Digital Wilderness

Over Memorial Day weekend, Kristy and I met up with Dan and Lori in Northeast Ohio for a much needed trip out of town for all. We rented a lodge and spent the extended weekend celebrating Dan’s birthday, exploring Cuyahoga Valley National Park, playing games and simply relaxing and enjoying the time away from everyday life.

We stayed at the Moose Lips Lodge (yes, you read that right) at Country Cottage and Gardens.

It was a nice place, complete with a pool, hot tub and pond, away from the hustle and bustle of city life. The lodge itself was great, with open floor plan, fire ring and a screened-in porch. The only issue, mainly for the girls, was the lack of door on the bathroom, but we rigged up a system to help with that – We hung up a quilt and used birthday hats to signal if the bathroom was in use, yellow=proceed with caution, red=stop, occupied!

As many of you know, one of the items on my bucket list is to visit each National Park. Cuyahoga Valley NP is close to home and was still on my list, making it prime for a visit. A long weekend such as this provided a great time to make the trip. The weather was great – sunny, not too hot though a little humid. The park itself, the 5th most visited according to the National Park service, is not what one would normally expect. The park is the third newest, designated in 2000, and is located between Cleveland and Akron. Houses and neighborhoods dot the many roads throughout. The NP follows the banks of the Cuyahoga (“crooked river”), which was once one of the most polluted river in the US, so much so, it was devoid of fish and even caught fire! Parts of the park highlight the river and the other natural features of the area. The canal and lock system that was once vital to the region is also central to the park. Early rural living is also on display, showcasing the historic towns, farms and industries that sprung up along the river. Though not as scenic and nature-oriented as many of the National Parks, Cuyahoga Valley NP was still worth the visit and offered much to see and learn. We saw a demonstration on how the lock system worked and visited two caves, three waterfalls, remnants of three locks, a covered bridge and walked down a portion of the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail along the Cuyahoga River.

A few selected pictures are below. View the rest in the gallery. Or better yet – take a visit to the park for yourself!

What can I say about this trip? It was great to have some time off work, to travel to an area of the country I had never visited, to mark some states and a NP off my list. The views at Acadia were awesome.

By the time I got back home, though, I needed a vacation from my vacation. I was so tired and worn out it was ridiculous. My eyes were bigger than my stomach in this case and I just crammed too much into too little time. I definitely did not get to enjoy everything New England had to offer, and didn’t really get to enjoy the stops I did make. I could have easily spent another 2 days in the area, and that still would have meant cramming things in.

Here is the route I took on my travels – a little over 2700 miles:

Other random thoughts:

• I found 8 geocaches in 6 states.
• I only bought one meal over the 5 days, the lobster dinner in Maine. Other meals came from the cooler and snacks I packed, and Lori.
• I ended up about $200 over budget, mainly from staying in a hotel one night more than I expected as well as the cost of hotels being more than I anticipated. Shopping trip to L.L. Bean didn’t help matters.
• Toll booths in New England are EVERYWHERE! I spent close to $50 just on them, $8 of that just to cross a bridge.
• Kristy and I decided there’s a moose conspiracy in the northeast. Signs are everywhere, yet no live ones to be seen.

  

• The iPhone was indispensable. I didn’t have to carry a separate mp3 player, the maps app helped me find a route around traffic and got me out of the jam when I was lost, the camera served as an adequate replacement when my digital camera’s batteries unexpectedly died, the geocaching app came in handy to find caches and since I was alone, it felt connected to family and friends as I posted updates on Facebook and txted.

  The same can’t be said of AT&T. Most of the time I was in the northeast, I was on the Edge network; no 3G there. And that was when I had service. Most of my day in Acadia and the following day driving through NH and VT, I rarely had service. As popular of a park as Acadia is, barely 10 minutes from Bar Harbor, how could there be no signal?!?

All in all, I’m glad I took the trip. It was a good learning and growing experience for me personally and I’m glad to have traveled to that part of the country. Next time, though, I’m going to go back to my planning ways. It’s going to take me weeks to recover from the trip.

If you haven’t already, I would recommend you head up that way at some point in your life! Just make sure you have enough time to truly enjoy it!

Day 5 – Visiting the Staifers, Home Again

The last day of my vacation started early, shortly after 7am. I was very tired, having only gotten 4 hours of sleep, and I had a long day of travel ahead of me. My next, and last, destination was Payne, OH to visit my friend Dan and Lori. A long drive later, through an hour of HARD rain and the most boring part of my travels (the middle of Ohio), I arrive in Payne in time for dinner. Lori was awesome and cooked up a nice meal, which sure beat the sandwiches and granola bars I had been eating. We enjoyed the dinner, took a tour of their pasonage, Dan’s church and the town of Payne as we walked to a local ice cream shop.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay long, as I was exhausted and wanted to get back to KY before it got too late. I got back on the road reluctantly, my bum protesting the mere though, and drove the final leg of my trip, south to KY. Thankfully, this last leg wasn’t too bad, especially from Dayton southward, which was familiar territory.

Wrapup thoughts from the trip tomorrow!

Day 4 – The Journey West, Theme of the Day: Frustration

Another early day for me. I hit the road shortly after 8am, a bit intimidated by how far I had to travel, especially given everything I wanted to do along the way. The goal for the day was to make it as far west as possible while hitting all my destinations along the way. My route would take me through the middle part of Maine, through northern NH and VT, down the VT state line and finally into New York. First, though, I had to finish up my visit to Mt. Desert Island.

The theme of the day – frustration – became evident early. In an attempt to circle the island, I got lost and wasted valuable time. Losing time was one thing, but I’m usually good with directions and it frustrated me that I kept ending up back at the same place, like I was stuck in a loop. I eventually made it back to the right road, continued my loop of the island and stopped at Bass Harbor to check out another lighthouse

The loop now complete, I headed west towards Bangor, where I left the major roads and struck out on Rt. 2 across the heart of the state. Frustrations continued to mount here; the road was a mess. Construction work along a good portion of it and in these areas it was barely recognizable as a road, just lumps of concrete. This was surprising since this wasn’t a small country road, but a decent sized 2-lane road that seemed to be well traveled. In a half a dozen spots, the road was reduced to one lane, complete with flaggers directing traffic. I’d end up sitting for five minutes waiting for oncoming traffic to finish, then drive for a few miles before repeating. More time was lost here, and to make matters more frustration, the scenery wasn’t all that nice. I was already missing the coast…

I finally made it to New Hampshire and the scenery improved greatly. Mountains and valleys, rivers and streams made for some great vistas. While in northern NH, I stopped by Franconia State Park, home of Old Man of the Mountain. At least it used to be… Somehow I missed the news, or had forgotten, that the granite face had fallen in 2003. While walking around the park, I was curious as to the lack of signs and wondering about how few people where around. The parking lot outside the entrance to the path leading to the Old Man was empty. I guess if I had read signs at the visitor center, I would have known. Nevertheless, I walked the path and saw where the Old Man had been.

After this brief stop, I drove northwest and crossed into Vermont. The plan as of that morning had been to stop in St. Johnsbury, VT and visit some of the maple farms and shops. Continuing the day’s theme, I arrived at Maple Grove Farms about 45 minutes after it closed. Frustrated and running well behind at this point, I didn’t waste any more time in St. J but continued the drive on to Montpelier and Burlington.

Before getting to Burlington, there was one stop I couldn’t pass up. Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream plant! It was located in Waterbury, VT. There was a geocache outside, so I grabbed that, a perfect one for my first find in VT. I hadn’t planned on taking the tour, but it was only $3 and after the craziness of the day, I really needed a break. Free samples at the end, FTW!

An hour later, I was back on the road…getting really sick of driving at this point. I wanted to spend some time in Burlington, on the shores of Lake Champlaign, but I was well behind schedule and had a looong way to go still. I took the bypass around the city and began heading south. It soon began growing dark, so I missed the views of the Adirondack Mtns. The more I drove, further away home felt. Too many hours in the car at this point and not much time to enjoy things along the way had left me more tired and drained than when I started. Thankfully, Kristy kept me company most of the drive that evening. Though there was much frustration with dropped calls and no service, she kept me occupied and awake as I trudged on to New York. I wanted to at least make it to Albany, but with her help, I pulled into a hotel west of Syracuse after 2am.

Day 3 – Acadia NP or Bust

I woke up fairly early, as I had hoped to do but is never a guarantee with me (I hate mornings), and hit the road for Acadia. I made it to the park around noon, got some information and a pass at the welcome center, then began my travels on Park Loop Rd., which would take me around the park. Not far into the park, I stopped at Sand Beach for lunch and to relax for a bit. Having been on the road and not stopping much during the previous two days, it felt really good to stop and smell the roses for a change. I hung out on the beach for a couple hrs, read a book and listened to a Perry Noble sermon. Though the weather was perfect (a rarity for the area based on the enthusiasm and comments from the local radio stations), the water was freezing. Only a few “brave” souls were in the water, mainly teenage boys.

After the much needed break, I continued on the loop road, stopping along the way at Thunder Hole, Otter Cliffs and Jordan’s Pond, where I took a very pleasant hike along Jordan’s Pond stream.

Next I drove to the top of Cadillac Mtn. and enjoyed the view of the ocean and the porcupine islands
that dotted the seascape.

In a nutshell, Acadia NP was awesome. It had just about everything I enjoy in nature – sandy beaches, rocky beaches with waves crashing against the cliffs, great mountain views and trails along rushing steams.

After completing the loop around the park, I headed to Bar Harbor, pronounced Bah Haa Bah by some. It was a nice town on the harbor. There was lots of life and shops, especially ice cream and seafood. It was peaceful to sit on a hill in a park like area overlooking the harbor and people watch…and boat watch.

While sitting there, I had a decision to make. I could get back on the road and start heading back west. I still had NH and VT to visit on my way to visit the Staifers in Payne, OH. I was tired of driving, though, and I had hoped to do some camping, which I hadn’t done yet. I decided to leave the decision to God. Considering how wonderful the weather was that day, I figured the campgrounds would be booked. I called the campground in Acadia – Blackwoods – and after the ranger initially told me they were full, he checked again and said they had two open spots. I quickly left Bar Harbor hoping to get one of the spots…and ended up getting lost. I took the long scenic route to the campground, but made it just in time to get the last available site. I set up camp, started a fire then took a 5 minute walk down to the cliffs overlooking the ocean, where I spent some much needed quiet time.

There was no cell reception in the park, so I drove back to Bar Harbor and enjoyed a pleasant evening sitting on the hill overlooking the harbor talking to Kristy. The area was romantic and made the distance between us feel ever greater than it already was…

Shortly after 10;30, I headed back to camp and an early bedtime, knowing I needed to get up early in the morning to continue my travels. Could not have asked for better camping weather. Best day of the trip so far!

Day 2 – Continuing East, Arriving in Maine

I slept in, leaving the hotel a little before 10, and had breakfast on a beach in Hammonasset State Park. Good start to the day!

One of my goals for the trip was to find a geocache in each of the states I was visiting. First up was CT, so after breakfast, I used the Geocaching.com application for the iPhone to see what was around. I picked out an easy one (didn’t want to waste much time) and 10 minutes later I was signing the log. As the journey continued, I passed through RI and stopped for a geocache at a welcome center. After 15-20 minutes of looking for what I thought would be an easy find, I decided to give up and get back on the road. Being such a small state, there were no more easy opportunities at rest stops and such, so sadly, RI still remains on my list. I had much better luck in Massachusetts and Maine, though, finding a cache in each state.

By the time I made it to Maine, the weather had changed from sunny and warm to cloudy, wet and chilly. I had to change into jeans, gyms shoes and a pullover before venturing out more. My first destination in Maine was Portland, but on the way, I stopped in Cape Elizabeth for dinner. Upon a recommendation from Kristy, I went to The Lobster Shack for my first ever lobster dinner. Quite an experience! It was…weird…looking at the whole, intact crustacean in front of me, with eyes, antenna and the whole works. I didn’t know how to properly eat it, so I tried to imitate what I had seen on TV and the movies, cracking the back and pulling off the tail. Several attempts later trying to get out the meat, I noticed instructions on my wet and messy place mat. That helped! I mainly ate the tail meat; the rest just didn’t look very good. It tasted okay, I guess, but not anything I’ll eat frequently. At least I could have my first experience on the coast of Maine with fresh lobster! The whole meal cost $18, which I hear is cheap compared to the cost of just lobster inland.

After dinner, I went to Fort Williams Park, location of the Portland Head Light, the oldest lighthouse in Maine and the most photographed lighthouse in North America. It was nice to see it in person. I walked around the park for a bit, then found a geocache, which just so happened to be the first hidden in Maine, dating back to 2001.

Back on the road, it was getting dark fast. I had hoped to make it to Acadia NP that night, but that wasn’t going to happen. I stopped in Freeport, Maine, home of L.L. Bean and instead of rushing, I took my time
and enjoyed the city and the store. Picked up a few items at the Bean store that I had been wanting. Well, maybe more than a few…

Once I managed to pull myself away from the Bean store, I hit the road with the goal to get as close to Acadia as I could, at least to Bangor. After talking with Kristy and having her check hotel prices around Bangor, I decided to stop short of that to save some money; the hotels in Waterville, ME were much cheaper. I hit the sack after midnight with the plan to get up early the next morning to make it to finally my destination – Acadia NP.

Day 1 – Heading Out, Heading East

I hit the road Tuesday morning. I got a late start, but I’m on vacation – why not sleep in some. I stopped at the grocery store and picked up some food to pack in the cooler for the road. I also stopped by Cracker Barrel to “rent” some audio books (which I never did listen to).

The weather was great for a road trip – sunny with temps in the 70s. I forgot to fill up the gas tank, so I had to stop just east of Columbus, but from there, I drove 7 hrs straight before stopping again. Made it to Allentown, PA then had to stop for gas and dinner. Such is the life of a goal/destination oriented individual. I get in the zone and just go go go. I saved some time at least, making up for the late start.

My goal for the day was simply to make it as far east as possible, hoping to make it to Connecticut. I did end up making it that far, pulling into a hotel just east of New Haven, CT around 11:30. The road trip took my through many states – OH, WV, PA, NJ, NY and CT. The trip was uneventful until I got to New York. I have been through Syracuse and Albany, but that’s the closest to NYC I’ve even been. Until that night… My route took me around the city, across the GW Bridge, but even that was enough to overwhelm this born and bred KY boy.

Thus were the adventures of the first day, which was mostly all about driving. More interesting stuff will come tomorrow

5 days, 11 states, 2700+ miles and 1 National Park later…I’m back! What a trip!

Over the next week I’ll be posting entries about my adventure to the Northeast and back again, one per day on the same weekday as they happened. First entry will come tomorrow. Hard to believe the trip started just a week ago. Seems like it’s been weeks already. A lot happened in a short period of time…

Before getting into those journals, I thought I’d give a general overview leading up to the trip. This trip has actually been on my mind for several years. I started planning in 2006 but it fell through. When a week long trip with friends to Gatlinburg for early July was canceled, the wheels started churning and I got set on the idea of taking a road trip to the Northeast. Given that the Gatlinburg trip was canceled due to the lack of interest/availability/finances, I didn’t even try to find people to accompany me on this trip. Though I had never taken such a trip alone before, I was actually fine with it, and was even looking forward to the alone time. I am an extrovert in the sense that I get my energy from interactions with others, so I knew this could be a challenge, to stay motivated to visit and spend time at the various sites along the way, but I welcomed the challenge. I decided that I was tired of putting off plans while I waited for others to share in them. It was time to seize the moment! Carpe diem!

Another intentional challenge I was facing was a lack of planning. I did very little for this trip. Those of you who know me know I’m a planner by nature and like to have everything scheduled ahead of time. My lack of planning for this trip was mainly due to simply not having the time to plan leading up to it, because of class, the white water rafting trip and just general overall busy-ness. Once I realized how little time I would have to plan, and the stress that would surely result from trying to cram in time to do it, I gave into just being spontaneous and rolling with things as they came, with no reservations and such. The most planning I did was deciding which route I would take to get to a couple destinations I wanted to hit. So, between going alone and not having things planned out, this would be a learning and growing experience for me.

Two items on my bucket list are to visit every state and visit every national park. This trip put me closer to accomplishing both these goals, as 5 more states and 1 national park would be crossed off the list.

To give thanks where it’s due and share my gratefulness, I am extremely blessed and thankful for a truly wonderful girlfriend. Though Kristy was more than a thousand miles away, we kept in touch and talked each night about my adventures from the day. She was simply amazing at keeping me company during my long driving days and kept me awake during my late night travels. She also had previously been to the Northeast and suggested places I should visit along the way. I truly appreciated having her be a part of my adventures, even if it was only via the phone. She definitely made the experience more enjoyable.

The first post about my trip comes tomorrow. Pictures will be up soon as well. Stay tuned…

I’ve been meaning to write this post for a week or so now but got caught up in the overall busyness that tends to define my life these, contrary to my attempts to scale back, so it’s going to end up as a quick and dirty post instead. I apologize for any typos, spelling and grammatical errors!

Vacation, here I come!

July is going to start off with a bang! July 1st through July 12th are going to be some crazy but totally awesome days.

First up was the STARS day camp on July 1st. Basically, this is a day long activity camp put on by the STARS organization (read this previous post about STARS for more info about the org). This is the second year I’ve volunteered at the camp, and it was just as heart-wrenching at the first. It really pulls at the heart strings hearing the kids talk about their losses. The kids this year were GREAT! 35 attended the camp and with the exception of only one or two, they were all very well behaved. The camp basically consists of fun activities such as trampolines, wall climbing, arts and crafts, etc. that are the related back to grief, with the goal of helping the kids deal with losses. I worked a group of six 10 yr. olds, who had lost 3 fathers, 2 grandparents and a sister. Tough stuff, but most of the kids are strong and will make it okay. Though it’s an early and long day, it’s totally worth it.

Next up is a white water rafting adventure! A group of 7 from church is heading out to WV for 2 nights of camping and a rafting trip down the New River. The weather looks PERFECT! I had tried to plan a trip last year but it fell through. Not this year! WV, here we come!

We’re getting back from WV Saturday afternoon, then continuing my road trip adventures, I’ll be heading down to Lexington for a grill out and fireworks on Saturday, then back to Lexington on Sunday to visit Southland Christian Church, both with some great company!

Monday (or maybe Sunday evening), I’ll be doing something I’ve never done before – taking a vacation by myself. I’ll be packing up the car and heading for Maine! This is a trip I started looking into in 2005 but never could find the people to go. At the end of last year, while having a conversation with someone in my LifeGroup, I caught myself saying “One day” and “I hope to” and “I wish” concerning trips I wanted to take and things I wanted to do. I’ve grown frustrated trying to find people to go on trips so I decided I wasn’t going to wait any long. Originally, a group of 10 of us were supposed to go to Gatlinburg for a week, but as seems to the case often these days, it fell through. Having already asked for the time off, I decided I wasn’t going to sit at home for a week. Then Maine popped in my mind.

This trip is going to be a challenge for me. First, I’ve done very little planning. I barely have the route planned out. Those of you who know me know this is very uncharacteristic. It’s partly intentional. I haven’t had much time to plan, between my class (which ended last week), planning for rafting, stuff at church and trips out of time, but I also decided I didn’t want to be stressed by following a detailed, structured, scheduled agenda; instead, I want to relax and enjoy the trip and just “go with the flow.”

Another reason for this little planned and solo trip is that I want to spend time with God. We’ve gone through quite a bit this year and through my intentional busyness, I’ve often ignored him, avoided things and haven’t fully processed all he’s been teaching me. I’m packing a couple books on which I want to focus and take notes, so I’m looking forward to sitting out on the beach or on top of a mountain, enjoying his vacation and learning and growing from what he will teach me.

Of course, I’ve realized in the last couple of days that I do need to plan somewhat. I need to make reservations for some of the things I want to do, and I hear hotels are everywhere up there, and will be crowded this time of year, so I needed to try to plan out that part of the trip as much as I can.

I have a few destinations/activities in mind: Acadia National Park, Freeport (L.L. Bean store), Mt. Katahdyn (northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail), Portland (light house) and Bar Habor (whale watching). I’m also going to try to hit the states I have not yet visited while up in New England: Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hamphire and Vermont in addition to Maine. I hope to go geocaching in each of these states.

I’m going to try to be as minimalist as possible during my travels. I’m planning on taking a cooler and pack lunch meats and such for my meals as well as snacks with the intention of avoiding fast food as much as possible. I will definitely make room in the budget for a lobster dinner, though.

I’m also planning to avoid hotels for all but a couple nights. My camping gear will be making the trip with me, so I’ll be sleeping under the stars several of the nights.

That’s a quick rundown of my upcoming adventures. If you follow me on Facebook, watch for status updates and pictures throughout the trip. (Sorry, Twitterers, I won’t be posting there for safety reasons.)

As with my Shenandoah backpacking trip, I plan to keep a journal and post when I return, along with pictures.

Until I return, ciao!