Days 29-30 Canada

[Kalon] After lunch with Lyn (Karen is stuck in a rut and ordered lobster rolls again!) we drove to Portland Maine and checked in at the Ferry office that goes from Portland to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. We were early and had to wait around in a car queue for the ferry to arrive.

After driving aboard we went to our room (ferry was scheduled to leave at 8 pm and arrive at 7 am the next morning so we had reserved a small room with two beds and bath).

The accommodation was comfortable and ship was quiet so we slept well except that at 5:30 am they woke everyone through the loudspeaker.  They wanted the rooms vacated by 6 so that they could be quickly cleaned for the return voyage.  At 7 am we docked and drove off through another queue (Canadian customs).  Then we drove to Liscombe on the east coast of Nova Scotia, at first on a thruway and after Halifax on more rural roads.

Have decided that KIA is schizophrenic.  While driving to Portland, Maine the day before she had done everything in her power to keep us off the back roads except she refused to allow us to take the toll road north (much the best choice).  Then today she barely tolerated our choice of back roads except that in one place she specifically directed us to go left leaving our paved highway for a 1/2 mile long dirt road that she called a shortcut.  Probably was 1/2 a mile shorter but still...   So what is she: a devotee of interstates, a compulsive short-cutter, an enemy of tolls?  Haven't figured her out yet even after a month of trying.

[Karen] I occasionally telephone Lyn but it was wonderful to talk face to face and enjoy her great sense of humor  once more.  It was unfortunate that we had to cut the visit short as we had reservations on the Portland, ME to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia ferry and we did not know how long that would take to drive. I was happy to see our roomette which could sleep four - note bunks locked up on either side - can't imagine four in that small a space! - had its own private bath and shower, For Kalon and myself it was quite comfortable but hardly roomy.As I could not negotiate the stairs easily we had to use the elevator to go up or down, Kalon had felt the fare on the boat was under par so had not made reservations for dinner  but we found the cafeteria choices suited us better anyway than the fancier restaurants on the boat. We could go to a bar lounge area and enjoy the exit from Portland with a glass of white wine and a great view, but once out of the harbor, and having clam chowder  and a salad I was quite content to retire to our cozy nest. Beds were narrow but comfortable. The next day it took  forever it seemed to exit through customs but after changing our exit lane we finally were interviewed and set free. I was so thankful we did not have to take everything out of  the car as it is truly PACKED what with bicycle and all, The first two or three hours were boring as it was just tree after tree for miles - one had to exit the freeway if you needed anything including gas. After going thru Halifax I got  Kalon to take more rural roads - we were both going to sleep with only trees and more trees to look at,. I finally encountered some truly rural approaches to accommodating the needs of travelers which I will try to share with you... just let me get my iphone for a sec...

Outside

Inside - those are wooden bars, folks

Oh well, the air was fresh and the park was beautiful, As we drove on toward our accommodations the scenery was truly beautiful.

The Atlantic Ocean as we approach Liscomb, Nova Scotia

We passed many old churches of all denominations and they all mostly looked like this.

While the road began to look like this.

Lots of beautiful columbines? fox glove? in white, pink or blue.

Day 28 Gloucester, MA

[Kalon] After leaving Cambridge we drove to Gloucester, MA maybe 25 miles north of Boston.  Somewhat surprisingly, we discovered that we had arrived just in time for Gloucester's Fiesta, and that it is probably even more raucous than Santa Barbara's equivalent.  We had dinner in a restaurant that was so noisy that Karen and I had to lean close to each other when we talked so as to be heard.  Nice dinner otherwise, but we were happy to leave before the music started.

The next day we drove to visit Lyn (who has lived in Gloucester forever), a long-time friend of Karen's from way back before Karen and I knew each other.

Here is a picture of Lyn in front of her home, as irrepressible and friendly as ever!

After a nice lunch on the waterfront, we took a drive to Rocky Neck (mainly an upscale residential area with lovely homes and  beaches.) 

I left the two ladies to continue their conversations and went bike riding around the area visiting some of the nearby communities.  (I'm getting much more efficient at reassembling/disassembling my bicycle so as to fit in the hatchback: it's now taking me only five minutes.)  Then dinner together at a pleasant country restaurant.

[Karen] It was wonderful to be able to spend most of the day with Marilyn (Lyn) Kimball a friend  since my early days when I first worked at Harvard Littauer Labs as a programmer pre-Kalon. She is another friend who I have maintained over the years and a continent's distance,. She has lived in or near Gloucester most of her life in a pre-revolutionary war tavern turned home located steps from the eastern side of Gloucester Harbor. After a drive around East Gloucester showing Kalon where he could ride his bike, Kalon took us back to her home and she and I  had a great time catching up on where we are in life both physically and spiritually.

Boston skyline visible from beach on Cape Anne

Egret amid water lilies on pond - Cape Anne

When Kalon returned from his bicycle ride we adjourned to a country restaurant in Essex and I had a great dinner - rack of lamb with at least a dozen chops on the rack! ,not just a measley two or three like we normally get. We will continue the visit with Lyn a couple of hours tomorrow before heading off to Portland,ME.

Day 27 - Cambridge, MA

[Kalon] Got up early and left Karen sleeping while I drove our Prius to the Toyota dealer in Wellesley for its 5k mile service (we have put on almost 5000 miles since we left SB 4 weeks ago).   There service dept is a model for what an auto dealer's service operation should be: incredibly well organized and laid out. 

Returned 90 minutes later to say goodbye to Karen's friend Karen, and then we drove to Cambridge (where I spent 4 years getting educated?)  First we had to find a parking spot and that was extremely difficult.  Finally found limited time on-street metered parking.  We walked by my residential house (Adams) with its ornate entrance, but it was closed.

So then on to Harvard Yard (after leaving Karen to browse in a bookstore).

The "Yard" (where the freshmen live) is perhaps one of the few attractive places belonging to Harvard.  The larger campus is spread out over quite a few blocks and interspersed with cars, stores, and city life.  During my freshman year I lived in the Yard in Thayer (also locked).

Thayer

I then visited one of the premier academic libraries in the country, Widener library.  I got photographed (so as to have access to the library) and then went to the archives.  There I talked with the archivist and inquired as to the status of my father's archival collection (as an emeritus professor in the school of education the library was interested in acquiring his papers/letters/publications.)  I was given a list of what they had, but since it was stored off-site it would take 1 or 2 days to retrieve any requested information for review.  So next visit I'll plan ahead as I am sure there is much there that would be fascinating to me.

K and I had lunch and then set off to visit MIT.  My, how the area has changed (but then it has been 55 years!!!)  New buildings, changed traffic patterns, and almost complete automobile deadlock.  After a few attempts to find parking close to where Karen and I worked together (and where we met) we decided it wasn't worth the candle and slowly made our way up the coast to Gloucester.

[Karen] It would have been nice to have been able to visit MIT but it was a madhouse of trucks, detours, and Massachusetts drivers, To tell the truth, we couldn't even find MIT at first! We had forgotten our way around and had driven down Cambridge Ave. which led us off course. When we finally found our way to Mass Ave. we first parked too many blocks away and spent a long time trying to walk there. Finally, we gave up and did manage to drive past the Mass Ave entrance but were quickly pushed past the entrance and up and over the 'Salt and Pepper Shaker' bridge and into downtown Boston where we quickly got enmeshed in traffic on Storrow Drive and pulled into North Boston where we glimpsed Durgin Park enroute but as time was flying we decided to forgo the experience of revisiting out gluttonous past (but I longed for just one taste of Indian Pudding
 - cooked Farina with maple brown sugar stirred in?) Miss KIA (Know It All) managed to get us out onto 93 and we proceeded toward Gloucester. Kalon has redeveloped his skills as a Mass driver and is able to dive in and out of lanes with dexterity. We have decided that our GPS system has two persona : one is polite and knowledgeable (Miss Know It All) and the second is Miss Know Nothing who pronounces everything incorrectly.

Day 26 - Lexington and Westwood, MA

[Kalon]  From Falmouth we drove to Lexington (a ways outside of Boston) were I lived from birth to about 7 years of age before my family moved to Santa Barbara.  Karen and I drove to my home in Lexington:

The house itself was little changed (a 2nd story added to the sun porch top right), but the lot itself had been subdivided and where this lovely house had stood by itself it was now rather hemmed in by three other houses.  Sigh...   Wondering if my brother Ken remembers this home?

Then a block away to my elementary school (Adams) which is now not a public school but a Waldorf school.

I have very few memories of this school apart from one traumatic one where I had thrown a snowball and broke my teacher's taillight on her parked car.  I was in emotional agony all day.  The following day the teacher asked the class if anyone had broken her taillight and I had to fess up.

This is a picture of the back of the school, and you can see to the right past the playground a pond (mainly covered with algae).  Each winter that pond would freeze and it would become our venue for skating.

We then drove to Westwood, Mass where one of Karen's college friends lives.  Fox Hills is a lovely retirement community and Karen's friend from her Vassar days, Karen Metcalf, had arranged for us to stay in a guest room.  We had a very nice visit and dinner with Karen.

Two Karens

 

 

[Karen] We had a lovely visit with Karen Metcalf and if Kalon had 'forgotten' to pick me up after his appointment in Wellesley to have the car serviced I probably could have become quite accustomed to the luxury of Fox Hills... a beautifully run retirement center. Karen M. surmised that was because it is run by a board of residents. We were able to convince Karen to accompany us to a small French restaurant in town of which she had heard good reports so I got as gussied up as I could. Karen M. is a loyal Episcopalian and she showed us some of her projects for the boys choir of a Church of England church in England... a beautiful wooden music stand given in honor of her mother to replace a plain metal one. She also showed us a beautifully designed choir director's robe which she had designed herself in blues with many symbols of her own history of faith which she had created for the church (I believe, on Riverside Drive in New York) where she had been a member for years. Karen is also an opera afficianado. I remember both Karen and another friend from Vassar days, Anne Luning listening to the operas broadcast from New York City Opera House on Saturday mornings when I was a sophormore at Vassar. (I probably was sleeping in or reading or maybe doing my job as a Vassar guide, leading prospective students and parents around the grounds. One of my memorable moments as a guide was at the moment of pointing out the woman gardening in front  of the President's house, as "President Blanding" and having President Blanding doing an 'upsy daisy' just as I was pointing her out - very impressive!))





Days 23-25 Falmouth, Massachusetts

[Kalon]  After arriving at our home for the next three days, I finally unpacked and assembled my bicycle that had been stowed in the back of our hatchback.  I then biked through Falmouth and along part of the "Sea to Shining Sea" bikeway to Woods Hole and back.  Sure was nice to be back on the bike.

"Sea to Shining Sea" bike path

Falmouth in distance from bike path - Atlantic on right

Day 2.  Karen and I drove 1/2 mile to the Falmouth Ferry landing, parked our car, and boarded the ferry with my bike in tow.

The Island Queen - our ferry to Martha's Vineyard
 

After arriving I said goodbye to Karen (who was staying in Oaks Bluff for the day) and did a bike tour of the Island.  For a good part of the island there were Class 1 bike trails

while for the rest of the trip there were marginal shoulders and modest traffic.  I visited Vineyard Haven, West Tisbury, Chilmark (but not Aquinnah), and then Edgartown.  As I had some time, I decided to take the short ferry ride to Chappaquiddick to see if I could find the site of the infamous Senator Ed Kennedy accident with Mary Jo.



Harbor at Chappaquiddick

 

 

Chappaquiddick ferry coming in.

The ferry (holds 3 vehicles) takes about 1 minute to make the passageway (which Kennedy swam after the accident).  But I couldn't orient myself and so just drove around the small island and then returned to Edgartown and then Oaks Bluff.   My first stop was to order a strawberry frappe (for those who don't speak New Englandese, that's a strawberry milkshake).   But I couldn't find Karen and she didn't show up as she was actually waiting for me one block away at a 2nd ferry terminal (the correct one) for our company.  Eventually I discovered the error of my ways and joyfully reunited with her before returning to Falmouth.  A tiring but very satisfying day.

Entrance to the harbor at Falmouth.

[Karen] It was an interesting day spent in a total tourist oriented environment. There may be a few places on Martha's Vineyard which are true vacation - homes for wealthy people but the whole area mostly resembles a New England Solvang. T-shirt shops, ice cream shops, junky tourist places selling anything imprinted with "Martha's Vineyard" including shot glasses, hats, etc. In addition there are millions of bicycle, scooter, flashy car (mainly Jeeps, Hummers, and Corvairs) rental places... as well as Taxis, buses and tour vehicles all vying for the tourist trade. They are willing to drive you North, South, East and West. I saw one man arrange to rent a flashy yellow sports car for $400 for 24 hours. He must have arranged for a different price for I saw him turning it in about 5 hrs later. Bathrooms were harder to come by.

 It was a beautiful day but to tell the truth I was happy when Kalon and I finally were reunited and were able to take the return ferry to our motel here in Falmouth. We both had become mixed up as to which wharf we has landed at and both had sat waiting for the other at the wrong wharf for several hours. To be honest, I did manage to consume my share of ice cream and to buy a pin for my hat which has a lobster on it as well as "Martha's Vineyard".  Total dollars left in Martha's Vineyard by Karen - $12 lunch, $4 pin for hat.

Day 3. [Kalon] Uninspired  day.  Kalon  had the car washed and got a haircut while Karen did the laundry.  Then a bit of planning for the days ahead.  Dinner at a nice Indian restaurant in Falmouth.  Nice to have an unplanned/unscheduled day.

 

[Karen] After doing the laundry, I shopped. Was looking for shirts as I have stains on most of my t-shirts. Actually any city in the U.S. is interchangeable with any other. Merchandise is pretty much the same whether in Mass or Calif or Texas except the T-shirts will have the relevant scene and name on them.... sailboats, or cats, or dogs with 'Santa Barbara',  'Cape Cod', or 'Dallas' on them and all of them made in China!

 

Day 22 - Vassar College (Poughkeepsie, NY)

[Karen] The day started from our motel in Gettysburg,PA.by the pool with coffee, bagel, cream cheese (at least for me) and blue skies. I tried to map out a route that would take us more or less on a direct route toward Poughkeepsie on country roads. Unfortunately, it seemed to be yard sales posing as rare antique sales were set up in every small town on the road. Every house on the route had their tables out with more kitsch than you would ever care to see posing as 'antiques'. It must have also been "Celebrate and honor your Fire Department Day" which is a good thing, but every fire truck in PA, NJ and NY was sitting by the roadside of every small town we drove through - all shined up and looking their prettiest whether shiny red, yellow or lime green, The slow progress we were making drove Kalon crazy. In some towns, it took us 10 minutes to go one block! We finally pulled into Poughkeepsie about 4:30 and after checking into our hotel, drove over to Vassar College where I had spent many hours of my two scholarship funded years in non-academic pursuits: cheap (price not content) movies at the Juliet Theater perched right at the corner of campus with tickets on sale for about $1 and changing movies every 2 or 3 days. Or if I wasn't going to the movies I was 'in the stacks' at the library reading old, old novels. Also, cutting classes! It was no wonder I lost my scholarship. Here I am standing in front of my Freshman dorm which was the Main building of the college. The senior class was all in this building along with some lucky freshmen. Matthew Vassar was a wealthy brewer in the area and he decided to champion education for Young Ladies. This was the original building housing the whole college. I lived on the fourth floor on the right hand side toward the back of the building and made life long friends: My roommate Peggy (Margaret Leuten) Wasserstrom from Cleveland, OH; Karen Metcalf from Reading, Mass; Anne ( Luning) Studholme from Chicago, Ill area all of whom we will visit on this trip.

Outside Main

 

  

Looking back toward the entrance to the college



Main



The two years I spent at Vassar, though pretty unproductive academically were very happy years. Jt was hard to come back and live at home and not be able to come and go as I pleased. Nor was UCLA quite the same in terms of watching over their students and coddling them. My math teacher (Miss Winifred Asprey) at Vassar probably was the one who first introduced me to computers as a good friend of hers was the famous Grace Hopper of IBM which had its original headquarters just down the Hudson River from Vassar. A few years after I moved home, Vassar had a computer center funded by IBM.

 

I loved Cushing - the architecture seemed like something I would find in Olde England which appealed to my romantic literary side The door behind me on the left would have been one I used many times to get to my room on the third floor. Poor Kalon had to listen to me gush on and on.

 

[Kalon]  During the morning drive I was accompanied by two self-sure ladies, both a  bit headstrong.  Karen thought that since it wasn't a long day we could enjoy getting off the main roads.  I made the mistake of entering our destination for Ms Kia ("Know-It-All" - our onboard computer navigator).  So pretty soon Ms Kia was telling me to take "the next right" while Karen was saying "no way - keep to the left".  And of course as soon as I ignored a direction, Kia was quickly advising me to "take any legal U-turn" and Karen was saying (with increasing emphasis) "not happening!".  While Kia outwardly retained her professional attitude, I think we eventually overwhelmed her (she was surely thinking who are these idiots who are disregarding MY directions) and she went uncharacteristically silent for quite some time.  Anyway, the moral to the story is that you can have a fine trip with Karen navigating just as you can have a fine trip with Kia navigating, but DON'T empower both of them to navigate at the same time.

 

.

Days 20-21 Gettysburg, PA

[Kalon]  Wow!  Talk about trying to take a drink from a fire hose.   It's the end of the 2nd day as I write this, and I feel that while I have learned so much about this part of the US History I have scarcely scratched the surface.

When we arrived I first headed to the National Cemetery, wanting to try and get my head in the right place.  This isn't about a fascinating military exercise, but about real people giving their lives for what they believed in.  I wanted to say to all of them, Union or Confederate, a simple "thank you", and "it turned out for the best".  But, while heartfelt, that's pretty simplistic.

 

The national cemetery at Gettysburg.

At that cemetery there was a memorial to Abraham Lincoln who gave that memorable "Gettysburg Address" talk after the battle.

At the visitor's center there were numerous ways to experience the events of July 1-3. 1963.  You could walk, you could drive, you could take a bus, a scooter, a horse, a bicycle, or a carriage.  With or without a bus driver, guide, book, CD, or smart-phone app.  I elected to walk the afternoon of the first day, and then K and I drove our car the 2nd day.   

On the first day I walked the union line from Cemetery Hill to the middle of the line, and of course the focus was on the events of the third day of the battle with the infamous "Pickett's Charge" across the open land between Seminary Ridge (from where the confederates started their attack) and Cemetery Ridge (where the Union held and repulsed it.) 

This marker memorializes the high point of Pickett's Charge.

In the morning of the 2nd day we focused more on events toward the far left of the Union Line.  We drove to Big Round Top (a large hill in the southern part of the engagement) and I walked to the top.    While there were monuments here (as indeed there were throughout the extensive battle field)

I think I was most touched by finding among the vegetation a little rock wall where a few Union infantrymen had scratched together a place where they could find shelter and confront any confederates who were attacking up the slopes in front of them.

Leaving  Big Round Top we drove to Little Round Top where the views of the battlefield were much more expansive.   From here we could see the "Devil's  Den" and the "Valley of Death".

We then visited other significant landmarks (the Wheat Field, and the "Peach Orchard" before breaking for lunch and then the Cyclorama and movie at the Visitor Center.  Then we drove along Seminary Ridge (the Confederate line) with its memorials:

 

Robert Lee memorial

And ended up at the Klingle House on the southern end of the day 3 battlefield.  I joined a several hour walking talk by a Park Service guide who was quite convincing that Lee had developed a masterful battle plan that, alas, (from the Confederate viewpoint) was not well executed.  And then Karen and I shut down for the day with much to much to think about.

Gettysburg is an amazing place (both now and in 1863), and I wonder if any of my grandparents (or their parents) - from New Hampshire -  were directly involved.

Tomorrow on to Vassar College for a bit of nostalgia.

[Karen] Hoorah! Hoorah! We are done with Civil War battlefields!  Too bad I can't inflict sitting in the car for hours on Kalon while I look at Amish quilts.

Day 20 - Harper's Ferry

[Kalon] I'm not sure why Harper's Ferry interested me.  While not insignificant in the scheme of the Civil War, the battles fought here were not particularly momentous.  I think it was fascination with the earlier history of John Brown's insurrection in 1859 where he and a small group of followers seized the Federal Armory with plans to arm the slaves, which plan scarcely got off the ground before the insurrectionists were killed or captured.  Still the action caught the imagination of both the North and the South and was part of the context for the Civil War that followed.

Karen and I took a shuttle bus from the Visitor Center (on the hillside above the town) to the historic village at the confluence of the Potomac and the Shenandoah, and wandered around there.

 The main street of historic Harper's Ferry.

 

John Brown's Fort

Harper's Ferry was a Federal armory and a small industrial center based largely on the water power from the two rivers.  

 

From the point of Harper's Ferry looking down the Potomac.

After looking around and visiting some of the historic buildings, I hiked back up to the :Visitor Center and we left Harper's Ferry for Gettysburg.

Day 19 - Blue Ridge Parkway and Shenandoah Parkway on way to Harper's Ferry

[Kalon]  Today was supposed to be a relatively short driving day from Roanoke, VA to Harper's Ferry, West Virginia.   So we opted to get off the main roads and back on the Blue Ridge Parkway (and then the Shenandoah Parkway).  Pleasant driving but very slow.  Seems like after every curve there was a new view overlook.

Eventually we reached Humpback Mountain Visitor Center where they had recreated some wooden structures reflecting how the early settlers lived.  There was a cabin (2nd story accessed by a ladder for the kids) where 9 people lived!

(Strange guy in front of cabin was not an example of an early settler!)

And after a while we stopped at a picnic site off the Parkway for our typical lunch.

Fat Frog Hollow Picnic Area

(Strange woman at picnic table was also not an example of an early settler!)

[Karen] We were able to continue on into the Shenandoah National Park when  The Blue Ridge Parkway ended, and it was more miles of beautiful scenery until we exited at Hwy 33 in order to make it into Harpers Ferry. It actually takes 3 to 4 days to traverse the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Shenandoah Natl Park highway at the max speed of 35-45 mph (and believe me,  the curvy road was kind of scary at those speeds sometimes!)

After descending from the Parkways into Front Royal we took Hwy 304 thru the Shenandoah Valley  toward Harpers Ferry. The drive along 304 was a welcome respite from the incessant truck traffic and their aggressive driving along the major I-highways.. The Shenandoah Valley is bucolic and beautiful.



Looking toward Blue Ridge Mtns





The Shenandoah River

Shenandoah Valley Farm

Church

Hay rolls



Day 18 - Cherokee, NC to Troutville, VA

[Karen] Today we surfed The Blue Ridge Mtns! Whaat? I can hear you say. But that's what it seemed like. We started out from Cherokee and drove north on 441 to pick up the western end of the Blue Ridge Parkway, a two lane highway which is curvy, tree lined road and  mountainous at its western end. It took us awhile to reach Soco Gap. We knew we could only drive parts of the Parkway as you cannot drive more than 35 most of this stretch. We constantly drove uphill and then downhill, thru tunnel after tunnel. But no trucks are allowed and I do not know if motorhomes are disallowed also or if they are fearful for the state of their vehicles. I know it would have been a nightmare if they had been allowed as the road is narrow and turnouts occur only for view points. The view points allowing long views showed ridge after ridge disappearing into the distance, which made it look like the peaks of waves in a large ocean. In order to reach our destination in Troutville, VA tonight we turned off the parkway at Soco Gap and continued west on Hwy 19 to I-40 which carried us North and slightly back west to I-81 which was 4 lane (2 each way) and which was chock-a-block with trucks not paying much attention or courtesy to the cars traveling with them. For some reason, trucks are given more leeway in the south than they are in the west. Rarely would a truck pull over to the right lane in order to let cars pass them, some even staying to the left even when they were not passing anything!

We have now come back to our old travel habit of stopping at lunchtime at a rest stop and making PB&J sandwiches and perhaps buying a drink out of a machine at the rest stop. We have a food bag but no ice chest (no room for one!) The foodbag is increasing in size as we add other stuff to it and we have also started to try cooking our own dinner as we are finding few even faintly healthy options in the small towns we stay in. So, to do that you need plates (paper), and silverware. I had already bought some metal knives to spread peanut butter and jelly with, and tonight picked up some spoons and forks at a strange little store which started appearing in east Texas called Dollar General. The stores vary in size from little (about the size of a gas  store) to the one we found tonite which was quite large. Frequently, except for larger cities these seem to be the only food sources for the rural population other than Dairy Queen or other fast food options. I have not seen any larger markets in the small rural towns we are driving by on the highway. No Kroger's or Safeway. Just Dollar General.Tonight I am concocting a dinner from a small box of Stouffer's meat lasagna and a bag of mixed vegetables. Kalon is doing something with a box of rice and beans. We bought a bag of salad but will have to concoct a dressing of perhaps red wine and a little bottle of olive oil which I bought.
Sorry, there are no pix tonight. We will try to do better tomorrow!

[Kalon] Route decisions are usually straightforward for us.  But today (at least in the morning) felt like a quagmire.  We were trying to strike a balance between following the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway (up and down, speed limit of 45 mph, single curvy lane each way) and actually getting to Troutville in Virginia.  So - from my perspective - it was poor harried Karen trying to make sense of our alternatives and Mrs. Know-it-all showing no hesitation in trying to direct us to the interstates.  Karen eventually relinquished control so we got to our destination in good time but didn't see a lot of the Parkway.

Tomorrow we head to Harper's Ferry, our 2nd civil war site (although the history of Harper's Ferry begins earlier with John Brown's insurrection there in 1859.)

Days 16-17 - Great Smoky Mountains National Park

[Kalon] From Decatur, Alabama we drove to Cherokee, North Carolina (touching Tennessee briefly).  Cherokee is at the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  During this drive Karen delighted in substituting her navigational directions for those of our GPS lady who we affectionately (?) refer to as "Mrs. Know-It-All".  When Mrs. Know-It-All would tell me to turn right at the next intersection Karen would chime in, "Sorry, that isn't the way we're going" and give me different directions.  Preferring the wrath of the GPS lady to that of Karen, I always followed Karen's advice.

As we entered North Carolina we drove through some river gorges with more rafters and kayakers per square inch than anyplace I've seen.

Today I was going to explore a little bit of the Appalachian Trail (the AT) and drove to Newfound Gap on the ridgeline dividing North Carolina from Tennessee.

From there I headed north hiking on the AT.  I was surprised by two things: the absence of backpackers (I guess those doing a through-hike from Georgia to Maine are, in general, further north) and the absence of mosquitoes!  The trail is very different from those in the Sierra Nevada mainly because it is generally not above timber line and so one is usually hiking through forest with very limited views. 

                                                   Typical trail through the forest

After a few miles of climbing I came to Icewater Spring, a hut on the AT for overnight backpackers.

The hut can accommodate perhaps 15 people on two wooden frames.  Not luxurious but undoubtedly appreciated particularly when it is raining.

Continuing along a few miles I reached "Charlie's Bunion ", a small rock outcropping that you could sit on with views into Tennessee.

After lunch on the Bunion I retraced my steps and returned home.  I was glad to see a bit of the southern AT and am planning a day hike to its terminus in Maine about three weeks from now.

[Karen] It was a relief to once more get off a busy truck filled driveway onto Highwys 19 & 64 headed toward the Great Smoky National Park and the town of Cherokee in particular. We traveled alongside the Tuckasegee River where for miles there was river raft after river raft waiting a turn to float down the mild, for the most part, rapids.

             
        Warning - Kudzu Crossing!

Kudzu on the march!

At Ela we proceeded along 19 to Hwy 441 which runs along the Oconaluftee River  toward the town of Cherokee where we are staying for two days just outside the Park. On our way we saw Kudzu covered trees that seemed to cover everything in its way. Would it attempt to grow over us if we stopped?

Near Cherokee

 

We found our hotel/motel which has so far escaped the tentacles of the Kudzu. After venturing out to find dinner I regretfully did not resist the temptation of (oh horrors!) Chicken  Fried Steak.
For the uninitiated - those born after 1940's probably - that is Round Steak pounded with a mallet to tenderize it and then with more flour pounded into it with the same mallet until it gives up and endures being fried to a fair-thee-well in grease of some sort - lard, bacon fat, vegetable oil - your choice. We ate strange things in those days.  But my mother did NOT serve canned green beans! at least she did not once frozen vegetables appeared in the markets.

Today I reverted to my favorite hobby of taking over the washer-dryer room of the hotel and becoming Laundry Mom. We WILL WEAR CLEAN CLOTHES on this trip. It's dinner time again but not a lot of choices of where to eat in Cherokee. Although, Kalon did have fresh trout last night and one can always get Fried Chicken. Maybe, the salad bar would be a good choice come to think of it.