Advertisement
Published: April 24th 2011
Cuyahoga National Park
View of one of the canals, from the towpath.1. October. 2010
Today I woke at 4:30, and pulled away from my mom's house, in Rowe, MA, at 5, after much hugging (and some crying) between my family and I. I drove 10 hours to Cuyahoga National Park, in Cleveland, OH, arriving JUST in time to get a stamp in my national park passport book (that's right, I own a national park passport book). I went for a scenic hour and fifteen minute ride along the towpath by the canals, and tried to figure out, without spending time in the visitor center, what in the heck the park was all about.
Come to find out, the current towpath is the same path mules walked as they towed barges down the Erie and Ohio Canals.
It's 20-something miles from start to finish, but parts of it were under construction, so I could only access part of the overall trail.
2. October. 2010
After Cuyahoga, yesterday, I drove an additional 3.5 hours to John Bryant State Park, in Yellow Springs, OH, where I was to spend the night. I thought it would be super cozy and kind of romantic to sleep in my car, so I moved my bike and bags
to the front, and set up some blankets and a pillow in the back. I painstakingly pinned a sheet up around the windows, for privacy, and then I poured myself a glass of wine and tried to get comfortable. During the night, every time I needed to change position, I'd wake myself up and have to squeeze my feet between the seats or curl into a weird position. Adventurous, in concept, but painful, in practice. I think I slept about 50 minutes total.
3. October. 2010
Yesterday, I drove from Ohio, through the Ozarks, to Mansfield, Missouri, site of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum. I had been dreaming of this moment since I was about 7, so I fulfilled a 21-year old fantasy! The house was built by Almanzo, room by room, and everything in it is original, just as she left it. The ink bottles on the desk are where she left them, as well as her hair brush, etc. After purchasing my ticket for the house tour, I spent some time in the museum. The child in me almost giggled with delight as I realized that a large number of objects mentioned in the books were actually
Laura Ingalls Wilder's Home
Fulfilling a childhood fantasy... there (only a true Laura Ingalls fan would care): the name cards she collected as a teen, Pa's fiddle, the invitation to her first party, the scrap of lace Ida Brown gave her at her wedding, Mary's braille slate, her first sampler from "the Big Woods" etc.
I somehow lucked out and got my own personal tour of the house. Apparently they were both short (Laura was 4'11 and Almanzo, 5'4"). Almanzo was also very artsy-craftsy; he made tons of lamps, tables and chairs for the house, and later in his life (I laughed to think if he'd be embarrassed by this part of the tour), he even started embroidering pillows and making latch-hook rugs. Snicker, snicker.
This morning, after spending the night in Carthage, MO, I went for an early run. It was 37 degrees. I ran to the town common, and, because I didn't know where else to go, ended up running laps around the town square, doing intervals up and down the steps of some old, governmental building.
Then I drove 13 hours to Salida, CO., through some of the most God-forsaken land on Earth. It was bearable and mildly scenic at first, but after Wichita, it
got bad. Dodge City and Garden City (what a joke!) are the armpits of the world. Garden City, especially. It's filled with beef cows that are just hanging out, waiting to be slaughtered and, in the interim, spend their time wallowing in muddy fields that stretch as far as the horizon. The land is flat, flat, flat and dirty, dusty and brown. The only thing breaking the monotony of the land are the cows. And an occasional clump of trees that hides a run-down home.
I have never been so relieved to reach my destination. I am spending the night at my friend's apartment, in Salida, CO.
4. October. 2010.
This morning, I woke up and had coffee in quaint downtown Salida. It looks kinda like an Old Western town, with really cute storefronts and lots of boutiques and cafes. It's a perfect setting, nestled in a wide valley with mountains on all sides.
First, I drove to Great Sand Dunes National Park, which was just south of Salida. I went for a really pretty jog on a trail along the hillside, overlooking the dunes. As the main attraction IS the dunes, I jogged down and stood in the
sand for a few minutes, just to say I did.
The story behind the dunes: They are the tallest sand dunes in North America. Regular winds push the sand up against the base of the mountain, and when the wind changes direction, the sand gets blown back up against itself, creating the dunes.
After my run, I hopped in the car and drove across southern Colorado to Mesa Verde National Park. From the entrance gate, it's about a million mile drive up windy roads to the top of the mesa...it just goes on and on forever. As it was already late afternoon, I only had time to see one set of cliff dwellings (I've been here several times, so I didn't feel the pressure to see the big name attractions). I did a 50-minute run to Spruce Canyon House (a dwelling that you can enter for free, without purchasing tickets), and then down into Spruce Canyon and back up. The Spruce Canyon trail is only 2.4 miles, but it drops down into the canyon bottoms and the long climb back up (at elevation) hurts. The elevation on the top of the mesa ranges from 8,000 to 8,400 feet. Oof.
Mesa Verde National Park
the mesa, from outside the park 5. October. 2010.
Spent last night at a campground outside of Mesa Verde. This time around, I tried sleeping in the FRONT of the car. I sat in the passenger seat, leaned against the door, and propped my legs up, at an angle, on a suitcase I'd put on the passenger seat. It was a definite improvement, but I had to consume a couple glasses of wine before it became okay. I was so tired from my long day of driving and travel, that I watched an episode of Grey's Anatomy on the campground's free wi-fi and then passed out.
Woke up early and drove the easy hour and a half to Moab. Every time I come to Arches National Park, I do the same hike. The first time I ever did it was with my family, when I was really young. The experience turned into one of those family stories we rehash every other Christmas. From what I remember, we left my wheelchair-bound grandfather in the shade of a rare tree by the parking lot, and set out with my elderly grandmother for what we thought was a short, easy stroll. We each had a fanny pack with a
small juice box and maybe two packs of M+Ms between us. Needless to say, we were ill-prepared for the reality of the hike. It was in the 90s with the kind of dry, parched air that you can only find in the desert, and we quickly ran out of fluids, and were stuck in the middle of the long loop. My strongest memory is shuffling from patch of shade to patch of shade, while my parents agonized over my poor grandpa, all alone and probably worrying about us, back by the car. As it turns out, when we returned, hours later, my trooper of a grandpa was happily laughing away with an old couple that he'd cornered, completely oblivious to our plight.
THIS time, I was prepared. I brought a gatorade and two bottles of water, as well as snacks. I jogged the Double O Arch loop (which is 4.2 miles long, not including all the detours I made to off-the-beaten path arches and viewpoints), with zero drama. For much of the trail, one simply jogs through soft sand, around cacti, bushes and rocks, but there are several parts that involve scrambling up huge rocks, and sliding down the other
side on one's butt. There are also several narrow rock sections with drop-offs on both sides. The views are stunning and the colors are perfect: the rich red of the rocks and sand, the crisp blue sky and green bushes make every viewpoint look like a calendar shot.
I spent the afternoon on a cliff edge in Canyonlands. Pretty crazy views. There are no fences along the canyon rim, so you can get right up to the edge if you want (which I don't/didn't). I spent some time at one view point, where there was a sharp drop down several hundred feet, and right up at the edge was a bunch of loose dirt and rocks. A family pulled up in their minivan, and the kids got out and ran right up to the edge. I almost had a seizure, as I pictured them slipping on the loose rocks and plummeting 500 feet to their deaths.
I spent a lot of time just sitting at various viewpoints, trying to not panic about the cliffs, and generally just contemplating the enormity of it all. It managed to be both peaceful and anxiety-ridden, at the same time.
I'm spending the night at
a hostel in Moab. The Lazy Lizard Hostel. $9 for a room in a coed dorm. I chose the lower bunk in the corner, hoping to discourage anyone from choosing to bunk with me.
I spent some time in the communal room, where a bunch of us sat around and watched "The Office." I chose the seat right in front of the "free internet" desktop computer. I couldn't quite see from where I was sitting, but I'm pretty sure it was an Apple IIE. It whined loudly and the keyboard clicked, and I could barely hear the TV. In addition to the computer, the room had all the other typical hostel stuff: the requisite guy in strappy Tevas with a travel coffee mug covered in political and environmental stickers; boardgames (I could see checkers, cards and something called "Magnetic Dimensions"); the smell of bad food coming from the kitchenette; the bookswap bookshelf; someone with an accent; and mismatched furniture. Because this is Moab, an outdoorsy town, there were also a bunch of young guys outside, washing the dirt off their mountain bikes. There was also an artsy "deep" guy on the front porch, pouring his heart out into a moleskin
notebook (and later, into his acoustic guitar...as I was trying to fall asleep. Thank goodness for earplugs).
6. October. 2010
Drove the entire way back to Orange County. Left Moab really early in the morning. I had planned on spending a couple days in Zion and Bryant National Parks, but I had a toothache (I'd find out later it'd need a root canal), so I ended my trip early
Advertisement
Tot: 0.118s; Tpl: 0.016s; cc: 5; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0344s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Rose
non-member comment
Love the travel blog! Great first entry. Reading it sparked my wanderlust and reminds me that I need to get out!!!!!!