Canadian Reject

I was worried about it the first two times I went into Canada, but this time it got me. My car is currently unregistered. The Phoenix registration expired earlier this month and when I went to get my NJ driver license, they said I needed the title to the car to get it registered. I figured I would pick it up when I got back to AZ and it shouldn't be too long before I get back to NJ.

So today, while crossing the border, I got a particularly questioning border agent. After asking where I lived I answered NJ, and when he saw my AZ license plate he inquired where my car was registered. I said AZ, and he wanted to see the registration. If I really wanted to, I could have gone through, but he "recommended" that I return to the states. I think there was a decent chance a ticket was coming my way had I not turned around.

Thus, I am in Great Forks, ND tonight after another rained out day, only this one had no attractions. I guess for now, my Canadian adventure is on hold. It's really not a great loss. As a comment from a Canadian indicated, Manitoba and Saskatchewan are wastelands. However, I will miss out on my main reason for going to Canada. Banff National Park, the 3rd NP ever established in the world would have been a treat. I guess I'll just have to pass through Yellowstone again. That's a park worth repeating.

Water, Water Everywhere - Voyageurs, NP

After completing my circuit of the East, North and West of Lake Superior, I was ready to head inland and get away from all the water. But today was not a day that I could do that. I am now completely waterlogged. Not once today was I driving when it wasn't raining. It was never hard rain, and frequently only the intermittent wipers were needed, but it was constant. So I decided to pass most of the day following somewhat scenic routes that surely would have been better with a touch of priceless, golden sunshine. Moreover, my primary destination for the day was a park whose main attraction is water.

Voyageurs National Park, established in 1975, sits on the Canadian border in Minnesota. The park is named after the French Canadian voyageurs who paddled canoes filled with valuable beaver pelts from NW Canada to Montreal. Fortunately, the park was open; unfortunately, 99 percent of the park, the best parts, were inaccessible to me. But I knew this going in, so at least I wasn't disappointed. In fact, I had quite a nice time.

If I had a boat, canoe or kayak, I could have lifted anchor and started winding in and out of the the interesting nooks of the island that makes up the better 99% of the park. I could have hiked trails and gone to beaver dams. I probably would have even seen beavers as they are "curious animals around visitors" (the 10 minute film at the visitor center told me).

I arrived at the Rainy Lake Visitor Center, which is, not surprisingly, on Rainy Lake. As I've written in the past, a lot of places are named after their surroundings. Yellowstone has large yellow rock; Big Bend is at a large curve in a river; Hot Springs, Crater Lake, Smoky Mountains, Badlands, on and on are all named for their surroundings. Apparently here at Rainy Lake, it rains...and I can certainly confirm it. Anyway, I arrived at the visitor center.

There were 2 other cars in the parking lot, which is infinitely more than were at the Pukaskwa National Park in Canada yesterday. But then again, this park wasn't closed for the season. And as expected, the Oldsmobiles belonged to two sets of octogenarian sightseers. I am almost always the youngest sight seer at remote places like this. More people of all ages should get to do this kind of excursion. Anyway, I entered the visitor center.

I was immediately greeted by the enthusiastic park ranger. Heck, every park ranger is enthusiastic. And why shouldn't they be. They are selling a superb product, "Americas Best Idea." And every customer leaves happy (or eaten by coyotes). What a great job! I wish I could be a park ranger.

It must be a rainy day when I write five full paragraphs just about arriving at the Visitor Center. I guess I could have summarized it all as: "Anyway, I arrived at the Rainy Lake Visitor Center, watched the 10 minute introductory film with four other sight seers, inquired about short trails and headed out on a hike."

Umbrella in hand, I took the introductory visitor center hike. This 1.7 mile stroll was certainly not in the good parts of the park. Slippery when wet, the trail skirted past the lake and tucked inland to what felt like a rain forest. At its best, the trail provided a couple of glacial erratics and a couple of scenic overlooks. I did get lucky to encounter an R.O.U.S. - Rodent Of Unknown Species, who looped around me and vocalized an alarm. Cool. But mostly basic stuff for a National Park. Yet as always, well worth the visit.

I returned to the enthusiastic park ranger to compliment the park and determine just what the species was. Shortly we were leafing through her book of animals checking out the local species. We believe it was a Least Chipmunk, though I am not certain, a few of the chipmunks and even one squirrel looked like possible matches. Then we swapped black bear stories: my recent "Big Bend encounter" with her recent "heading for the dumpster sighting."

By my count, there are 46 National Parks in the 48 contiguous states in the US. Voyageurs is now the 23rd I've visited in my two road trips. I'm half way there. Perhaps knowing this fact, I finally asked the much pondered question, "Could I become a park ranger?"

Ranger Mary Jo responded with a wealth of information. She let me know just how to apply for a park ranger job. She informed me that jobs are frequently available. She's a seasonal worker, so she can travel to various parks with each season. She talked about the application process. She thinks that I have plenty of valuable qualifications, like a college degree and having visited 23 NP's. She told me she had not been a ranger for long, and she had no real education in that direction. And she told me she really thinks of herself as a writer. By the way, here is a poem she had published in the book "Patagonia" by Dick Lutz: Patagonia By Mary Jo Eisenach. (Message to Mary Jo - if you read this and don't like something, or you want the pretty picture gone, or you have a correction, or just want to say hi, either send me an email or post a comment.)

After the park, there was still a bit of soggy daylight left, so I headed out from the park in search of a few more miles and a cozy dive motel. I went 60 miles west before seeing a single hotel. In the next 10 miles I saw 4 more motels in the sleepy town of Baudette, but none seemed as appealing as the first. Usually, my first and only rule of choosing where to stay is that if there is more than one option, select the hotel that has the most cars. Uniquely, in this case I had no point of reference. None of the hotels had a single car parked in their lot. Yet the most appealing option was the one that was secluded and right on the river. So I guess the second rule of hotel choosing is to opt for the best view. I got my choice of any of the 10 rooms and I selected the one with what should be the perfect sunrise view of the river. Sadly, the waterway is named Rainy River.

After checking in, the motelier informed me that no keys were needed. "The doors unlocked," he said, "Not much goes on 'round here, so we jes leave them open."

I blurted, "Really?!?"

And he replied with the most colloquial, "You bet." I think this guy was in the movie "Fargo." Is it even possible in the year 2009 to think of a hotel that not only "Leaves a light on" but also leaves it's drive-up rooms unlocked. Inconceivable.

As far as rainy days go, I had a really good one.

Pukaskwa NP, Canada - Not Eaten by Wolves

I was at the Park entrance at 9 AM, and this morning the park management center was open. I wandered in and the two park officials looked at me funny. Apparently they were thinking, "What's an outsider doing here when Pukaskwa National Park (Canada) is closed for the season?" After announcing my intention to hike a few trails, they checked with the janitor who said that the route to the Visitor Center and trailheads was passable and I could walk there if I really wanted.
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When I got to the park entry area, the barrier that had blocked me last night was only half-way gated covering the entrance lane. I drove into the exit lane and entered. There was no difficulty driving to the trailheads, so I drove right up to them, parked in whatever spot I wanted because I was the only car there, and set out on the first hike.
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Within paces, I was secluded on my private beach on the northern shore of Lake Superior. Even with the unending clouds that would shoroud me for the remainder of the day, the setting was unique and all mine. From the beach, I hiked up some stairs, boulders, and other rugged coastline stuff and was into the park. The trail I took led me out onto a small peninsula with views of all the surrounding terrain. Truly picturesque as you can see in the pictures. (BTW, I have been uploading all my picture into my Picasa web album. I haven't added the links to each day on the site, but if you are familiar with Picasa, you can click on any of the Photos links and navigate to my Public photos directory.)
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I didn't see another soul the full length of the rest of the trail until I was returning to the Visitor Center and ran into Ray, the maintenance man. Ray was so Canadian that during the 10 minutes I was talking with him, he said "eh'? " no less than twice per sentence. He started and ended each sentence with it, and sometimes slipped one or two in the middle. I said, "Hi." Ray said, "Eh'? Hi, eh'?" After he removed his work gloves to offer his hand, he wowed me with the following phraseology: "Eh', I don't mean to sound, eh', ignorant but, eh'...(pause)...eh', I think the park is closed. Eh'?" I stifled a laugh; I wished I'd had a tape recorder going. I thought he used eh's where I would use er's or um's, only much more frequently, but according to Wikipedia, it is used to confirm that I am understanding. Perhaps his primary language was French. Either way, Ray was entertaining, informative and above all a down to the dirt Canadian. What a pleasure, eh'?
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I may not have been the only tourist in the entire park. It certainly felt like it. Unfortunately, besides some birds and bugs, I didn't see any wildlife. No black bear, no moose, no lynx, and no killer coyotes. Apparently a young rising star musician was killed yesterday in another Canadian National Park by a pack of coyotes as she was solo hiking. Here's a link for the sad story: Canada Coyote Attack.
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The remainder of the day was again spent swivel-heading the northwestern side of Lake Superior. I traversed endless rugged, spectacular, scenery while passing through small to non-existent towns with populations averaging in the hundreds. It'd be a bummer to be a high school athlete in the area when your nearest rival is no less than an hour away. The away curling matches must be hell (yes, curling. Last night my hotel was situated next to the only arena in town, a curling arena. Curling is the Olympic sport you may have seen where they slide blocks of concrete across ice in a boccie like game.)
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From Wawa to Thunder Bay, Ont, exactly 300 miles, I didn't see a single stop light. When I got to Thnder Bay and hit a red light, I was so taken by surprise that I took a picture of it. After crossing back into America, no interesting end point was available so I continued to hug the highly scenic coastline (odd to be saying coastline about an interior state) while going 60 miles out of my way to simply fill in the checkmark on my 48th state (only Maine and Alaska left).
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I barely crossed the border into Wisconsin, and have shacked up in Superior, WI. I found a tavern with a completely packed parking lot and had a great dinner. I sat at the bar, it was the only immediate seating, and after my neighbors found out I was from Phoenix/Haddonfield, they told me I had found the best spot in town. I ordered the rib and fish combo plate and was treated to some tender meaty slathered in BBQ sauce baby backs, and some local walleye fish and chips. The home made fries were a bit on the soggy side, but there was so much of the good stuff I didn't mind at all. The ribs were great, but the walleye was the star...it was coated in a thin browned batter and was perfectly deep fried and the fresh homemade tartar sauce was a great match.
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I wish I could catch a break with the weather and get a reasonable night to camp out, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. It should be a bit warmer tomorrow night, but the 90% chance of rain is disheartening. Once I finish this northern swing, I will not again venture above I80, which draws a dividing line from New York to San Francisco, and if possible I will stay south of any cold fronts.

Lakes to the Left of Me

After two days of pleasant, but uninspiring driving, I finally had a day of wonder. Unfortunately I am able to post this entry tonight, which means I am not camping out. But that didn't detract from today's varied and constant natural beauty of the landscape along the Great Lakes.

I started out from Traverse City, MI, a lake front vacation city in the North Western portion of the Lower Peninsula on the East side of Lake Michigan at the bottom of Grand Traverse Bay in the middle of nowhere in the state of Michigan. The only reason I think anyone would be here is either they live in the state of Michigan and only take vacations in MI or you're travelling aimlessly around the country and have never been to Michigan before.

Traverse city is a bit like the smaller Jersey shore cities with putt putt golf, ice cream stands and a great view of a large body of water. The difference comes when you venture north along the contours of the Lake Michigan coast on the Cherry Orchard Scenic Byway.

Immediately upon leaving town I was surrounded by field after field of out-of-season cherry tree farms. Even though the trees only bloom briefly in the spring, these well manicured plots remind me of the grown up version of the Napa Valley vineyards. Precise rows of symmetrical trees make for a stunning front yard to the backdrop of the great lake.

The first half of the drive gently follows the coast line with ever changing scenic panoramas. But the final half approaching Cross Village, MI is better. While occasionally meandering to the lake, the better parts are the pastoral jukes into the birch and cedar trees still showing off their fall colors. The pleasure came part from the scenery and part from the way the road seemed to be designed to keep you appreciating every turn into a new setting. The money makers from the auto industry must have appreciated it too, as they built some extravagant vacation homes along this stretch.

At the end of the drive it was time to set in motion my plan to get to Canada's Pukaskwa National Park. I crossed to Michigan's Upper Peninsula (just 100 miles from Wisconsin) and headed for the Sault Ste. Marie's, sister cities of the same name on opposite sides of the international border. (Crossworder Puzzler Note: A very common crossword puzzle clue is: Sault __ Marie to which STE is the fill-in-the-blank answer. The Ste. in the cities name is short for Saint or in French Saint. I don't know where the e comes from, perhaps the word Sainte. Either way, it is kind of lame. They are abbreviating a 5 letter word to 3 letters and a period. Not much of a savings in my opinion. Yet it is almost always an Ste. in all signage. Additionally, I have always heard the first word, Sault, phonetically in my head as Salt. But it is really pronounced Soo or Sue. So from now on, I will be reading the clue as: Sue ___ Marie. The answer will still be Ste...without the period.)

And into Canada I went. After following a few confusing detours out of Soo City, Ont, I was on Canadian Highway 17 with Lake Superior on my left. All along Lake Michigan, I also had a Great Lake on my left, but while hugged the Superior lake's coast I found the most interesting glimpses to the right. For the first 50 km, I was sharply hitting the breaks to slow or stop in front of a pond, lake, river or waterfall. It almost got frustrating having so many bodies of water with nooks and shadows, bends and shorelines, specks of islands with just 3 trees...yet not a speck of unnatural intrusion. How could these stunning settings not have attracted humanity?

The answer is that as I relaxed to the constant beauty, I realized that this was to be the prevalent topography for the next 4 hours. Almost every mile (2.2 km) there was another brake worthy overlook. So few people live here...I passed only 2 real towns with a combined population of 4,700...that they leave great expanses relatively deserted while living near the most stunning spots within easy driving distance of a gas station. Going at 104 km/h (65 mph) I was swivel-headed as I cruised Lake Superior's coast and passed a limitless number of picturesque water holes. Now that was inspiring.

The only irritant along the way was that I passed provincial park after provincial park (same as a US state park, only Canada has provinces) and bar none they were all closed for the season. I suppose seeing snow as I got further north wasn't exactly a joy either.

Perhaps the only other annoying thing about Canada so far is how expensive everything is. I don't mind all the metric conversions, it's kind of endearing. And hearing a foreign language on the radio is more melodic now that it's French and not Spanish. But the fact that nearly everything seems to cost double the dollars is quite tedious. Traveller Note: when visiting Canada bring as much stuff purchased in the States as possible, which includes but is not limited to gas, food, alcohol and beef jerky (my only reference points so far).

I must be awful at math because I completely mis-estimated the time it would take me to get to the Pukaskwa National Park. By the time I got there at 6PM the administration office was closed. So I retraced my entrance route and am now staying in Marathon, Ont, Canada. But at least the sky is overcast, so I'm not missing the star show. Perhaps I'll camp out soon if anything is open.

Now that I am close to the park, I re-read their official website (at my very expensive dive hotel) and see that it is open and I should have just gone forward past the Authorized Vehicles Only sign. Tomorrow I will go back and try to intrude on this private expanse.

Part of going as many miles as I have so far was to possibly get to Seattle by the weekend. After a great day like today, I am going to slow down a bit if things continue as beautifully. I can still make Seattle by Saturday if I rush, but I don't think that will happen. It may be a long road trip this week acquainting myself with Canada.

Michigan - 3 To Go

Sleeping in after the long drive yesterday, I awoke and peeked out my hotel window and was pleased to see a Tim Hortons. Just a week ago I first heard of these doughnut joints. Tim Horton was a Canadian hockey player in the NHL from 1949 til his death in a car crash in 1973. He opened his first doughnut shop in 1964 and now there are almost 3,500 of them throughout Canada, and spreading into America. One is even coming to New York soon.

Piping hot coffee and a fluffy Boston Cream doughnut were a great start to an otherwise boring day. I'd say these Tim Hortons are a step up from Dunkin Doughnuts but not quite as posh as Starbucks filling in the much needed mid-range doughnut and coffee joint niche. Canadians are big fans of doughnuts, 'eh, as this chain accounts for 23% of all fast food revenues in Canada.

From London, Ontario I headed for the US border and the first venture of my life into the state of Michigan. This brings my list of States I never been to down to 3 - Alaska, Maine, and Michigan's neighbor Wisconsin. And after a drab day of mostly highway driving I am just 300 miles from the Wisconsin border in Traverse City, MI.

But I am opting to skip Wisconsin in favor of a more interesting adventure. If things go well, I should be camping out tomorrow night in a Canadian National Park. It's going to be like 2 Degrees Celsius (36F) so I will be putting the sleeping bag's lower temperature rating to the test. There aren't many big cities in the area, so I am hoping to get a clear sky. And while I've been to parks that have black bears, I haven't been to one that has a moose, caribou or Canadian lynx. I hope I see a Moose!

Niagara - No Excursions, Hard Conversions

Sadly, I left my family today. Mom, Dad, and the 6M's. Goodbyes are only made easier when you know you will be back soon. And after being away for 2 years, I will be back soon.

After spending the weekend being enchanted by my nieces, I took off from Greenwich, CT feeling buoyant and ready to enter my road tripper paradigm of seeing what I've never seen before and doing things I might never get a chance to do again. But as I sped through the state of New York, I only glimpsed the beauty of the surroundings.

The meandering drive through Northwestern New York had me looking through the windshield and watching the change of seasons as the northern direction passed from early to late Autumn. I saw the changing colors of the leaves in full bloom turn to barren branches. I paced myself by the faster drivers, and I made great time. I figured I would be staying in the Buffalo, NY area for the night, but I arrived too early.

Of the 3 paragraphs in the Road Food book describing the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, the only relevant fact is that it is the birth place of Buffalo Wings. My first steps into the parlor attacked my nostrils with the epitome of spicy wing sauce. I sat at the bar and ordered a pint of Labatts Blue Lite and 10 wings.

My idea of the perfect wing was exactly what the Anchor Bar served up...the wings were cooked through and through and just a bit more; they were juicy and crispy; they were spicy hot. And the celery and blue cheese were fresh. I would affirm these wings as the holy land of wings were it not for the price. The bill showed that my 10 piece of wings cost 11 dollars. A worthless scrap of chicken should cost no more than 2 bits.

10 miles north of my 10 wings and I was at Niagara Falls. I am experienced at entering interesting topography, but I messed up, and before I knew it, I was in the entrance lane for Canada. During the drive across the bridge to Canada, and along the Falls river drive I saw incredible views of the river tumbling and the mist rising. I wish I had gotten out and felt the power of the falls, but about ten miles after passing the Falls, I realized I missed it and didn't feel like doubling back.

I began careening through southern Ontario with no real direction. Having no direction is what I am good at, but with the GPS going blank for Canada I was frequently heading in the wrong direction.

Canada (of course) seems not much different than the States. But while driving past houses you know that its' occupants are foreigners and they might even speak French. Canadians seem to be a bit more patriotic than Americans as they are more apt to be displaying their red maple leaf flags.

I guess one of the biggest differences driving here is the metric system. When a sign says a city is 120 away it is Kilometers, not miles. When the radio reports that the temperature is 11 degrees, it is in Celsius. When it is 96.9 cents for gas and the speed limit is 100 it sound goods, but it is for just a liter of gas and it is kilometers per hour. I had to keep doing faulty calculations to try to determine how long it would take to get somewhere. The only easy conversion is that the US Dollar and the Canadian Dollar are about equal so if something costs $10, I can pay it in either currency.

After a couple hours I decided I would check into the next hotel that crossed my path. But after 100 miles of non-highway driving I hadn't seen a single one. Exhausted, I pointed due north to intersect with the one major highway and ended up in a hotel in London, Ontario, Canada. The Road Trip finally went international.

Had I stopped at Niagara Falls, I could have taken a picture like this:

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And if I had been here 98 years ago when it froze, it would have looked like this:

Home and Away

It has been so great to be home with my parents and friends for the last 10 days! After 12 days, it was my longest stretch of road tripping ever. I hadn't seen a face I knew in a long time and seeing Mom and Dad was a great reward.

It had been nearly two years since I last spent any real time on the east coast. (I did come home for a very brief weekend earlier this year to catch a Phillies game with Dad, Bro and Bewick. Go Phillies!) Everything...the roads, the people, the food...elicited de ja vu moments and homecoming feelings. As I said, it's been great!

There were, however, two things that weren't great. First, I was stunned by just how densely packed the area is with people and wild northeast drivers. I felt stressed just getting on the NJ Turnpike and even going 10 miles over the speed limit I was tailgated, beeped at and drivers were swerving at me from all sides. I think I need an Aggressive Northeast Driving refresher course. Second, the weather has generally sucked. Until yesterday, I hadn't seen the sun at all since crossing the Mason Dixon line. It has been cold and rainy nearly every day. Sure, it is a bit of a weather aberration for this area, but the weather would never aberate like this in Phoenix.

I had a blast reuniting with my Hoboken family last weekend, and tomorrow I will be heading to Connecticut for a much needed reunion with the 6Ms. I've missed my nieces so much and can't wait to get caught up on all the growing up they've been doing without me.

On Sunday, I will be hitting the road again. Hopefully, by the end of the day I will be in the vicinity of one of the natural wonders of the world. After that I may try to take the Road Trip international for a while as I head for the left coast.

Shenandoah NP or Home - Day 11

While it was a pleasant drive yesterday, the whole purpose of the day was to get within striking distance of the Shenandoah National Park. The plan was to get an early start on the day, get to the park by noon, cruise through most of the park hiking a short trail or two, and get most of the way to the other side of the park before picking a campground and settling in for the night. This would give me the opportunity to get in a long hike in the morning before heading for my first prolonged layover of the Road Trip.
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The plan was shot down after step two. I did get an early start. I did get to the park before noon. But at the entrance station, a large sign with each of the 5 campgrounds declared that they were all full. I queried the the park ranger at the station, and she confirmed they were all full. I said I just had a tent. All full. Really? Yes, really.

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This is new. I've never been to a NP where no camping was available. I didn't completely believe it. And I wasn't going to skip the park completely now that I was here. I headed in while contemplating putting Plan B into action.

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Shenandoah NP is centered around a 105 mile drive, Skyline Drive, that skirts across the tops of part of the Appalachian Mountains and closely follows part of the Appalachian Trail. On the Skyline there are frequent pullovers for panoramic views of the valley below as well as pullovers for many interesting hiking trails that either lead off from the drive or along the Appalachian Trail.

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I pulled off for all the scenic views, but skipped the two hikes that I had been considering. It was still overcast and a bit chilly, so I kept Plan B in play. The campgrounds are probably fuller than most any other time of the year because fall is the time to see this park. The park and the surrounding valleys are chocked full of trees going through the change of seasons and showing off their beautiful fall colors. Also, it is the people packed Northeast, and there aren't many more beautiful places to appreciate the season and its splendor. But when I came to the first campground and confirmed that it really was completely full Plan B was in action.

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Plan B was to head straight to Mom and Dad. So after just 40 miles of the 105, and at around 2PM, I found myself exiting the park and taking the fastest route Sake could find to get me home. It's a bit of a bummer not to have taken in this park the way it was supposed to be seen (hiking and camping), but not so much that it took away from sitting down at 6:30 to a home cooked steak dinner with my parents...the first familiar faces I've seen in a dozen days. It's great to be home with family!

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Over the next couple weeks, I will be reuniting. Reuniting with my parents, my Hoboken centered friends, and all 6 of the Connecticut M's. I doubt I'll have much desire to blog for a while, so check back in later when I undertake stage 2 of road trip 2.

Just a Long Pleasant Drive - Day 10

Not much to report today. I spent the whole morning zipping east on I40. By noon, I was bored of it and instructed Sake (my GPS name Sacajawea by Battlestar) to not use the freeways. So I spent the afternoon winding across northern TN, into southeast KY, and across the Virgina border to Abingdon where I am holed up for the evening. A lot of driving miles for one day, but there wasn't much to see or do and the gloomy weather made for a low experience day.

The drive did take me through parts of the Daniel Boone (KY) and Jefferson National Forests (VA). I suppose the highlight of the day was enjoying the fall colors. Since I hit New Mexico a week ago, I have been noticing the sporadic changing of the leaves, but in these forests, it is becoming much more prevalent.

That bodes well for the day I'll have tomorrow. I'll be heading to the Shenandoah National Park, and if I can get a bit of sunlight, I expect the trees will give me a good show. If there is no post tomorrow, it means that I decided camping out was a reasonable idea.

So, here are some things I've noticed along my trip so far:

1. Weather is very important. So after a trip to the Northwest, I may focus in the more temperate climates.
2. The cheaper hotels must be feeling the pinch. In 3 (half) of the dives I've stayed in they didn't even provide soap or shampoo. On my first trip, never was this the case...it must be the economy.
3. Also economy related, I have noticed many more Dollar General and Family Dollar stores, and they always seem to have more cars in the parking lot than any other store in town.
4. The west has much nicer and more scenic highway rest areas than the east. I guess they have the space to do it right.
5. Perhaps I am more frugal now, but I have noticed taxes seem to be higher...have a lot of states raised their tax rates in the last few years?
6. While in Phoenix, Pre averaged 46.4 MPG; on this trip Pre is currently at 50.4 MPG. This is sort of counter intuitive because this hybrid was designed to use the battery more and get better mileage in the city.
7. I don't remember having to slow down to 15 MPH so often to pass by a school. Perhaps there's been a nationwide trend to set up these slow zones.
8. I've seen quite a few solar panels used to power warning signs, lights, advertisements, etc. I like it.
9. It amazes me how virile the elderly are. On every hike I consider to be strenuous, I have passed what must be octogenarians or older, small stepping slowly along the way at the furthest points.
10. People are really nice and helpful...but then again, I haven't gotten to the Northeast yet.

Two days from home...cheers!

Mistakes Were Made - Days 8-9

Perhaps it was because I never had an issue with weather on my first trip. Or maybe I should not have set my tent under a tree. I could have planned the route the night before and used the internet to make a more informed decision. I was getting radio weather forecasts from Dallas, TX, Tulsa, OK and Little Rock, AR, which were the 3 large cities surrounding my camping location, and all said to expect late afternoon thunderstorms the next day. They said nothing about either rain overnight or weather at the top of the Ouachita Forest. Whatever the reason, I made the mistake of camping out last night, and I was miserable.
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I started out yesterday and headed for a short scenic through the Wichita Mountains in OK. Even though it was overcast, it was quite a pleasant drive, with nice scenery and quite a few buffalo and longhorns. The highlight was the top of Mount Scott (me?) and panoramic views on all sides.
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After that, I started zig-zagging across the Oklahoma countryside for another scenic drive, the Talimena Scenic Byway connecting Talihina, OK and Mena, AR. The only reason this road was built was for the scenery, and every half mile or so there was a pullover with a lofty viewpoint of the Ouachita National Forest. And with the leaves just starting to turn it is certainly the right time of year to be passing through.
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About 2/3 of the way through, and just across the Arkansas border, lies the Queen Wilhelmina Lodge and campground, my bunk for the night. I could have stayed in the lodge, but it was only barely drizzling. Plus there were about 10 other campsites already occupied, so I went for it and mistakenly decided to camp. I should have noticed that all the other campers were in RV's or 5th wheels.
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Having bought 2 bundles of wood at the lodge, I popped the tent open and set up camp before returning to the comfy lodge for an awful buffet dinner whose only highlight was that I didn't throw up.
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Returning to camp, there was no precipitation; however, there was quite a bit of moisture around the campsite and a bit in my tent. The ever present cloud cover had dropped down and seemed like I could jump up and touch it. Worse was the fact that the wind had picked up and felt gale force flowing across the top of the mountains.
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It was around 7PM and the last bit of daylight was slipping away. I had to get a fire started fast. I started with a crumpled up trail book under a pyramid of wood. I went through half a lighters worth of fluid trying to get the trail book to flame up, but it would only smolder. I went to thinner paper, and when I could get the paper to catch, the wind would put it out in seconds. Next I was inside my car lighting a torch of paper that also was no match for the wind. After setting up a wind barrier of luggage around the fire pit I was able to keep the flame going for a half minute or so by burning any spare paper I could find in the car, but the wood was no where near catching. Finally an hour and a half later, and using half a box of thin highly flammable tissue paper, I built a sustainable fire. A couple of hours later, I finished off the second bundle of wood, and wearing thermals and a couple extra layers, I snuggled in for bed.
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I woke first around 4AM...I think it was the sound of water that made me have to pee. I unzipped the tent, stood in the small puddle that had accumulated inside the tent, and poked my head out into a fog so dense I couldn't see my car 15 feet away. Though it wasn't raining, the fog was soaking the tree above and forming large droplets that were plunking on the top of the tent. An hour later this drum like sound would wake me for good. On very little restful sleep, and reeking of campfire smoke, I packed up camp using a camper headlight (thanks Beana!) to show the way step-by-step.
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At 6AM, in complete darkness and dense fog cover, I decided I had to get off the mountain stat. I backed the car out of the campsite, and turned to go forward and couldn't see the road through the glare of the lights on the fog. I stopped and opened the car user manuel to figure out how to turn on the fog lights for the first time and the book shows me a picture of the headlight column with the (not available on all models) fog light setting that was missing from my Pre.
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Going at a top speed of 8 MPH, I patiently followed the yellow center line down from the most miserable night I have had on all my travels. In my Top 5 list of worst nights, this is the first and only on the list.
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With the un-restful night, I pulled over for a catnap around 7AM and decided to re-evaluate the plan for the day. I awoke with the answer, and immediately called Buz. Within 5 minutes, Buz had gone to weather.com and informed me that the only reasonable direction to go was due East along a path I have taken twice before, straight across Arkansas and into Tennessee.

The silver lining on this cloudy day was that this route took me straight past Hot Springs NP.
This smallest of parks was created around a three block row of bath houses used even by presidents for the rejuvenating powers of the natural, pure spring waters that flow from the ground. A bath, spritz, sauna, hot towel wrap and superb massage later, and I was floating out of the Buckstaff spa totally relaxed. (Interestingly, I had the same "bath attendant", Walter, as I had 3 years ago. He said he's been there since '74 and I assume if I go back again 10 years from now, he'll be my bath attendant again.) I would describe the whole process again, but I already did last time I went to Hot Springs...see this link for that post if you want more details. http://myroadtrip07.blogspot.com/2007/08/arkansas-well-blow-me-down-its-awesome.html
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I guess the bath house cancels out the prior night's misery and that makes me about even. But I then had a really pleasant drive on the back roads of the AR and into Tennessee. I am half way through a sunny (thanks Buz) scenic drive and am comfortably holed away in a hotel in beautiful Henderson, TN. And I got to watch Survivor tonight!
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I think I might be completely stifled as far as weather tomorrow (there may be tornadoes in the area), but at least I'll be sure to check before heading out. If by chance the weather is descent, I might try the camping out thing one more time before hitting Jersey. But I certainly won't be camping out in cold, windy, rainy, foggy, miserable weather again!
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"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...won't get fooled again." - GWB

Recouping from Texas to Oklahoma - Day 7

It's the end of the first full week and I am finally feeling refreshed after a casual driving day that put miles behind me and rested my fatigued muscles.

I went North out of Odessa heading toward a scenic drive recommended by the National Geographic Scenic Highways and Byways book. The route to the drive brought me past active oil fields, cotton crops and many Texas Longhorn cattle. Since leaving Phoenix, I had not encountered such extensive use of the fields. It is also the first time I have been surrounded by so much flat land that I could see to the horizon in every direction unimpeded by any hills or mountains. Which means that after about of a half hour of all of it, it gets boring.

Fortunately, I had the scenic drive to break up the monotony. Often these drives have hikes or attractions and can take quite a while, but this was truly just a scenic drive. I sped 60 miles across varied agriculture, then down one side of a small colorful canyon and up the other side. And there was a pretty lake in the middle too. And that was about it for the driving excitement.

I ended up in Clinton, OK for the night at the cheapest hotel in town, but hey they have free WiFi which is my only requirement. But the reason I am in Clinton is because it is home to Jiggs Smokehouse. I went into this little shack of a restaurant and ordered the house favorite brisket sandwich. To be honest, I've had better. The brisket was a bit dry, but the sauce was superb, making it a pretty good meal (2 meals because it was so big.) I did not order the "Kitchen Sink". The Road Food authors described it as, "a somewhat ridiculous combo of beef, sausage and ham sandwiched between-are you ready?-a pair of sirloin steaks." Atkins heaven.

The real reason for going to Jiggs', wasn't for a meal anyway. It was for their famous beef jerky. For $17 I bought a pound of it. They only have one flavor and don't need more. It is like eating a shoe. If you are successful enough to separate a bite from the slab, you then need to soak it in your mouth for a little while to get it soft enough to chew. This is exactly my opinion of what the perfect jerky should be.

I haven't figured out what comes next, but it looks like the weather is going to get sloppy here in OK, so the option of finding a place to camp out in tomorrow will be determined by the weather.

Big Bend - Days 5 - 6

Big Bend National Park is remote. In a Southwest corner of Texas along the Rio Grande, anyone going to this park is not just passing through, but is really committed to seeing what this park has to offer. And it has a lot to offer.

Leaving from just two towns away, it took me nearly 3 hours to get to the entrance to the park. Once there, I took the recommendation of the entry ranger and started with the Max Ross Scenic drive. This out and back drive presented spectacular and diverse panoramas of the

various landscapes. I also saw many roadrunners, a desert rat, some deer and a fox. But the highlight of the drive came at it's furthest point the Santa Elena Canyon.

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A 2 mile hike up and down into the canyon on the US side was strenuous yet beautiful as massive rock carved by the Rio towered above on both sides. A mile in you reach the endpoint where there was an almost beach like area right at river level that a dozen or so people sat sunning and admiring the remote location. After returning back out of the canyon, I lingered at the narrowest point of the river and threw some rocks over to Mexico. I'm exporting America; this country is just a little bit smaller today than it was yesterday.

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I asked a ranger, a tourist and a camper where I should set up camp for the night and the responses were unanimous - The Basin. Chisos Basin campground turned out to be at the center of the volcano that long ago helped form some of the more dramatic features of this park. The drive into the volcano was dramatic, but once I set up camp and had a chance to appreciate my surroundings, I went around in circles just marveling at the massive geologic structures forming a rim around bed for the night.

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Have you ever seen a sunset from the bottom of a volcano? I have. Actually it wasn't that great of a sunset. It seems for a sunset to be great, you have to be able to see for a long distance in order to get the sky colors that make it special.

Following the sunset and a bite to eat, I went for a stroll with the intention of striking up a conversation with the guys who were luxuriously camped caddy corner to my spot. Oddly, it worked, and I spent the rest of the night with Tom and Dooley. They were in from Austin for an 8 day vacation, continuing a tradition they've had for the last 27 years. We spent the hours with them generously offering me beer and wine and me accepting. They gave me advice about what to see the next day and regaled me with stories of their adventures at Big Ben. I asked if I should be worried about the bears and mountain lions in the Basin and the park, and they said in all their 27 years they had never seen either. I couldn't thank them enough for their hospitality and entertainment.

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Up and packed in time to see the sun come over the rim of the volcano, I started out on the Window Trail. This 4.4 mile (round trip) trail started from the camp and went all they way to a crack in the volcano that ran down to the Basin level. I didn't see anyone on the trail the whole way out, so I think I was the first to the window that day.

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As I approached the Window and the wind roared in at me, two monoliths stood in the frame, and took center stage to the backdrop of the expansive desert below. My adrenaline rose with each baby step I took toward the edge. The edge dropped off slowly and tempted me to inch along as close as I could. Eventually, I was on my butt, inching forward. I was hoping to see to the bottom , but as I put my foot into a precarious spot, my fear of height overtook me and I could go no farther. After carefully backing away, I sat for a spell just enjoying the experience. I ran into the campground hosts on the way back on the trail and asked if I might have been able to go further and they said no...had I gone much further, I could have plummeted to my death - not the way I wanted to see the bottom.

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But when I met the camp hosts, that was not the death prospect that they first alerted me to. They froze me in my steps, hushed me, pointed and said, "Bear." I turned to follow their directional signal, and no more than 30 feet away from me was a 300 pound black bear foraging for berries. His (or her) back was to us and never seemed to notice or care that we were there as he slowly moved further away from the trail continuing his snacking. I wish I could be posting a picture of this, but the only picture I had the courage to take shows just a blurred black spot in the underbrush...my hands were shaking. I'd seen bears at Yellowstone before, but none so dangerously close.

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This park covers 800,000 acres. It's huge. And in all of this space there are at most 30 bears. 27 years Tom and Dooley have been coming without seeing a single bear, and I saw one on my first morning hike in the park. I was sure they'd be jealous, so before driving out of the Basin, I left them a note letting them know.

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Before heading out of the park, I did a couple more miles of hiking along the Lost Mine trail that was straight up to an overlook on the rim of the Basin. After being enclosed in the Basin for so long, getting to this view was well worth the struggle.

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The one thing that I think I should have added to the Big Bend visit would have been lazily rafting down Rio Grande. But that would have meant another day of camping out, and I really needed a shower. So tonight I am in Odessa , TX. That should be the last National Park for a while, and I am glad to be putting my hiking shoes away for a while. I don't have much of a plan for the next couple of days, so I will be seeing what I can see, eating what sounds good, and putting in some miles heading to the east coast.

Caves and Mountains - Day 4

Is it only Day 4? I feel like I’ve been doing this for 2 weeks already.

Wow, was I tired. I think I got 10 hours of quality sleep. The air mattress was superior to the cheap motel beds I had been in the previous two nights. And the rest was important because of all that I did today including nearly a third of a marathon of hiking.

I woke to an overcast dreary day, and was not at all disappointed because I was going underground for the day. Brantley Lake left me just 40 minutes from Carlsbad Caverns National Park and I was in the Visitor’s Center by 9:30 AM. The Visitors Center sits on top of a small mountain and overlooks an enormous expanse of lowlands. Millennia ago this expanse had been an ocean, and the Visitors Center sits on what was once the landfall of the ocean, the beachs. And below the Visitor Center, the Caverns, were once the coral reef on the oceans edge. When the ocean receded into the desert, the reef slowly became the amazing caverns.
I chose to do the two hikes that came free with the National Parks Pass I had bought for $80 at Saguaro NP.

The first hike was called the Natural Entrance hike, because we were entering through the same entrance that was first discovered in 1903. The 1.2 mile long hike would take my down 750 feet (75 stories) into the caves.

Very shortly after the entrance, I crossed what they call the “twilight zone” and I would last see natural light again for 3 hours. I was spelunking in what is considered by most to be the most beautiful caves in the world. I was immediately immersed in stalactites, stalagmites, columns, popcorn, water pools, draperies and a bunch of other cave features I can’t remember. It was jaw dropping.

The audio tour that I purchased talked of how most visitors walk around with a dumb-struck look on their face, and it was certainly true for me. Going down into the caves, every other step brought about something new and spectacular. And each new cave I entered seemed more unbelievably spectacular than the previous. Not cool or beautiful or even amazing, but none were less than spectacular.

I took a ton of pictures, but half the pictures didn’t come out because the caves were so big and dark that the flash was ineffective. Only some of the close-ups came out ok, but not nearly as good as they might have. This is a place that must be visited in person, and any description I could give won’t compare to the experience.

After the 75 story hike down, I was at the entrance to the Big Room, the second hike on my tour. This Big Room isn’t the biggest cave room in the world, it’s in Borneo, but this may be 3rd. I did another mile+ hike around just a portion of the Big Room. Unless I heard or remember wrong, the size of just this one cave was like 700 football fields. Not a single second in this “room” was anything but awesome. I spoke in hushed whispers with my fellow spelunkers in terms of stunned reverence, and even though I am an atheist, I was quite often using the word God.

The hike ended at the elevators, and I was whisked up the 750 feet to the surface. Nearly 3 miles of hiking and with every turn of the head I was seeing something different. In my ranking of best National Parks, this definitely makes the top 5. It’s not better than Yellowstone or Bryce, but it is certainly in the top 5.

I thought of hanging around til 6PM to see the exodous of more than 100,000 bats through the Natural Entrance as they set out for their nightly insect slaughter. But with the early start, I figured I could get on my way and perhaps have another scenic drive on my way to Big Bend Texas.

Here’s something I didn’t know before yesterday. Just 30 miles south of Carlsbad Caverns NP, and just over the Texas border, there is another National Park. Has anyone heard of Guadalupe Mountains NP? Neither had I.

I was told of it by the Ranger at Brantley Lake, and only briefly read up on it before nightfall. I saw there was an hour long scenic drive, and that was the plan that the Ranger and Guadalupe Mtns NP talked me out of. Cute as a button she was, when she told me, “The only real way to see the Park is to get out of your car and hike. And the best hike you can do in a half day is the McKittrick Canyon hike.” So under an overcast sky, I found myself at the start of a 5 mile (2.5 out, 2.5 back) hike to Pratt’s Lodge.

I might have been jaded by the spectacle of Carlsbad Caverns, or perhaps it was the lack of sunshine, it may have been the rain that started falling during the return trip, but this hike just didn’t do it for me. Sure it was beautiful, and had all the scenery, flora and fauna (see the deer photo) that I could hope for, but it wasn’t up to par with other hikes of this length I’ve done at National Parks. I think part of the problem was that it was a somewhat strenuous hike done over mostly rocky terrain that had me staring at my footing instead of taking in the scenery. I should have done the shorter scenic drive. My body would ache less right now.

I’m holed up in Van Horn, TX in another cheap hotel, and I expect to get another 10 hours of sleep tonight. I plan just a leisurely drive to Big Bend tomorrow. I will probably be driving a scenic route that I blogged about on the first Road Trip, so no need to discuss it again. It’ll be a day off, but hopefully not a rain out. Depending on the weather I may be camping out before exploring the park on Monday.

When the Embers Go Cold - Day 3

Out by 8, or was it 9AM, my first stop of the day was Wal Mart. I needed a case of water, and a fold-up canvas sitting chair. If things went right, I would be camping by nights end. And things went well.

The next stop was the White Sands National Monument, after a picturesque two hour drive. I had gone to the Sand Dunes NP in Colorado on the first trip, and this proved to be the junior version of that spectacle. There were no dunes that were too difficult for a fit person to ascend, but the beauty of the rippled sand and it’s uniqueness, made it no less worth a visit.

It sits in the middle of a missile bombing range and sometimes they have to close it so the government can take some big gun practice shooting. It’s not far from alien sighting Roswell. An atom bomb had been tested near by. I’m all aglow.

From there, I decided I was too close not to go to Roswell, and hope to find a tourist trap with an extremely cheesy T-shirt with a green head and some pithy yet cryptic words. Alas, it was not to be. I was half way to Roswell when I saw a sign for Apache Frybread. That is a “must pull over” signal to my tastebuds. Before I could get off the road, I was caught up to and moved to the side of the road by a copper. He swerved to continue past me to whatever stupid emergency he was so pushy about.

So I continued on to the frybread. I’ve written about it before. It’s fantastic and like a flat bread version of funnel cake. This was the real deal stuff as I was on an Apache reservation. The dozen cars in the parking lot in such a desolate area was additional proof that it would be great, and it was.

I got mine to go, headed back on the road to Roswell, and a few miles later ran into a lane of parked cars. People were walking forward, figuring out what was going on and word was passed back that a bus had flipped over. Multiple ambulances had passed (while I was getting frybread). And there were bodies in the road. I believed them, so I made a U-turn and forged a new route through the Apache Reservation land that made me miss Roswell all together.

Because of the detour I ended up at Brantley Lake NM State Park where I selected the “Primitive” camping location meant for those without an RV. The site I ended up at didn’t provide a thing besides a flat like tent area and a bunch of rocks in a circle for a fire pit. They didn’t sell fire wood, so I had to gather what I could from the nearby trees.

I sat a couple of feet from the lake’s edge, ate my Subway hoagie, and watched a superb sunset over the lake and distant mountains. The streaky cloud cover greatly improved the susnset, but unfortunately covered up most of the starry night I had hoped to enjoy. It being a day shy of the harvest full moon, didn’t help either. I was exhausted and on my blowup bed by 9PM.

It’s time to go to bed when you’ve run out of firewood, and even the embers have gone cold.

Erasing Arizona - Day 2

By noon, I was out. Three hours across the desert on the I10, and I am now a former Phonecian and former Zoner. New Mexico couldn't come fast enough.

(Actually, New Mexico did come faster. I was once again tripped up by the crossing of a time line. I had most of what I wanted to do time out pretty well so that I could complete dinner and be back in my hotel room with plenty of time to get comfortable for Survivor. By the time I turned on the TV, they were already voting for the evictee. Damn time zone lines!!)

Shortly after entering New Mexico, I left the interstate and headed for Silver City, and the start of a scenic drive that had me criss-crossing the continental divide. I passed a town called Pinos Altos, or "tall pines" for you gringos, and that is exactly what appeared as I entered the Gila National Forest.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that I really had a great day. I am on vacation (or is it retirement or unemployment) and doing whatever I want, so it should be great. But once on the scenic drive, all stresses evaporate, and the beauty of the scenery takes over.

The road narrowed, and the center line disappeared, as the drive ran up, down and along the crest of small 6,500 foot elevation mountains. Tons of hair pin turns, striking panoramas, and ever changing flora; I even had a little skid producing run in with a deer that was eyeballing me like he wanted to make a suicidal run across the road. It was GREAT to get out of the desert.

Two hours deep in the middle of the journey, I came to the main attraction. The Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. There, a mile long loop trail led me past ancient "condos" built into a cave about half way up a cliff. Why people intelligent enough to build these "rooms" would choose to build them half way up a cliff is beyond me. Apparently they figured out there was easier living elsewhere, because they only lasted on generation before checking out. However, I give them some credit for picking a room with a view.

Though just a mile, the steepness of the hike taught me that my Snack Master legs need to be retrained to hiking again. There were also a few ledges along the way that kicked in my fear of heights adrenaline...an added bonus.

Back across the mountains, and down past a few scenic lakes, and finally into Dening, NM. Dening is like many of the towns and cities I passed through today. The best days are behind this town, and it seems like more than half the businesses are closed down, and it appears many were abandoned. Windows are boarded, and there isn't even a "For Rent" sign to be seen. Sad.

Tomorrow if all goes well, I will be camping out (thus no blog) not far from Carlsbad Caverns National Park with the goal of seeing as much as I can of the park on Saturday. This will be the first National Park I've visited that has elevators.