Onto NEW YORK!

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Jenny and I had planned to visit the Tibetan Buddhist temple in Wisconsin, where it is rumoured they have a restaurant serving Tibetan cuisine that is to die for (which may be an ironic statement for a person leading towards spiritual enlightenment of the Buddhist variety). We were unable to find the opportunity to go during my stay with her family, but had given thought to dropping in on my way to New York. It somehow didn’t seem right that I should however. Jenny and I first met on a Tibetan Buddhist forum, on facebook actually, and I had wanted to share that experience with her. As I had promised to see her again before I leave to go home, I decided, that then, would be the best opportunity to go there.

As a nice alternative, I decided to visit ‘The House on the Rock’. This was a place engineered by one man’s passion for the unique, whose drive towards some ultimate conclusion did not go unnoticed. Today, it is one mans massive vision of life in our time, albeit probably far ahead of his own. What I expected to see were great views, a history lesson, and some additional interesting things. There are those things ofcourse, but I was to be overwhelmingly surprised, and in admiration of this mans accomplishment. I recall asking the lady attendant, when purchasing my tickets, how long I should expect the tour to take. It was a self-guided tour, though the option of a guided tour is available to those wanting to spend a little extra to get the scoop and overview of the house’s most important features. Personally, I think it would take half the fun out of it, perhaps that’s just my ego speaking positive energy to my psyche, but there is always something I seem to find that i want just a little more time to find out about than the time you are allotted to see it. The time suggested by the attendant to see the entire house was 2 to 3 hours, which I thought was perfect given my plans to head onward to Ohio later in the afternoon.
I spent 5 hours going through the house, and I was going through faster than many of the other people before me. I soon realized it would take more than a day to really appreciate this place. Every part of it is designed with some theme in mind, whether it was for academic contemplation, entertainment or engineering the latest house ornaments, it was made in such detail as to be astounding to the eye, and boggling to the mind at its also sheer size and scope. There is even an underground alleyway that likens to the Harry Potter Hogwarts alleyway(if you can remember what it’s called you are a better man than i). Thanks to the public interest in this house decades earlier, the owners obsession was allowed to keep obsessing on new and great ideas. Aside from the length of time, I also had not realized the amount of photos I was taking, filling up my cameras memory capacity completely, a feat I had never achieved before, and I would not have expected to have done when it can hold over 1400, 12 Megapixel images, but I had done so nonetheless.

I had departed ‘The House’ later than anticipated, but arrived, tired as I was, at my camp ground for the night as I had hoped. My time at the ‘house on the rock’ was one of the most intriguing experiences I’d ever had, and that was a very satisfying thought. I did not forget to leave without taking a remembrance souvenir, a ‘house on the rock’ glass beer mug.
Last night along my way to the campground I could remember seeing a sign for Indian caverns. I awoke early enough that I might be able to go and check them out. It was easy enough to find, and I arrived perfectly at opening time. I was anticipating that cameras would not be allowed in the caverns but was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was not a problem. The caves were used by Natives, or the American Indian, as a shelter from bad weather, as warmth from the snow in winter time, as a trade and barter market, for negotiations among tribes, and of course, as a hideaway from attacks. The caves descended over 500 feet, though what we were allowed to see was barely more than 100 feet deep. Several passageways are blocked off to prevent venturing into these other areas, which I suspect, as well as being massive and long, would probably provide for treacherous maneuvering for the average person. Trekking through the portion of the caves accessible however, you do get a good idea how valuable a commodity this place must have been in those times for the Native people. The opening then was very small, and unless you knew where to look, would completely miss it without knowing it was ever there. I imagine many tribe members survived down here for several months at times. As another remembrance souvenir, I purchased a small necklace, made by a native people, representing a spear tip. A spear tip could have easily been made from rock or bone, and would depend on the tribe as to which was the most likely used. To me, it represents hunting and protection, both necessary aspects of the native peoples’ livelihood; a little piece of Native heritage and culture to carry with me.

This leg of the trip would also give me the first genuine opportunity to unwind, relax and reflect on my arrival to North America. I travelled through some of the most beautiful scenery imaginable in these few days, and let my mind wander where it may. Yep, (I was really here) I kept thinking to myself. I thought about my journey here, to this place, so far, where I was now, and also where I was heading, and where I would be, in the weeks to come. I had a few days to get to New York, and had mapped out where I needed to be each day in order to get there. I hadn’t managed to see any bears, or moose, and I was hoping to get the chance along my way. These days were long, driving for hours on end, maybe 5 or 6 hours on average each day, breaking for the odd photo, for lunch, and for rest when I needed it. I had developed the strategy of stopping in at each Visitor center on the side of the highways in the USA, where you could see all the information on the States forests and national parks. This allowed me to plan my nights stay at local camping grounds each day, and provided for further opportunities to take scenery photos.

One such example was in West Virginia. It seemed like I would never find a campsite for the night, and having passed through 5 states in a single day, was a more tiring one than usual. From Ohio, passing through Illinois, Michigan and Indiana, before reaching West Virginia, farming country was novel for a while. The farm yard silos and barns are a feat of engineering I admire and that inspires more harmonious times. As soon as I hit West Virginia however, that novelty seemed a distant memory, as the scenery moved from flat plains and small valleys, to rolling hills, forest and mountain. You could feel the climb too, if not the amount of oxygen in the air as you steadily gained altitude. The scenery was breath-taking. I was about to find my campsite for the night, one I had ambitiously plugged into the GPS navigator on my phone to show me the way some hours earlier. Then I was awestruck! As I began crossing a bridge, the view reveals a humble, but by no means small lake beneath, where a thriving community, some centuries old judging by the architecture (and with a French or Spanish flavor perhaps) nestled at its edges. On all sides was steep mountain and dense forest. Who wouldn’t want to have a home here I thought.

My camp site was nearby, only a few kilometers away, which gave me the chance to set up tent and do some exploring and sight-seeing, and of course, more photos. I had a bottle of local wine that night that I had picked up from a convenience store. Before I was able to head back and enjoy it, I decided to lock the keys of the car inside it. I had to wait for a locksmith I called out to come rescue me. Not the least embarrassing moment of my life for sure. The people at the convenience store were obliging, and offered to keep my bottle of wine chilled, and away from peering police eyes who might ask me questions, that frankly, I just was too tired to answer intelligibly. I did get back to my camp site that night, and I did enjoy my bottle of wind. I slept well. Tomorrow, I would arrive in New York!
In the morning, as with the preceeding few days I had heard about a Hurricaine brewing, a monster of mother natures spawning, there to remind us who is really the boss of our planet no doubt, wreaking havoc down the South-eastern coastline of the USA. The news came that it was now certain the Hurricaine would continue its path to New York. I was ahead of the weather however, and was only a few hours away from New York. I had planned to visit Washington DC earlier in the day as well, but more problems with the bank meant I had little time for it. Straight on to New York until evening.

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