Rounding the Corner

Our tour of the Southwest is over and, when I turn north this morning to follow the California coastline from San Luis Obispo to Carmel, I'm sure the rental car  and I will begin to smell the barn. We are on the home stretch of what has already been  6,000 mile journey across America. It might be said that we've really seen the country, but that would be a mistake. Our wavy path on the map is like one strand of curly hair on a massive head. It covers so little. America is huge and, contrary to conventional description, except for a few spots, it is a land totally devoid of people and roads. Most of it still consists of open space covered by sagebrush, native grasses, rocky outcroppings, forests, or, over the former prairie, miles of corn or soybeans. Driving across these stretches, I am continuously struck by the country's beauty, including those areas what some people might refer to as wasteland, The scenery from these lonely, desolate places are serene, virtually undisturbed by the hubbub of human activity, and convey a vision of an earlier time in history. For those who appreciate the past intellectually or sense the magical aspect of nature aesthetically, seeing this vast emptiness brings a certain joy to the travel experience. It is much like the feeling a person has when he discovers a fossil in a long hidden rock. He has uncovered something special, ancient and seemingly timeless.

This sensation is revealed in the first photo showing two tabletop mesas from U.S. 199 just south of the Utah-Arizona border. The location is on the Navajo reservation and these monuments clearly served until recently as directional markers for indigenous people who wandered the countryside. Modern time  has altered the view dramatically as seen by the fence and telephone poles in the foreground, but these monoliths remain steadfast and stoic in spite of change.

The second picture comes from the trail leading to the base of Canyon de Chelly near Chenle, Arizona. It shows the red sandstone of the palisade walls that line the canyon and a peek of its verdant green floor which once was lined with fruit trees. Its stillness and the soothing beauty of its texture creates a healing potion which pervades the air. I have sensed this essence when visiting cemeteries or, in this case, battlefields, before. This place marks the site that saw the end of the powerful Navajo nation. In 1863, aided by the famous explorer Kit Carson, the cavalry attacked and decimated the terrified remnants of the tribe which had sought refuge in the canyon. The frightened survivors were then rounded up, removed, and marched three hundred miles to Bosque Redondo in New Mexico to be sequestered on a reservation.

The third shot demonstrates that it is hard to take a bad picture of the Grand Canyon. Undeterred by the fact that the South Rim is inundated by tourists every day of the year or that the roads from Williams or Flagstaff are clogged with traffic, the pilgramage to our country's Mecca is worth it. The place defines grandeur pure and simple. Although geologically a young phenomenon, scoured out by huge flooding of the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon feels permanent. Does that impression inspire a sense of security in its viewers that, in spite of everything harmful to the environment away from here, that this place will remain unaffected and preserve an aesthetically amazing world?

The last photo taken of the edge of a small lake near the entrance to Vernal, Utah, I saved for the end. I don't want to add words, Fill in your own description as you read this. Let the colors and shapes form your thoughts as a brief break from your daily routine. Become a traveler for just a moment.

Ramblings from the Road

Tonight we are in  Pinedale,Wyoming, below Yellowstone National Park and Jackson Hole. We have turned South and will soon cross Utah and hope to reach the Grand Canyon by mid-week. On Wednesday, it will be a month since we left Miami and, I have to admit, as I plotted this week's route through western states, I became anxious about the trip ending. There is a part of me that fears returning home and feeling restless with the familiar and the mundane.  I guess "I Was Born a Ramblin' Man." Sergio seems to have that "wind at your back" mentality as well. He has been taking in America fully. He has not slept or dozed in the car even once across the monotonous prairie, the vast stretches of farmland or through open plains. He snaps photos occasionally, asks a question once in a while, but is mainly silent. Like me, his eyes are fixed on the details of the passing towns and countryside which are magically drenched in soothing Autumn colors. There is little to say that can capture adequately the fullness of the experience. One enjoyable aspect of any road trip is to read the signs that pop up along the way that bring a smile. I have selected several for your review.

The first comes from outside a tavern at the edge of Interior South Dakota. It is a well meaning, good hearted message and implies that anyone is welcome at the Horseshoe. It also describes something about its clientele. I briefly considered stopping to buy a shirt and sit at the bar and have a Coors with some of the big boys, but then I decided that, after sitting on my butt driving all day, I needed exercise instead.

The second sign was placed adjacent a path in a rural park in Central Florida where we stopped to have lunch. Its purpose is to advise people of the dangers of large toothy reptiles and to protect the animals from human contact  as well, However, warning people to avoid molesting alligators seems, quite frankly, a little perverse. I shudder to think how some local deviant might plan to molest an innocent unsuspecting alligator. Lure it with small sweet frogs into his van?

Last of all, I was amazed to see this highway sign while entering Interstate 140 off of Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee. People often spell the way they talk. I can see how a Southern drawl might influence the misspelling of pedestrian.. But then again, in a state where edjacatn is hindured by maybe a little too much prain, shud I be sirprised?

Go West, Young Men!

Today marks three weeks since I picked up Sergio in Miami. Our route across America has followed the less traveled roads through the South and the Midwest with a layover in Chicago to visit my relatives and, mixed in between, to see a few important sights. For the past several days we have been crossing what was once the Great Prairie but now, from an ecologist's viewpoint, is sadly the corn and soybean belt We have completed over 3000 miles and are now at the western edge of the Central Time Zone in Pierre, South Dakota.

We are two fellas in a car travelling through towns that are off the interstate and on routes that once were major in the 1950's, These less well paved highways cover the gravel roads of the 40's and 30's, the mud paths of the 20's the wagon ruts made by pioneers almost two centuries earlier and the trading routes of Indians who rode horses or walked on them since the beginning. We look for any indications of  those earlier times in the scenery and are occasionally rewarded with remnants of that past. It is not clear to me exactly why we find the "old" charming or the seeing of a dilapidated barn "exciting" It is just that the newer standard architecture of America is common, uninspirational and can be found globally,

With no particular theme in mind I have selected four photos to share which provide some flavors of from the soup of our journey.

The first picture is of Sergio giving Sue, the Tyrannosaurus rex, at Chicago's Museum of Natural History, an amorous glance. Today we will drive through the Badlands where she roamed 110 million years ago and see some of her friends at the Rapid City Geology Museum.

The second photo is taken from the heights above Winona, Minnesota. Below is Winona Lake and the town. It was built on a sandbar of the Mississippi River (seen in the background) and is protected by dikes (usually) from floods. The Fall colors have just started to come out so we have been lucky in that regard.

Our route has been dotted with fruit and vegetable stands are filled with Halloween decorations and are selling local foods, including jams, jellies, jerkies and pies. This part of the country really does the holiday like no place I have ever experienced. I had to snap this picture of Indian corn and share with the feeling of the season it evokes.

Last of all, Huron, South Dakota, where I took this picture alleges it's the home of the largest pheasant ever shot. I don't know how reliable this is or the statistics. This curious statue has critical importance though. Pheasant hunting season starts this week in South Dakota and it is a giant economic boom for the state. People travel here from all over America to participate. Even I, who jumped the season, shot this one with a camera.

(Special thanks to all those people who have shown us terrific hospitality and opened up their houses to us these past days, including my cousins Ron and Toni Ellis, David and Bonnie Spangler, Stan and Anne Hollenbeck, my dear friends Paul Buscovik and Dave and Mardy Vosbeck.)

Reflections in the Rearview Mirror

As I crossed the Mississippi River from Kentucky into Cairo, Illinois, I began to feel the blues. The South was behind me and I missed it immediately. I wasn't the guy ridin' the rails or hitchhiking back roads or drivin' an ol' Chevy outa town. I was just movin' on like everyone else and wondered when I would ever return. From tropical Florida to the Appalachians, across Georgia, North Carolina and to the verdant Tennessee countryside through Nashville and Memphis into Kentucky, I had become charmed by the accents, fascinated by the people  and seduced by the tastes of down home cooking. I'm not saying that I could ever live there. After all, this part of America has, well. you know for me, certain cultural shortcomings, which I expressed in my last post. However one thing is for sure. I grew to value from the heart the vibrant atmosphere of the South, which makes it distinct from other parts of America. Perhaps it has maintained more steadfastly a greater resilience against the creeping sameness which  is swallowing the cultural integrity of the rest of the country. Maybe its simplicity and folk culture struck a chord in me. In any case, I listened to its Cuban rhythm on Calle Ocho in Miami, its ballads at the Stephen Foster Cultural Park in Northern Florida, its twangy country songs on Broadway in Nashville and its blues in the clubs on Beale Street in Memphis and discovered that, most definitely, its music made me happy to be alive. (and that's not just whistln' Dixie!) The photos above really need no descriptions. Look at them and tell me what you hear!

The South Wind Blows

We have been on the road a week and are both tired. After traveling  through Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee Sergio and I have decided to spend an extra day in Nashville to relax, work on arranging photos, blog and hopefully do laundry.

For  this post, I selected a few pictures to share of the hundreds I have taken  not because they were the best compositions, but, due to fatigue, chose them almost at random. They are like several colored stones in a kaleidoscope, just fragments of one whirling design which makes up my impression of the South.

The first picture is of Sergio wearing his camouflage ball cap with an American flag embroidered on the brim I bought for him in a small restaurant in the Appalachian Mountains of Northern Georgia. He is sitting with a couple we met who were traveling on motorcycles from Virginia to Alabama. To meet some real natives when visiting a foreign country and to talk with them is a quality moment for a curious tourist. I listened to their conversation. The time was spent with a lot of good-hearted fun and hilarity since Sergio had some difficulty understanding their Southern drawl and idioms which they struggled to explain and they likewise made him repeat words to understand his English, spoken with Spanish accent.

The second photo was taken at a roadside stand also in Georgia. Such places sell pumpkins and gourds of all kinds, home made jellies and jams, fresh peanuts boiling in cajun sauce or salted water, fresh jerky and of course, fishing tackle and bait. It is a hub for local people to sit around and talk about huntin', work, and of course politics. When I purchased a ladle full of steaming nuts and asked the proprietor jokingly if my five dollar bill was any good, the old codger behind the register retorted. "Sure, as long as"Olbama's pikshur ain on it."

In the next shot, I have included a church sign of the Neverfail Community Church. It was next door to another church, The Free Will Baptist Church, which was not far from the Church of the Eternal Tabernacle of God's Blessed Children.  Sergio has discovered that the South has a whole lot of  religious fundamentalists and, although the people are not Catholic like Colombia, it has its own flavor of fervor. As a biologist, he has a strong understanding and commitment to the facts of evolution. In Florida, outside of Gainesville, he spied a giant billboard along  the major highway depicting a series of hunched over ape-like creatures followed by a human form in a circle with a slash through it. The caption read something like "Seek Truth in God's Plan."

The fourth photo needs to be looked at carefully. It is a spin on the bumper sticker that some peace -loving people have on their cars that says COEXIST using  symbols from the world's great religions. This bumper sticker I found attached to guard rail in North Carolina has the same message. However, the emblems representing the letters are made from the logos of gun manufacturers and the NRA. I certainly don't want to shoot myself in the foot by saying that most folks down here love their firearms and their rights, but a whole of them do. The gap of trust in the federal government seems pervasive. You can draw your own conclusions about why and where this will lead, but there is a nasty ignorant sentiment out there and I, for one, don't like it.

Finally, the last photo comes from a truck on I-40 in Tennessee. I have no idea why someone painted a raccoon on the back of the truck, but it certainly made me feel good. I wonder if there is a fleet of different animals. This is why I love to travel. I see the usual and the unusual.  I watch the landscape go by and remain appreciative.

Welcome to America

As I had planned, Sergio's first hours in America were to be spent at Little Havana in Miami. Not surprisingly, his first impression of America was that it was like Central or South America, since all the people on the streets spoke Spanish and all store signs were in Spanish also. He seemed both relieved that he didn't immediately have to speak English and disappointed that America wasn't filled with the white cowboys he expected. Our quest was to experience genuine ethnic food and live music. I took him to "The Pub", an authentic Cuban restaurant, and we ordered a local platter of black beans and brown rice with plantain, topped with grilled pork loins, onion and seasonings. However, we could not find music since it was 4 PM on a Wednesday during the low season. After touring an art gallery filled with bright tropical Cuban paintings, and then watching locals playing dominoes in an open air plaza, we began to head back to our hotel. A modest-looking bar/buffet/ restaurant beckoned to me and I suggested we duck in for a cup of real Cuban espresso. It was virtually empty of customers. We were welcomed warmly by a smartly dressed lady, who seated us and hurried to have coffee made. People began entering the room from the back, some carrying flowers, presents and a delicious looking cake. There was to be a birthday party for one of the waitresses.We were at once included in the festivities and caught up in the laughter and merriment.  A fellow appeared holding a guitar and then began strumming and singing Cuban folk ballads and love songs. I was later told he had been a famous professional musician in Havana before fleeing in the 1980's. He even stood before us and serenaded us. The music was rhythmic, exotic, and gentle. I sketched him quickly and then later captured the likeness of the birthday girl who desired my drawing as a gift. I felt the magical aspect of  life enveloping me. We had found Cuban music and such an amazing cultural experience, yet the serendipitous and coincidental, cloaked in Cuban music and its cast of players had found us. Outside now, it started to rain and I spied a barbershop. I told Sergio that such places were excellent places to learn about the neighborhood. We were anointed in its colors and felt at home.

Destiny's Child?

I haven't blogged on this road trip up until now. Nonetheless, it is time to report that it has been a spectacular journey through Eastern Oregon, the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho, through Western Montana, Southeastern British Columbia and here to Kamloops. I have been focused entirely on the scenery and fishing and have not had the inclination to stop and record my impressions. My fortune has been remarkable as I have found breathtaking isolated campsites along idyllic streams,rivers and adjacent mountain lakes. However, by last weekend, my endeavor became more challenging. It was Thursday, the fourth of July weekend and, where last year along the Madison River I had felt like a hermit in my tent, this time I found myself fighting hoards of vacationers. Finally, I resigned myself to finding a room fifty miles away in Bozeman. Friday evening was a better night for me. I found the last available site in a small remote campground along the Blackfoot River.

By late Saturday afternoon I felt uneasy, as I left Whitefish Montana and headed further North on U.S.93. I began to feel increasingly anxious as the afternoon slipped on. After all these years of travel I have not fully overcome the fear of not knowing where I would to stay. It is primal. I spied a sign which announced a lake five miles up a dirt road. I turned off and bumped my way up a mountainside, only to discover when I arrived, that there were many warnings which told that overnight camping was prohibited. I had lost valuable time, had gotten hungry as well and felt misfortune. I began to feel genuinely discouraged and frustrated. I returned to the main road and drove further. After twenty minutes, the highway coursed through a narrow valley and announced the beginning of Stillwater State Forest. Large pine trees lined the road and snow covered peaks turning pink from the alpenglow portended the coming evening. I resolved that I would look for some isolated forest road to turn down in order to squat and find my own site, I spied the glimmer of what appeared to be a large lake through the foliage. Perhaps I could find my way to its edge, overnight there and even be able to fish. Then, as I slowed, looking for perhaps a jeep trail, I spotted several colorful tents through the trees and rolled past a driveway with a large open gate with a sign over the top which said Stillwater. Wow, I thought, how cool, a state campground. I hope it isn't full.  I hung a u-turn and went to the open gate and  rolled  down the driveway. To my amazement it was a private road leading to acres of luxurious lakefront property.  I was greeted by a woman in a long flowery dress who immediately pointed me to a spot to park and welcomed me to the "Stillwater Festival". Without asking me who I was or what I was doing there, she said I could put down my tent anywhere and added the music would begin shortly. Along the lake's edge before me was a state of the art outdoor band shelter and stage equipped with speakers situated before a grass amphitheater. More cars and vans began arriving filled with young people, mainly in their twenties, some holding small children. I learned it was a free concert for anyone and sponsored by the property owner, some aging hippie who believed in fostering love through music. Also there was much buzz that one of  the guest bands would arrive by helicopter. I realized that I had time for me to put my pontoon boat in the lake and so I began to fish. Soon the sounds of excellent live electric and acoustical guitar, drums and vocal echoed across the water. I rowed and kicked  relaxed and even hooked a huge trout. By the time I returned to the shore it had grown dark. There were probably not more than fifty people at the concert. Many were on the stage with the band dancing and singing to popular songs from 1990 to the present. I had never heard these tunes before, but felt gladdened to be exposed to this rhythm and to be part of the scene. The people were enthusiastic, incredibly energetic,  and danced so well. Incidentally, I saw no inappropriate behavior due to drugs or alchohol and every effort was made to maintain a sense of joy at the event.  I took off my sandals and danced along. I was, of course, the oldest person there and no one seemed to mind. Then the host made an appearance on stage to thank everyone for coming. He had a large white beard, twinkling eyes and was clearly someone of my generation and curiously looked like Jerry Garcia. The well-known Whitefish or Kalispell group played until midnight. The party broke and I returned to my tent to sleep. I shut my eyes and felt amazement. I had been struck by another episode of magical events composing my daily adventure.

(I am sorry about the poor picture quality. I had to take the photos from my phone rather than my normal digital camera and at that hour I couldn't find the right technique.to take good night photos.)