A Cross Country Journey LA --> Baltimore

A few more miles under our belts and a slightly greater understanding of it all. Initially, I was going to struggle through my own description of our trips route, the good days, and the bad moments, through my thoughts, impressions, and realizations, but after being read a beautiful journal entry by my girlfriend, Lindsay Tyson, I realized that would not be necessary. Her entry portrays our trip far better than I could have ever hoped.

9.8.09
Back to classes, schedules, obligations, back to college food, college friends, and college parties, back to a single location, and an expected mind set. Welcome back to reality. "It sucks to work for a living," especially after three weeks of stay where you want, leave when you want, see what you want, be who you want. Not to mention beautiful places, interesting people, and the freedom and privilege to be exciting, spontaneous, and enlightened by the places and people around. Original Destination: Los Angeles. A place of beaches and power plants, tanned skin, polluted air, celebrities, and street bums. Said goodbye to friends, family, and new life in hopes of new friends, a new mindset, and way of life. The challenge: make it from Los Angeles to Baltimore through the southern states with one functioning bus, two happy people, three weeks of great stories and memories, and countless pictures, experiences, and realizations.

Stop 1: Mojave National Preserve
No new life here. Just acres of dried up, shade-less, overheated death that mixed with curved, almost haunting rock formations, in order to form a beautiful scene especially as the sun sets and rises over the mountains that have dealt with so much that they have developed character and face-like formations. First day driving, first gorgeous camping spot, first day actually camping in the bus instead of sleeping in it on the streets of LA, first fabulous day in what would become a three week high.

Stop 2: Flagstaff, Arizona
Spontaneity strikes, as does our coincidental luck. Art galleries, expensive tourist shops, artistic graffiti, camping amongst nothing but trees and dirt bike paths off the side of a forest service road. Explore, search for camping, act like 5 year olds, realize how enjoyable the trip and the company have been so far, cook in the dark, eat in the dark, sleep, hitchhike to the trail head, climb through gorgeous woods on switchbacks up to the top of Humphrey's Peak, the high point in Arizona, start to descend, run into a friend from high school, enjoy Jackson hospitality, a good smelling tree (ponderosa), a warm shower, and a night with some Flagstaff people. The longer you stay the more people you meet, the more places you find, the more you enjoy. But Baltimore, time constraints, and duty call and its back on the road. 3 days, 2 happy people, 1 functioning bus, and a very long drive ahead.

Stop 3: Leasburg Palm State Park (Southern NM)
13 hour drive, over a hundred degree heat, too hot to drive, too hot to think, too hot to feel anything but sweat, thirst, and the desire for an ice bath. Time to stop. Found shade. Found showers. Found peace. In retrospect, New Mexico was beautiful, the subtleties of the desert, the adapted way of life of the animals and the people there, the calm and cool that the bright red sunset brings. But at the time the heat and steam off the road only led to a slight loss of logic, fear about the future of the bus and us for the remainder of the trip, subdued dinner conversations, an early night, and early start the next morning.

Stop 3 1/2: Boarder Control Holding Cells, El Paso, TX
Approach border control. Mutual eye contact - mutual expression. Dogs bark, bull over, get out, move to an all white box with bugs crawling on the floor, sterile lighting, a bench, and a toilet. Wait, wait, rights, wait, wait, release. One of the more interesting unplanned stops. Thank God for good luck and professionalism. Weird to think about how much trust we put into complete strangers every day.

Stop 4: Guadalupe Peak, TX
The mountain taunts from miles away. Trees cover the top edge of the steep cliffs that stand beside the mountain. The bus slowly makes its way up the winding road until the peak can be reached by foot. Fabulous hike up to the top. Caught the hiking bug and the high points this far have not been a disappointment. Pass dozens of beautiful flowers and rocks, the intense heat of NM has been left behind and we have continued to adapt. The view from the top shows us Texas, flat, brown tinted green and seemingly endless. Another great day, another great hike, another realization of how much I've been blessed, and another gorgeous mountain sunset as another day of driving and adventure awaits.

Stop5: South Llano State Park, Junction, TX
The heat started to catch up, decided it'd be better to stop, and let it pass by for the night. Stumbled upon Junction. Went grocery shopping, talked to locals and found the best place to eat in town, talked to the waitress and found the best place to camp. It was perfect. Amazes me still that no amount of planning ever turns out to be as good as the best random occurrences. Wrote letters, reminisced about the trip, family and friends, and went for a swim away from the happy family of seemingly 45 that greeted us with smiles, waves and mainly open-mouthed stares as we entered the park. Our early start the next morning as the buss started up loudly, as usual, most likely would not have received the same reaction.

Stop 6: Walker Ranch, Austin, TX
Complete change of pace from hot family campgrounds, cheap nights stays, public showers, and a bed in the back of a bus. A multi-million dollar ranch welcomed us with air conditioning, a cool pool, 40 horses, a king sized bed and pretty much anything (materialistically speaking) that one could want or need. Nice to spend a day in the lap of luxury, nice to end it with fabulous Texas BBQ and even nicer to realize that my desired way of life includes very, very little of what is important to the people with homes and lives like that. Gives me hope for happiness and healthy relationships that have nothing to do with money. As we pull away from the ranch I take a look back past the unmade bed, the clothes on the floor, the home-made curtains and the VW bus sticker, at the beautiful home, the horses and the pool, I can't help but smile again at how fortunate I am to have found someone and some sort of entrance to my desired life path that make me truly, genuinely and deeply happy.

Stop 7: Rice University, Houston, TX
Another complete change of pace walk in to the dorms an step out of the feeling of solitude at the ranch. Beer pong, loud greeting, loud music and a line for the bathroom welcome us at Rice. Funny how two things I'm used to (expensive living and college parties) are the first things on the trip to blatantly show me the phases, stages, and differences of lifestyle. Nice homes and college dorms and friends are great for a while, but as we jump back in the bus I realize that its refreshing and exciting to be able to remove yourself from it and be on the road.

Stop 8: Days Inn Parking Lot, Middle of Louisiana
The goal was to get to New Orleans or at least to a state park or campground on the way to New Orleans, but sleepiness and hunger struck and the darkened side of a Days Inn parking lot is where we ended up. Not accustomed to sleeping in parking lots, especially not of hotels I'm not paying for, in cities I don't know. A dinner of crackers with peanut butter and apple sauce eases our hunger and the smiles on both of our faces almost surprises me. Sleeping in a parking lot, exhausted and with a make shift dinner do not normally add up to smiles. But I realize that there is nothing not to smile about because I'm traveling across the country in a bus that has made it this far and I'm traveling with someone who, even after more than a week of road tripping with, still makes me want to spend more time with him and get to know him even better. I smile as I fall asleep and am still smiling when I wake up and realize that we get to experience New Orleans today.

Stop 9: New Orleans, LA
French Quarter, colors, history, culture; rows of art galleries, international, thought-out of color or lack there of, local and foreign history and culture; bars and clubs on Bourbon Street, colorful to say the least; cemeteries, lots of history and very little anything else. The "less fortunate" part of town equally, if not more so, filled with interesting aspects of history and culture. The endless amount of tourist shops filled with post cards, sun glasses, bumper stickers, and specialized souvenirs. The endless amount of restaurants and bars are filled with southern food, seafood, all sorts of drinks and to my surprise even on a weeknight, all sorts of people from all sorts of places. We end our short stay in New Orleans with a neon-sign lit dance to a man playing jazz saxophone on a side street. I can't help but think that we should have planned more time at each place, but despite my thoughts its time to move on.

Stop 10: Truck stop, Southern Alabama
The bus looks small and comedic next to the huge tractor trailers in the massive parking lot behind the gas station that acted as our bathroom for the night. Fall asleep as the back-up warning beep of trucks surrounds us and I'm almost praying that we do not get backed into.

Stop 11: Cheaha Mountain, AL
High Point Alabama. You don't even have to get out of your car because you can drive all the way to the peak. But like the pathetic excuses for rebels we are, we decided to walk the wrong way on a one way street up to the top. Got lost down a needlessly expensive wood boardwalk to a lookout, eventually made it to the lighthouse at the top with views of rolling hills and a phone tower. Instead of staying at the motel at the top with the pool, gorgeous view, and restaurant, or the expensive camping cabins, we decided to continue to camp in the bus and enjoyed a camp fire, organic marshmallows, a cold Texas beer and another flawless night of the trip.

Stop 12:Woodall Mt. MS
The intimidating 806 ft. peak was the next destination. After an eye opening drive through Birmingham the day before, it was pleasant to see, instead of two dogs massacred on the street [Shot through the forehead just hours before], an old woman who could barley find her voice, a man with difficult-to-understand Alabama accent and a helpful woman who directed us to the highest hill in Mississippi. The dirt road curved beautifully up to the top and we finally stopped to bus and walked the rest. Another phone tower, absolutely no view, some left over milkshakes and poison ivy greeted us at the top. But the addition of a "Honk if your Happy" sign and the promise of another real campsite kept our spirits up and we continued our drive.

Stop 13: Pickwick, TN
A place to swim, a place to swing, a place to camp, a place to shower, and even a place to run. As we enter Tennessee, we are now in the middle of Southern culture. Stop at the Pickwick Market for groceries, walk past the candy, beef jerky, and chewing tobacco and feel welcomed by a chorus of southern accents and dirty looks. Have a great night camping, started to decide it's very difficult not to. And stared the next morning with a beer, a cigarette and a lotto ticket - didn't feel rebellious, didn't feel cool - just ready to hit the road and make our way to Nashville.

Stop 14: Nashville, TN
The keyboard-shaped Country Music Hall of Fame welcomed us to Nashville, then there was the building that reflected the sky, and then there was the main street. Cowboy hats, cowboy boots, southern accents, country music, and saloons. Artsy printmaking shop willed with prints about country music, horse shows, and generally the south. Stumbled across lunch and a BBQ cook off set up. Stumbled our way into the Charlie Daniels Museum, then into Charlie Daniels Band tickets, then into meeting Charlie Daniels. Not to mention a cowboy from Israel, a few people from Cleveland, and an interesting detour through Nashville due to difficulty reading the map. Great day, long night, couldn't wait to sleep.

Stop 15: Edgar Even State Park, Buffalo Valley, TN
Quick stop. Tired. Frustrated. Hungry. Ready to stop driving. Pull into campsite, climb in to the back, restlessly try to fall asleep, exhausted, deep snoring next to me, morning, fresh day, realization that we are sleeping on a platform overhanging more beautiful campsites and water far below. excited for the rest of the trip. Feel rejuvenated and ready.

Stop 16: Clingman's Dome, Great Smokey Mountains National Park, TN
Breathtaking. Refreshing. Peaceful. Calming. Sensational. Beautiful. Smells of spring. Smells of summer. Smells of Fall. Smells of purity. Smells of nature. Drive up beautiful, curving roads through forests, campsites, mountains, and rivers. Make lunch at the highest parking lot in the fog that is the smoke of the Great Smoky mountains. Feel surprisingly cold in comparison to the heat I expected to feel during the trip. Enjoy the limited view from the top. Enjoy the rest of the afternoon. Feel frustrated that I'm so incapable of expressing how I feel about what I see. Feel frustrated that we can't stay for longer. Mainly feel blessed and lucky to have been here at all.

Stop 17: Kingdom Come State Park, Black Mountain, KY
Try to reach the highest point in Kentucky. Road signs are misleading, but a surprise visit from a local Kentucky couple leads us in the right direction and eventually, we reach another high point. Enjoy the rain, enjoy the campsite, enjoy the happy honks (although sadly few and far between) enjoy the open mouthed stares, the waves, the way the bus makes me feel, the way the camping makes me feel, the way the trip and the company make me feel and try to appreciate the way the end of the trip is making me feel.

Stop 18: Middle of West Virginia
Long day driving through curving, seemingly never ending mountains, thought we were much closer than we actually were, decided not to push it to the high point in West Virginia and found another great camping site. Enjoyed, thoroughly enjoyed, a last woodsy camping spot, a last public shower, a last camp stove cooked meal, and a last night of just the two of us with no one else to see, nothing else to do, and nowhere else to be of the trip. Woke up. Felt many mixed emotions about the end of the trip, the beginning of school and these past few months in general as we headed back. Back to classes, schedules, obligations, back to college friends, college food, and college parties, back to a single location and an expected mindset. Welcome back to reality.

-Lindsay Tyson




Epilogue: The bus has sadly since been sold in order to help pay for school, but the new owner is a young kid David, who has plans of continuing to fix it up and continue its legend by driving back across the country through Canada. I can only hope he has as good of a time as I.

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