Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘pat bean’

On the Road But I Still Voted: Days 38-45

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Nature, Travel, Writing, tagged , , , , , , on November 9, 2012| 5 Comments »

The view out the rear window of Gypsy Lee at Yogi’s in the Smokies. — Photo by Pat Bean

“Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

Adventures with Pepper: Days 37-45 

            I was ready for some days away from being behind the wheel of Gypsy Lee after finishing the 469-mile drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I also needed to plant myself somewhere for my vote-by-mail election material to reach me.

Pepper and I walked this trail every day while at the park, but never went as far as the falls. –Photo by Pat Bean

While I avoid politics as much as possible, I do keep up with what’s going on in the world, and being aware of how hard my sisters fought so women could vote, I repay their efforts by voting.            I feel strongly that anyone who doesn’t vote has no right to complain, and while I don’t talk politics much – frankly it’s usually too depressing – this is an issue I’m always vocal about.

And just for the record, since I’m far ahead of my blog in my travels, I will tell you that the presidential election results pleased some of my five children and displeased some of them.

Here’s a view of Mingo Falls, which I did get to see in my armchair travels. — Wikipedia photo

That’s the kind of family we are, and the fact that everyone can be vocal about it regardless of which side of the fence they’re on says a lot about America.

And for the sake of my own serenity in the family picture, I ain’t saying who I voted for.

And, yes you can be jealous,  while all the pre-election day chaos was taking place, I was nestled beneath a couple of big trees right by the river that ran through Yogi’s in the Smokies campground in North Carolina, where I sat in perfect serenity for a whole week.

I slept each night to the gurgle of river water as it flowed past my camp site — and was rejuvenated.

Book Report: I spent an hour writing on Travels with Maggie this morning, but cut more than I rewrote. Word count is 61,162.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Thought for Today: http://tinyurl.com/b88qq2s This made me laugh, and it’s oh so true.

Read Full Post »

Last Day on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Favorite Places, Journeys, Nature, Travel, Writing, tagged , , , on November 8, 2012| 6 Comments »

The many interpretive and information signs along the parkway enhanced my experience of the parkway. It was also great to drive a road where Mother Nature was the focus of all the attention. — Photo by Pat Bean

            “We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” – T.S Elliot

Adventures with Pepper: Days 37

            It was a cold morning in Ashville but it warmed up quickly. This last day’s drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway was the steepest, the road traveling up to 6,047 feet, just slightly less than half the altitude of the highest point of 12,183 feet on Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain National Park, which I drove near the start of this meandering journey to Texas.

While I didn’t stop at every overlook I know I got over half of them. — Photo by Pat Bean

In addition to being the steepest, today’s colors were among the most brilliant, meeting all my expectations of catching Miss Appalachian in her finest autumn dress.I stopped for lunch at the 3,570 Stony Bald Overlook at the 402 mile marker, and looked out at layer upon layer of color and mountain ridges.

“Wow!” I said to Pepper as she chewed her pork-skin bone while I ate a peanut butter and orange marmalade sandwich.

Thirty-point-four miles, half a dozen stops and  two hours later, Pepper and I were standing at the Richard Balsam overlook at that 6,047 feet for a zillionth replay of beauty and color.

Ponds always stopped me for a closer look, and this one had a great short hiking trail to go with it. Ahhhh. Blue Ridge Parkway I’ll miss you. — Photo by Pat Bean

“Where in Texas you from?” I heard a voice say from behind me.  Because of my Texas license plates I heard those same words at least once a day on the parkway. Many of the speakers were Texans themselves.

I suspected the speaker probably wasn’t really interested in the answer. The question was just the icebreaker for sharing a few minutes of conversation with a stranger. It’s one of the rituals of traveling – a ritual I love.

Book Report: I wanted to skip reporting about Travels with Maggie today. I’m sure you know why. And today, after posting this, I have a 300-mile road trip to make, from Dallas to the Texas Gulf Coast via Interstate 45. I think I’ll be listening to an audible book as I hate freeways, but I have loved ones waiting for me at the end of the trip so the drive will be worth it.           

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Beans Pat: http://tinyurl.com/bzttg42 This one just seemed appropriate for today. My wish is that this time around the losers will help the winners do what is in the best interests of the country, and that the winners will put the interests of the country above personal ambitions or gain. OK. I’m a dreamer.

Read Full Post »

A Bridge That Took Me Nowhere

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Nature, Travel, Writing, tagged , , , , , on November 6, 2012| 2 Comments »

Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help.” – May Sarton

Linn Cove Viaduct — Wikipedia photo

Adventures with Pepper: Days 35-36

One of the best things about the Blue Ridge Parkway is that it’s totally decommercialized, which means if you need gas you have to exit the parkway.

I found the rock walls along the parkway just as fascinating as the more spectacular autumn views at overlooks. — Photo by Pat Bean

I needed gas, and according to my maps, Linville, North Carolina was where I needed to get it. Right before I got there I crossed the Linn Cove Viaduct, a 1,243-foot bridge that snakes around Grandfather Mountain. It was completed in 1987 at a cost of $10 million and was the last section of the parkway to be finished.            As I was crossing it, I thought how nice it was for a change not to be going up and down ridges for a little bit. The thought turned out to be cause for laughter almost as soon as I got across the bridge. Linville was in the hollow at the bottom of the bridge crossing.

Some times Mother Nature makes words seem inadequate. — Photo by Pat Bean

So down I went, and then back up again to continue my slow, winding, uphill-downhill journey on the parkway.            I would spend the next five hours driving just about 100 miles. While the parkway speed is 35-45 mph, most of the time that’s way too fast for road conditions . And then of course there were the overlooks and Mother’s Nature’s wonders around every bend in the road that needed to be explored on foot.

I spent the night and all the next day at a small, but friendly, RV park just off the parkway in Ashville, North Carolina. It was a welcome break for all that uphill and downhill-ness, even if I had enjoyed every moment of it.

Book Report: Nada. Too busy with other projects. Somehow I’m going to have to push Travels with Maggie back up to the top of my priority list.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: A Silk Road Forest http://tinyurl.com/b82opv8 I thought this arm-chair travel blog was a nice contrast to the forests I was driving through.

Read Full Post »

Dark Night, Gray Morning and Then Came the Light

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Favorite Hikes, Journeys, Nature, Travel, Writing, tagged , , , , , , on November 2, 2012| 5 Comments »

            “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” Leonard Cohen

When I first got on the parkway this day, fog and mist obscured the views. — Photo by Pat Bean

Adventures with Pepper: Day 35

            I ended my travels yesterday, which I had started in Meadows of Dan, Virginia, at Julian Price State Park in North Carolina. It was a beautiful park by a lake, but I had neither cell-phone service nor internet connections.

But when the fog cleared out, the colors of fall were brighter and crisper than I had seen before. — Photo by Pat Bean

I would have liked to have stayed put a couple of days but with a writing deadline to meet the next day, I knew I would have to move on early the next morning so I could connect back to the world.

I didn’t sleep good because it began raining shortly after Pepper and I took a hike around the lake in the early evening, and the dripping continued all night. Normally I love to listen to the patter of rain on my RV roof, but I didn’t want to drive the parkway in the rain the next day. Gypsy Lee handles steep hills quite nicely, but doesn’t do slick well.

The rain finally stopped just before dawn, and as I had my morning cup of cream-laced coffee, I watched the grayness of day overcome the blackness of night. There’s usually a brief moment of this fantastic grayness, before the light of the sun takes charge of the day, that always seems magical to me.

One of many parkway tunnels that I passed through this day, briefly leaving the light behind but finding it just as bright again on the other side. — Photo by Pat Bean

But not when the grayness lingers, as it did this morning.  And when I got on the road, the grayness turned into a thick fog that shut down all but about 50 feet of the road ahead, and all of the grand views looking out from the mountain ridges.

Then, as if someone had clicked a switched, the sun popped out, creating light that pleased my camera more so than any other day I had spent so far on the parkway.

If I had to pick one day as my favorite of driving the 466 miles of the parkway, this day might have been it. But then I’m glad I don’t have to choose because every mile, every hour, every day on the parkway had something amazing in store for me.

Book Report: Travels with Maggie is now at 60,701 words.

            Bean’s Pat: The Crown of the Continent http://tinyurl.com/crkcmxg Take an armchair tour of Glacier National Park – and prepare to be awed.

Read Full Post »

A Sassy Blue Jay and a Fried Apple Pie

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Art, Dogs, Favorite Places, Journeys, Nature, Travel, Writing, tagged , , , , , on October 31, 2012| 2 Comments »

“You can tell a lot about a fellow’s character by his way of eating jellybeans.” — Ronald Reagan

The majestic, panoramic views from the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which the parkway follows, can get to be a bit overwhelming. So I also spent some time focusing on nature’s little beauties, like this woolly bear caterpillar that made its way across my Meadows of Dan camp site. — Photo by Pat Bean

Adventures with Pepper: Day 33

Meadows of Dan is a small farming community located just off the Blue Ridge Parkway. I stopped here because it had a nice RV park with Wi-Fi and I had a writing deadline to meet for American Profile Magazine http://blogs.americanprofile.com

Or like this tiny mushroom growing beneath a tree. — Photo by Pat Bean

It was a pleasant scenic park but nothing special to distinguish it from the other campgrounds I had stayed at along the way. Pepper tried to play with every dog we passed on our walks, and I enjoyed the smell of campfires drifting into my RV as I sat at my computer and wrote.

The best part of my two-day stay in Meadows of Dan was the morning I left.

A blue jay, its bright blue feathers a bit faded at this time of the year, sassed me good-bye as I drove out of the campground, making me smile at its determination to not move out of the road until Gypsy Lee was almost on top of it. While I didn’t see anything, perhaps it had found a tidbit of breakfast hiding among the gravel.

I stopped for gas in the tiny town, where an art show and farmer’s market was underway. The gas pump was an old-fashioned one that didn’t take debit or credit cards and so I had to go inside to pay.

And I loved the contrast of Virginia creeper in its fall dress against the rocks that lined the roadsides. — Photo by Pat Bean

I took time to roam through the country store that was filled with home-made crafts and other goodies, of which I bought bread, honey, plums and an honest-to-goodness fried apple pie, which I ate once I got back on the Blue Ridge Parkway to continue my journey.

The crust was moist and the taste of the grease it was fried in rich in my mouth. I savored every bite, including the rich apple filling that had  been lightly sweetened to perfection. Just writing about it now makes me feel like one of  Pavlov’s dogs.

Eating healthy, which I mostly do, is good for the body. But that apple pie was good for the soul. It’s probably a good thing I don’t live in Meadows of Dan, however. There’s probably only so much the soul can take.

Book Report: I’m happy to report that Travels with Maggie is now up to 60,119 words. I didn’t have internet at my last stop and so it was Travels with Maggie that got my attention.

Bean’s Pat: Hurricane Sandy Birding http://tinyurl.com/cwhadl4 In the aftermath of tragedy, life goes on for both humans and birds. Not to make light of the tragedy by noting this birding blog, I join all those mourning for the families of  those who lost loved ones.

Read Full Post »

Blue Ridge Parkway: Chestnuts and Rakes Pond

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Favorite Places, Journeys, Nature, Travel, Writing, tagged , , , , , , on October 29, 2012| Leave a Comment »

“Under a spreading chestnut tree, the village smithy stands …” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

One of hundreds of inviting places to have a picnic along the Blue Ridge Parkway. I loved the way the light shown through the trees on this shady spot. — Photo by Pat Bean

Adventures with Pepper: Day 32 Continued

The Blue Ridge Parkway is not just about the fantastic landscape, it’s also about the people who made or make the Blue Ridge Mountains, which stretch from Pennsylvania to Georgia, their home.

Except for this couple, I had Rake’s Mill Pond site to myself. — Photo by Pat Bean

My companion on the journey, , besides Pepper,  was ranger and naturalist William Lord’s mile-marker guide published in 1982 by the American Chestnut Foundation. The American Chestnut, whose numbers in the Appalachian Mountains once numbered about three billion, were decimated by a blight in the early 1900s. Today one would be hard pressed to find a hundred mature American chestnuts.            The parkway, however, is home to a few immature trees as the battle to save them continues. Few chestnut trees today grow to more than about 20 feet before the blight fugal disease take them. The people working to save this species, like the chestnut foundation, is part of today’s story along the parkway.

I loved the markers along the Blue Ridge Parkway that helped me make sense of what I was seeing.

One person from the past was a miller named Rake, who built a small pond to have ready water for his grist mill. His advertising gimmick was to allow customers to fish in the pond while they waited for their meal to be ground.            I’m glad I stopped at this small, peaceful place, because the Marby Mill, the show mill of the parkway just up the road a bit, was too crowded for me to park Gypsy Lee, and she ain’t big

I was forced to pass this stopping spot up and continue on to Meadows of Dan, where I would spend the night.

Book Report: I’m in Nashville now, and while I’ve stuck around for a few days, I’ve taken tours and listened to country music, and Travels with Maggie got stuck again.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Marc and Angel http://tinyurl.com/95gpobj 10 Ways to Live Life with No Regrets. I’m not fond of promoting big blogs like this, but the advice these two hand out is just too good to pass up. I read their blog a lot.

Read Full Post »

Blue Ridge Parkway: Natural Bridge Disappointment

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Journeys, Nature, Travel, Writing, tagged , , , , , on October 26, 2012| 7 Comments »

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.” — Frances Hodgson Burnett, “The Secret Garden”

Natural Bridge as painted by David Johnson in 1860.

Adventures with Pepper: Day 31 continued 

A 2005 photo of Natural Bridge — Wikipedia photo

I had a fantastic day’s drive this first day of my journey on the Blue Ridge Parkway, despite one big disappointment.

In my perusal of sights along the parkway, I had seen pictures of Natural Bridge and wanted to see it for myself. I didn’t know it was a tourist trap. The entrance to the bridge was on the inside of a gift shop, and a walk down to see it would cost me $20.

The cost of the ticket included some extras, but all I wanted was to see Mother Nature’s creation in a natural setting. When I saw the crowds, and realized the setting would be staged, I passed.

Instead, I back-tracked to Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Natural Bridge Campground, where I had reservations, and checked in early. I like the family atmosphere of Yogi’s campgrounds — and the 50 percent discount I got from this one as a Passport America member.

After hooking up, I had plenty of time to take Pepper for a nice walk down to the James River, which ran along one edge of the park. I had the river to myself, and sat for a while beside it at a picnic table watching Pepper chase fall leaves.

Book Report: Travels with Maggie is now up to 58,302 words.

Bean’s Pat: Discovering Myself http://tinyurl.com/9kfpuuk I’ve been traveling through fantastic fall color country. But this blogger has some fantastic shots of Minnesota’s fall colors. Take a look.

Read Full Post »

Blue Ridge Parkway: Fences

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Art, Nature, Travel, Writing, tagged , , , , , , on October 24, 2012| 1 Comment »

            “There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.” – Will Rogers  

Stone Fence exhibit along the Blue Ridge Parkway. — Photo by Pat Bean

Adventures with Pepper: Day 31

            Today was my first day of driving the Blue Ridge Parkway. Of course I began it by stopping at every overlook and exhibit along the 466-mile scenic drive.

One of the many stone fences along the Skyline Trail. Am I the only on who sees beauty in them? — Photo by Pat Bean

One of these first sites talked about the rock walls, some of which had been built by slaves, in the area. The ones on exhibit at this site were hog walls, designed to keep out wild hogs that foraged for accords and chestnuts.

I had also seen a lot of stone fences on my drive on Skyline Drive.The way the natural rocks had been fitted together to form low walls around narrow road drop offs fascinated me.

And what kind of wall do we get today? The ugly, too tall, cement Jersey barrier, which if the thousands I see as I drive across this country are any indication, somebody is probably getting very rich. — Wikipedia photo

Most of these walls had been built by the Civilian Conservation Corps work relief program during the Great Depression. I’ve seen handiwork of the CCC almost everywhere I’ve traveled, including Lake Walcott State Park in Idaho.I saw a lot of rock fences, and wooden ones as well, along the parkway as I slowly made my way south along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains at the rate, including stops, of about 15 mph.

The fences, of course, made me think of Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall,” which I later looked up and read. I thought you might enjoy a few verses, too.

This fence builder, in my opinion, was an artist. — Photo by Pat Bean

Mending Wall

Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun,
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast….

But at spring mending-time we find them there.
I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.

 He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says “Good fences make good neighbors.”

Book Report: Travels with Maggie is now at 57,928 words.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Tripperspot http://tinyurl.com/8zgxa7q This blogger got me with her conclusion on how we judge a person. Passion for something positive in life is priceless. Just save us all from ever being judgmental of others.

Read Full Post »

Remember that Purple Cow

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Nature, Travel, Uncategorized, Writing, tagged , , , , , on October 23, 2012| 8 Comments »

“Hitler didn’t travel. Stalin didn’t travel. Saddam Hussein never traveled. They didn’t want to have their orthodoxy challenged.” — Howard Gardner

The purple cow at Highway 340 North Campground near Waynesboro, Virginia. — Photo by Pat Bean

Adventures with Pepper: Days 29-30

            Only a few days have passed since my mind wondered and wandered during a drive through Indiana in which I quoted “I never saw a purple cow, I never hope to see one …” to my canine traveling companion, Pepper.

Just in case you’re not into purple cows, what do you think about butterflies. I photographed this near the purple cow. — Photo by Pat Bean

Well, at the end of my gorgeous day’s drive through Shenandoah National Park, I was confronted with a purple cow. How funny, I thought, as I checked into the Highway 340 North RV Park just outside of Waynesboro, Virginia.

As almost all the places I had stayed at during the trip, it was quite nice with lots of friendly people. I decided to stay over a day and catch up on laundry and writing before I began my drive down the Blue Ridge Parkway

Book Report: I didn’t travel today and Travels with Maggie benefitted. The book is now up to 56,782 words.  It was a fun rewriting day as I got to relive my trip to Hawk Mountain with my oldest granddaughter, Shanna.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Fall colors in Minnesota http://tinyurl.com/9d3wjfq I never tire of Mother Nature’s autumn. How about you?

Read Full Post »

Skyline Trail through Shenandoah

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Favorite Places, Journeys, Nature, Travel, Uncategorized, Writing, tagged , , , , , , on October 22, 2012| 9 Comments »

Layers and layers of colors ending in blue. — Photo by Pat Bean

“Heroes take journeys, confront dragons, and discover the treasure of their true selves.”
—Carol Pearson

Adventures with Pepper: Day 29

The wildflower season along Skyline Trail had ended, but their were still a few flowers, like this small beauty with drops of rain still coating its leaves, to be seen. — Photo by Pat Bean

While the rain had stopped, the morning was still overcast. It was going to be a dreary drive through Shenandoah National Park, I thought.

But then Mother Nature took pity on me. I had just barely started my day’s drive down the park’s 105-mile Skyline Trail when the sun came out and bathed the landscape with its light.

Rain drops on leaves glistened in the sunlight and the passing foliage took on a warm glow.

The leaves of the maples, oaks, elms, beeches, aspens and many others, were a variegated palette of color. They reminded me of the mixed-color yarn my mother often used in making afghans. If she were using Mother Nature’s half-summer/half-autumn colors this day, her crocheted blankets would range in hues from green to lemon yellow with shades of orange, plum and scarlet in between.

Rag Mountain framed by an old dead tree I found interesting. — Photo by Pat Bean

Shenandoah National Park is a long, narrow mixture of lands and forests woven together in a landscape protected for both its beauty and its wildness. Its Skyline Trail is a narrow, winding, hilly road with a 35 mph speed limit designed as the way for people in cars to enjoy it.

With 75 overlooks – I know I stopped at least half of them – and inviting trails leading away from the smell of the road,  Pepper and I found many reasons to at least briefly abandon Gypsy Lee, out home on wheels. .

It took me over seven hours to get through the park.  It would have been longer if I hadn’t have wanted to get off the road and Gypsy Lee hooked up to civilization before dark.

Book Report: Just to keep it moving forward, I added another few words, bringing Travels with Maggie up to 56,103. I think for the next two weeks, until I get off the road for a bit, the book is truly going to be moving at a snail’s pace. I have writing commitments for Story Circle Network of which I’m a board member and other priorities this coming week, plus other priorities on this current journey. I hope I’m not just making excuses.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day

Bean’s Pat: Unusual Travel Tradition http://tinyurl.com/9f3amqx This blogger sees the funny side of travel. A new find for me.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »