The Journey West - Spring 2009

Dogwood blooms. Dead-end job.  Completed college degree. Nasty ending to a long-term relationship. Credit card with a very high credit limit. The need to escape from the possibility of a new broken heart. Long time desire to see the country. Economic recession.

                                     --- That is the recipe for hitting the road ---

And so… one clear, sunny, dogwood bloomed spring morning at the end of March 2009, I packed my car with clothes, a sleeping bag, a vacuum cleaner, my dog … and left.

                               Spring Morning, Chapel Hill, NC --- 2009

Not a few times between putting my dog in the car and having to stop at the first red light did I ask myself if I was crazy for what I was about to do. Then as I went through that first stop light I happened to pass right by the approaching, possible broken heart and he honked his horn at me. He looked at me in surprise as our cars went in opposite directions. I had already vanished without a word. Let him wonder. This was something I had to do.

I stopped by Whole Foods Market, where I had been working, on the way to the interstate. I dropped off my employee badge but otherwise had given no notice that I was not coming back. Just once, I wanted to leave a job by just disappearing and this was my opportunity to do so. I had given Whole Foods Market a year and a half of my life that was enough notice.

Next thing I knew, I was curving down the ramp to the interstate heading west. Seattle was the ultimate destination but it would be a month before I arrived there. There was no turning back now.

 

 

                        I-40 crossing into Tennessee from North Carolina

Snow-Coast - Cape Elizabeth, Maine - February 2015

I'm a Southerner. This winter has been particularly harsh for me but apparently for Portland, Maine as well. Yesterday, I drove from Portland out to Cape Elizabeth to find Two Lights State Park. On my way out, I found people surfing. Seriously? It's cold enough when you're not wet.

When I arrived in the area where the Two Lights are supposed to be, I discovered the lighthouses are actually not in the park. The road splits and if you go left, you get to where the lighthouses are and if you go right, you get to Two Lights State Park. Just a heads up, because I thought they were one and the same so I was confused when I got there. It seems that I'm not the only one with this confusion, so maybe they should have named the park something else if the lighthouses aren't in it, just an idea.

In any case, I chose left which took me to where the lighthouses are and that's where I discovered Snow-Coast. That is rocky coastline covered in snow! I have never seen this before, it's absolutely beautiful and makes winter worth it!

Then I headed back to Portland but stopped by the Portland Head Light on my way. This place never fails as inescapably majestic.

Big Bend - Texas - April 2009

Left San Antonio the day before, drove several hours, and finally arrived near the eastern entrance of Big Bend National Park at nightfall. So my dog and I slept in the car that night on the side of the road. We awoke to coyotes howling in the early morning hours. At least, I'm assuming it was coyotes. So I waited until there was enough light out to step out of the car. Morning in the desert:

Then we made it to the entrance:

Spring in the Southwestern Texas desert:

I was almost there; could not wait to get to the Rio Grande:

There it was. The Rio Grande. And there was Mexico just across the river from me:

(below) Mexico on the left and U.S. on the right:

I had hiked up a trail to take the picture (above). I found art on the trail, on the U.S. side (below):

There were Mexicans just across the river maintaining this art auction. I even watched one guy cross over to check if any money had been left in the canisters and then return to the Mexican side:

Those are Americans in the foreground on the trail (below). The Mexican is in the red shirt, crossing the river; the water got up to his chest at the deepest point.

What I don't have a picture of, is the man from Missouri that was sitting at the head of the trail near the parking lot holding a shotgun. I found him sitting on a rock as I was returning from the trail to my car. When I asked him what he was doing, he said he was looking for Mexicans trying to cross over to our side. OK, time for my exit.

I camped in the park for almost two nights. The first night I stayed in the Rio Grande Village Campground. I ended up in a spot next to a man who travels down to Big Bend from Minnesota every year for star gazing. There is a reason for that:  an absolutely amazing night sky. This was my spot for the night:

Big Bend is part of the Chihuahuan Desert Biosphere Reserve. The biosphere reserve program was started in the 1960s by UNESCO to conserve samples of the world's ecosystems. Evening in the Sierra del Carmen:

The next day, I drove up into the Chisos Mountains located in the middle of the park. A complete change from the desert landscape. The mountains are a favorite for many who come to stay here because it's relatively cooler in the higher elevations:

  Since it was spring, I was fine with the desert. I returned to the Rio Grande, this time on the western side of the park:

It was already almost 100 degrees both days I was there and this was April. My dog (Kiana), not being allowed on most trails, was allowed to go in the Rio Grande and she did:

Then we headed for a drive through the desert in the park:

Captured a glimpse of the geology:

Finally, returned to the canyon for sunset:

We had a full day:

The plan was to stay in the Cottonwood Campground that night. I set up camp and met my neighbors. This time, they were a couple from Lake Charles, LA with a camper. Just like the man from Minnesota I had met previously, they came to the park on a yearly basis. However, the wind picked up to the point that it kept blowing my sleeping bag and other belongings off the table. Then something at the campground really freaked Kiana out. She kept crying and would not leave the side of the car. I have no idea what it was, maybe a coyote in the bushes. So we left in the night. Headed for El Paso.


For more info on Big Bend National Park:

http://www.nps.gov/bibe/naturescience/lightscape.htm