In November of 2010 we finished an epic journey around the USA in a generally counter-clockwise direction courtesy of a 2009 Ford E-350 van with a pop top. It was five months long and wonderful. Complete pictures and descriptions are in the works. Here is a brief summary of our trip to whet your appetite.
We left Florida in May and spent time in Charleston and Cape Hatteras arriving in Rhode Island May 15th. After taking in some Newport summer events we left there July 15th for Jackson Hole WY then Yellowstone and Glacier National parks. We spent the summer in the Gorge with one side trip via airplane to Punta San Carlos Mexico and San Diego.
Old Faithful (what else) Yellowstone Park
Back in the Gorge for a week and then a two week trip through the Olympics, Vancouver Island and then the Northern Cascades. After a break to wash everything and re-pack we then headed down the coast stopping at Crater Lake, Mendocino Point, the Lost Coast and of course the wonderful vineyards all along the way finally arriving in San Francisco where the boys joined us for a week of exploring.
Fabulous wild woods, ocean and of course the Redwoods. Wrote some of this in Trinidad California after camping out overnight at Flint Ridge. We camped in the fog in a small lot overlooking the Pacific where we could hear the booming surf below us. Right now I am at the Beachcomber coffee shop using their WiFi. This town is the most hippy dippy thing ever. I just might stay for the weekend workshop on dismantling corporate America or the Yoga life balancing retreat or perhaps just become a growers assistant - ah the possibilities. We meet Will & Chris in SF this weekend.
San Franciso Ideas Ocean - Embarcadero just under the Bay Bridge Embarcadero - weekend farmers market The Green Door - Thai Restaurant - need reservations Paulines Pizza on Valencia / 14th Tomasso's in North Beach
Costa Noa - chic campground rent tent - near Pidgeon Point betwixt Waddell and SF
There was a great post French Impressionist show at the de Young museum that I brought them to as well as a free concert in Golden Gate Park. Wonderful.
We took two weeks off by flying back to Rhode Island to close our house and see friends there before resuming our trip from San Francisco through Yosemite, Death Valley, Grand Canyon, Texas (7 days including Big Bend park) and then back along Route 10 to the Panhandle and south arriving back in Delray Beach.
When one grows up in the old US of A it is almost a rite of passage to do a road trip as soon as you have your own car, that and a reasonable stash of driving experience and dough. Well somewhere in between college and this summer life intervened. By that I mean a retail store and two sons. I lay most of the blame at the feet of the store because once we started running it we were pretty committed to summers chained at the oars. Of course we could have dragged the boys with us earlier but we didn’t so that was that.
When we sold our business (Island Sports) in 2007 after 37 years of operation we thought ‘finally we are free and can roam the world.’ Here we are circa 1986 or so courtesy of David Brownell
Life then intervened. The day we sold the business Nancy’s father passed away after a long struggle with cancer. He was 87, was a sea captain and a decorated WWII veteran. That was February 8th and naturally was traumatic to everyone. No one was in the mood for a trip.Exactly eleven months later my mother passed away. A year after that Nancy’s mother also passed away, the last of our parents and we were now both officially orphans. Life was indeed kicking us around. There was no “hooray we sold our business” there was only the realization, drummed into us, that life is short and moving faster and faster by us. It was time to stop putting our road trip on hold and it was time to start on the road.
April 30 – May
We owned a 2000 GMC extended Safari van that had 35,000 miles on it. It would be our choice of vehicle for the trip but there were concerns as to how reliable a ten year vehicle would be. We didn’t want to take any chances so we thought that if we could we would sell in and replace it with a newer model. It was still up in the air exactly which vehicle we would eventually take and we decided to make that decision in Rhode Island, not Florida.
Our 2000 GMC Savana on it's way north for the last time
We left Florida on the last day of April and spent the night in Vero Beach with our friend Lucy Whittemore. From there we drove to Charleston SC for a long visit with Andy Segal and Karen Weber. Charleston is a wonderful town and we enjoyed many fine meals there. Restaurants’ that we tried were Samoz, Monza, Home Team, and Cypress. We barely scratched the surface according to Andy. A highlight was kiting at a spot called the Bath on Sullivan’s Island where Andy is restoring a fine old house. They have some vicious watch dogs too.
The first leg ran up the east coast staying close to the ocean
After SC we headed North along the coast, a theme that will recur this summer, and stopped in Hatteras NC for some epic days of kiting and windsurfing. It blew 30-40 knots one day and literally blew us off of the water.
Here is a quick log of the sailing
On 5/7/2010 Friday We kited at Hatteras on a 14m and then a 12m kite - It got windy. Dinner at Mack Daddys - Checked into the Outer Banks Motel room 3A - nice room for 69/night
5/8/2010 Saturday - Sailed at Hatteras on a 4.2 and then a 3.7 off of Canadien Hole from 10am - 5pm - I used the Fanatic 88 liter FreeWave. The 81 was WAY to bouncy in the chop.
5/9/2010 Sunday Left Hatteras at 11am after kiting south of Canadian Hole - Nancy lost her board but I found it while kiting on my 12m and 141cm X-Ride North board. Had a Mothers Day Brunch at the Dubes restaurant in Nags Head- Arrived NJ at 10pm stayed at a Holiday Inn Express
The next two months we worked on our house, visited Martha’s Vineyard to work on our families rental house and generally tried to get back into the swing of things. An obvious highlight was the annual IYAC raft up with assorted fans.
July 5th Raft Up
July 14th, 2010
We head west and on our way with a new 2009 Ford E-350 van.
Will, Chris and Platt just before Nancy and I left on our 15,000 mile journey.
The first day our real trip began, not a good start hard rain through CT. We went an unusual way rt 84 across the Hudson River, into Pennsylvania, and through Ohio. We passed right through Middletown, CT - ironic seeing as we left from Middletown, RI. Our first night was spent camping along the Delaware Water Gap.
By the next day we had made quite a bit of progress and made it to Huntington Indiana, the headquarters of SportsMobile where we had an appointment to get a pop-top installed. We arrived in time to see a typical midwestern storm system hit us.
What a great system this gave us a "penthouse" to sleep in, with big screened windows. We had a fun time checking out Huntington interesting town. Entire downtown buildings for sale for just $39,000 with Ferrari's parked nearby.
Huntington Tractor
The Rusty Dog - good eats
Quality Construction - town hall
With pop top installed we crossed the Mississippi River on the 16th and thought, gee only 1/3 of the way there.
Mississippi River
On the17th the windmills appeared out of the morning mist as we started crossing the great plains.
Iowa Morning
It was a long day that was broken up by a visit to Lincoln Nebraska's Farmers Market.This is one of several towns that I could see myself living in. They had converted the lovely old train station to an event hall. The food and the people were wonderful indeed.
Lincoln Nebraska Farmers Market
We put the hammer down as our friend Mike McLaughlin wanted to see us get to Jackson WY by Sunday AM so we could go to a concert with him in Idaho at the Grand Targhee ski area. Why not we said.
Windmills along a ridge in Wyoming - there were hundreds
Camping on the high lonesome somewhere west of Laramie
We arrived in time for the concert and had a great time. The next morning we rode bikes into town for trout and eggs.
July 19th 2010 Snake River Expedition
Mike and Nancy setting off from the dam
Mount Moran from Jackson Lake
Mike scratching the clouds
Mike and Nancy playing around
OK - just a little smooch
July 20th we hiked up Snow King Mountain which literally rises up from the town of Jackson. Wonderful views all around.
Tetons viewed from Snow King
The next day we started North through the Grand Tetons towards Yellow Stone and Glacier
One of the great sayings I have come up with regarding sailing is "It doesn't matter what you are on, it matters who you are with." The same holds true for being on the road. We are in a small van and we are driving around the country. Who we met, who we stayed with and the times we shared were always better than where we were or what we were in at the time. Our modest accommodations were always up for the challenge of good times.
The second leg was pretty easy until Nancy said let's go to Glacier
We spent from late July to the end of August in the Gorge. If that name means nothing to you it means you don't windsurf but that's OK.
The Columbia River Gorge is a massive river gorge formed by the cataclysmic Missoula Floods. I learned about it because this is one of the world's windiest spots and that makes it perfect for windsurfing.
We love the Gorge and can't wait to return.
The Gorge with the Hatchery and Swell City on the North Shore - looking West
As windsurfers since 1973 and as shop owners as well we were aware of a mystical place called Punta San Carlos. Windsurfers have been coming to this area since 1980 but it took Kevin Trejo to tame what was a San Diego locals spot and make it accessible to folks without their own four wheel drive vehicles. Today it might look primitive but it is a huge step from what the folks camping on the bluff have.
To get to Punta San Carlos we flew down August 20th leaving Will and Chris in charge of our van and gear. We spent the night in San Diego and then took a shuttle to Brown Field which is a small airport just north of the Mexican boarder. From there we hopped onto small 6-8 passenger planes, cleared customs in Ensenada and then flew on to land on a dirt strip right alongside the Campo.
The next 7 days went by in a blur as we got first one great swell and then another later in the week. The mornings were always light and gave us plenty of opportunity to mountain bike, surf, paddle surf or explore the Indian ruins. By 2pm the breeze was up and it just got better and better as the day went on. I sailed mostly on a 5.0 or 5.8 and Nancy was on a 4.2 to 5.0. The offshore winds provided amazing down the line wavesailing that could not be beat.
Here are some very nice pics by professional photographer Mark Johnson click here If this link does not work just go to his site and search for "san carlos"
We flew back to Brown Field and then visited our friend Annie Nelson in San Diego for a few days.
We spent most of our time on Point Loma which is a small convivial town compared to San Diego itself.
Vancouver Island trip actually spanned much more than just the island. We left the Gorge and drove west to Portland and then headed up the west side of the Hood canal. It was cold and raining when we started and the first picture in our slide show was, unbeknown to us, about the last sun we would see for several days.
We left September 8th and first toured a bit of the Olympic Mountains which were about the steepest we have seen in our trip and that includes the Rockies. We climbed a mountain (my first) and then attended the wooden boat show in Port Townsend on the 10th. We met some great folks there but stayed only one night camping at a Dam near Port Angeles Washington. THe next day we took a ferry to Victoria. What a difference a strait makes. Victoria is a huge bustling city on the move. Port Angeles Washington has been left behind with the decline of the lumber industry.
Vancouver Island is immense and difficult to move around on unless you are on one of the few roads.
We left Vancouver through the port of Sidney and into Annacortes via Friday Harbor Island. We toured Whidbey which was really nice and more like New England. Frankly the huge wet dense woods of Vancouver Island seemed a bad place to set up camp and Whidbey with it's small bays and quaint villages was more like New England.
We finished our trip across Rte. 20 which weaved through the North Cascades and finally arrived back at the Gorge for one more epic windsurfing session.
We dried out and cleaned up with the Clemets and then headed down the road for California.
Here is a link to what Michael said was the true end of the season. Same location, different wind direction. Victor was the common thread.
Our trip from the Gorge to San Francisco was wonderful. We found some pretty desolate stretches where we were the only ones on the road. I know that it was the fall but it was still a shock to have only a few cars pass us in the night where were right on the California Coast.
This section of the trip was the longest but we concentrated on moving East always. We said we were "smelling the barn" ie we knew the trip was almost over and we were looking forward to not moving.
The general drift of our trip was as follows.
San Francisco to Fresno to work on the vans squeaky pop top at Sportsmobile. We spent the night in Fresno (not to memorable) and then left the next day and climbed North to Yosemite Valley which, as you can see from the map, is not to far away.
I put together a little blog with some of ours on it. I wanted to do it while travelling but that proved impossible. There is precious little 3G much less internet once you are out of the cities out west.
Did I tell you
Yosemite got snow across the Tioga Pass while we were there so we had to head south back through Fresno, on 99 to Bakersfield where we took 178 along the Kern River named for the surveyor that did the work. 178 is also called the Kern Canyon Road and goes past the famous Rio Bravo. and then along the Nevada across out across the Sierras spending the night at Lake Isabella in the Sequoia National Forest. This is a famous windsurfing spot that get's lots of wind. No windsurfing this time as it was freezing cold and we arrived late to see little wind. That night the wind really came up and it blew the town's cell towers down? The next day the grocery store had to process the credit cards by hand as the towers also serviced the land lines. Luckily we had camped right up against the dam so we were sheltered.
The next day we joined 395 at the famous China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station and headed north into Death Valley. Death Valley was really spectacular. It is 3,000 square miles in area and is the largest National Park.
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Las Vegas
Grand Canyon
Flagstaff
Sedona
Phoenix
Excerpt from my log.
November 7, 2010
Today we woke up in a rather sketchy rest area, an official New Mexico info spot in a town called Lordsburg. It is cheek to jowl with a thrice failed ghost town called Shakespeare. Apparently it was a diamond scam and then a failed silver mine. Now it is just plain rotting except for a local rancher who took it under his wing. You may remember Lordsburg as the final destination in the John Wayne film "Stagecoach"
We drove hard all day on route 10 across New Mexico to get to Marfa Texas, pop. 2000, for lunch. Being Sunday this out of the way spot is also a failed copper mining town. It had on offer only a DQ. Nice town with lots of galleries on the East side but we moved on to Alpine which has a local paper called the Avalanche. It’s bigger, about 5,500 residents, most of them are Hispanic where Marfa had mostly whites and artistically inclined hippies and new agers. Just outside of Marfa was a marker for Presidio and a claim to it being the oldest town in the USA. Not much to show for itself now at that site at least.
We had a quick lunch at the local Sonic Drive in and then discovered that the best food and deals in town was at Strips, a 12 pump mini-mart right in the center between 67 and 90. $3.99 for a full meal. We gassed up and headed south on 118 towards Big Bend National Park. We passed another “almost” ghost town called Valentine and then a really sorry spot called Lobos. If you want to own your own town those are likely candidates.
We got to Big Bend after passing only 4 cars on the 80 mile drive down 118. We watched a beautiful sunset at Sostal Point overlooking Mexico and the Rio Grande. Now we are camped at the Cottonwood campground under, you guessed it, Cottownwoods. There’s a rowdy group of kids and group campers at one of the end of the camp. They remind me of the group at Lake Mead where at least five families were all camping together. These spots would be more fun with a gang, that’s for sure.
Tonight we have chicken and salad again. Same as last night but I will see what I can do to spice it up.
Big Bend National Park
Corpus Christi
Austin
Houston
and then Route 10 with the hammer down past Mobile, Fayetveille, Baton Rouge, Pensacola, Gainesville, Orlando and finally Delray Beach.
I hope that you get a chance to travel too and that your journies always find yo safely home.
