • Cheyenne, WY • Fort Laramie, WY • Torrington, WY • Harrison, NE • Chadron, NE • Pine Ridge, SD • Interior, SD • Buffalo, WY • Crow Agency, MT • Fort Smith, MT • Pompeys Pillar, MT • Billings, MT • Red Lodge, MT • Cooke City, WY • Mammoth Hot Springs, WY • Gardiner, MT • Canyon Village, WY • West Yellowstone, MT • Big Sky, MT • Bozeman, MT • Three Forks, MT • Helena, MT • Great Falls, MT • East Glacier, MT • West Glacier, MT

Harry S. Truman NHS • Harry S. Truman Presidential Museum and Library • Brown v. Board of Education NHS • Tallgrass Prairie NPRES • Eisenhower Center • Nicodemus NHS • Fort Larned NHS • Bent’s Old Fort NHS • Florissant Fossil Beds NM • Great Sand Dunes NM • Capulin Volcano NM • Fort Laramie NHS • Agate Fossil Beds NM • Badlands NP • Minuteman Missile NHS • Little Bighorn Battlefield NM • Bighorn Canyon NRA • Pompeys Pillar NM • Yellowstone NP • Missouri Headwaters SP • Glacier NP

Yellowstone National Park

2004-09-05T21:38:00.000-04:00

Note: the following article also appeared in the 9/5/2004 Harrisburg Patriot News.

Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Nebraska and South Dakota have all seen our faces this month. Minor league baseball games, Kansas City barbeque, Wild Bill Hickok Days and Rodeo and Gab’s first sighting of the Rockies have been major highlights. Nothing quite prepared us for this week.

Yellowstone National Park. The first National Park. Ever. Anywhere. You’ll have to excuse us if we are feeling a little reverential. In our minds, Yellowstone is the Granddaddy of All Parks and one of the reasons we are taking this two-year sojourn. We had high expectations; Yellowstone did not disappoint.

At the insistence of people we met in Billings, Montana, we entered the park from the northeast through the Custer and Shoshone National Forests and over the Beartooth Pass. When we could bear to look down, it was a spectacular view. As soon as we drove through the gate, we were pelted with hail. Hail! This place is no joke.

The next four days did not fade our first impressions of Yellowstone as a powerful and magnificent place. As Gab was exploring the Mammoth Hot Springs Visitors Center, she walked past a herd of Elk hanging out in the front lawn. Is this normal? The Ranger laughed and said yes. The Park Service waters the grass. It is much more appetizing than dry stuff in the fields, so they make their way here for dinner almost every night. Oh. I see.

As we hiked to Beaver Lake the following day, we met even more Elk. This time running towards us at what seemed like full speed. Were they late for dinner? Or was there something else down the pass that we didn’t want to encounter? Another Ranger had warned us that a bear and her two cubs were often spotted on this hike. Gab had flashbacks of Tasmanian Devil cartoon scenes but decided to stay calm.

Soon enough, we saw another couple walking our way. If they haven’t seen anything, we thought, we are bear-free. But no. The couple stopped us to let us know they were retreating because the cubs were on the trail, about a mile ahead. What now? We decided to press our luck and forge ahead, talking as much as we could.

- “So, Gab. How’s it going?”
- “Pretty good. You?”
- “Oh just fine. Nice day, huh?
- “Sure is. Sure is.”

Rangers insisted that talking is the best thing to do. It warns the bears that you are there. Is that good? Our discussion went on for the next two hours. Small talk was never so difficult. We recounted all the books we had read in the past few months, talked about the weather, and blabbed and blabbed.

Soon enough, the Visitor Center came back into sight. Our loud mouths must have done the trick. No bears. Which is just fine with us.

Each day at Yellowstone was exciting and different. Everything is variable. Including the weather. Things looked a little ominous the morning of our fourth day, but it wasn’t until 7:00pm when two inches of freezing rain coated our tent, while we were still in it, that we decided to cut our camping trip short. In our last two days camping, the “high” has been 45 degrees. Only Point Barrow, Alaska has been colder.

Yes. It’s August.

Today we are thawing out and cleaning up in Helena, Montana, planning the next excursion which will be into Glacier National Park. After that, we will return to Yellowstone to see Old Faithful and the rest of its southern region. Hopefully, warmer days will be in store.

www.usa-c2c.com

July 2004 – Month in Review

2004-08-15T13:41:00.000-04:00

Only seven official sites visited this month, but still plenty of awards to give and pictures to post in our Best and Worst of July. Enjoy!

Miles Traveled (in Altima) – 3939 miles.

Best Palindrome – 66666 on the odometer, Richview, Ill.

Best Opportunity to Test Michael’s “Jacket of the Year” (Worst Weather Day) – Tornado (this time a real one) in Champaign, Ill. Note: Gab bought her own “Jacket of the Year” during their trip to Harrisburg.

Thank God We’re Not Here Next Month Award – Everywhere. August is prime tourist and vacation season. These places, particularly the East Coast beaches, are going to be hot, sticky and packed.

Most Curious Billboard – Watch a Man Escape from a Pickle, Lincoln, Nebr. Advertising Lincoln’s minor league baseball team, the Saltdogs.

Most Interesting Sign – Welcome George’s Birthday Party featuring Wilson’s goat, outside the Community Center, Fallsview, W. Va.

Most Interesting Name for a Roadside Attraction – Nellie Bly Amusement Park, “The Family Entertainment Center”, Coney Island, NY

Most Talked About Natural Phenomenon – Tornadoes on the road in Champaign, Ill and at home in Lebanon County, Pa.

Most Beautiful View – From the raft on the New River, W. Va.

Most Scenic Drive – the entire state of West Virginia. Entering on Interstate 64 from Covington, Va. Leaving via U.S. 19 from Ashland, W. Va.

Longest Day – July 28th, 593 miles from Fayetteville, W.Va. to St. Louis, Mo.

Ugliest Capitol Building – Des Moines, Iowa. That’s quite a gold dome.

Most Beautiful Capitol Building – Tie
Charleston, W. Va. Plain, simple, elegant. (Gab’s vote)
Jefferson City, Mo. Includes the incredible Thomas Hart Benton mural Social History of Missouri (Michael’s vote)

Most Vitriol Inducing Site – Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebr. Home of the Nebraska Cornhuskers, alleged 1994 College Football National Champions.

Biggest Disappointment – Free Fourth of July Doobie Brothers and Three Dog Night Concert in Omaha, Nebr. cancelled due to thunderstorm. Note: one girl was struck by lightning. She’s fine now.

Most Pleasant Surprise – Spending the Fourth of July with our friend Bruce in Omaha, Nebr. and seeing all of our pals back East during the Week of Weddings.

Most Unpleasant Surprise – Crashing Gab’s parent’s extra long golf cart (a.k.a. the Jolly Trolley) during our visit to Bethany Beach, Del. We’re really, really sorry, Aunt Bonnie.

Most Gluttonous Day – July 10th, Gering, Nebr. Statewide CASI Chili Cook-Off.

Most Diverse Day - July 30th.
1.) Breakfast with Michael’s Uncle Dave and wife Mary;
2.) Drive to Jefferson City to visit State Capitol;
3.) Drive to Hannibal, Mo. to see the boyhood home of Michael’s favorite American author, Mark Twain;
4.) Surprise stop in historic Nauvoo, Ill., final resting place of Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Latter Day Saints (more on this later); and finally
5.) Dinner and fun at the Burlington Bees minor league baseball game in Burlington, Iowa.

Cheapest Ballgame Ticket – $6 Box Seats, Burlington Bees, Burlington, Iowa

Most Expensive Ballgame Ticket – $22 for Plaza Box Tickets, Kansas City Royals v. Chicago White Sox. Worth it for the shade on this 105 degree evening. Best Sporting Experience – St. Louis Rams Training Camp, Macomb, Ill.

Best Day Hike – Up the bluff at Scotts Bluff NM, Nebr. Quite a workout. We took the shuttle bus back down.

Highest Price for Gas – $1.89 at the Sheetz(es) in New Stanton, Pa. and Bentleyville, Pa. and at the 7-11 in Charleston, W. Va.

Lowest Price for Gas – $1.69 at the Flying J in Haubstadt, Ind.

Best Pizza – Shakespeare’s Pizza, Columbia, Mo. Thanks Uncle Dave and Mary! It was even better the next day.

Best Local Cuisine – Beef and more beef in Nebraska. Burgers, Steaks, BBQ. This state is completely responsible for plumping up Michael and Gab by at least five pounds.

Best Bartender(s) – Or should I say worst? The guys at Legends Bar and Grill, Champaign, Ill. They entertained us while we waited out the tornado and mega storm. Unfortunately, most of the jokes were at scared Gab’s expense.

Best Tour Guide – Wriston, our white water hero, Appalachian Wildwater, Fayetteville, W. Va.

Worst Acting in a National Park Service Film – Lincoln Home NHS, Springfield, Ill.

Most Unexpected Local Pronunciation – Beatrice, Nebr. Pronounced bee AT’ ris.

Celebrity Sightings – St. Louis Rams Training Camp, Macomb, Ill. Gab was this close to Kyle Turley and got to talk with Marshall Faulk! “Good morning, guys! Can I take your picture?” “You sure can.”

Worst Campground – Stone Cliff Campground at the New River Gorge NR, Thurmond, W. Va. In the middle of nowhere down a one lane mountain road. Being in between a fast running river and a steep foothill is NOT where one wants to be during a torrential downpour. It rained 3 inches in one night. When we finally did sleep, we dreamt of flash floods, mudslides, lightning strikes and falling trees all night long.

Bayard, NE • Bethany Beach, DE • Bloomington, IN • Burlington, IA • Champaign, IL • Charleston, WV • Columbia, MO • Council Bluffs, IA • Dagsboro, DE • Des Moines, IA • Dover, DE • Fayetteville, WV • Gering, NE • Gothenburg, NE • Grinnell, IA • Hannibal, MO • Harrisburg, PA • Jefferson City, MO • Lake Ronkonkoma, NY • Lexington, VA • Lincoln, NE • Louisville, KY • Macomb, IL • Morehead, KY • Nauvoo, IL • New Cumberland, PA • Oak Hill, WV • Omaha, NE • Papillion, NE • Paxton, NE • Peoria, IL • Rocheport, MO • Scottsbluff, NE • Sidney, NE • Springfield, IL • St. Louis, MO • Sutherland, NE • Thurmond, WV • Urbana, IL • Washington, PA • West Branch, IA

Chimney Rock NHS • Herbert Hoover NHS • Jefferson National Expansion Memorial • Lincoln Home NHS • New River Gorge NR • Scotts Bluff NM • Western Historic Trails Center

Tornados

2004-08-09T02:13:00.000-04:00

Gab:

I never thought I would cheer for the Fighting Illini, but the University of Illinois unknowingly pulled us out of harm’s way and I’m feeling a new connection with a Big Ten rival.

A few of our East Coast friends decided to get married this summer. Luckily for us, both couples chose the same week. Our original plan was to leave the ‘Tima in Seattle and fly home for the celebrations. Plans changed. We altered our route to spend some time with friends in Omaha, then drive east ourselves.

The morning of the second leg – from Peoria, Illinois to Bloomington, Indiana – was uneventful. In fact, we had already missed the Champagne/Urbana exit when we decided to take a break and visit the University of Illinois, home for a while to Michael’s uncle and alma mater of one of his cousins.

The campus is nice. The stadium is huge. We were debating whether to stop for lunch or resume our drive when we noticed the sky getting more than a little gray. Lunch it is. We’ll let the shower pass then get back on the road.

No sooner had we parked the car and fed the meter than we noticed people opening their doors and coming outside to view the sky. Hmm. Do clouds always swirl like that in Illinois? Strange, but not disturbing. Then the sirens start to wail – the kind they use when they are testing your city’s Emergency Broadcast System. Good Lord, are we in the midst of a tornado?

We ducked into the nearest door, which happened to be Legends Bar and Grille and quickly dialed Bruce, Nebraska resident and one-time meteorology student. That makes him an expert, right?

“Bruce, tell us again what it’s like before a tornado.”

We had been obsessing about tornados (and rattlesnakes) during our entire stay with Bruce in Nebraska. Only this time, his response to our persistent questioning was not so calming.

“Well, I can hear sirens in the background. That’s usually the first sign. (long pause) Where are you?”

We were apparently in the midst of a “pink” region on the Weather Channel’s map.

“Bruce, is that bad?”

“You’re inside, right?”

“Yes.”

“What’s everybody else doing?”

“Playing darts.”

The bartender on duty is witness to this entire conversation and he thinks it is very funny. He also witnesses me dash back out the car, grab the computer, camera and our passports and drag the heavy bag back into the bar, but not before I put more quarters in the parking meter. Meter maids probably have more important things on their mind right now, but you never know.

When I returned the bartender assured me that the last time there was a tornado, they all ducked into the beer cooler and everything was fine. My antics and wide eyed looks make Michael laugh. It also made him hungry. We ordered the burger special and sat down at the bar, away from the windows per Bruce’s instructions.

At that moment, the heavens opened and the most insane thunder and lightning show I have ever seen blossomed in front of our eyes.

This is good. Because I also know from my Nebraskan pal that tornados don’t happen when it’s raining. The danger is over! Relieved, I dig into my burger and call our friend Thalia in Bloomington to let her know we’ll be a little late.

But wait. There’s more.

Back on I-74, we pass an overturned tractor trailer. And then another. And then three in a row. A tunnel cloud had touched down in Vermillion County, right about where we would have been had we not stopped to say hi to the Fighting Illini.

We drove to Bloomington in the wake of the storm. They definitely do not have lightning like this in PA. Michael and I were both enraptured by the sky scenes that made the afternoon’s show seem like an opening act. Although the sky eventually cleared to an eerie pre-sunset blue, evidence of the weather we missed was everywhere. Trees down. Power and traffic lights out. The entire towns of Greencastle, Cloverdale, Spencer and more in darkness.

The next day, we drove the last and longest leg to Harrisburg, ready to tell our friends and family about our brush with nature. Flipping through familiar radio stations, we heard that two major roads not far from Harrisburg were closed, police were diverting traffic and everyone was advised to stay clear of the area. Broken water main? Power line down? Like the swirling clouds in Champaign, strange, but not disturbing. Only when we finally arrived at Michael’s parents house late that night did we learn that another tornado had touched down – this time 15 minutes away from our homes!

Two dozen families lost their homes in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. More than a hundred homes were damaged. The National Weather Service arrived the following day and said yes indeed it was a tornado. Unlikely but not impossible. Two tunnel cloud events in one day.

So it seems that our apprehension and fear was legitimate, despite the bartender’s guffaws. Tornados are real and cause real damage. They can’t be taken lightly. We escaped danger (thank you, Illini!) The folks in Pennsylvania did not.

If you would like to help any of the Lebanon County families that lost their homes due to the tornado closest to our home, you can check out www.salemministry.org\PACC or send donations to the South Londonderry Township Tornado Relief Fund, Township Building, P.O. Box 3, Campbelltown, PA 17010.

Oregon Trail Days - Part 3

2004-08-05T01:52:00.000-04:00

Michael:

The Oregon Trail Days (OTD) website proclaims, underlines in fact, that “We do not require talent to compete (for Miss Oregon Trail Days).” They were so wrong. On the front page of the Scottsbluff Star-Herald was Sara Ensrud, Miss Oregon Trail Days. But she wasn’t adorned in her tiara, she was crossing the finish line in the Don Childs Memorial 5 Mile Run.

Sara finished first among women and fourth overall. The paper continued. Sara has won numerous Nebraska State Gold Medals. She holds the state Class B record in the mile and will attend the University of Virginia next year. Wow.

I asked Kenny if he knew Sara. “Oh, sure. She lives down the road, what a nice girl. I’ll introduce you to her later.” “What, what, what,” I thought, more than flustered. She’s royalty and well, this sure is a small town. Let’s go to the Pancake Feed.

Gab, Bruce and I arrived for breakfast at 9:15. Just in time to miss the crowds, drink at least a gallon of Sunny Delight and eat enough breakfast sausages and pancakes to get our softball team donation’s worth.

After scarfing down the benefit’s last remaining morsels we met up with Kenny and took our place on Main Street to watch the parade. We were positioned just in time to see the first set of fire trucks processing down the street.
All at once, everybody stood up and either placed their hands over their hearts or saluted. What was going on? Bruce explained, “it’s what you to when an American flag passes.” “Are you sure?” “Uh, yeah. Where are you from?”

I don’t ever recall this flag reverence, but I haven’t actually been to many parades in my lifetime. I quickly stood up, genuflected and sat back down when the first fire truck passed. Soon another truck came. Everyone got back up. And then back down. Another truck followed. The routine continued.

In fact, nearly every float, car and marching band carried an American Flag. The orthodox workout took on a farcical air. Grandmas wheezed, knees cracked, and many a corpulent people grabbed at their lower backs in pain. After about 10 minutes of up and down flag veneration, the crowd collectively decided that it had had enough.

The parade was lots of fun. Each float threw copious amounts of candy to scurrying kids. Other more devious paraders suckered the kids in with candy and then doused them with super soakers and water balloons. Yes, even at 10:30, the heat had already climbed above 95°.

Former Nebraska head coach and current U.S. Representative Tom Osborne passed by. I not so secretly wished to have my own set of water balloons. All weekend I told whoever would listen how Penn State was robbed of a rightful National Championship in 1994 because of the NCAA’s sympathy towards the perennial loser and aforementioned Mr. Osborne. They responded without fail with “what about 1982, you’re guy was out of bounds when he made that catch.” Dedicated and smart lot, these Cornhusker faithful.

Soon after Coach Osborne followed Miss Oregon Trail Days and her court. Kenny loudly yelled out, “Hi, Sara.” She looked over our way with palpable trepidation not once losing her perfect posture and royal wave. What a talented girl.

After the parade, we moved on to the Nebraska State Championship CASI Chili Cook-Off knowing that it would be our downfall. The $2 price of admission included as much chili as you could eat. OTD euphemistically called it “Public Chili Tasting”. Bruce, Gab and I would make it gluttony in its purest form.

The madness would begin at 3:00.

At 1:00, however, we were frenzied, but calm. The crowd was still sparse. We were close to heat stroke, red as beets, and very sticky from liberal amounts of sunscreen. We looked a ragged mess.

Just then, Kenny spotted Miss Oregon Trail Days. “Come over here Sara,” he yelled. Sara had no clue who Kenny was. They had presumably never met. Kenny hadn’t been in Gering in ages; he knows her family (Bruce note: actually, she really did know Kenny). I was tongue-tied. I wanted to congratulate her. I wanted to say good luck at Virginia. I said nothing.

Kenny asked, “Can we get a picture?” She smiled and acquiesced. God bless her. She looked like a porcelain doll, we looked like we were about to eat a ton of chili. We went our separate ways. She left to go to booth and paint children’s faces. We gravitated towards the chefs.

We watched, mingled with and admired the over 40 booths. Some of the chefs even made sly offerings in an attempt to garner our vote for “Best Chili”. Free water, free Doritos, and free buffalo jerky paled in comparison to one booth’s bribery: pickled jalapeños covered with peanut butter. We could not believe how good it was either.

In fact, by the time the gluttony would begin, we were full from the handouts. That did not stop us in any way. Once the plastic spoons were distributed, we went on an ungodly tear from booth to booth. All in the name of science.

The first chili we tried was exquisite. Subtle at first with a powerful cumin aftertaste. Its chipotle flavoring kindly spread through both tender meat and the not too thin sauce. The chef had earned the many CASI awards that adorned her booth. We continued on, hoping that another would top her delicious bounty.

Ounce cup after ounce cup. Green chili, red chili, beanless chili, Texas chili, we ate it all. We were quickly becoming experts. Taste, Color, Consistency, Aftertaste, Aroma, we mastered them all through sheer volume of practice. We took a break half way through and plopped ourselves down on the lawn. My hand involuntary started shaking. I don’t want to know why.

Most of the chilies were not very good. Too hot, not spicy enough, too bland, too something. Very few got it right. Ironically, the first cup we tried was clearly the best. After our final taste, the three of us were in pain. We sat down under a tent and went into a mild vegetative state. Kenny found us and asked how we were and which chilies we had tasted. None of us could even talk. My face was ablaze and my head spun incoherently. Rest was in our future.

We all retreated to Kenny’s parents’ house. Kenny went back out while the chili consumers fell asleep with fond memories of their first Oregon Trail Days.

www.usa-c2c.com

Oregon Trail Days - Part 2

2004-08-03T23:56:00.000-04:00

Michael:

We drove into Gering, Nebraska on Thursday at 6:00. The Oregon Trail Days (OTD) festivities were just getting underway. I projected a tangible buzz on the Gering streets. A Conestoga Wagon stood at the corners of 10th and M announcing the OTD. The crowds on 10th were gathering.

But first we had to drop off our stuff at Kenny’s family’s house. We exchanged our hellos with Kenny’s dad who looks remarkably like character actor Philip Baker Hall, and thanked him for his generous hospitality. Kenny’s step-mom was at the Gering Civic Center, displaying her work at the OTD Art Show and Sale. We were so eager for $2 Barbecue Beef Sandwiches.

We left the house at 7:30, right after what would be the nightly hour-long severe thunderstorm. “That’s the panhandle weather,” our Nebraska hosts assured us as we parked a block from the street party. We left the car and immediately lost Kenny. It would not be the only time.

Gering is a small town. While the Twin Cities (Scottsbluff and Gering) are Nebraska’s 8th largest metropolitan area, they are only slightly more populous than my hometown Harrisburg school district, Susquehanna Township. 22,483 to 21,895. Needless to say, everybody knows everybody.

Within an hour we were the “couple from Pennsylvania”. No need to explain where we were from. No need to explain who we were with. No need to show ID’s to get into the beer garden the following night. We were new faces in town. Thursday night was lots of fun.

Friday went as planned. We saw Trail Ruts created by the early pioneers. We hiked to the top of Scotts Bluff Monument in the searing dry 98° heat, intently listening to the rattling sounds all around us. “Is that a rattlesnake?” we must have asked our friends 18 or so times. “Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t,” was what I gathered from their taunting answers. Midwesterners are very funny. Oh, and in case you were wondering, there is no such thing as a jackalope.

A helpful National Parks shuttle bus picked us up at the top of the Monument. We were the only group who had utilized the bus in our curious manner. All other parties had shuttled up and walked down. We walked up and shuttled down. The young volunteer girl driver chuckled at our route before agreeing that it was a good way to do it.

Gab asked her about the rattlesnakes. We had stopped trying to get a straight answer from Bruce. “Were there a lot?” “Oh yeah,” she said. “I saw one on my third hike up the Monument. It was just as scared as I was.” She went on to explain how they don’t even bike up the Monument anymore during OTD because they don’t want to harm any rattlers. Bruce asked, “are they endangered or something?” His question went unanswered. We had just entered a tunnel and our request to beep the van’s horn was being fulfilled.

We returned to the OTD beer garden later that Friday under ominous navy blue skies. “Tornados?” we asked. “Probably not, just thunderstorms. The lightning looks to be north of here,” Bruce answered, but it might as well have been anyone else in Gering. All Nebraskans seem to be amateur meteorologists.

Of course he was right. We stood outside in awe for nearly an hour. The lightning struck in formations I had never seen. Sky-wide cobwebs, thick jagged cylinders, massive fluorescent bursts, light switch on brightness. Amazing stuff. Grander than any fireworks display. Gab and I just watched, mouths agape. Gering just mingled; backs turned and heads down. They were used to it.

Then the skies opened up. We rushed underneath an awning, securing a crowded but dry spot. We had just missed the deluge. Others were not so lucky. We spent the next forty-five minutes in the same spot unable to move. We were bumped and jostled by people trying to find shelter. We played the wall to an amorous, tipsy couple. We shared conversations with the lucky ones surrounding us. We became unofficial citizens of Gering. It was great.

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Oregon Trail Days - Part 1

2004-08-02T22:41:00.000-04:00

Michael:

We left Omaha early Thursday morning. Our destination: the Nebraska panhandle, the town of Gering and the 83rd annual Oregon Trail Days (OTD). Our great friend Bruce, Omaha native, had been planning to travel the nearly 500 miles westward with his friend, Kenny. Kenny grew up in Gering and had attended many a OTD. We begged Bruce, “can we come, can we come?” He answered yes wholeheartedly and we were off.

In preparation for our trip, Gab had done mass OTD research. We were prepared. We knew the score. We had been on the website.

Thursday night.
Kickoff Barbecue with $2 Barbecue Beef Sandwich and Chips. Check.
Street Dance. Check.
Art Show and Sale. Probably Not.
All Night Beer Garden. Check.

Friday.
8am 5K Run. We’re guessing No.
10am Kiddie Parade. By all means NO.
all day Regional Quilt Show. No.

Friday sounded like a good day to see the National Park Sites in and around the area. Time to do the official stuff. Scotts Bluff National Monument and Chimney Rock National Historic Site. “You in Bruce?” “Of course I am!”

Bruce is an enthusiastic elementary school teacher.

Saturday Morning
Benefit Pancake Feed. Oh my heavens, yes. Have to support the high school girls softball team.
Bicycle Hill Climb up Scotts Bluff NM. Let’s pretend we didn’t see that one.
OTD Parade. Check. That’s more like it.
Saturday afternoon and evening.
Nebraska State Championship CASI Chili Cook-Off. Check. Check. Check Check Check.
Bed Races. Check.
Bull Chip Toss. Check. It can’t be much different than the Discus Throw.
OTD Carnival. Check.
Creedence Clearwater Revisited Concert. $25 tickets. No. Maybe we’ll pull into the parking lot and listen.

Kenny was very impressed. “You guys know more about the weekend than me, and I’ve been to a lot of them.”

The drive to Gering was long. Once we topped the six-hour mark I stopped looking at the clock safe in the knowledge that we were going to make it in time for the kickoff barbecue.

We had planned a few stops along the way to relieve the monotony. The first was the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument in Kearney. The eight-story high pioneer-themed museum actually spans the Interstate. Driving under it, however, was as close as we got. At $10 per person we just didn’t have the time.

Interstate 80 follows the same path as both the Oregon Trail and the Mormon Trail. It is hard not to imagine how long, difficult, dry and hot their travels must have been. They averaged about 20 miles a day. We were getting antsy and feeling crowded at 80 mph with the air conditioning on full blast in an SUV.

Our first actual stop was at the Pony Express Station in Gothenburg. Signs told us that the town is home to former Cardinals and Cowboys Tight End Jay Novacek. At the station we stretched our legs, took a few pictures, admired the buffalo coat and nearly purchased one of the snazzy Pony Express T-shirts. We jumped back in the jeep, westward bound.

Next up was Ole’s Big Game Steakhouse in Paxton, a staple in Kenny’s many trip across Nebraska. He warned us about the décor: nearly 200 animal trophies. He did not warn us enough. The front door opens immediately to Ole’s famous snarling Polar Bear. He is encased in glass and holds a freshly killed seal.

We moved into the dining area and struggled to find a table. Did we want to sit underneath the Elephant, the Elk, the Bison, the Giraffe, or one of many African hoofed species that we could not identify? We chose the Moose. We ordered two fried food samplers and left with the firm knowledge that Gab does not like gizzards and that I am not the adventurous type.

Gering was about three hours away. At Ogallala we followed the Platte River, got off the Interstate and continued along Nebraska Route 26. We were staying on the Oregon Trail. Slowly the terrain around us changed. Rock formations and bluffs began to appear around us.

Bruce pointed to his left, “That’s Courthouse Rock and that’s Jailhouse Rock. Can you imagine how relieved the pioneers must have felt after seeing those landmarks? Oh, oh, oh. Look there, can you see it? It’s Chimney Rock.” Gab and I strained our eyes from the back seat. It was willowy, very fragile and not nearly as tall as it was 150 years ago. The spire has been under erosion’s merciless attack. Kenny added that the military used to use the rock for target practice.

But it was still there. A testament to the pioneer’s march westward. I had a difficult time believing what we were driving towards. Chimney Rock is so ubiquitous in Nebraska; just like Mount Rushmore or Vermont’s late Man in the Mountain. It exists in so many symbolic places that it is hard to imagine it as something real. But there it was. Right ahead of us. Oregon Trail Days here we come.

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