The Dlog: Williamsport, PA -> Nashville, TN

Until now, we've been living in familiar places with familiar people. Whenever someone said "So when are you sending off?" we'd say we already had; the journey had already begun. But somewhere in the back of our minds was this part of the adventure: the part where we head south, away from the people, places and culture we know so well.

Google Maps Trip 

November 4th:

We made it to Nashville!

Jesse and I woke up at 6:00am this morning somewhat confused about why we were up so early, until we remembered we'd crossed a time zone AND set the clocks back for daylight savings in the same day. 

We drank tea, ate breakfast, sat on the beach, played a bit of fetch and leisurely hit the road. These were the first real suburbs we'd driven through in a while, and we slowly made our way into the Nashville area.

As we rolled in to our friend's house in Nashville, Jesse and I had a moment of reflection, somewhat surprised with ourselves for actually making it here... Almost exactly a year ago now we'd discussed visiting these friends, but somehow it didn't feel quite real. Deep down I think we had our doubts that we'd actually make the 3000 mile journey from Maine in a self-repaired 1985 van, but we're here, we made it, and that certainly feels surreal.

November 3rd:

This was our earliest morning out of camp yet. I don't want to speak too soon, but it feels like we're figuring this thing out. We were up at 7:20, showering at 8:00 and one the road by 9:00. 

On our way out, we stopped to fill up water at a local spring that I'd seen on my bike ride the day before. The water was a blessing and there were many locals there as well.

We had a beautiful drive through the back roads of Eastern Tennessee, with a stop in Harriman, TN for breakfast. 

We arrived at Edgar Evins State Park at around 3:00pm and got set up before dark. This campground was on a very steep incline and each site was on it's own wooden platform with a nice view of the lake.

Loaded potatoes with some leftover greens and chili for dinner for our last night on the road:

November 2nd:

Today we took a "rest" day (stayed at the same campground) and it was lovely. 

We had a chill morning and made a great breakfast: salt-cured ham, cheesy eggs and zucchini. 

Around 1pm we headed off to get our exercise in for the day. Jesse took Lola around Songbird Trail and Max headed out for an ambitious route planned on the bike. 

Unfortunately (or fortunately) after the first climb, I realized I'd be chasing daylight and being slightly irresponsible if I'd continued the 60mi route, so I descended the canyon and headed back for nearly 40 on the day: not too shabby. 

We made ourselves a lovely picnic at sunset with some leftovers and Annie's mac'n'cheese before heading back to our site for the night:

November 1st:

We hit 175k miles on the van today, WOOHOO!

This campground had the most wonderful shower and laundry facilities we'd encountered, so we took the morning to get ourselves and our clothes clean. We gathered our clean selves and headed out for a walk/hike down into the natural tunnel at Natural Tunnel State Park. It was very cool, and Max resisted his strong desire to walk through the tunnel. 

We made decent time to our next campground at Norris Dam State Park with a lovely drive through the countryside, as usual. 

On the way in we noticed a brewery, Clinch River Brewing, which was only a mile or so away and probably 400m from our campsite as the crow flies. Despite having the fixin's for a nice dinner at camp, we couldn't resist the temptation of a beer and some live music after being at quiet campgrounds for the last two weeks. 

After the first beer, we agreed it was a two-beer-night and had a blast laughing, reflecting and reconnecting after 8 busy days on the road, which felt like weeks. That reflection came with a big sigh of relief as we came to realize we'd been taking ourselves and this journey too seriously. We're living quickly, and we'd forgotten how to take the time to relish the present for what it is. Suffice it to say many lessons learned and we made the appropriate pledges not to repeat some mistakes we made on this leg of the journey. 

October 31st:

Stony Fork Campground was super quiet and comfortable. We splurged on the electrical hookup site and enjoyed turning all our lights on and charging all our electronics. Max rode in the morning. Strava Activity:

We drove from Stony Brook to Natural Bridge State Park Campground. Another wonderful ride for scenery. We stopped at a local restaurant with this menu: 

Coming from living in eastern MA, these prices nearly blew our heads off! Jesse got a bologna sandwich and ice cream and Max got a cheeseburger platter. The food was solid (what was expected) and we had a couple delightful conversations. 

On our way to Natural Tunnel, we passed a farm stand which ended up having eggs and a bunch of fun freeze-dried treats! They had everything from mini-pancakes to tater-tots and starbursts. We got some Strawberry Cheesecake bites for the road.

October 30th:

Woke up in New River Gorge National Forest, Grandview Sandbar Campground. Really beautiful view from the river.

Unfortunately we didn't have logistics planned for the next few days and there was no service in the campground. Without plans, Max had a brief existential crisis before getting a bike ride in for the day, but all was better after the ride. The gorge is incredibly beautiful and we had a fun drive out.

Strava Activity:

  

We stopped for coffee and some internet to plan the rest of our trip to Nashville. Tonight's accommodation, Stony Fork Campground. On the way there, we crossed over Big Walker mountain at sunset and got some gorgeous views from the top!

There was a weird and very sketchy platform at the top. We decided not to take that risk.

Max made dinner and spent the evening writing this and planning tomorrow's ride. Here's our trip from today. The topography of this area is just incredible, I've never seen somewhere so diverse.

October 29th:

Big travel day, 4hrs according to Google Maps.

Woke up and IT'S WARM. Jesse and I walked out of the van and said "wow". We could finally think straight and actually got up before 9AM!

Leave Ohiopyle State Forest, arrive at New River Gorge. Stopped to refresh on groceries. The West Virginia leaves are at their peak!

Jesse at the New River Gorge

                    

Today's Route:

October 28th:

We visited two Frank Lloyd Wright houses: Kentuck Knob and Fallingwater!

The view from Kentuck Knob

Our Falling Water Tour

October 27th:

Staying another night in Ohiopyle State Campground.

Chilly morning so it was hard to get out of bed. Max and I were STRUGGLING with the cold and keeping our frustration at bay. It is just miserable to be in the cold and not have the proper gear. However, someone left this beautiful little gift on our table while we took a hike. 

 

October 26th:

Dirty Dozen bike ride, cut short to get home.

Strava activity here: strava.com/activities/12750867694 

Met with Rachel and Junie :D

We stayed at DAve and Deb's house in Pittsburgh. Got some great Italian food and met some of their wonderful and large family! Thanks Dave and Deb!!

Bought a cooler!!

Made our way to Ohiopyle State Forest Campground. Very Busy!

 

October 25th:

Morning walk around Trough Creek area, strava activity:

Pack up and drive to Pittsburgh.

Walk Lola at Riverview dog park and run into a cyclist who tells Max about Dirty Dozen.

Arrive at Dave's, get a shower and get dinner!

October 24th:

Woke up at roadside campsite.

Beautiful roads into Huntingdon. Stopped for coffee + logistics in a local coffee roastery.

Made our way to Trough Creek Campground and settled in. What de ja vu when suddenly two bike-packers roll up to our campsite! The same folks we had stayed with the night before ended up camping at the very same campground as us for a second night! This time they were able to grab their own tent site, but it was surprisingly nice to see some friendly faces that night. We shared breakfast the next morning with them and gave them the blog information (hello if you are reading this! Email us at jesselhunt@gmail.com)

October 23rd: 

We set off from Williamsport!

Beautiful drive over the ridge to a roadside state forest campsite.

As we were settling into our campsite for the night (a first come-first served pull off on a state forest access road), two bike-packers rolled up to our site. Lola immediately ran over and gave them a wiggly greeting. As we were attempting to call her back, they casually asked if they could join us at our campsite. After asking them about where they were coming from and where they were going we agreed to let them stay the night at the spot. They started unpacking their bikes and setting up tents for the night. We gave them some fresh fruit. We ended up sitting around the fire talking far too late into the evening. Truly lovely people, it was an absolute pleasure sharing the campsite with them!