Wednesday, January 04, 2006
What I Did on my Winter Vacation
Drove about 4500 miles, is what. It was truly, truly great. I really enjoy long road trips by myself, and I got exactly that. Here's the tale:
I set out around noon. I detailed the car-inspection delay in my post before I left. After that post, I got my tire patched and got about 40 miles from Austin before getting the call that I'd left my laptop at the tire place. So I had to turn around and go get it, which was a further delay.
I made it the eastern edge of Louisiana that night, and slept at my first rest stop. There was a sign that said (I'm paraphrasing a little here), 'You may be approached by someone claiming to be from a religious organization who will ask you for money. This rest stop doesn't sanction or encourage this behavior, but the courts won't let us make them stop. You dont have to give them money if you don't want to.' I thought it was funny that they were all huffy and "the courts won't let us!". For an official notice, it had a touch of the whine about it.
Set out Tuesday and made it to Athens, Georgia by that evening around 6. I saw my friends Ashley and Chris, and their children Bryce and Morgan. Bryce, who was around 4 when they (or I - I don't remember at this point) moved away from Natchitoches. He says he remembers me, which is super cool. Spending time with Chris and Ashley was great - it'd been about 6 years since we'd seen each other or spoken, but in a way it was like no time had passed. Chris is working on his dissertation, Ashley home schools the kids and watches about a million other kids - they're both such great people. Chris is one of the very few people in this world who has the patience to have a theoretical discussion with me to the depth that I like to take it. (Not surprisingly, his Ph.D will be in Philosophy). Ashley took me to an Irish dancing practice, which was lots of fun. I think I did pretty well, considering it was totally new to me. It's definitely high-energy. Later we went to a Yule gathering at some friends of theirs' home. Chris and Ashley described them as again hippies, but they were certainly very clean for hippies. It was very neat, though I was pretty tired by that time and ready to call it a night early on.
Wednesday Chris showed me around Athens, and we had lunch at a nifty little restaurant, the name of which I don't remember. I also enjoyed the public art bulldogs around town.
Wednesday afternoon I left Athens. I was a little ahead of schedule, so I decided to check out the Appalachian Trail - something I've wanted to do for as long as I can remember. I found it on the map and made my way there - I didn't leave Athens until about 6, so I got there after dark. I drove right past it at first - there's just a hiker sign at the road, and that's it. I went into the little town just past it and they directed me back to it. It was at the top of the mountain - the drive was very turny and windy - I mistook the turn sign for a sign telling me I could u-turn until I realized it was just that the road curved *that much*. So it was fun, if a little nerve-wracking. Several drivers behind me got impatient with me, I'm afraid. After finding the trail, I pulled into the parking area next to it for a night's sleep. that was my scariest night - rest stops have lighting, and generally there are people around. here it was deserted, there was no one. But it was fine. And the stars! Oh my, they were amazing. Just beautiful.
I got up the next morning and hiked about a mile south on the trail. Only a mile - but at least it was a mile! I had thoughts of hiking all morning, but I hadn't brought any water with me, and had to pee - all in all, it seemed ill-advised. Also? The Appalachian Trail is in the Appalachain Mountains, it turns out. Which are...mountainy. Uphill, in other words. Even though the road was as high as it went at the point it intersected the trail, the trail was still uphill (steeply uphill, for the most part). So it wasn't an easy walk. Still, I got to a spot that was far enough away from the highway that I could neither see nor hear it. It was...amazing. Georgeous, and absolutely silent. I could hear the breeze in the trees intermittently, and that was it. I don't know how many years it's been since I've experienced true silence. It was incredible. I think the thirty minutes I sat up there were the highlight of the trip for me.
I think I'll stop here and post another installment a little later. Stay tuned!
I set out around noon. I detailed the car-inspection delay in my post before I left. After that post, I got my tire patched and got about 40 miles from Austin before getting the call that I'd left my laptop at the tire place. So I had to turn around and go get it, which was a further delay.
I made it the eastern edge of Louisiana that night, and slept at my first rest stop. There was a sign that said (I'm paraphrasing a little here), 'You may be approached by someone claiming to be from a religious organization who will ask you for money. This rest stop doesn't sanction or encourage this behavior, but the courts won't let us make them stop. You dont have to give them money if you don't want to.' I thought it was funny that they were all huffy and "the courts won't let us!". For an official notice, it had a touch of the whine about it.
Set out Tuesday and made it to Athens, Georgia by that evening around 6. I saw my friends Ashley and Chris, and their children Bryce and Morgan. Bryce, who was around 4 when they (or I - I don't remember at this point) moved away from Natchitoches. He says he remembers me, which is super cool. Spending time with Chris and Ashley was great - it'd been about 6 years since we'd seen each other or spoken, but in a way it was like no time had passed. Chris is working on his dissertation, Ashley home schools the kids and watches about a million other kids - they're both such great people. Chris is one of the very few people in this world who has the patience to have a theoretical discussion with me to the depth that I like to take it. (Not surprisingly, his Ph.D will be in Philosophy). Ashley took me to an Irish dancing practice, which was lots of fun. I think I did pretty well, considering it was totally new to me. It's definitely high-energy. Later we went to a Yule gathering at some friends of theirs' home. Chris and Ashley described them as again hippies, but they were certainly very clean for hippies. It was very neat, though I was pretty tired by that time and ready to call it a night early on.
Wednesday Chris showed me around Athens, and we had lunch at a nifty little restaurant, the name of which I don't remember. I also enjoyed the public art bulldogs around town.
Wednesday afternoon I left Athens. I was a little ahead of schedule, so I decided to check out the Appalachian Trail - something I've wanted to do for as long as I can remember. I found it on the map and made my way there - I didn't leave Athens until about 6, so I got there after dark. I drove right past it at first - there's just a hiker sign at the road, and that's it. I went into the little town just past it and they directed me back to it. It was at the top of the mountain - the drive was very turny and windy - I mistook the turn sign for a sign telling me I could u-turn until I realized it was just that the road curved *that much*. So it was fun, if a little nerve-wracking. Several drivers behind me got impatient with me, I'm afraid. After finding the trail, I pulled into the parking area next to it for a night's sleep. that was my scariest night - rest stops have lighting, and generally there are people around. here it was deserted, there was no one. But it was fine. And the stars! Oh my, they were amazing. Just beautiful.
I got up the next morning and hiked about a mile south on the trail. Only a mile - but at least it was a mile! I had thoughts of hiking all morning, but I hadn't brought any water with me, and had to pee - all in all, it seemed ill-advised. Also? The Appalachian Trail is in the Appalachain Mountains, it turns out. Which are...mountainy. Uphill, in other words. Even though the road was as high as it went at the point it intersected the trail, the trail was still uphill (steeply uphill, for the most part). So it wasn't an easy walk. Still, I got to a spot that was far enough away from the highway that I could neither see nor hear it. It was...amazing. Georgeous, and absolutely silent. I could hear the breeze in the trees intermittently, and that was it. I don't know how many years it's been since I've experienced true silence. It was incredible. I think the thirty minutes I sat up there were the highlight of the trip for me.
I think I'll stop here and post another installment a little later. Stay tuned!
# posted by Amy @ 2:12 PM 
