Reisterstown, Maryland

Mileage:  54,251

Today our journey ends.  We have been through 22 states and 3 Canadian provinces.  We have traveled almost 16,000 miles.  We have taken thousands of pictures.  We have enjoyed every minute of this grand adventure.  We are humbled by the people that we know have followed along.

We have completed our application process with the American Red Cross and we will be working on our training requirements to be able to help with disasters both locally and nationally.

We will travel to Arizona this winter after spending the holidays in Atlanta.

We will continue to use the blog as our journal for our future trips…beginning again after the first of the year.

Thanks for all of your support and comments, it means a lot to us.

We have certainly enjoyed this ride and look forward to being on our way again soon!

The more we travel, the more we realize how little we know.  Traveling this way allows you lots of time to think.  It slows your mind down while also opening your mind to new ideas.  It deepens your awareness and changes your perceptions.

We have certainly learned a lot of facts about geology, geography, birds and animals, weather, culture, history, mining and timber.

We have heard stories of survival and resilience.

We have found a sense of calm and peace as we stood among redwoods, as we watched orcas glide through the water, and as we watched shifting light over the Painted Desert.

We have realized our insignificance as we gazed at stars, stood at the rim of a meteor crater, held mammoth tooth, looked at petroglyphs, and watched age old glaciers calve.

We have stood in awe and wonder at Denali, the Icefields Parkway, the Yukon River, and in the wilderness of Canada and Alaska.

We understand after holding a piece of petrified wood 230 million years old that our time here is very short.

We have appreciated the kindness of strangers and the goodness of people.

We have engaged in problem solving and we have had the satisfaction of being self-reliant and independent.

We have learned to know each other and enjoy being together…just us.

We have found joy in this traveling and I have honed my navigation skills (I’m a work in progress!)

We know that we don’t need too much, that we can get by with very little.  We also know that we are spoiled with our nice RV and our king-sized bed and that many people live on much less every day.

We have discovered that we like to be unplugged.

We consider more about what other people need and what might be important to them in their situation.

We choose to ignore the naysayers and surround ourselves with others who have a positive attitude.

We believe in conservation and preservation so that our children and our grandchildren might also be afforded the opportunity to enjoy this beautiful world.

We feel incredibly lucky and profoundly grateful.

We want to become involved in disaster response and we got a call back from the American Red Cross today.  We will begin the training process and see where that leads us.

 

 

Walmart Morristown, Tennessee

Mileage:  53,731

We spent the morning traveling on the Nachez Trace.  Mild and sunny, it was a perfect day for a ride.

A short walk to a small waterfall.

The rest of the day, we spent driving and riding…now we are earnestly trying to get home.  We didn’t stop until 5:30.

We opted for a Walmart again.  This time we picked one way off the highway.  There were NO trucks!

We went for a bike ride just to get some exercise and then we ate dinner out.

And then we slept!

Meriwether Lewis Campground Nachez Trail Parkway Hohenwald, Tennessee

Mileage:  53,421

There was heavy morning dew clinging to the roadside weeds, glistening in the sunlight.  It was already warm as we began today’s drive.  Highway 64 is named the Trail of Tears.  In the early 1800’s Indian tribes were forced to relocate to the west of the Mississippi River.  They traveled this path.  You cannot pass through here without thinking about the way Native American peoples were treated.

The Nachez Trace Parkway started as an Indian trade route.  It is a lovely ride through dense forest and rolling hills.

Our breakfast spot…so peaceful!

The Meriwether Lewis Campground is free.  All the sites are large and wooded.

We took our bikes out for an 8 mile ride this afternoon.  We road through the campground and into the day use area.  We toured the house where Meriwether Lewis (of the Lewis and Clark Expedition) died and visited his memorial.

Then we biked out on a country road.

We met Bill Lawson.  He was selling what I thought were great big apples but were in fact dried gourds painted to look like apples.  He had lots of other things made of gourds as well.  We talked to him for quite some time.   This weekend is the harvest fest in Hohenwald.  There are yard sales all along the way.  Bill and his son are set up hoping to make some early sales.  I asked to take his picture and he put on his hat…a true southern gentleman!  He told us to be safe riding over the “hills and hollers!”

Some mushrooms and a nutshell!

We listened to Jack Johnson music, had a campfire, and grilled some Alaskan wild salmon.

Green Acres RV Resort Savannah, Tennessee

Mileage:  53,121

Neither of us slept very well last night.  There were lots of tractor trailers in the Walmart parking lot and it was pretty noisy.  We got ready to roll and we promised each other that we would do our best not to be too grouchy!

We did get very cheap diesel fuel in Arkansas…less than $3.00 a gallon.

We rode across the Mississippi River into Tennessee.

We decided to take Route 64 to get off the interstate for a while.  We drove through the town of Adamsville.  This was the home of Buford Pusser.  He was the sheriff from the true story and movie “Walking Tall.”  The road is named after him and there is a museum that you can tour.  He is a local hero who worked to rid his small hometown of corruption and all manner of vices.

This also gets us closer to the Nachez Trace Parkway where we plan to explore tomorrow.  Shortly before the campground we crossed the Tennessee River.

We spent the afternoon getting laundry done and watching football.  It was 90 degrees and we were in full sunshine.  We didn’t even feel like cooking dinner.  We went out for pizza and then drove the Jeep down to the river.

Walmart – Lonoke, Arkansas

Mileage:  53,121

Very early this morning we heard the great fluttering of wings.  Two owls must have landed in the tree outside our bedroom window.  We heard them hooting as they settled down.  A couple of times in the predawn hours we heard them calling to one another as if to reassure one another that they were both still there.   When I got up this morning I looked for them in the big old trees but could not find them.

Today’s ride continued along Route 40.  Across Oklahoma and into Arkansas.  There were soybean crops, cattle, and cotton fields.

There were also a lot of casinos.  In Oklahoma there were 9 casinos just off of the highway.  Oklahoma has the most Indian casinos and gaming centers than anywhere else in the country.  We passed through Cherokee, Seminole, and Creek territories.

Lunch spot.

Arkansas.

We drove about 400 miles today.  We stopped at a Walmart.  Lucky for us the Mariachi Grill was very close by.  We hopped on our bikes and went out to dinner.  Margaritas and Mexican fajitas…the highlight of our day!!

The ride was unremarkable and so it was a good day to get other things done.  Lists are started for all the things that have to be taken care of at home before we can leave again.

We have this list for you today:

Reasons Not to Go to Alaska in an RV

1. If you have to ask what gas costs or you are concerned about your MPG – don’t go.
2. If you are VERY afraid of bears (everyone should be a little afraid) – don’t go.
3. If you get annoyed if you have one mosquito bite – don’t go.
4. If you are anxious about chipping the paint on your RV or tow vehicle or chipping a windshield – don’t go.
5. If you are going to freak out when the engine light comes on, when the power goes out in the coach, when the furnace won’t come on, when the grill won’t light or when your serpentine belt is shredded – don’t go.
6. If you don’t like driving/sitting – don’t go.
7. If you aren’t up for a challenge – don’t go.
8. If you cannot stand being in small spaces with your partner for long periods of time – don’t go.
9. If you are worried about getting wet, dirty, greasy, or muddy – don’t go.
10. If you can’t figure kilometers to miles, liters to gallons, and Canadian dollars to USD – don’t go.
11. If you can’t sleep when it is light outside, or noisy outside, or quiet outside – don’t go.
12. If you are in a hurry – don’t go.
13. If you can’t live without cell/WiFi/TV – don’t go.
14. If you are scared of rough and bumpy roads with sharp drop-offs, no shoulders, no guardrails, and steep 18% grades with frost heaves – don’t go.
15. If you tend to be a candy-ass or a chickenshit – don’t go.

 

You see, all of these things are part of the RV experience.  You have to take this stuff in stride or you will be miserable.  Carry duct tape, bungee cords, zip ties and bug spray…and enjoy the ride!!

 

Reasons you might want to go to Alaska in an RV

1. If you want to experience the adventure of a lifetime and the ultimate road trip – GO!
2. If you want to have your adventure before dementia – GO!
3. If you want to challenge yourself and step outside your comfort zone – GO!
4. If you want to STOP dreaming about it and do it – GO!
5. If you want to meet amazing new people from all over the country and from different parts of the world – GO!
6. If you love wilderness and wildlife – GO!
7. If you plan to reinvent yourself after retirement – GO!
8. If you want to see the most beautiful state in the U.S. – GO!
9. If you want to see the salmon run – GO!
10. If you want to drink crystal clear glacier water – GO!
11. If you want to see the tallest mountain in North America – GO!
12. If you want to see the Land of the Midnight Sun – GO!
13. If you want to walk up to the base of a glacier and touch it – GO!
14. If you want to contemplate the vastness, the enormity, the magnificence of America the Beautiful – GO!
15. If you want to open your mind to new ideas and perspectives – GO!
16. If you want to appreciate the resilience of people who survive and thrive in a harsh environment – GO!
17. If you want to share amazing views, and thoughts, and experiences with your partner – GO!
18. If you have the courage, energy, and enthusiasm and the idea of this trip thrills you – Make it happen – GO!

Red Rock Canyon State Park Hinton, Oklahoma

Mileage:  52,710

I was awake at 4:45 this morning watching Orion in the night sky.  The constellation was gorgeous and surrounded by all kinds of stars we never see at home.  I wanted to go outside and look but the wind was howling.  My first thought was of those cyclists who were leaving today to do 65 miles…how would they ever make it in that kind of wind.  My second thought was about traveling in the RV in all that wind.  The long sides tend to act like a sail.  Thankfully the wind had died down a lot by first light.

We got to start the day with FaceTime.  We talked to David and watched Oliver run all over the playground.  What a great beginning for our Friday!

We saw these goats in a field while we were fueling the RV.

The wind farm that began near our campground continued east for another 28 miles.  Wind turbines are not a novelty here.  We saw them all day today, in Texas and then in Oklahoma as well.

Cadillac Ranch is an art installation.  A wealthy man hired a group of “hippie” artists called The Ant Farm back in 1974 to create a work of art to put in one of his fields.  They came up with the idea to bury 10 Cadillacs nose down and fins sticking up.  People began to come and see this “sculpture.”  Tourists began by taking pieces of the cars as souvenirs and then they began to bring cans of spray paint.  To this day people still go and paint was is left of the cars.  This is a picture from Route 40.

Today our ride was through flat farming country.  Fields of hay and cotton flanked the highway.  Cattle ranches with real cowboys are common here.

Welcome to Oklahoma!  BBQ Brisket for lunch at Billy Sims BBQ…fall apart tender and delicious!

It was 87 degrees and windy for most of the day.

We stayed at Red Rock Canyon State Park.  It wasn’t too far from the highway.  It is pretty and peaceful here and a nice place to ride our bikes.  There are rappelling areas in the park where people climb the canyon walls.  Kyle we were thinking of you today!!

 

Midpoint RV Park Adrian, Texas

Mileage:  52,447

We passed several mesas on our way out of Holbrook and across New Mexico.

Albuquerque sits at the base of the Sandia Mountains.

After the big city there was a lot of wide-open space.  Lots of crops and cows and grassland.

Our breakfast spot.

Texas.

We stopped to have lunch and to make a decision about where we wanted to stay tonight.  Tim wanted a sleepy little town.  He found a small campground in Adrian, Texas – population 182.  This is the midpoint of Highway 66.

We rode our bikes on Old 66.

The wind farm.

Sunset.

We met Richard, a cyclist traveling with a group.  They began in Chicago and are biking Route 66 across the country to Santa Monica.  They are halfway.  They have another 1,039 miles to reach the west coast and 3 ½ weeks to accomplish their goal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walmart Grants, New Mexico

Mileage:  52,133

I noticed on the map that the Petrified National Forest was just off of 40.  I knew we were meant to be going home so I didn’t get my hopes up too high…but we decided to go!

This was a spectacular day.  Even though this park is a short distance from the highway, it is entirely obscured from view.  You would never realize that it is there.  This is truly a hidden gem.  When you turn the corner and see the Painted Desert for the first time, it is like opening a present.  The dramatic clouds, the shifting sun and shadows, the burnished coppery rock formations, and the vast expansiveness are awe-inspiring.  Layers upon layers of rock…layers of time.

We traveled from the Painted Desert to Puerco Pueblo.  Here there are remnants of masonry walls built between 1250-1300 AD.

There is a summer solstice calendar.  The native people would have used this to determine the longest day of the year.  This was helpful for planting crops.  There are about a dozen of these calendars in the park.  Although it just looks like a rock, it is actually fairly sophisticated and accurate.

There are petroglyphs as well.

Blue Mesa was our breakfast spot.

Teepee.

When you imagine a forest, I bet you imagine green trees.  The Petrified Forest is unlike any other forest.  In order for the wood to petrify, it must be buried, therefore; all of the “wood” is rock; metamorphosed, fallen, and exposed.

We were meant to turn around halfway but we ended up driving the whole 26-mile distance through the park.

This took us to a rear entrance and out the “backdoor.”  From there we took the roads less traveled and drove through the countryside.  We saw distant pronghorns grazing in the tall grasses.  We saw ranches.

We saw sagebrush, stumpy, squatty pinyon trees, and mustard yellow desert flowers.

We drove through Navajo Nation where there were signs not to photograph cultural or religious activities…RESPECT!

 

The imposing mesas in the distance were in New Mexico.

We are staying in a Walmart in Grants, New Mexico.  Supplies gathered and then a bike ride at sunset.

Look for the beauty wherever you go!