Last Year's Journey

One of my ongoing projects is a massive sort through and organization of my papers. I'm a paper collector. I save papers. They might be important! They might come in handy! I have lists on them! lol

Truth is, I have too many papers. And I don't want to move them all back across the country, so I am sorting through, organizing, and throwing out what I don't need. It's brutal, but necessary.

And this is what brings us to... last year's journey. I kept notes of my drive across the States, and must have intended to write them down here for my nephew. Douglas, if you're reading, I hope you find this interesting! Maybe one day you will come over and we'll take a cross country drive with you.

Day One: 260 miles from Houston to just north of Dallas. There were bright green cotton fields, a big sky sunset, and a doe with 2 fawns on the side of the road just south of Huntsville. I got to my brother's place just in time for Friday night football. The games were broadcast on the radio, and I could see the lights of the stadiums as I drove along.

Day Two: Left really early, along a country road instead of the main highway. Passed fishermen out on a lake and a Buddhist meditation center. Listened to "Car Talk with Click & Clack the Tappit Brothers" on public radio. I saw one dead armadillo and a hawk, crossed the Sabine, Sulfur, Caddo, Arkansas, Red and White Rivers (that's a lot of rivers!). The windshield was hit with a rock just outside of Hope, Arkansas, and I saw lots of flat cropland east of Little Rock. There were a bunch of 18 wheelers with army tanks headed west, and a truck full of onions (wow, they were strong!) headed east like me. Drove about 570 miles.

Day Three: Went to church in Union City, Tennessee, just a few minutes from Kentucky. I crossed the Tennessee River, and got into steeper hills. Lots of pretty yellow wildflowers growing on rock walls. Made a stop at President Lincoln's birthplace and museum. Statues of Mary everywhere in that area, and the Abbey of Gethsemeni, where Thomas Merton (one of my favorite devotional authors) lived. I drove 437 miles across the state! Some of that was off the main highway through tiny farming communities, so peaceful through the corn and tobacco fields.

Day Four: started in a holler in east Kentucky, cool and peaceful. I'd stayed the night with my big brother's best friend from high school, and had a homecooked meal for dinner. Crossed the Elk River into Charleston, West Virginia. It felt as though the earth was wrinkled, going up and down the sun dappled hills with water dripping off the rock face. I saw three fawns feeding on the side of the road, and a big white and tan hawk. I drove straight north, past Pittsburgh and on up into New York state. Found a nice campsite at Allegheny State Park, really quiet and restful. About 500 miles driving.

Day Five: a foggy sunrise. Stopped and took lots of pictures in the park, but I don't know what I did with the camera! I left all my cameras (disposable ones and a regular one) in Texas over Christmas, so there's no telling! Western New York is home to the Seneca Nation Administrative headquarters, and there is a Seneca-Iriquois National Museum nearby. I wish I'd had time to visit, but I didn't know how long it would take to drive to Boston. It was a long day's drive, but I enjoyed the mountains, stopping at a rest stop for a sandwich (I had makings along with me in a cooler box), and lots of different radio stations along the way. I remember that New York had lots of horse pastures and interesting barns.

It was a great drive!