Ariz -> N Car -> New Hampshire -> Ariz

OK - I'm nearing departure on this year's big road trip, which will take me across the southern US to the mid-Atlantic coast, then up to northern New England, and finally back home through Appalachia and the Red River valley. I tried to attach a route map but couldn't make one small enough to upload. Comments and suggestions are welcome. As you'll see, I gravitate to geologic, historic and quirky sites. Also, I've already seen a lot of the country and so am tending to fill in the gaps between the major 'must sees' of previous trips. In particular, I'll be blasting through the Southwest and BosWash corridor and concentrating on the areas named above. Highlights of this trip are going to be:

Mentone, TX: Ghost town county seat of Loving ghost county
Dallas, TX: Dealey Plaza and the 6th Floor Museum
Gibsland, LA: Bonney and Clyde Ambush
Vicksburg, MS: National Military Park and Museums
Flora, MS: (the other) Petrified Forest
Selma, AL: Old Cahawba, Pettus Bridge, Brown Church
Warm Springs, GA: FDR's Little White House
Eatonton, GA: Rock Eagle Effigy, Uncle Remus Museum
Outer Banks, NC: Ocracoke, Lighthouses, Fort Raleigh, Kitty Hawk
Delmarva Peninsula: Bay Bridge Tunnel, Chincoteague Island, Woodland Ferry
NH: White Mts, small town New England, family, 4th of July parade
NY: Crown Point, Fort Ticonderoga, Fort William Henry
Big Pool, MD: Fort Frederick
Frostburg, MD: Noah's Ark
KY: Mammoth Cave NP, Green River ferry
Murfreesboro, AR: Crater of Diamonds
Waurika, OK: Chisolm Trail Museum
Quitaque, TX: Caprock Canyons Park
Fort Sumner, NM: Billy the Kid museum and grave(s)
Mountainair, NM: Salinas Pueblo Missions
Socorro, NM: Very Large Array

http://www.roadtripamerica.com/azbuckroute.jpg
(©Microsoft Streets and Trips)

Even just setting out this list is a reminder to me of what a huge and diverse country this is, and how much of it I still have to see. It also is a tribute to the many people who've contributed to this forum and their influence on the innumerable choices made in the planning of this trip over the last couple of months - Thanks to all of you.

AZBuck

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Originally Posted by AZBuck

OK - I'm nearing departure on this year's big road trip, which will take me across the southern US to the mid-Atlantic coast, then up to northern New England, and finally back home through Appalachia and the Red River valley. I tried to attach a route map but couldn't make one small enough to upload.

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.. I gravitate to geologic, historic and quirky sites.

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One of the best sites for exploring Texan locations is Texas Escapes.

We look forward to another one of your superb field reports!

Mark

Thats quite the trip you've got planned out there. I definately will be awaiting how it went.

-Brad M.
"...Feelin' my way down a blue desert highway..."
- 'Your Name on a Grain of Rice' by Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers

Wow, you've got a great trip planned. Some of your spots to stop are really intrigueing like the Bonnie & Clyde ambush site.

You're obviously a master road-tripper so I'm giving you this little critique knowing that you've probably already thought this through but, here goes....have you considered not doing any stops in New Mexico this trip? I'm thinking most of those stops are close enough for you to do on a long weekend. Why waste time on them on this trip? I think I'd zip to Texas and start sightseeing there if it were me. And leave the nearby NM sights for shorter roadtrips.

I anxiously await your trip report!

Exactly! Note that on the outbound leg I just have two stops before I hit the southern US, both of which I've wanted to get to for a number of years. I have a little bit of extra time on the return and so planned the stops in NM so that I could hit those I had time for but could drop them all if need be, and they drop off from the end, VLA first, Pueblos next, etc. Good Eye!

AZBuck

Did you consider Fort Sill or the Black Kettle Battlefield? The Washita site may be too far off your track to include, but Ft Sill is not too far from Waurika and if you haven't been there before, it's worth a look. I suspect there'll be an Army museum there of some kind as well as the Apache cemetery. Bob

OK – Let’s start with the bottom line. This road trip covered 7244 miles and 25 states in 16 days. Oddly enough, at no time during the trip did I feel pushed or overextended. This was not a trip of grand “must sees”, but rather a chance to get back to the joy of being on the road and enjoying the sights and sounds of small town America, looking into some of the less celebrated historical locations, and trying to search out unique eating experiences. It succeeded far more often than it failed and also gave me the opportunity to check in with my family after too long an absence. That having been said, here are some of the highlights.

Day 1: The objective was just to lay down some miles and get the trip off to a good start. I did quite well in this regard, making 599.3 total miles to Pecos, TX, despite the fact that I lost 2 hours to time zone changes. This included a little side trip to Mentone, TX. Mentone is the seat of Loving county. The entire county has a population of 67 and is one of those places I had promised myself I’d go see if I ever got the chance. Mentone is essentially a ghost town with the only well maintained building being the county court house. One unique thing that I couldn’t help but notice is the speed limit on the road (state route 302) that is the backbone of Loving county. The speed limit on this two lane blacktop is 75 mph! The speed limit on nearby Interstate 20 is only 70.

Day 2: This was another day to put in some serious driving, and I made 624.1 miles. The only stop was is in Dallas to see Dealey Plaza and the Texas School Book Depository. This was a very disappointing experience. This site has been seared into my memory ever since high school. It still looks pretty much the same, but for the rampant hucksterism. You can go up to the sixth floor of the building and even look out the window next to the on Oswald shot from (the actual window is enclosed in a glass booth), but by this time you’ve paid $4 to park and $10 to enter the ‘museum’ which is not much more than reprints of images and data well known to everyone who lived through this. Actually, I was struck by the relatively small number of visitors who seemed old enough to remember the event. Outside, the ‘grassy knoll’ and nearby areas are most heavily populated by various conspiracy theorists and Japanese tourists. So after a short meditation on the transitory nature of history, I hit the road again.

Day 3: This marks my first return to the deep south in many, many years and I have a backlog of sights to see. First up is Gibsland, LA, the town where Bonney and Clyde were gunned down. There’s just a stone marker beside the otherwise empty road to note the actual spot. There are a couple of little museums in town, one looks ‘official’ while the other is clearly commercial. However, I arrived early on a Sunday morning and nothing was open. In fact, as nearly as I can tell, I was the only thing stirring in Gibsland this morning. So it’s on down the road to Vicksburg, MS and the National Military Park. As I worked my way around the park, it was not obvious at first how the two sides had faced each other. The park road first follows the Union lines and then wraps around and follows the Confederate lines. The area has become overgrown with trees and brush and you can’t really see the opposing lines until you stop and walk across. It’s only then that you realize that these people were firing canons with shell and grapeshot at each other from only a couple of hundred yards apart, and this murderous fire went on for months. I also spent some time at the recovered and partly restored gunboat Cairo. Considering the general state of technology in the mid nineteenth century, I’m always amazed at how ingenious they became when it came to killing each other.

The next stop was the Mississippi Petrified Forest in Flora, MS. This turned out to be a pleasant surprise. This is a privately owned and operated site, but there’s no price gouging. For $4 I got a nice hike along a well-maintained and marked nature trail that made a very nice break in the day’s driving. I finished off the day with a tour of the archaeological site at Old Cahawba, just outside Selma, AL. This was the location of the first capital of Alabama, but it was getting late in the day, so no one was around at the visitor center. There were enough leaflets around for both the nature trail (In an odd twist, the descriptions of the flora had to do with how the inhabitants had used the various local plants during the Civil War to substitute for the things they couldn’t get due to the blockade.) and the restored buildings. When I went down to the river bank I had one of those serendipitous encounters that make travel so rewarding. A local writer, who identified herself only as Shannon struck up a conversation and in the course of a wide ranging discussion, noted that my plan to see Selma from the viewpoint of the occurrences there during the civil rights movement was a bit narrow and I should also pay attention to its ante bellum homes and the ways its attitude had changed in the intervening years. She was right on both counts, and while Selma turned out to be another one of those towns where almost every corner turned seemed to bring a new flash of memory of some old newsreels, I was also now attuned to the different feel of the current city and its residents. Today’s total was ‘only’ 504.8 miles.

Well, I think that’s enough for one posting. I’ll add more installments as I get the time.

AZBuck

You and I had different experiences at Dealey Plaza. I was awestruck to be in the place where those events occurred, and I don't remember any of the conspiracy advocates intruding on my visit (about 10 years ago) -- although there were a couple of "centers" for those folks nearby. What I remember from my visit was looking out that 6th floor window, and being able to see for myself if Oswald could have done it -- alone. As a fairly experienced rifleman, I'd say yes, he could have, based on what I saw that day (for an experienced marksman, these were not difficult shots). That made the visit worthwhile for me. Did Oswald act alone? I don't believe I'll ever know for certain, but I know at least that it is possible he did.

My great-great grandfather served on a Mississippi River gunboat -- I used to know the name but cannot remember it now. Your notes made me wonder if it is the same one.

I'll be really interested to hear about the rest of your trip! Bob

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Originally Posted by AZBuck

OK – Let’s start with the bottom line.

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I have to tell you that I just drove a section of road that I was previously unaware of and learned from reading your post about your last road trip to eastern Washington. This new field report will provide ample encouragement to explore more of the south!

Really, really enjoyed this latest installment.

Mark

Day 4: Today I worked my way from Alabama through Georgia to South Carolina. The first stop of the day was FDR’s Little White House in Warm Springs, GA. The drive into Warm Springs was great. Coming in from the northwest, the route is GA-190, a wonderful, winding road through the pine covered mountains of the F. D. Roosevelt State Park with lots of vistas, opportunities for hiking, and the occasional resort. The Little White House takes me back to another time. What it reminds me of is a lakeside cottage an aunt of mine had in Wisconsin when I was growing up. Both were from roughly the same era. There’s just something about the use of natural building materials - wood, stone and fabric – and the general low tech appliances that is unique to the 40’s and 50’s. There’s a small museum that is quite nice but what really stands out is how far removed this was from today’s imperial presidency. I really enjoyed this stop and recommend it to anyone traveling through the area.

Then it was time to continue eastbound, generally following GA-16, a scenic route that passes through several very pleasant small towns. I’m struck by the contrast between these towns, which look prosperous and thriving, and those of west Texas where they generally seem to be in danger of falling down and blowing away. The only stop along this section is in Eatonton GA, home of the author of the Uncle Remus tales and a pre-Columbian rock sculpture. Bre’r Rabbit seems to be Eatonton’s unofficial mascot and his image is on banners hanging from nearly every lamppost in town. His statue also stands in front of a small museum maintained in an old slave’s cabin in a pleasant little park a bit off downtown. Worth the stop, but not a destination in and of itself. The rock sculpture, or effigy, is north of town off the highway and maintained as part of a 4-H park. From the ground, this looks like nothing more than a pile of rocks. But if you climb an adjacent tower, you can see that the rocks have been piled in the shape of a giant bird. After this stop, I just push on to Columbia,SC and call it a day. Miles made good: 461.7

Day 5: Today’s sole purpose was to pick up my sister at Raleigh-Durham Airport and get to the coast. She has flown down from Boston to join me for the next few days, and eventually I’ll get her home on my way up to New Hampshire. As I was heading up and passing through Fayetteville, NC, I realized I was a couple of hours ahead of schedule, so I did a quick scan of the map and headed for a nearby state park, Raven Rock outside Lillington, NC. I love finding these great, spur of the moment places. After a quick check at the park headquarters to get a trail map and some suggestions on what would fill my needs, I set off on an hour’s hike through the woods to a small river. Totally unexpected, totally unspoiled, and I had the place to myself. Anyway, once I picked up my sister, we headed for the coast through occasionally blinding rain, but we stopped to eat during the worst of it and pulled up at Cedar Island, NC to spend the night and be ready to catch the ferry over to the Outer Banks in the morning. There’s only one motel in Cedar Island, and it, too, was something out of the past. Again it reminded me of beach houses we used to rent at the Delaware shore when I was a kid in the 50’s. A very friendly and accommodating staff, a great seafood restaurant and the shoreline to walk at sunset made this one of the best stops of the trip. Miles on the Dials today: 453.2 Tomorrow we’ll start the trip up the Outer Banks and Delmarva Peninsula into the heart of the beast.

More to come. (And a sad farewell to Lt. Cmdr. Montgomery Scott)


AZBuck

I love your observations of the places you're seeing. Great commentary.

"I've giv'n her all she's got captain, an' I canna give her no more." In memory of Scotty.

Day 6: Started the day by taking the first of what would turn out to be 4 ferry rides on this trip, and the only one that actually cost anything. This is a 2 and a half hour cruise from Cedar Island to Ocracoke across Pamlico Sound, and even this is only $15. It’s a very relaxing way to begin a morning, but then we arrive at Ocracoke. I was expecting this town to be a bit of a sleepy backwater. Far from it. It is instead a resort community that is wall to wall people, lots of condos, and more traffic than you can shake a stick at. We did tour the local lighthouse and try to find the graveyard of some British sailors whose ship was sunk by a German U-Boat offshore during WWII. But it soon became clear that if we wanted to see anything besides other tourists, we’d have to move on.

We didn’t have to go far. Just a couple of miles up the road, we pulled off into a nearly deserted parking lot along the ocean side of the island and took a walk along the shore. There were a few people right by the parking area, but other than that we had the beach to ourselves as we walked. After an hour or so of walking, wading, and shell collecting, we headed north again and took the next ferry ride, this one taking us from Ocracoke to Hatteras. Not only was it free, but we happened to drive up just at the tail end of the loading and without any wait started across Hatteras Inlet. Stopped at Hatteras Lighthouse and toured the little museum, but they wanted $6 to climb the 268 steps to the top. From the comments of others I later heard discussing this, I was not alone in thinking that was a bit much for a self-induced heart attack. We then settled in to working our way north, window shopping in some of the small towns and looking for a good place to eat. Oddly enough, many of the restaurants close at 2:00 pm, but we finally found the Froggy Dog in Avon, and were fortunate enough to arrive just after 3:00 when they start serving dinner, whose menu includes some of the best King Crab legs we’ve ever had.

Last stop of the day was at the Fort Raleigh Historic Site in Manteo, where English settlers tried to colonize in 1583-1585. This is the “Lost Colony” of Virginia Dare fame. They have unearthed the remains of the fort built by the colony and have a good exhibit and film. I just enjoyed being around stuff that old (It amazes me that my own forbearers came over just 50 years later.) and thinking about how little stuff those people came with. We then headed up to the Wright Brothers Memorial at Kitty Hawk, but it closed about 10 minutes before we arrived. Ah well, it gives me an excuse to go back. As we then headed up to Norfolk for that nights stop, the rain which had been off and on all day finally cleared out, and just after we were crossed into Virginia, my sister started yelling at me to stop and pull over. It turned out that what had caught her eye was a complete (horizon to horizon – 180 degrees) double rainbow. I had once seen an incredibly rare triple rainbow (all three were partial), but this was just incredible. As I was trying to get photos of this, we were joined by two state troopers in separate cruisers. I found it interesting that the first trooper didn’t turn to see what I was talking about until the second had arrived. Anyway, that was pretty much the end of that day. Far more sightseeing than driving (and of course, the ferries put nothing on the odometer) so just 190.6 miles today.

Day 7: We started the day by crossing the mouth of the Chesapeake on the Bay Bridge Tunnel. This is a really unique water crossing. There were some ships heading into port as we crossed and we could see as we drove along the initial causeway that we’d eventually be heading into the first tunnel to dive underneath them. At the north end, we stopped by the side of the road to look back over what we had crossed, and couldn’t see the other end. We then came north on some back roads which paralleled the main highway, US-13). This is a really sleepy backwater, but I enjoyed just poking around. We then spent some time at the wildlife refuge at Chincoteague Island. Very nice visitor’s center, one of the best I’ve ever seen at a refuge, and, of course, the ponies. One word to any of the wise who plan to visit, if you’re going to spend any time in Chincoteague, plan on getting around by bicycle. Traffic in town can be a bear, and the refuge itself is ideally set up for un-motorized two wheel travel. As we were leaving town, I could see the road curving to the left, below and in front of a small ‘hill’ that I knew to be the end of the runway at NASA’s Wallops Island facility. What I couldn’t see was the P3 headed at us until it roared off the runway right over our heads.

We then wandered up through the eastern shore of Maryland and Delaware, stopping at some of the great small towns like Federalsburg, Easton and Cambridge so my sister could check the real estate listings – she’s thinking about retiring in the area. We also caught a ride on this tiny 2 car ferry in Delaware, across the Nanticoke River in Woodland. It was free and only took about 5 minutes – and only took that long because it was on the ‘wrong’ side of the river when we pulled up. As we crossed the Bay Bridge at Annapolis on our way into Washington, I noticed that they were warning motorists to expect significant delays eastbound the next day (Friday of the July 4th weekend), and so I gave up my plan to use this as an alternate route for the first part of the Washington to Boston leg. But I had more immediate concerns. I was trying to get to the far side of DC at rush hour. I knew enough not to take the beltway and so just headed right through the city, and with some experience at driving the city, some creative navigation (I think most of my U-turns were legal), and a ‘short’ wait to cross the Potomac, we actually did pretty well, and got to another sister’s house in the early evening and called it a day, having covered 315.4 miles.

In the next installment, I describe my drive from Washington to Boston on the Friday of a major holiday weekend. Oh joy.

AZBuck

Another terrific report! Thanks.

Interesting about the ferries. We have lots of ferries here in Washington but I don't believe we have any 2-car ones. Now THAT would be fun! It seems it would be cheaper in the long-run to build a bridge than it would be to run a free ferry but who needs another boring bridge?

I'm intrigued about your family history. Your family has been here since almost the beginning! Would you mind sharing where they settled? Were they in Plymouth Colony, by chance? I studied quite a bit about that settlement when in college. Fascinating stuff.

As usual....I'm looking forward to the rest of your trip.

Not quite, my great-great-... (anyway, 9 greats) grandfather came over in 1636. The group he came with did stop initially in Plymouth, but in what would become a recurring theme in my family, found it too crowded and stuffy, so they continued on around the coast and founded New Haven, CT.

In what we all find our most fascinating bit of family history, his son, my 8-great-grandfather, moved to western Massachusetts and was caught in the Pascommuck Massacre (1703 in what would become Northampton, MA). He and his wife were captured and all of their children murdered. He escaped, and in retribution my grandmother was scalped and left to die on Pomeroy Mountain. Fortunately for me, he raised the alarm, got the local militia on the heals of the raiders, found grandma, nursed her back to health, and had a whole new flock of kids.

I lived in New England for many years and got to look into our history a bit, and when much of the family was in the area for a wedding a few years ago, we had a librarian and historian from Northampton give us all a lecture on the raid and tour of the sites. It turned out that the librarian was descended from the Indian tribe that had done the raid!

AZBuck

Very cool, AZBuck! Are you the geneologist in the family? Or were you one of those lucky families where familiy histories were well-recorded?

My mom has made some attempts at doing some geneology for my family but we weren't in the US until 1905 on my mom's side, and 1951 on my dad's side. She's having difficulty getting records from foreign countries that she can understand.

On my husband's side, they've traced back to the 1700s. My MIL is in the Daughters of the American Revolution based on some relatives back then being involved in that.

What fascinating stories you have about your family. I just think this is so cool. (Now, don't take belated revenge out on that tour guide....how ironic, right?)

Take care!

Day 8: We spent last night and this morning visiting with family, and don’t get away until after 10:00. I’m not looking forward to today’s drive. We’ve got to get from DC to Boston on the Friday of the July 4th weekend. What I’ve got going for me is that I’ve driven this corridor many, many times and know what my options are. In general, it seems to me that when setting out on a major drive, one should have:

A: a plan
B: a backup to A
C: an alternative to B
D: the willingness to drop A, B, and C, and wing it.

I’ll need all four before I get to my final destination in New Hampshire. The trek starts out pretty well. It’s actually to our advantage to get a late start as Washington’s morning rush hour (probably light today, anyway) is over, and we get around the beltway and up I‑95 to Baltimore in relatively good shape. It’s at Baltimore that knowledge of the options first comes in handy. There are two tunnels under Baltimore harbor. The older one, called the Harbor Tunnel , carries I‑895, the newer one, the Fort McHenry Tunnel, carries I‑95. The traffic signs along I‑95 leading into Baltimore clearly favor the I‑95 tunnel, but I first drove this section when the Harbor Tunnel was new and it’s my preferred route. I’ve driven the McHenry Tunnel several times and I’ve always been struck by how busy it is. Conversely, since the McHenry Tunnel opened, the Harbor Tunnel has been practically deserted. Today proves no different, and as we leave the moderately busy I‑95 for I‑895 the traffic thins out immediately, and we have clear sailing to the far side of Baltimore.

It’s as we head on up I‑95 through northeastern Maryland that traffic really starts to build up. Just before coming to the Susquehanna River, my sister comments that she occasionally gets of at Havre de Grace and takes the local bridge. Just then, we rounded a curve and saw the traffic backed up from the toll booth on I‑95 and the sign for the ‘last exit before toll’. We managed to get to the exit and took the US‑40 bridge that had very little traffic, but a word of warning. I used to pull this maneuver all the time back in my shun-piking days, and the US‑40 bridge was pretty cheap. No more. In what is apparently an effort to keep all of I‑95’s traffic off the local streets, they’ve raised the toll to $5. If you’re going to use this route more often, they also sell a 1 year pass which costs - $5! We continue up US‑40 to Wilmington where we stop for lunch with my sister’s daughter. We then do a short stretch on I‑295 up to Princeton, NJ for a visit with her son.

From Princeton, the plan is to get around New York City with as much clearance as possible. To this end we head up US‑206 to join I‑287, which is crowded and subject to occasional light stop and go. But at Suffern, NY, where the traffic for New England heads for the Tappan Zee Bridge, we took NY‑17 north to begin the most relaxing, scenic and enjoyable parts of today’s drive. At Sloatsburg, we connect to Seven Lakes Drive through Harriman State Park to Bear Mountain Bridge and US‑6 (a scenic, curving road high above the Hudson), Bear Mountain Parkway, US‑202, and finally connecting via NY‑116 and NY-22 to I‑684 and I‑84. This was my favorite way around NYC when I was living in New England and I was glad to see that it hadn’t changed much over the years. I still heartily recommend it to anyone who, like me, dreads getting through the New York City area.

As we continued up I‑84 towards Hartford, traffic picks up again, and shortly after Waterbury, it all comes to a crawl. After inching our way forward for about 15 minutes, we come to an exit for an un-numbered local road, and take it, turn generally north and enjoy just moving again. After a stop at a local convenience store for coffee and directions to the nearest numbered highway, we continue cross-country to Hartford via CT‑69 and CT‑72, rejoin I‑84 and without further incident make it to Boston around midnight. We had covered 505.7 miles in 14 hours for an average speed of 36.1 mph! I’m not sure that any of my ‘alternative routes’ saved me any time or money, but they all did wonders for my mental health.

Day 9: Today, Saturday, I just need to make the short run up to northern New Hampshire to join more family in the White Mountains for the holiday weekend. As I head up US‑3 and I‑93 through Lowell, Nashua and Manchester, traffic moves along but is heavy and continues to build until we come to Concord, where it backs up at a toll booth. Knowing that most of this traffic is headed for the NH lakes and mountains and will probably back up again at Franconia Notch, I opt out and take I‑89 and I‑91 instead. Again this was just a case of seeing the exit for I‑89 at an opportune moment and knowing that I could take it to White River Junction, VT and pick up I‑91. Miles today: 206.0

For the next two and a half days, I’m just going to enjoy hanging out with my brother, yet a third sister, and assorted nieces and nephews in small town New England, go to a little amusement park, hang out at the ol’ swimming hole, go to a firemen’s pancake breakfast, watch a parade, and generally relax before starting back to Arizona.

AZBuck

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In general, it seems to me that when setting out on a major drive, one should have:

A: a plan
B: a backup to A
C: an alternative to B
D: the willingness to drop A, B, and C, and wing it.

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I love it! This is probably the best, most concise advice for roadtrippers yet!

Your post is a wealth of good information for anybody traveling through that congested area.

If you want quirk try to fit in Roswell, NM. I went there a couple years back and had the best time. It's close to Carlsbad Caverns and you can get tons of amazingly inexpensive UFO souvineers. One place I remember in particular, right on the main street, had sets with aliens in different situations that you could walk into and take pictures in. i.e. a few I have include operation on an alien, drinking a beer at a bar with one, flying a spaceship with one, etc. Unless you have a particular interest in seeing Western, TX I'd skip that monotonous Red State as much as possible.

Day 11: On the first day of the return trip, I get an early start and even though I’ll be driving in east coast states, I will be working my way down what used to be western frontier back in the 1750’s, so I plan to stop at a number of old forts along the way including, today, Crown Point and Forts Ticonderoga and William Henry in New York. I love just wandering around these places whether there are ruins with just a few signs or fully restored buildings with costumed interpreters, and there are plenty of both here. My favorite, actually, was Crown Point just because of the setting. It’s on the shores of Lake Champlain with great views, and its military importance is immediately obvious as the lake narrows here and one can clearly see how the fields of fire of its cannons could choke off any ships trying to pass. I also made a stop at Lackawanna State Park north of Scranton, PA. This turns out to be another hidden gem of a ‘rest area’ with a lake and some very nice trails. There had also been signs warning of construction and delays on I-81 in Scranton, and so I decide to use the PA Tpk down to I-80 and then rejoin I-81 south of town. I’ve used I-81 so often in the past that I just cruise from this point on into Harrisburg where I call it a day after making good 617.9 miles.

Day 12: I start the day with a stop at yet another frontier outpost, Fort Frederick in Big Pool, MD. This one is just off I‑70 and besides the fort, there’s access to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the bike/hiking trail that now follows it. There’s also a very nice little camping area down on the banks of the Potomac. The only other ‘big’ stop today is in Carter Caves State Park in Olive Hill, KY. While this park is obviously about the caves, I’ve got another, bigger cave tour on tap for tomorrow, and so check in at the park headquarters, get some suggestions, and hike the trails that lead to a number of natural bridges. From here I continue west, but as I near Lexington I again find myself ahead of schedule and since I haven’t seen that much of Kentucky in the past, I leave the Interstates and just backroad it for the rest of the day, finishing up with 650.6 miles on the odometer for the day.

Day 13: The joy of going westward is that now the time zone changes work in my favor. This lets me show up at Mammoth Caves early enough to make the first tours of the day when the crowds are smaller and the rangers are fresher. The tour that works best for me as far as starting time, duration, and interest is the “Frozen Niagra” tour which takes about two hours, which turns out to be a very general type cave tour and a good chance to stretch your legs. The rangers are both entertaining and informative, which is the best you can ask for. When the group returns to park headquarters, the parking lot has completely filled up and the lines for tickets are getting long – time to move on. Rather than heading out to I‑65, I instead head north through the park and take the 4th and last of my ferry rides, another 2-3 car (and free!) ferry across the Green River. I then head down the Western Kentucky Parkway and after a short stint in Tennessee cross the Mississippi into the bootheel region of Missouri. After crossing the river, I try to find a way to get to its shoreline, but after running up against fences and levees for about half an hour, I give up and hit the road again. I also stop for a walk Big Lake State Wildlife Management Area outside Blytheville, AR. This is one the few disappointments on the trip as it seems to be the site of local late night parties. It’s pretty trashed so I just push on to Little Rock and call it a day. Total miles today: 583.9

AZBuck

Gosh, how many of those teeny, tiny little 1, 2, 3 car ferries for free are there? I really didn't know these existed. I'm anxious to find one and check it out. I wonder if there are any out here on the west coast somewhere?

Another cool report. thanks!

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Originally Posted by Judy

Gosh, how many of those teeny, tiny little 1, 2, 3 car ferries for free are there?

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I was in Montana yesterday -- found three along the Snake River. More details in a couple of days.

Mark

I don't know how big the ferry is (couldn't be much bigger than the one's described here), but there is a Ferry Crossing in Washington, Judy, that might be up your alley. In Eastern Washington, on the far upper Columbia on highway 21, there is a free crossing on the river between the main Columbia Basin and the Collville Reservation, called the Keller Ferry, and another between Gifford and Inchelium (from highway 25 to a local Collville Tribal road) called the Gifford Ferry. Both are free, so the next time you are up around the Collville Tribal Lands, check them out. The Columbia river being not increadibly wide, there shouldn't be a boat any bigger than perhaps a 6 car ferry (depending on traffic).

Cool...thanks, Brad. I've been up that way several times but I guess I've never gone the right way to find ferries. Might be worth a special roadtrip just for that. It's just such a quaint idea. They sound charming. Much more fun than the big behemoths which ply Puget Sound. Oh, not that these aren't fun as well but the smallness of those little ferries just appeals to me.

Mark, I'll look forward to those details!

Day 14! Day 14! Day14!

Just a little more encouragement to continue with your travelogue efforts.... (We're enjoying them!)

Bob

Day 14: Two nice things about staying near a city (in this case, Little Rock) are that there are plenty of moderately priced, slightly upscale places to stay, and that when you leave town in the morning, the rush hour traffic piles up on the opposite side of the median. In any event, today’s first stop is Crater of Diamonds State Park outside Murfreesboro, AR. This is the only diamond mine in the US, and may be the only one in the world that allows the general public to dig for and keep the precious stones. It also has the usual state park amenities such as hiking, camping and a nice little museum, but the draw here is digging. They routinely plow up the ground to aid in the search and will rent the casual visitor some simple implements, but make no mistake, this is work. Even though I arrive relatively early in the morning, there are already a few dozen people out in the field, and more arrive constantly. It’s clear that most of them are regulars and have brought serious digging and sifting tools, chairs, shade and water. Considering that the largest diamond found since this became a state park was 16 carats, and that a OOO (perfect) diamond was also found here, one can understand why. However, it all looks like much more work than I want to put in, and I doubt I’d find anything in the hour or two I could spare, I just watch for awhile, tour the museum and head out.

For the rest of the day, I work my way west on US‑70, basically following the Red River. I do make a small detour to go to Beaver’s Bend State Park north of Broken Bow, OK. This is just one more gem of a state park. It’s listed as a ‘resort park’ and lives up to its name. It seems to cater to canoeists, fishermen and wildlife watchers. I again get great advice at the visitor’s center and make use of their 2 mile nature trail that focuses on the trees of the region. The main thing I note, though, about traveling US‑70 in this area is that I’m back in the southwest and speed limits are back up to 65-70, and the towns are getting pretty far apart. Even so, I get to Waurika too late for the Chisholm Trail Museum which closed at 4:00, so the day ends when I pull in to Vernon, TX. Miles on the Dials: 505.8

Day 15: I’m now definitely back in the southwest, and things are drying out rapidly. I’m also starting to realize that I’ll be home shortly. I start the day with a stop at Caprocks State park just north of Quitaque, TX. This is badlands terrain, mainly set up for camping, horseback riding and fishing. I set off for a hike back up into some canyons on a well marked trail and just enjoy a bright warm day. There have been many warnings given by various contributors on the advisability of carrying sufficient water when hiking in the desert, and today proves to be a case in point. I went in with about a liter of water and turned around when I had used half of it. Even though I hadn’t been hiking all that long, it was very warm. As it turned out, on the my return I came to realize that the trail I had been following had many footprints on it, but where I was now showed only the tracks I was making as I went. Clearly I had lost the trail at some point, but where and most importantly, how far would I have to backtrack? My water was nearly gone and I hadn’t seen anyone since I entered the park. As It turned out, I had to backtrack about a half mile to a point where the trail had crossed a wash at an oblique angle and I had followed the wash. What little water I had left, I drank and kept a steady pace (and close eye on the trail) back to the car where I had a gallon of chilled water waiting. I was lucky that I noticed that I had lost the trail as early as I did and did not hesitate to just follow my own tracks back to the trail. But still, never take anything for granted.

I also make a stop in Sumner, NM to see the grave of Billy the Kid and the small, adjacent museum. This is another one of those stops that is worth making, but only if you’re going to be in Sumner anyway. The grave is nothing spectacular. But then how many graves are. And the museum is an eclectic catch as catch can bunch of stuff, but still, all in all, the stop was a pleasant enough way to spend an hour and a few bucks in an otherwise empty landscape. I had planned on this being a relatively short day, and only covered 384.9 miles, but I was making much better time than I had inticipated on these wide open, high speed limit two-lane roads and rolled into Vaughn, NM for my last stop at what was only 3:30 local time. My wife and I are scheduled to have dinner with her sister tomorrow night, so I just keep my mind on central time, go to bed early.

Day 16: So, I get up at 4:00 the next morning (local time – 3:00 where I’m headed), and head out. The plan is to stop at some pueblo ruins in central New Mexico if time permits. Things were going well (or so I thought) until I suddenly found myself facing an on-ramp for I‑40 which should have been well north of my route. It turned out, as near as I could tell, that I had taken a wrong turn in Encino, NM, picking up US‑285 instead of staying on US‑60. I’m not so much upset that I missed a turn, such things happen. But I am a little bit miffed that nowhere in the 27 miles from Encino to I‑40 had there been any signs indicating the route number I was traveling. Not that big a deal, It probably added maybe 50 miles to the trip, but it meant that the pueblos were no longer on my route. So I just headed on home (551.3 miles today), took a nap, and then went out to dinner with family, a great end to the trip

AZBuck

How many tiny ferries are there? I don't know, but I do look for them when I plan roadtrips and will take them when I can. A few that I know of (and have pictures on the web):

Woodland Ferry, DE

The Green River and Houchin ferries in Kentucky

Cumberland River, KY

Rocky Hill - Glastonbury, CT

Chester - Hadlyme, CT

Oxford - Bellvue ferry in Maryland

There are also at least half a dozen ferries still operating on the Mississippi, a similar number (passanger only) serving Smith and Tangier Islands in the Chesapeake, and a few in tidewater Virginia as well as the ferries previously mentioned on the Columbia. All of these are in addition to the major ferry systems of Alaska, Washington and North Carolina. I just find them a welcome and restful break in any driving trip.

AZBuck

Thanks for yet another great trip report! I'm sad to see them end. But I'm glad you discovered you were off trail before you got farther and it became even more risky for you. In other words, here's to your health!!

Thanks for the tips about the small ferries. (The one in Green River, KY, is especially cute.) How do you find them when searching your trips? I'm going to make this my mission to find these types of ferries for future trips. But, unless the state DOT websites have them, how else do you track them down?

Hey AzBuck- Sounds good. I might keep this in mind & contact you via this forum in the next year or two, to COPY your trip in detail.
Thanks for the ideas.

There are two of these little ferries that operate north of St Louis -- one across the Illinois River, the other across the Mississippi. They are easily located on the map.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AZBuck

In what we all find our most fascinating bit of family history, his son, my 8-great-grandfather, moved to western Massachusetts and was caught in the Pascommuck Massacre (1703 in what would become Northampton, MA). He and his wife were captured and all of their children murdered. He escaped, and in retribution my grandmother was scalped and left to die on Pomeroy Mountain. Fortunately for me, he raised the alarm, got the local militia on the heals of the raiders, found grandma, nursed her back to health, and had a whole new flock of kids.

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Yikes! That is a riveting tale! My maternal great grandfather and his family organized some of the Texas cattle drives and help set up the territorial governments of Wyoming and Montana... There are some hair-raising tales from those early days too -- I will locate my notes and add some.

But... with respect to your family tree --I would say that your accomplishments outstrip even your great-8-grandfather's exploits -- how many people do you know that can claim to have managed and/or worked on planetary missions to every planet in our solar system? That is an amazing feat!

Mark