Back Roads

Even with our compressed schedule, we vowed not to do a “Forced March” on the Interstates.  We wanted to see the changing countryside through Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio even if we couldn’t tarry. We were spectacularly successful; in close to a thousand miles we rode less than 70 miles on Limited Access roads.  We scribed each Rand McNally Scenic Byway that halfway led us to our goal and in the process learned that scenic often means narrow and twisty and hilly with no shoulder and often drop-offs or stone walls to add a little excitement. It was grand! Driving that requires close attention but pays dividends in sleepy hamlets, clear streams and tidy farms. There are, however, fewer pictures to share, but we know exactly where we’ll return to snap the scenes we still hold in memory.
The purpose of  all this hurrying was to welcome “Our Sister” Beth at the Pittsburg Airport.  Recently released from captivity at the Medical College of Milwaukee, she will be with us for the next two week or more.  We call these the “Driving Miss Daisy Tours” whereby both Pat and Beth giggle continuously in the back seat while Al drives, occasionally tips his cap and says “Yes' am”.
Outside Pittsburgh we “Courtesy Parked” with our good friends Bill and Nora, where we were warmly welcomed, fed sumptuously and often.  Laughter and Airstream stories filled the comfortable front porch and the Golden-doodles seemed to like the extra attention. 

“If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.”


Courtesy Parking at Bill & Nora’s
Is that a BRAND NEW Airstream??
Why yes. Yes, it is.
With Bethy on board and checked out on all things Airstream, we followed Bill over hill and dale to a lovely lunch at the Foxburg Inn.  Bill learned these Pennsylvania back roads on years of classic auto tours. He showed us hills and mountains, the oldest golf course in America, old churches and vistas of every shade of green. (It’s been raining A LOT lately.

 

By mid afternoon, we were slipping into Penn Wood Airstream Park and another warm gathering at the totally unofficial “Pre Bash”

Favorite Interstate ????

If it is even POSSIBLE to have a favorite Interstate highway, ours has to be this section of I-26 between Asheville NC and Jonesborough Tn.  We can remember wandering this area in our hiking days before this road was built –- Iron Mountain, Cherry Gap, the Beauty Spot , Erwin.  The roads were twisty, winding along creeks and narrow bottomland homesteads, and up over gaps to the inevitable trail crossing where any way you walked was UP.   Now we SOAR! Long ribbons of concrete swirling around and over, retaining walls, epic rock cuts swathed in sturdy fencing to retain the boulders that continue to follow gravity. Runaway truck lanes, ”Authorized Vehicles Only”.  Do we apply in triplicate?






















Looking past the concrete, the views are awesome --picture book little homesteads in little openings at the foot of 3000’ drops, a white church its steeple dwarfed by the surroundings. Yesterday we saw this road at its best; the early morning rain left patches of white cloud lifting from the bottoms and drifting through the gaps. The mountains are pristine clean-washed green to the tops and just a tiny of hint of autumn color  facing south. It’s hard to find a scenic pull over while towing a trailer, so Patty was frantically shooting pictures  through the windshield.  
We left the Interstate at Erwin to try TN 81, a narrow two lane with not an inch of shoulder, but there were glimpses of the Nolinchucky River and little traffic.
We found our old campsite at Persimmon Ridge in Jonesborough and set about doing our chores in a light drizzle.  We went to town to get laundry done, update the iPad at Amigo’s Mexican (good wireless, sorry sorry food) and noted a new “fresh Italian” place just opening in the same area: what were we thinking?  We have never found a Mexican place that compares to our hometown favorite, but the chances of stumbling on good Italian are endless…
We moved from Davidson River early because the day promised 24 hours of showers.  It is good to be settled in a few days early for the National Storytelling Festival and extra nice to have the electricity to hold off the damp.  It’s clearing as I write this next day, so we will go off exploring… and come back to see what new neighbors have arrived.

iPad Navigation & More

We started this last four month road trip with a brand new iPad and some untried apps. Here is what we have learned so far. You should know that we have been navigating for years with the Delorme Mapping products on the laptop.  Patty is a 5th degree black belt in Delorme.

“What’s the name of that mountain over there, Honey?”
“That’s Picklers Peak, elevation 3457 MSL”
“What’s that on top?”
“Radio station WGGT, country for all of West Virginia”  “I think the road up there is a little steep for an Airstream,” she adds, getting a little tired of the gratuitous geography quiz.

She did all that and more from a little laptop desk anchored in front of her co-pilot seat.  That is, she DID until a friend with experience in ergonomics in airplane cockpits and more common sense than I pointed out that an airbag deployment would likely cut my lovely wife in half.  The desk was removed and enter the iPad with a whole set of new navigation applications.

Only the iPads with cellular capability have the GPS thingy.  You need that.
Cellular connection completes the package but you can navigate without it. (We used Verizon and feel it has the best coverage in the places we travel)

Lots of applications make use of your position to provide useful information; some apps are resident on the pad and others work only if you are connected to cellular.

The Google maps program has up-to-date maps, lets you plan a route while on WiFi or cellular and saves it for use when you are not “connected.”  Maps has a “traffic” view which will show you congestion not only in city environments but in other surprising places.  Yesterday we passed an accident in the opposite lane backing up traffic for miles.  When we started seeing taillights on our side a few miles later, Lovely Co-pilot confirmed that it was indeed showing up on the map, but it was transitory, probably that accordion thing.  It disappeared before Lovely Co-pilot could plot a course avoiding it…
 
The “you Need A Map” application is resident on your iPad (after a long download), knows where you are and lays down a “bread crumb” trail you can save and play with later.  You don’t plan a route with this one, but you can follow along watching your little blue symbol moving on the map.  You need this one when you are not connected and…say it with me …”You Need A Map.”

The “Allstays” application maps all the campsites in the country along with important things like, rest areas, Walmarts, your favorite stores, low overpasses, truck stops and lots more.  They are presented on a map with your position in the middle.  You can use the filter to show just the features you are interested in at the moment.  When on cellular you can call up the campsite’s webpage, see reviews and even pictures right from the application. Touch a button and “Allstays” plans your route to the selected feature and brings them up in Google maps.  Very handy because with the route selection you get millage and a driving time estimate.  We use this a lot. 
WARNING NOTE:  Always read the direction segment of the selected campsite’s web page.  Often there are better directions and dire warnings about the consequences of ignoring them.

There are other campground finding apps: “Campwhere” lists only public campsites, but missed a great one we used in Michigan. “I Camp Here” has both public and private.  Both seem to be waiting for users to fill in the blanks in their database and are often missing the basic information (like how many sites). We list them as “not ready for prime time” but keep them on the pad for cross reference.


Soo, you are whizzing down the Interstate and are wondering about lunch, or a tire shop or Kinkos.  “iExit” is the application that knows where you are and what’s within a short distance of the next exits.  It seldom lets you follow a two mile trip through town to find the subway advertised on the highway sign  AND it provides a handy detailed map of the area around the exit which aides navigation around Malls and other cluttered interchanges. The featured stores are shown on the map.
Several states now have “Pocket Ranger” apps or an equivalent.  These have lots of information on camping and sightseeing in the state and will link you seamlessly with the appropriate site to book a campsite. 
We have tried some other applications and are still finding others. 

 These are working well for us right now for basic Navigation.  Others everyone should consider:

A weather App.  Your choice, there are several.  We use the weather Channel. 


“My Radar”  Isn’t it cool to have onboard weather radar just like a real pilot? Remember when bag cell phones first came out and worried kids would watch CNN and relay tornado tracks to you, or the local radio would provide up  to the second info, but you needed a map and a good co-pilot to find those threatened counties?  Now you are the Master of the Universe and all the ugly climatological phenomena that implies.  Several free apps provide quick updating radar.  Just don’t leave it on when you don’t need it because those repaints will suck your download allocation down quick.  Flip your “Maps” over to Satellite view and it will SLOWLY repaint your map and help you find a big empty church parking lot or other open place to wait out the wind and rain in an area free of falling tree limbs.

OTHER COOL STUFF:
“Gas Buddy” knows where you are and seeks out the best reported gas prices.  It is not unusual to save 10 –15 cents a gallon.  If you have loyalty cards with say Loves, Costco or Sams, the Allstays program will help you find one  (use the filter feature.)
We dispense with gas receipts by using “Gas Record” to record purchases and do the math.  We do this on the phone; the iPad isn’t always running, but the phone is usually handy.  Reports can be generated if you REALLY  want to know how much you are spending on gas. You can also see your gas purchases on a map if you can’t remember exactly where that cheap place along I-65 with the RV lanes and the attached restaurant was.

And, Oh Yes.  Do you  remember those little sweaks, pings and whirlly noises that accompanied the Gameboy being tortured in the backseat on those long trips with the kids?  I have found that if I don’t keep Lovely Copilot occupied searching for Thai Food in an outdoor setting with all 5 star reviews, she lapses into GAME MODE and the sounds of decks shuffling, piles of blocks collapsing and magical transformations of colored icons into pyramids fill the air.

“Whatever happened to the art of conversation, admiring the passing landscape, wondering what that historical marker might have said…” he asks.
“On course, on Glide path…shut up and drive.”

Perfect Picture Beach

We might never have found Canyon Falls without Jerry’s advice.  The Trail starts in one of Michigan's lovely Roadside Parks and joins the Sturgeon River along an easy boardwalk/path. The rock here fractures horizontally in brick size pieces so the whole gorge appears to be built of grey Legos.

Passing through Munising, we drove the whole length of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.  The now fully paved road is nearly fifty miles long but seldom comes close to the main features of the Park. We arrived at the little village of Grand Marias without a glimpse of the spectacular cliffs and waterfalls that define the park. The Woodland Hills Township Campground here triples the population of this 300 person town.
The beach down a staircase from our cliff top camp site crosses a broad sand beach, a narrow swath of amazing multi colored stones into emerald tinted water.  It is as clear and beautiful as any beach we have seen on Superior.  In one direction is the light for the Grand Marias Harbor and in the other a huge 300 foot sand dunes at Grand Sable. We walked the rocky wave line looking for the elusive Agate and finding a quantity of “nice rocks”. I lured Patty into town in search of ice cream where we again caught up with Pam and Martin, our rock collecting friends. 

 

 

 

Sittin by the Edge of the Bay

It is very, very pleasant here in O.B.Fuller County Park on the edge of the Green Bay of Lake Michigan. The breeze is onshore and, except for a picnic table, a fringe of shoreline pines, and a Trumpeter Swan with five little ones, there is nothing between us and Door County, Wisconsin  where radio tower lights twinkle with the stars. 
Up the other way I can imagine I see the lights on the Mackinac Bridge  which we crossed in the early afternoon. 
We prefer to forget the 450 plus miles of featureless freeway we drove to get here –Too Fast and TOO LONG!
We passed everything that makes this Michigan –- the coastal towns, the rivers with magic names—Au Sable, Pere Marquette, Manistee.  Towns like Grayling, Petoskey, Alpena  and Ludington were just exit signs.
  When we were in grad school at MSU (and starving), we watched Mort Neff’s Michigan Outdoors program every Thursday night. (Everybody watched; that’s why every Michigan citizen can tell you the best rivers to canoe, even if they never have). We had so little money that we seldom got out of the county;Only by the grace of my college roommate did I see any of richness of Michigan.  So be it resolved that we will do no more 400 mile days and we will find time to give Michigan its due.
Tomorrow we will forget these sins we have just repented and drive another 250 across the Upper Peninsula to meet our friends and settle into their cozy lakeside cottage  for days which promise to be warmed with friendship and just active enough to make new memories. 

Lost Highways

Frost was blanketing the ground and ice fog lifting in the sun as we pulled past the “Elk Fields” leaving the GSMNP. There was a huge bull grazing close to the road in the shady corner of the field giving the “Bugle Corps” volunteers a problem -- this guy obviously didn’t want  a  respectful margin, he wanted that tall untrampled green the mower missed.

We were heading home.  For a couple days it had seemed we were lingering here too long.  There were clear signs -- Pat squeezing in one more session with her nemesis, the big brown trout under the ledged rock “RIGHT IN THE CAMPGROUND” , Al  doing housework and making lists of  trailer tasks to do before winterizing.
The route had been carefully crafted to avoid tall hills, Atlanta and Chattanooga.  Is that Possible?  Why, Yes it is.  There are thousands of miles of perfectly adequate two lanes called Blue Highways which wanderers turn to when the scenery, human and pastoral,  is preferred to interstate blandness and thruway sprawl.  EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT. We discovered this afternoon that there are also major arteries called US Highways that proceed directly and independently of the Interstates with broad, sometimes multilane tracks, right where we want to go – mostly.  US 441 and US 27 were without traffic, moved directly down the valleys and beside railroads choosing the “route of least resistance”.  The speeds were pleasingly moderate, the occasional traffic stop actually welcomed as a chance to look around.  Bypasses were in place around most larger towns, but we didn’t have to guess which attractions and opportunities lay beyond exit signs.
We wheeled into the only restaurant in White, Georgia, and found that Willie Nelson stops here. Was it for their chicken fried chicken, deep fried mac and cheese or deep fried cheese cake? Or was it to see the old car yard across the highway, “photographers paradise” spray painted on a car body near the gate?
We took on a month's worth of cholesterol, and proceeded  on. When we did tag the Interstate, the contrast was apparent.  Big trucks in a hurry, compacts with impatient adolescents and debris everywhere.  We sped up unconsciously and tightened our grip on the wheel.  NEVER AGAIN.  We have found our new route to the mountains and will be searching for the yellow and red highways each  time we must make time slowly.

Westward ho ..through the Gap

Movin again.  Old Timers weekend coming to the Cove, so we are heading north to the Cumberland Gap. Had a nice time talking with our neighbors but still got away early, for us. Groceries in Townsend.  Once through Knoxville, the two lane highway 11W was running parallel to the escarpment through lovely farmland. Then left on 25E through some huge grades over a set of tall ridges.  These would have been a tough slough with an Airstream on the old roads; hard to imagine how rugged the country was before the Wilderness Road.  This is new country for us and we are anxious to get to the visitors center and start our own exploration.

Movin Day

Imagine, if you will, A shiny Airstream by a tranquil mountain lake with the Great Smokies rising blue and green in the background. Imagine again the whole range of the Smokies from Mt Leconte to Thunderhead with that same Airstream in the foreground. Can you see the mountains framed in the Airstream door?  Now imagine the photographer, palm slapped forcefully against his forehead….Yes, the delete button.  Sorry guys, no pictures today.
The  roads (and the views) were great –- trust me.  We stayed clear of Maryville and opted for Pumpkin Center and the lead in to the “Dragons Tail” (HWY 129) with its warnings about hairpin turns, switchbacks (perhaps dragons?). “Consider an Alternate Route.”   We, of course, considered the Foothills Parkway with all its glorious views of the mountains we were seeking.  We stopped to walk to the observation tower at Look Rock and to breathe what is certifiably the worst air pollution in the country (coal fired power plants from Texas and the TVA funnel air past this first high spot going eastward.)  The view was awesome though we were told it was better before the aforementioned improvements.
We picked up groceries and pizza in Townsend arriving in the Cades Cove campground at perhaps its most hectic time of the week.  The crowds were flowing out of the Cove Road, stopping for Ice cream, the picnic area was also draining.  Harleys were making their presence known accelerating up to Crib Gap, a string of arriving campers were jockeying for positions and a few of the established campers  were running generators that belonged on a construction site.  This was quite a contrast to the last few days in the National Forest.
In just a couple hours  it started to quiet down.  We walked the ”non generator” loop and found it quieter and less hectic.  The Group camping was empty and deer grazed in the green spaces; Anthony Creek made its own sweet sounds. By quiet time, we almost missed the coyote barks we left back at Tellico. 

Back Roads and Billy Goat Trails

Indecision reigns. The Coleman Lake CG was tranquil, sunny and cool. We imagined a day with feet up and a gentle breeze.. Nah! We are retired and a little tired, not catatonic.  We studied out our options and decided to reach for Indian Boundary Campground  in the Cherokee NF.
 “There’s no fishing here,” says Patty and that settles it.

The bonus of yesterday’s diversion to the East was that we could now drive back roads and  avoid the onerous bumpy interstate circuit through Ft Payne AL and Chattanooga GA.
Tallapoosa GA was a treat, for the Memorial and the great Victorian homes.   Hwy 27 was great with the second cutting of hay in the fields and Turkey working the edges for displaced protein.  Once past Rome with its multiple versions of hwy 53 and short section of I-75, we hit 225.  What a sweetheart of a road –flat, gently curving two lane up a valley with the Cohutta mountains rising on the East and the long spine of Lookout Mountain far to the West.  Lots of Cherokee history here.  225 follows the Trail of Tears from the New Echota Historical site past Chief Joseph Vann’s home. (Sorry, both open only Thursday to Sunday.)
Sure, we see you, highway 411, all four-laned now to the Tennessee line.  We might have abandoned you for the gorgeous eastbound 64 through the Ocoee gorge and up highway 30 past Reliance with the “only fly shop in Tennessee with a working fireplace”, but we would have missed the fun on the MECCA PIKE. 
The fun starts at Etowah on a deceptively modern highway 310 East. It winds and twists like a old buffalo trail, which it no doubt was. It climbs and wanders at 40 mph and no one even thinks about passing an Airstream gamely sweeping through the curves.  I guess you know you are on a thoroughfare of note when the majority of oncoming vehicles are motors and places like “Hog Heaven” are featured.  310 gives way to 39 perhaps because it is just too narrow for three digits and it continues to gyrate until it splashes into Tellico Plains.
The Plains are surprisingly gentrified of late with food and biker joints going upscale like motorcycle prices. The “original” Tellicafe is still serving from its antiquated old Hardees building; hope it is still as good as always…
It’s just sixteen miles now up the Cherohalla Skyway.


“Road Work next 23 miles” translates to beautiful new top coating, bright striping and lots of guardrails. (Thank you President Obama).

It’s late afternoon now and the road is quiet, winding along the Tellico River then up through huge rock cuts to start its climb toward Turkey Creek Mountain. 
 








We turn off at Indian Boundary Campground, find friendly camp hosts and set up in a shady level site just as the sun sets over the lake.
Thought for the day (from a fellow Airstreamer)

I AM what I wanted to be when I grew up –– RETIRED.

Dragging while draggin

It’s possible Al underestimated how really tired Patty was this morning.  Pleasant Airstream dinner meeting last night but way too much garlic, combined with the usual sleepless night before leaving, some late night alarms and bumps in the night; she was draggin.  We left at the stroke of noon with a revised plan.  What about  Coleman Lake in the Talladega National Forest? 
We took the “back way” up 231, newly resurfaced and really quite pleasant. 140 miles and we were circling a nearly empty campground with level paved pads, water, electricity and HOT showers.  It’s not your father’s National Forest any more.  The managed pine tracts had been freshly burned last time we passed, but the green understory is back and well within federal standards.  This for $8.50 a night and all the solitude you can fry up.
We  lunched, kicked back for a while and took a slow walk around the lake.  We had long chats with two of our neighbors; both live within 50 miles and consider Coleman Lake their special getaway.
“Where are YOU from?  How did you hear about this place?”
Yesterday, reading of our trip ten years ago, it seemed a matter of a few paragraphs before our horizons brightened up.  That may be a little over simple.
WEIGHT AND BALANCE
  With a short driving day and a full “basic load”, we decided this would be a good opportunity to check our weight and balance.  Volumes of Air Forums posts have been devoted to tweaking the trailer/tow vehicle interface and most start with a trip to the CAT scales for a detailed analysis.  We, of course, thought we could make use of the scales at the multi million dollar Montgomery Farmers Market.  This complex was built to replace the tin shed near the capitol offices which had provisioned politicos and plebeians Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays for 80 years.  Predictably, no one left the tin shed to patronize the new complex (which still lies resplendent under the windows of the Agriculture Commissioner who was stunned to find no one felt this Adobe and tile roofed edifice recommended  its promoter to higher office.)
This being our village history, we still expected the scales to be manned and were pretty certain there would be no truck stop crowds.
Well, after waiting a while for the chick who had the keys to finish setting up the ad campaign for the Alabama NATIONAL Fair….
“Lots of cutbacks,” she confided, her hand covering the receiver. “Everybody has four- five jobs now…”
… she took our five bucks and told us our total weight was 12850 pounds. 
“We were hoping to get the weight on each axel… ”
“Oh, they didn’t show me how to do THAT…”
WE PROCEEDED ON…secure in the knowledge that our couplings, tangential stress vectors, pinions,  weight distribution bars and anti sway thingies were at least as put together as the Agriculture department.

The Two Hundred Mile Rule

Our friends Tom and Carole have refined this RV supported bike touring to a fine Art.  I’m still not sure how the final itinerary is created during long snowy winter days in New Hampshire, but when they take to the road their movements are precise and their objectives clearly mapped out.  One salient principle, among many, is the
200 Mile Rule.   One never, never pulls one’s trailer further than 200 miles, never on weekends or holidays , never in the rain and seldom on grades exceeding the number of fingers you can grasp a ripe grape with.  
We have tried to follow this sensible advice and were congratulating ourselves when Tom added “A WEEK.”
OK, we tried that and found that new friends in the campground or nearby gave us great incentives to linger and just falling into the rhythm of the place revealed new attractions.
But occasionally we have strayed, sinned (if you had Nuns) and although usually only venially (again, the Nuns), sometimes it is a Doozie .  A 500 mile day – into the core of a southern heat sink.  “Bless me father for I have sinned… yesterday we left the 62 degree mountain campsite covered in booming Rhododendrons and  plunged  down 499 miles of sizzling Interstate into 115 degree heat . The Hydrangea are shriveled black threads and even the Lantana has failed to bloom.” 
“Don’t tell me that I’ll burn….”


 

Back to the Rhododendrons

From Wine (berries) to Rhododendrons ….We left The Skyline drive with 700 miles to reach Montgomery.  Seeking a midpoint, we settled on The Mount Rodgers NRA and a chance to ride the Virginia Creeper trail again. On Monday we will avoid the crowds. 
The ride was the same on I-81 but there were some surprises on the back roads.  This bridge work was the same Recovery Act money that brought us the silky smooth new pavement on the Skyline Parkway; Thank you President Obama!  The tornado damage a few miles back is still being cleaned up.
The Drive up , way up, from Damascus VA to Beartree  campground is part of the Transamerica Bike Route (the 76),  a scenic byway and probably should be a national treasure. THE JEB STUART HIGHWAY (US 58) climbs and twists through mature timber,  the Straight Fork rippling alongside and blooming Rhodos in all directions.  We can’t wait to see the trail tomorrow.
Around camp you will notice  Our Lady of the Airstream appearing in the window.
 

Keen observers will  note the silver Coleman stove has been deployed and that can only mean BACON…
lovely BACON, bear attracting, fat dripping, extra crispy bacon for BLT’s with the last of the Jersey tomatoes.

We also note with sorrow yet another embarrassment for poor Lotti.
And for the Trailer curious who are hanging in here to find out about the Tire Troubles … We pulled the tire and found a roofing nail,  (remember all ten of those cars fixing flats as we drove past Philly last week?). Carl plugged it expertly (as well as handled all the heavy lifting for the old Airstream couple) and freely shared even more tips. 

Loft Mountain Camp Ground Shenandoah NP

The drive across Pennsylvania on the Turnpike and south on I-81 is way way too familiar by now. 
We had no clear destination, but eventually settled on Loft Mountain in the Shenandoah NP. We pulled off the interstate and ran 340 down the valley for a while to add interest and arrived about 5:30 to an Airstream welcome. Boondocker  (Rodney Roosevelt) was camp hosting and introduced himself. By the sort of coincidence that makes life interesting, he has just yesterday accepted a teaching job at the University in our  town, so we expect to see a bit more of him.  We parked next to another Airstream family and had a great time with their kids and learned a great deal about airstream issues from Carl.
Arcane Airstream stuff which troubled our day, but needn’t bother you, kind reader.
Tire Pressure Monitoring systems (TPM) seem a splendid idea. A little gizmo on each tire stem tells a gizmo on the dash when your tires are loosing pressure or too hot.  Simple?  Not so much.  This was the day Al did NOT unscrew each sensor and get it to “wake up”—this to see if it actually would send the data after a few minutes on the road.  Well it didn’t , so we stopped to “wake” them and found that one tire  was low.  whether that would have been transmitted to us is a moot question.  We pumped up to desired pressure and monitored, wondering if we were getting updated info;  we also checked at regular intervals.  It would appear that we have a slow leak and will have to seek professional assistance and also appears that the TMS is less than useful.  The usual answer to such problems is a “repeater” which boosts the signal …..

OUR CAMPSITE AT LOFT MOUNTAIN right on the edge facing the sunset.
It is cool and pleasant here.  Dinner was great, and the cook has declared tomorrow a “Down Day”.  Seems that what’s needed after several days of grandmothering…

Big Miles

Today we leave our favorite place, Cades Cove, for a long, familiar drive to New Jersey to see some of our favorite people --grandson Anthony Serpico (age four) and his parents Joanie and Tim. We will take two days to cover the 700+ miles.  The route up Interstate 81 and across the Pennsylvania Turnpike is routine. We start with no intermediate destination in mind.
 " How about Shenandoah NP?"


  ""There is a mysterious Airstream only park reported in West Virginia..."  


Eventually, with over 500 miles behind us, we pulled into Pine Grove Furnace State Park in Pensylvania.  It's a lovely park set in deep woods.  The facilities are new, but the campsites give the feeling of a long settled place -- heavy shade, tall trees, a minimum of asphalt and some LEVEL gravel pads and electricity after a week without.  We don't  even  unhitch, but the surroundings make us wish we had longer to stay.  The Appalachian Trail winds through. (This is the place where tradition requires thru hikers to consume a  half gallon of ice cream; no one seems to object to the practice.) It is also a great place for families to share a few nights with their hikers. 

Quiet. cool night.  In the morning we did a thorough cleaning and headed out wishing we could ride the bike trail, maybe hike a little and fish the trout stream that wanders through.  Surely next time.