Views From the Passenger Seat

We spend a lot of time on the road, travelling from place to place, and have developed a routine. We generally alternate the driving duty.  It only took Trevor a little while to get used to driving an automatic on the wrong side of the road, it took longer for both of us to get used to driving a much bigger vehicle.  Bendy, steep, mountain roads really hit the confidence but we keep on truckin'  But apart from helping with navigation, what does the passenger do?

Other than the usual (passing gum, tuning radio, checking the driver has the keys before locking the van), the passenger has 2 duties...
1. Watch for points of interest - amazing scenery, interesting sights at the side of the road, historical markers, unlisted attractions, etc.
2. Be camera ready - when we first started travelling we'd see things but by the time we grabbed the camera the opportunity was missed.  Now the passenger has the camera around their neck and it's nothing for us to take upwards of 100 pictures from the road.

We've said before that it's not always about the destination and it's not always about the stops on the way.  Sometimes it's the route itself.  We learned this lesson on the trip from Nashville (Tennessee) to Asheville (N.Carolina) which took us over the Smokey Mountains.

Sometimes you can see so much of the road...

Sometimes  the view ahead promises a change in environments...seeing real mountains in the distance was a real joy.

Sometimes it's a glimpse of beauty between the trees (have to be quick to snap these)

And sometimes it's just the sky

 Now roads get us where we need to go but sometimes the road is what you go to see.  So many people told us about the Blue Ridge Parkway that it just about became the reason for going to Asheville in the first place. It's a scenic byway, much loved by bikers, that goes all the way from the Smokey Mountains to Virginia. It's one of those bendy roads that challenges the confidence but the views make it all worthwhile.  We only drove from Asheville to Craggy Gardens so there's a lot more for us to do if/when we ever go back.

So,  at mile 365 on the Parkway, at around 5500 ft elevation, what should pull into the same Craggy Gardens parking lot?  Our first fellow Escape Camper...meet Andy Warhol!

 Which just goes to show you never know what you might see on the road.

The Road to Nashville - Part 2

Just recently we were driving down a road looking for some hot springs only to find them really busy.  We decided instead to continue driving, just to see where the road went.  It reminded me of a stop on the road to Nashville, Tennessee when we visited some caves in Kentucky.

The Mammoth Caves are a National Park with a cave system of over 365 miles of mapped caverns (geologists think there could be 600 miles more) to a depth of 450 feet. Like many other visitors we signed up for one of the guided tours and were lucky enough to get Ranger Rik, a self confessed story teller turned ranger who had led guided tours there for 17 years.

As impressive as the cavers were it was Rik who made them come alive with stories that put the geology and history into human perspective. The caves were first used by early man for shelter and possibly for the  minerals on the walls, but they have found evidence of human exploration even deeper in the caves.  "Imagine this" said Rik...You are a modern cave surveyor heading out to map a new area of the system.  You put on insulated clothing, overalls, elbow and knee pads, sturdy boots, protective gloves and a helmet with an electric lamp.  You carry  foodpacks and water, a survuval kit as well as your surveying gear.  You then head out and walk, climb and crawl your way for 12 hours to get miles into the system.  You eat underground and wrap in a survival blanket to sleep for a few hours then off you go again.  Maybe after 20 hours or so you eventually reach the survey site only to find the woven grass slippers and reed torches of an ancient ancestor who was there first.  The only reason for him to have been there...just to see where it went. Human beings really haven't changed much...we all have that inquisitiveness to follow a path, river or road "just to see where it goes".  Moments like that can be very humbling and make you feel an intense connection to the past.

 Meeting some people can be humbling too. Almost at Nashville we found a little park called Bledsoe Creek. As we drove in we saw deer at the entrance, something which we have since come to see as a very good omen for any place we stay. We looked at various sites but were drawn to one by the lake.  For some reason it just 'felt right' so we set up camp. It was there that we came to know a wonderful woman and her daughter who were camped in an RV on the next site just up the hill from us. I can only describe Caroline as someone who has made charity a personal value.  If someone is in need she doesn't say  "someone should do something" she just does what she can herself.  Her daughter Katie has inherited the same values and all we can say is they adopted us with a dozen small kindnesses, their concern for our welfare and the joy they took in our adventure. Within half a day we were firm friends.

Caroline, a writer of children's stories, wanted to know all about our travels and told us of some places we should try and visit and some wonderful parks along the way even calling her husband to get directions for the best routes. We stayed an extra day enjoying their company and exploring the park and it's varied wildlife. Trevor even bought a fishing rod and caught his first US fish.  It was sad to say goodbye but the road was calling and it was time to move on.
The people we meet along the way are not forgotten, they travel with us every day as we tell of our adventures.  If you ever visit Bledsoe Creek we hope you too meet Caroline and Katie, tell them we say 'Hi' and invite them to visit for a while.

How did you end up here?

It's a question we get asked a lot. On our journey we have found some beautiful, out of the way, places and met some great people. Most of the time it's pure serendipity and the nature of not planning too far ahead.  So how do we decide where to go and where to stay?

You'll have seen from our rough plan that we have general directions and destinations in mind but nothing, other that the initial tri-city tour, has been planned in detail ahead of time. We have a US route map, a SatNav (GPS) and a book called "1001 Places to See in the US Before You Die".  These, and guidance from people we meet along the way, are our planning tools. We look at the major destination and use the SatNav to find out how far it is. The distance will determine how many stops we will make on the way.  We use the book to find out places of interest in the right general direction, the route map to find scenic routes and to locate state parks which have camping.  If it's not a very interesting area or the distance is considerable, we'll opt for travelling on the Interstates.  Otherwise we look for the most interesting route avoiding Interstates.  Once that's decided we look at where the parks are and decide where we are going to stay next. (We pick up State Park guides along the way and if there's wifi we can look up more details online.  Trevor likes the ones with fishing lakes) For the smaller parks we call ahead and reserve a spot, for larger ones we just take a chance they will have sites available. If there are no State Parks we look for a KOA (Kampgrounds of America) as you know exactly what you'll get.  Twice we've had to use independant commercial sites and have had a lovely time at both.  Once we know have an address it's programme up the SatNav and off we go.

We are always heading to a major destination but the journey is the adventure and sometimes it outshines the ultimate goal.  The second leg of our trip, "The Road to Nashville", is a prime example.  After leaving Lake Michigan we headed for Nashville, Tennessee.  A journey of about 500 miles through Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee, which we decided we'd do in three stages.  The first stop was just an overnighter in northern Indiana (lots of corn and soy beans but very little else). However, our trusty guidebook told us there was a place called Nashville in southern Indiana too.  As luck would have it Brown County State Park in the Hoosier National Forest was right on the very doorstep so we planned to spend a couple of days there. It was the biggest park we'd see so far.  The campsite was 4.5 miles from the park entrance!!! Oh and the forest...

...trees as far as the eyes could see in every direction! Hidden lakes, miles of walking, biking and even horse riding trails through the most beautiful hill country. It  was stunning.  Just the drive up and down to the campsite was a pleasure.  You'd never believe there was a tourist town just a few miles  away with shops and entertainment aplenty.








Nashville, Indiana is essentially an artists colony and something of a mecca for bikers. It has some of those iconic elements of small town America but at first glance it looked a tacky tourist destination. The folks were friendly though so we gave it a chance and, as our guidebook suggested, headed through town to The Muddy Boots Cafe for our elevensies.

The welcome was warm, the decor funky, coffee delicious and with live music to look forward to at night it changed our whole perception of the town. We walked out with fresh eyes ready to look beyond the tackiness to see the creativity going on around us. The walk back through town was a joy and we even bought an original piece of art to bring home with us. It's going to look great on the wall at home and will forever remind us of 'the other Nashville'.

Our guidebook also directed us to another tiny town nearby, that of Story. With just a population of 3 people it was like stepping back in time to the turn of the the 20th century. Though now just a restaurent/inn it's a unique place where even having a pint of the local brew is an experience....and yes, it was served in a jam jar!

 To be continued...

What's been your favorite place so far?

So far we've driven around 2500 miles, visited 14 states and 1 Canadian province. We've visited some old friends and made new ones.  We've seen some beautiful cities and some truly amazing natural wonders.  There is no favorite, every day is amazing and almost every place has something special...maybe catching a fish

....a beautiful sunset or a moonlit sky....

...or maybe meeting the story teller who became a Park Ranger

The best we can do is share some of the highlights.

The first section of our tour we've called 'The Great Lakes'.  It took us from Ithaca to Niagara, then via London, Ontario (Canada) to various parks in Michigan (much underrated state Michigan so go if you get the chance) and the amazing sand dunes in Sawyer on the shore of Lake Michigan.  Hard to imagine this is by a fresh water lake so big it has 'tides' and currents just like a sea. One day calm as a mill pond, the next with rollers so big you could almost body surf.

Niagara was our first natural wonder, almost a water based theme park.  There are higher waterfalls, but you can't help but be amazed by the sheer power and volume of water.  The equivalent of 1 million bathtubs full of water EVERY second.  We saw it from above and below, on the water and almost in it.

We got wet...a lot...but it was great fun on a hot day.

America really is a BIG place!

We said at the beginning what a big place this is but until you start travelling it you really can have no idea.  It's not just the number of places or the mileage in between, it's everything that's there. As much as you see you are aware of what you are not seeing. Spend a day somewhere and you know that you should spend a week (or longer!) to do it justice. You tell people where you've been and they start telling you of all the other places you should go visit. We wondered if we'd be able to fill 4 1/2 months, now we are wondering if it's going to be enough!!

Take a little place like Ithaca in up state New York. A one night stop on the road to Niagara we thought and found a lovely little campsite just outside town. But then we picked up some tourist info and read about the Finger Lakes and the many waterfalls nearby with walking trails, lake beaches for swimming and boats to hire.



Talk to some regular visitors and you hear about the local historical sites, the thriving arts scene and the weekly farmers market. We could easily have stayed a week but just stayed an extra night knowing all the good things we were missing. You can't do that every place you visit or you'll get nowhere and that's kind of sad.


Then there are the people you meet.  The thing with people who go camping is that they look out for each other and there are many daily kindnesses from a loaned lamp, a cup of tea or even an invitation to dinner. , Passing pleasantries on an evening stroll can lead to an instant friendship that's hard to let go.  In Ithaca we met a wonderful couple from Philladelphia, Chris and Vince, who were on their way back from the Mariposa music festival in Canada. They were fascinated by our trip and wanted to know all about it. Vince was a bit of a wanderer in his younger days and had even driven from Germany to India including the legendary Khyber Pass. Now a photographer and martial arts enthusiast, Vince loved our Bruce Lee themed van and by the end of our visit Chrissy, a great cook by the way, was going to put a map on their dining room wall to start planning an adventure of their own. They told us about some of their favourite places and even gave us contact details for a restaurant in Savannah run by a friend of theirs.  You just know we're going to stop by when we pass through there in a couple of weeks.

 One day we hope to meet our new friends again and it will be like we've never been apart, we'll just have a lot more to talks about over that cup of tea.  Would we go pack to Ithaca, you betcha.  We haven't been to the farmers market yet and it would be great to see the falls in flood.

So sometimes it's the place that's hard to leave behind, sometimes it's the people. When it's both...well, you just have to remember that life is a journey not a destination.

Thanks Chrissy and Vince, we miss you guys.

Life on the Road

They say that travel broadens the mind so here's some travellers wisdom from our experience so far.  We'll add more as our experience grows.

#1 Take every opportunity to go to the toilet…you never know how far it will be to the next one.

#2 Most of the Possums you will see are NOT faking it.

#3 If you go off the beaten path in Indiana you are going to see a lot of corn

#4 If you stay on the beaten path in Indiana you are still going to see a lot of corn

#5 Don’t believe your Sat Nav, sometimes you can run out of road real quick.

#6 The forest is a noisy place at night…take ear plugs!

#7 You can never have too much ice.

#8 Bleach and clear nail polish are essential items in your first aid kit.

The Van

So, July 9^th we picked up the van that’s to be our home for the next 4 months.  The theme of our unique mobile artwork is ‘Bruce Lee’.

The reverse has a dragon which we consider a good omen since it’s the Chinese Year of the Dragon.

We do stand out somewhat but it does get folks coming up to chat which can be very useful.  None more so that the night we got the van…

The day we were due to pick up the van it needed to have some work done.  Instead of the 11am pickup we didn’t get on the road until almost 8pm. It was far too late to make the campsite we had planned in upstate New York, so we picked a closer site and hit the road as the sun started to set.  Now, you don’t have to get very far away from the city to be ‘in the country’ and here that means no street lights and it gets dark, really DARK.  Of course fumbling around the back roads in pitch black we couldn’t find the campsite. Wondering what to do we pulled into a small parking lot by a dentist’s office and got the maps out.  As luck would have it someone else pulled in too so we went to ask advice.  A very lovely lady called Donna was taken with the van and, excited by our adventure, tried to help us out by making a few calls. No campsite was nearby but it was suggested we park up near the local McDonalds where truck drivers sometimes spend the night. Directions were given and, after a couple of photos, Donna got set to leave. As she pulled away she wound down her window and uttered one parting piece of advice…

“It’s a really wiggly stretch of road so watch out for the deer and the bears….especially the bears!”

Needless to say, we headed straight for the interstate and spent the night in a hotel! 

The lovely Donna