Back home

I've temporarily landed back in Redding after nearly month on the road. Speaking regularly with my son who was holding down the home fort, maternal instincts told me it was time to return so I made good speed coming across highway 80. The van drives like a magic carpet, I had good weather and some really fascinating podcasts. I also finished the audiobook version of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations (thanks, Kahlilah!). Here are a few postcards from the road ...

Fascinating history of the hastily but
carefully recruited riders who flew along on horses
all day, much like I was driving.

Original Pony Express Station in Gothenburg, Nebraska

A small Nebraska town on Sunday afternoon. Not a ghost town but it felt like it.

Sunset from Pine Bluffs Park near Cheyenne

My new favorite  place in the world, Paramount Coffee, Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Hannah enjoying the vast midwest

Wyoming Territorial Prison - only one escape!

The color palette has definitely changed and humidity is no longer an issue.

Bonneville Salt Flats in northwestern Utah where the land speed records are often set.
A lot of folks were driving out on the flats but I wondered what all that salt might do to
the undercarriage so I stayed on the main road. 

Back in Redding for a walk along the Sacramento River Trail

I've enjoyed catching up with friends and have taken care of a few things around the house but will be heading out again soon. In doing research, I see that the westernmost point of the continental U.S. (excluding Alaska) is Cape Alava, Washington which gives me some ideas. Not sure if I'll keep blogging but thanks for following along on my adventures. I look forward to seeing you down the road somewhere! 

Checking in

A trip like this can really restore a person’s faith in humanity. I have met such wonderful people, most quick to offer a connection, recommendation, shared experiences and even generous hospitality. The independence and opportunity for quiet reflection of solo travel are great but, at least in my case, the experience also heightens my appreciation for interactions with people in all sorts of different places. It's hard to articulate but I feel more present and alive. (I suppose that this morning's good coffee and several weeks without news/social media are also factors.)

I enjoyed a few rainy days in New Hampshire and Vermont. Small towns in the White Mountains and then upstate New York all made my “must return” list.

Skowhegan off of Highway 20 heading West from Maine

Lancaster, New Hampshire

St. Johnsbury, Vermont

Beautiful moving mist near Woodstock

Niagara Falls truly was magnificent and, even though there were crowds of tourists, I loved the fact that so many different people from all walks of life and places around the world were all there with the same purpose, to see that awe inspiring place.

Upstream, I threw this piece of wood out as far as I could, to give it the ride of its life

In a serendipitous  detour, I stumbled across the annual “Trekfest” in Riverside, Iowa, the future birthplace of Captain James T Kirk. I saw the town designation on the atlas and thought I’d check it out. At the local museum, I was enjoying conversation and, before I knew it, Hannah and I were flying along in a golf cart with new friends in a personal tour of the town! A good live band was playing, there were bounce houses for the kids, a demolition derby and fireworks on the way. I had the best lemonade I can remember and would have stayed for the evening if I’d had more time.

I drove on toward Des Moines and within an hour, the weather changed from blue sky to gray, and then a deluge of rain so strong that I couldn’t even see the side of the road to pull off safely. I followed a truck’s hazard lights to the shoulder and waited it out until I could drive to a truck stop.  It continued to storm on and off all night and in the morning, an accumulation of people (including me) were all sleeping in their cars in the parking lot. It was actually really fun as we talked over truck stop coffee in the morning, no one cared about rumpled clothes or hair sticking up. Even the Iowans said they’d not experienced anything like it. It was awesome.

Early the next morning, I headed to Jewell, Iowa, the small town where some of my ancestors settled when they arrived from Norway in the 1800s. At the local cemetery, I pulled a few weeds and added an impromptu bouquet of wildflowers picked from the nearby field.

Welcome to Jewell, Iowa

Back on the road ...

Maine

I've had a smile on my face for most of the past few days. Everywhere I look, it's just delightful - cool history, perfect weather with sun and light breeze. I can't take it all in and the camera doesn't do it justice, so sometimes I don't even try. I just savor it, like really good ice cream.

Initially I was stopping for most of the historic town designations along the Connecticut and Rhode Island coast but, after some wonderful hours, I realized that if I stopped at every beautiful little settlement from the mid 1600s, I'd never make it home this year. Here are some highlights starting with the view from Mystic Connecticut ...

Stonington, Connecticut 

I was just walking through a neighborhood
admiring houses when I saw this in a backyard.

Wakefield, Connecticut, getting closer to Rhode Island 

Narragansett, Rhode Island, where Puritan minister Roger Williams settled amicably with Native Americans
in 1636 after he was exiled from Massachusetts Bay Colony
because of his views in favor of religious and political freedom.

Nice afternoon for picnic and a quick painting

After pulling myself away from the coast, I headed toward Concord/Lexington and walked along the Minute Man Trail where colonists headed out to warn locals whenever the British were on the move. It's a beautiful spot and I couldn't help but think about the disadvantage of the "red coats" in the lush green foliage of Massachusetts forests. I camped at the Stanley Parker State Park in the same dense forests with ponds everywhere and, thankfully, few mosquitoes.

Minute Man Trail with a great NPS Visitor Center now a hiking/biking thoroughfare.
Hopefully Paul Revere would be proud.

Stanley Parker State Park

 Thoreau's "Walden Pond" is about 20 miles away from here.

Now in Maine which has been spectacular ... 

Beautiful little town with a lot of tourists, Camden, Maine

Beautiful little town a few miles north with few tourists, Lincolnville.

Bar Harbor, Maine, near Acadia National Park

Some kind woman's shed - I pulled off into her driveway and we chatted for awhile in the nice weather.

The town of Lubec - opposite side is Canada

Lobster Roll from Becky's Food Truck in Lubec, Maine - fantastic.

Quoddy's Head Lighthouse, which is the Easternmost point in the U.S.
(I walked to outermost corner of property and put my arm out as far as I could.) 

Near Bangor, Maine, I washed the car, cleaned out and reorganized the inside and took advantage of a nice local laundromat.  All ready to continue ...

East Coast

The spark of inspiration for this trip came after reading about "Jane" the 14 year old girl whose partially eaten remains were discovered at the historic Jamestown archaeology site in Virginia. (If you're rusty on American History like I have been, Jamestown was the first successful English colony established in Virginia in May of 1607 - 13 years before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in the Mayflower.) After cooperative relations with the local Indians broke down, they went through "the starving time" with their numbers decreasing from about 500 to approximately 60. Jane's remains were discovered a couple of years ago. I was so intrigued by the history of the early colonial experiences, when survival wasn't a reality show.

And yesterday I actually got to see Jane's skull with the little hack marks from some hungry civilized Englishmen and women!

Approaching the site where they set up camp on arrival,
bordered by swamps and the Chesapeake Bay

The footprints of the first structures with a statue of John Smith in background

Recreation based on recorded measurements and descriptions 

Great museum with hundreds of artifacts which continue to be uncovered

Of course I couldn't be on the Colonial Parkway without stopping in Williamsburg for a stroll in the muggy heat. Hannah got so tired that I had to carry her. People ask if she's a service animal but really I'm her service human.

Just a typical day in Colonial Williamsburg

To avoid urban traffic, I took the scenic Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnels from Virginia Beach toward Delaware based on recommendations of some wonderful folks in North Carolina. With my sister in mind, I stopped at Assateague Island National Seashore and started looking for the wild horses ...

Wonderful Atlantic Ocean breeze and minimal humidity!

No one is sure where these wild horses came from but they've been on the island since the 1600s

I woke early and was on the road north by about 5:30, with a brief stop to appreciate Ocean City, Maryland before the crowds. Delaware had a few interesting historical stops but I didn't linger as my goal was to get through New Jersey and New York City early Sunday morning. I'm happy to say I made it and am now comfortably camped near the beach in southern Connecticut. I'll continue my way up the coast from here. I've got a few spots in Rhode Island and Massachusetts to check out and will continue towards Maine and Acadia National Park.

Ocean City, Maryland before the crowds arrive

Traffic on the George Washington Bridge stopped long enough for me to
gets this picture of NYC down there in the haze. 

Lost in thought about an earlier time when her ancestors sailed the Atlantic for a better life