Jesse, I enjoy and appreciate your blog, the offer for you to come stay at my shack in the forest in the North Georgia mountains still stands. 7 acres, and a creek, that borders the national forest on two sides. almost a mile to the next closest house. my trail cams have photographed coyotes, foxes, bobcats, turkeys, bear, wild hogs, deer, and oddly, some cows. The coyotes howling at 3AM is really spooky. no TV, no phone, and you gotta stand in just the right spot to get one bar on your cell phone. it does have electricity and running water pumped from a spring fed cistern. I will meet you at the Atlanta airport and hand you the keys to my 4WD, which you will need to get in to the cabin if its rained in the last few days.
you're the best. I haven't forgot, and I sure do hope to take you up on the offer, and hang out with you too. Not just enjoy your cabin, but also spend some time getting to know you, and shoot the breeze, hear some stories, tell some too, and whatever else... maybe play cards and drink cold refreshing stuff. Someday. And I sure rather do it while we're young, lol, you know?
I've driven interstate 8 and 40 east, and once I went into the Arizona mountains into the forests, but still on an interstate. I didn't do it to see the forest though. If it's a drive to a forest, there's nothing that compares to the Sequoia Natl Forest and the grove of the largest trees on earth, I went there in 1997. It's rare that anyone takes the vacation time to see the big national parks, the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite... I suppose most people never go see them, some people see them once in their life, and fewer still go see them more than once. Because I was in the military, and every couple years would get stationed at a different base, I drove across country a couple times, from where I grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to Florida, to Ct, to California. On those drives how I get from one place to the other was up to me, so I made a point - when transferring from Connecticut to California, to stop and see my family in Michigan, then head to Mt Rushmore, with a small detour to Devil's Tower, and Crazy Horse (unchanged in 30 years, I don't think they've done any major work, nor intend to finish it) through Yellowstone from the East gate to the Grand Tetons, through the Great Salt Lake, and it was during Speed Week, so I stopped to see the racing at Bonneville, then to Yosemite and the Sequoias
All of those parks are bucket-list items for me. Unfortunately, most of them are on the opposite side of the country from me. It would require a dedicated trip out west or an extended road trip like you took to be able to see any of them. I have been to a few National parks in the east - Mammoth Cave, Great Smoky Mountains and Cuyahoga Valley Nat. Park near Cleveland. Great Smoky Mountains was the best I have visited.
I found an Instagram account where a woman makes fake promotional posters for National Parks using quotes from 1-star ratings of the parks. They are kind of funny and it is hard to believe that people can make petty complaints about these beautiful places. The page is called subparparks.
you've nailed the problem, the biggest most unusual parks are so damn far from most everything and everyone. Yellowstone, Sequoia, Mt Rushmore, White Sands, Carlsbad, Bryce Canyon.. It would be so perfect to take your time if you had incredible company, like on a honeymoon, or as a band of free love hippies with musicians on a flat top bus... then such a tour of the parks would be a wonderful life interrupted by the parks, lol. But most people either will not have anyone to travel with, or they are married with kids, and I bet that sharing a car for a week is a miserable experience with hyper bored kids and nagging spouses. I figure that the best way is to advertise that you want a couple mellow guitar players, and maybe a piano player with a good full keyboard, and then rent a medium size rv. Hopefully you've got a couple people that like to play cribbage, fish, have loads of lifetime stories, that have the time to waste just being gypsies on the roads and highways, who like to try diner food and can cook on a campfire too. Damn, I need to copy this down for a road trip advertisement!
thanks for the tip on the instagram! I'll check that out now! I drove past the Mammoth Caves when going through Kentucky, I had a week to drive from home in the Upper Penninsula to Orlando, it was my first week with my own vehicle, ever, my first week after leaving my parents and graduating bootcamp. I was young, free, and on the road, but with 8 hours a day on the road, a hotel every night, etc. I made it to base with less than 5 dollars, no credit card, and 1/4 tank of gas because I got lucky
Jesse, I enjoy and appreciate your blog, the offer for you to come stay at my shack in the forest in the North Georgia mountains still stands. 7 acres, and a creek, that borders the national forest on two sides. almost a mile to the next closest house. my trail cams have photographed coyotes, foxes, bobcats, turkeys, bear, wild hogs, deer, and oddly, some cows. The coyotes howling at 3AM is really spooky.
ReplyDeleteno TV, no phone, and you gotta stand in just the right spot to get one bar on your cell phone. it does have electricity and running water pumped from a spring fed cistern. I will meet you at the Atlanta airport and hand you the keys to my 4WD, which you will need to get in to the cabin if its rained in the last few days.
you're the best. I haven't forgot, and I sure do hope to take you up on the offer, and hang out with you too. Not just enjoy your cabin, but also spend some time getting to know you, and shoot the breeze, hear some stories, tell some too, and whatever else... maybe play cards and drink cold refreshing stuff.
DeleteSomeday. And I sure rather do it while we're young, lol, you know?
Do you ever drive east of SD to the Cleveland National Forest? I stopped there a couple of times when I used to go out to Mexicali.
ReplyDeleteI've driven interstate 8 and 40 east, and once I went into the Arizona mountains into the forests, but still on an interstate. I didn't do it to see the forest though.
DeleteIf it's a drive to a forest, there's nothing that compares to the Sequoia Natl Forest and the grove of the largest trees on earth, I went there in 1997.
It's rare that anyone takes the vacation time to see the big national parks, the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite... I suppose most people never go see them, some people see them once in their life, and fewer still go see them more than once.
Because I was in the military, and every couple years would get stationed at a different base, I drove across country a couple times, from where I grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to Florida, to Ct, to California. On those drives how I get from one place to the other was up to me, so I made a point - when transferring from Connecticut to California, to stop and see my family in Michigan, then head to Mt Rushmore, with a small detour to Devil's Tower, and Crazy Horse (unchanged in 30 years, I don't think they've done any major work, nor intend to finish it) through Yellowstone from the East gate to the Grand Tetons, through the Great Salt Lake, and it was during Speed Week, so I stopped to see the racing at Bonneville, then to Yosemite and the Sequoias
All of those parks are bucket-list items for me. Unfortunately, most of them are on the opposite side of the country from me. It would require a dedicated trip out west or an extended road trip like you took to be able to see any of them. I have been to a few National parks in the east - Mammoth Cave, Great Smoky Mountains and Cuyahoga Valley Nat. Park near Cleveland. Great Smoky Mountains was the best I have visited.
ReplyDeleteI found an Instagram account where a woman makes fake promotional posters for National Parks using quotes from 1-star ratings of the parks. They are kind of funny and it is hard to believe that people can make petty complaints about these beautiful places. The page is called subparparks.
you've nailed the problem, the biggest most unusual parks are so damn far from most everything and everyone. Yellowstone, Sequoia, Mt Rushmore, White Sands, Carlsbad, Bryce Canyon..
DeleteIt would be so perfect to take your time if you had incredible company, like on a honeymoon, or as a band of free love hippies with musicians on a flat top bus... then such a tour of the parks would be a wonderful life interrupted by the parks, lol.
But most people either will not have anyone to travel with, or they are married with kids, and I bet that sharing a car for a week is a miserable experience with hyper bored kids and nagging spouses.
I figure that the best way is to advertise that you want a couple mellow guitar players, and maybe a piano player with a good full keyboard, and then rent a medium size rv. Hopefully you've got a couple people that like to play cribbage, fish, have loads of lifetime stories, that have the time to waste just being gypsies on the roads and highways, who like to try diner food and can cook on a campfire too.
Damn, I need to copy this down for a road trip advertisement!
thanks for the tip on the instagram! I'll check that out now! I drove past the Mammoth Caves when going through Kentucky, I had a week to drive from home in the Upper Penninsula to Orlando, it was my first week with my own vehicle, ever, my first week after leaving my parents and graduating bootcamp. I was young, free, and on the road, but with 8 hours a day on the road, a hotel every night, etc. I made it to base with less than 5 dollars, no credit card, and 1/4 tank of gas because I got lucky
Delete