Day 4 Yosemite.

“The Whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land” -Gilbert K. Chesterton.  This quote is in the travel book I have used the most – 1,000 Places to See Before you Die, in the United States & Canada.  Today I managed to check off a big one on my must-see list, Yosemite National Park.

First, I grabbed breakfast at a little café near my hotel. I noticed the two other people in the café were both young and fit, wearing Lycra – must be climbers. Last night the other people at dinner were my age, not so fit, wearing clothes with lots of pockets – I think they were fisherman. At any rate I drove through the park from east to west, ending up at the Base of El Capitan. Fortunately, my sister’s husband recommended I bring binoculars. I was standing at the base, and I couldn’t see any climbers, but I could hear them, using the binoculars, I was able to find them about ½ way the face. I didn’t have time to see all the sites in the park, but the drive through was a bout 3 hours long, so I got a good feel for the park.

This is the end of the trip, I am meeting a grade school friend and a junior high school friend for dinner tonight, so a good end to really good trip.  I still have the feeling of being excited to see what’s new every day when I travel through this country, I guess when that feeling end, it’s time to stop travelling.

 Day 3 To the interior, doorstep of Yosemite.

I didn’t have a lot of sites to see today, it was all about getting over to the east side of Yosemite National Park, to get ready for tomorrow. I am going to spend my blog time talking about the difference in the people and masks requirements in California.

Last night I went to dinner at a recommended restaurant in the harbor area of Fort Bragg. The restaurant was busy, but I got a very strange vibe there, a marked difference from the friendly people in Oregon. There was just something off at this restaurant.  It’s probably not a fair review, after all the Holiday Inn Express I stayed at was new and nice, the guidebooks all call Fort Lee Charming, but last night, sitting at the bar, it was just strange.  The elderly lady next to me at the bar, who was a regular, had no interest in talking to me, she was more interested in asking the bartender where her order was. The guy next to her called the bartender over and asked if they could step away from the bar, I could still hear and he was complaining that every time he comes to this restaurant, he is charged for 2 martinis, and he should only be charged for 1 and ½.  Another diner approached the bar and said she ordered Pepsi and got Dr. Pepper. I just couldn’t figure out why the vibe was so different, the landscape looked like Oregon, the town was the same size, it was just different.  

Tonight, in another small town in California but on the eastern side, I ate at the only choice in town, a small diner playing Elvis and other 50’s music, very relaxed and I heard no one complaining about anything.

My mask report is all over the place. Last night in Fort Bragg, all the places had a mask mandate, and today an hour outside of town I stopped at a convince store for coffee and even though the sign said masks were required, nobody inside was wearing. I asked the clerk, and she said the manager did not require them.  Further east, I stopped for lunch to meet an old friend that I worked with 20 years ago at Intel.  This town, Folsom, near the state capital of Sacramento with lots of upscale restaurants and shops, no mask requirements in site.  Here tonight in this very small town of Lee Vining, back to mask requirements everywhere.  I can’t figure it out, I just walk around with my mask in my pocket and try to do, what I think is right.

Finally, a note on my drive today, I had a little bit of everything. Going east from the coast, I went back over the mountains I crossed yesterday, tight turns, logging trucks and impressive forests. Once over the mountain I was in agriculture country, looked like almond and olive trees. Continuing east, it was over the Sierra Nevada’s though the area impacted by the recent Caldor fire, south of Lake Tahoe. From there I looped through Nevada, more high plains but still with some recent fire damage and even some snow on the side of the road, into the town before Yosemite.  Pictures below are from the restaurant last night and my approach into town tonight and from my hotel.

Beer: Yosemite Pale Ale - Mammoth Brewing

Book on Tape: Started American Dirt

Song:  Came on today - and I like this song - I Lived One Republic

 

Day 2 The coast and the Redwoods

Quick recap from last night, I went to dinner at a place I found on trip advisor – well it was the place next to the place I was looking for, the place I found was closed.  As it turns out, the restaurant I went to was nice, the owners had just moved from Maine, where they lived for 15 years, running 5 restaurants in that time.  Oregon was home for them, so they moved back and took over a restaurant that they city had taken over because of unpaid taxes.  The waitress was a former heavy equipment operator who moved back to the coast and was working as a waitress in her retirement.  It was a couple’s anniversary and after the waitress made the announcement, another diner came up to them and said “my wife and I have been married so long that we have had fights longer than some marriages last these days” I got a good chuckle.

Today my first stop was over an hour away, so I took off in the dark and when the sun came up I stopped at Cape Blanco lighthouse and continued down the coast admiring the views, much of the trip is along the ocean and view after view was amazing.  Crossing into California I stopped in Crescent City and picked up a map at the national forest service office and got advice on where to stop to see the Redwoods.  Soon after leaving Crescent city, right on the highway you are driving through the Redwoods. I got off at the recommended stop and walked through big tree wayside on a half mile walk.  Later I stopped at Lady Bird Johnson Grove. Richard Nixon named the grove after the former first lady, because of her work in helping save the environment. Can you imagine Joe Biden naming anything after Melania Trump?

After the National Park I stopped in Eureka for lunch – turns out it was an all you can eat Barbecue place – today was Chicken – there were some big eaters here today for lunch. I stopped at a ½ chicken and kept heading south.  At one point I saw a sign for the “famous drive through tree” Thinking it was something I should see; I made the detour.  I don’t think it’s the same tree I have seen in pictures, my little rent a car just squeezed through – but I guess it was worth the $10 to know I drove through the tree.  From there I headed to the coast again on route 1 and it was an amazing winding road with hair pin turns, switchbacks and a genuine fun drive, no problem paying attention, even with ½ a barbecue chicken inside me. Stop for the night was Fort Bragg a little town on the coast.  The Northern California coast is just an extension of the beauty seen in Oregon.

Today I finished The Path Between The Seas David McCullough, story of the Panama canal.

Beer: Anchor Steam

Song of the Day: Traveller Chris Stapleton.

 Tuesday October 12,2021

Portland to San Francisco

Day 1: The Coast of Oregon

Last year, on my 48 states in 48 days tour, one drive I had penciled in, was the coast of Oregon. My plan was to stay in Newport Beach, drive down the coast of Oregon, to Redwood National Forest and then over to Redding California for the night.  Three days out of Oregon, I became concerned about Forest Fires in California, specifically about one near Redding. I called the hotel I had booked to inquire about the fire and the front desk clerk told me “According to a fire fighter staying here, the fire is moving away from town” Not wanting to be stuck in a fire, or even take a room from an evacuee or firefighter, I changed my route to cross over through central Oregon and stay in Lake Tahoe California.

Yesterday I flew into Portland and headed to the coastal town of Seaside. Seaside is a cute little town on the coast, not far from the Washington State border.  One of the things I could not do last year was hang out at a bar or talk to people at dinner.  I was able to do so today, the Red Sox we in a playoff game and I got to hang out and watch the game.  One guy I talked to was a newly retired Portland Police Officer who was a big Red Sox fan. I convinced him to investigate Team Rubicon in his retirement. Another guy and I talked about how much we enjoy watching sports with our daughters. My conversations, plus a Red Sox win made my night.

Today, I with through my guidebook and wrote down 9 different stops along the Oregon Coast.  The highlight was the little town of Cannon Beach. In 1999 I worked for Intel Corporation; at the time my division’s headquarters were outside of Portland. I was there over a weekend and took the same drive from Portland to the coast that I did yesterday.  On that day my first stop was Cannon beach and I always thought it was a cool town.  Today I stopped at the same state park I went to in 1999. Even though it was early, and I didn’t see anybody around, after walking to the ocean to take some picture I came back and found a note on my car, remaining me to pay the $5 park entry fee.  Thinking it would be bad karma, to not pay the fee I complied. Speaking of karma, in 1999 I went to a park and started talking with a guy who was going surfing.  He said he expected more surfers that day and because of safety he didn’t want to go in the water without somebody being there.  He asked me if I could stay and watch him for a while. I declined saying I had places to be – which I really didn’t, I was driving north to Washington State but without a time commitment. I have felt bad about that ever since.  Today when I pulled up to the same spot, two surfers were getting their gear on. I told them the story, and the women told me she absolved me of my guilt, and they didn’t need me to watch them today.

The rest of the day I wound my down highway 101 stopping at beaches, overlooks, lighthouses and even the Sea Lions Cave (but all the Sea Lions left in August to go feed, and won’t be back until May.) One of the other things I noticed everywhere on this drive, is the help wanted signs. I even saw an ad during the morning news that Intel was hiring. Ironic that Intel gave me a severance package in 2002 to leave the company. My mask report is that it’s required almost everywhere inside in Oregon and the compliance is very good.

 Day 4: Fredericton

One of the things I couldn’t do last year on my 48 states in 48 days trip is hang out in bars and talk to people.  Last night I picked up some good information at the bar while having dinner. The first was from a guy who grew up on Prince Edward Island. When I told him I was thinking of driving to Cape Breton Island today, he said he had been there once in his life, during high school, he had a sporting event, and they drove there overnight – it was 5 or 6 hours away. The second piece of information was I learned that New Brunswick had instituted a new travel policy, and everyone had to apply to travel through the Province, this just went in effect to cut down on Covid.

On the first point of information, I confirmed the distance to Cape Breton, and quickly ruled out trying to make it there and back to New Brunswick today. It would have meant at least a 12-hour day, and something I need to keep on the list for future trips. On the second piece of information, I was able to download the form I needed, attach my vaccination record, and submit it to the Province for approval to travel today.

Now that I had extra time in Prince Edward Island, I went back over my list of things to see in PEI and decided to backtrack on some of the places I missed. I don’t think I have ever been to a more picturesque place than PEI. Everything is just stunning from the color of the houses to the boats, to the landscape and the ocean.  I was so glad that I slowed down to appreciate what was in front of me, rather than rush off to the next destination.

In Fredericton New Brunswick, I had to show my vaccination card at the hotel and at every restaurant or bar I went into. This was the law the waitress on Tuesday was talking about. The town is the Capital of the Province and a nice little city on the river.  I walked along the river and crossed over the river on a bike bath converted from a rail line.  Do you think Canadian’s are nice?  Yesterday before dinner, a guy walking down the street saw me about to put money in a meter, and he said “don’t waste your money, they don’t collect after 5” I replied that the meter said to pay until 6pm (It was 5:30) he told me “don’t worry about it, they are all union and don’t work after 5.”  today, as I was paying at another meter a women walked by and said, “there is a lot right there that’s cheaper.”

Podcast: This American Life The End of the World as We Know it – A story about a guy so caught up in Climate Change, that it destroyed his life with his family.

Song of the day: The Lighthouse Tale Nickel Creek – my cousins husband loved this song and seeing all the lighthouses today made me think of him.

Beer:  Patagonia Pale Ale: Graystone Brewing Fredericton, NB

 Day 3: Prince Edward Island

Headed out in the dark, back tracking to where I was yesterday, the Fundy National Park.  However, this time at the park, I turned north, destination Hopewell Rocks. Hopewell Rocks are the iconic Bay of Fundy tide location.  The tide is 46 feet here. I got lucky, low tide was at 8:00 am and I arrived in time for the 9:00 am opening of the park.  My travel style is: get to where I’m going, see it, get back on the road.  In this style I arrived at the Hopewell Rocks, hiked 15 minutes to the rocks, where you descend metal stairs to the sea floor, walk around the rocks and marvel at the tidal difference, then hike back out and get going.

My destination for the day was Prince Edward Island, to get there you can now cross an eight-mile bridge, completed in 1997.  It’s really something to see, it helped that the weather was perfect today. Once across, I had to stop for a Covid Rapid test. The island has kept Covid at bay, with its ability to control who comes in. I did hear at dinner that there was a recent uptick in Covid traced to a school, so they have put back in place masks mandates.  Since I didn’t get a call about my rapid test, and my border test results came back negative (that’s 3 tests in 3 days for me) I was free to explore PEI.

Fortunately, my wife, Michele, went for a walk on Sunday with a friend who has spent a lot of time in PEI. Her husband emailed me a detailed list of a 3 hour drive I could take and get a good feel for the island. I followed the itinerary, starting with a pub in Charlottetown, where I probably had the best fish and chips ever. PEI is just amazingly beautiful, and it helps that the weather is perfect and there are not a whole lot of tourists around.

Podcast: Smartless with Ken Burns – I like his films.

Song of the day: I found on Spotify the Prince Edward Island song by Terry Hachey – old time country tune.

Beer: House Wheat Ale, Gahen House Brewery

 Day 2: Saint John, New Brunswick

The old feeling from my 48 States in 48 Days is back. The feeling, lying in bed at 5:00am, that I can’t wait to get up and get going.  Yesterday covered territory that I covered before, today was going to be all new and the first time to use my passport in 2 years.

I woke up with a text that my Covid test results from yesterday were in and with the help from a nice desk clerk, who had me send my results to his personal email so he could print them out for me, I was off to the border. The border required pre-registering on an App that included a picture of my vaccination card, the printed test results and a “random” covid test at the border. There was only one other car there, so I was through and on my way in no time.

Fortunately, my wireless carrier now includes Canada in the plan. I need to use my phone for directions and for filling out information for the covid test at the border. Some years ago, I was coming back from skiing in Canada with my family. We had shut off our cellular data in Canada, to keep from getting charged. Once back in the US I gave our daughter the go ahead to use her phone. That night, at a ski area in Vermont, about 10 miles from the border, she got a text that she had used $200 worth of international data. My whole family including my brother and sisters, could hear me yelling at AT&T: “I’m in the United States of America I’m not paying for Canadian Cell service.”  I think they let me pay $25 for a retro international plan. My sister and brother never let me forget that.

First stop was St. Andrews By-The Sea a cute little village, known for being Canada’s first seaside resort. I did a walk around and grabbed a cup of coffee before heading to St. John. In St. John I had lunch and visited the 3 sites I had planned, the Reversing Waterfall, the City Market, and Irving Nature Park.  The stops were nice, but didn’t take me long, so I headed up the coast to Fundy National Park.  In the little town of Alma, I got to see large fishing boats at low tide sitting on crates to keep them out of the mud at low tide.  The tides here are so huge that the top of these boats was below the pier, amazing. The boats plan their daily schedule based on the tides.

Pod Cast: This American Life – today’s episode was about the importance of music in telling a story, something that really resonates with me.

Song: Tales of the Phantom Ship, Lennie Gallant (Spotify, looking for songs of Atlantic Canada)

Beer: Moosehead – brewed in Saint John – brings me back to my youth in Vermont – drank me some Moosehead.

 The Maritime Provinces

Day 1: Bangor Maine:

On the road again

I can't stay off the road. Since I finished my 48 states in 48 days trip last year, I have driven to Colorado and back twice and to South Carolina once. Today I hit the road again for a brief 4-day trip to the Canadian Maritime provinces.

My day started by getting a covid test (which I need, in addition to my vaccination card, to enter Canada) After a dentist appointment, that I didn't want push out, I hit the road heading to Maine for my first overnight.

I like Symmetry so my first night destination was Bangor Maine, same as last year.  However, since I had the time and wanted to go a slightly different route I got off the highway in Portland Maine and headed up route 1 to Camden Maine, before heading north to Bangor. Like last year, the weather was beautiful, and the coast of Maine never disappoints. Below are a couple of pictures from my trip.

For dinner, I found the same restaurant that I went to last year and ordered the same dish - pork ramen noodles.  This year I got to eat inside at the bar, rather than do take out, so I'm happy that hopefully the worst of covid is behind us and things can back to the new normal.  Still a lot of people wearing masks here in Maine, but it's a different feel – more of on an option vs. people being reckless not wearing them a year ago.

Podcast of the Day: Still listening to Smartless: Today was Tiffany Haddish - really cool story of a women who went from sleeping in her car, to Saturday Night Live, to planning on opening a Grocery Store in South Central LA, to help the people that have nowhere to buy decent food.

Song of the Day: Coastline: Hollow Coves ( I looked on Spotify for something to do with Maine)

Beer of the Day: Bangor Beer (Same as last year) this time a brew called 10-2.

 AAA has published an article that I put together (with a lot of editing help from my friend David Rocchio) to read the story click on the link below.

48 States in 48 Days,