I left New Jersey on Saturday, the 27th; my destination was Lancaster, PA. On my journey there, I took a slight detour back to my mom's homeland, Limeport, PA and saw Susan Petrilla and her family. The Petrillas were kind of like a second family to my mom, and I've gotten to know them too over the years. Susan and her husband Patrick have a son named PJ which is now 11. I had never really had a moment like this, but I actually remember holding him when I was a baby, I felt so very old. Anyways, they cooked me a wonderful homemade dinner, complete with from-scratch lentil soup. It was so good and such a pleasure to see them as it had been four years. Anyways, after my stop there I headed on to Mary Beth and John's (as seen in the picture below).
Mary Beth is one of the sisters of Jo Ryan, the woman who I got to spend turkey day with. She is in a wonderful 8-year love affair (not really an affair) with John O'Regan, a really wonderful irishmen, and yes I mean from Ireland. I first got to spend time with them in Ireland at his house in his small village called Balleigheige (or something to that effect). They are so much fun and it was so nice to visit in Pennsylvania, although I was totally out of practice on my understanding accents, so it took a day to be able to understand him easily again. We got to hang out and the first night I was there I also got to meet Eileen, another one of the sisters (there were nine children)! Anyways, we went to a few good Irish pubs, of course. Got a tour of Lancaster and the surrounding areas. It's so beautiful there, being mostly farm country.
Lancaster, as many of you know, is also well known for being the Amish center of something. So I figured I had to go trivialize a culture by driving past, gawking and snapping a picture or two. To my credit though, I'd seen the plain-clothes and really cared more about pictures of the buggys, so no picture were actually taken of the Amish. It was really cool though, most of the areas in the town had parking spots, and hitching posts, for cars and then the horses and buggys of course. So, I do have to make light of the fact that one of the major hubs for the Amish is not Lancaster, rather it is a town called Intercourse, which is right down the road from Bird-In-Hand. I'm sorry, but who couldn't get a chuckle out of that? Anyways, back to MB and John. Their house is right up against a conserved area so it provided a really rural feel which was amazing. The neighbors also had ridiculously awesome Christmas light displays which always make me happy.
I left their place on Tuesday the 1st. My first stop was Gettysburg, which was so awesome! There was a very large and well-done museum there and had an immensely moving display of the Gettysburg Address and the conditions of post-civil-war oppression against African-Americans. There were also really well done and concise videos on the progression of the battle itself, which improved my comprehension. After the museum, I raced around to some of the battle sites themselves. There was kind of a subtle mist floating through the trees which made me kind of feel like I was back in time, as so many of those low-budget war movies have the soldiers battling in the mists. It was beautiful and it hadn't really started to rain yet.
Along one road, called Culp's Hill, there were monuments everywhere to the different infantry units that fought in the battle. They were all different too and they commemorated not only the soldiers that came and fought there, but all the many lives lost there. Gettysburg was one of the bloodiest battles of the war, lasting three days, resulting in over 50,000 casualties. It's hard to imagine, but it reminded me of how easily it is to forget about things like the civil war and all that it stood for and all that became because of it. It was truly an amazing experience.
After Gettysburg, I raced (at a reasonable and safe speed of course) to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. I crossed through Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia making my total for the day four states. I arrived at Shenandoah a little before 4 pm and was told the road was going to close at five. I was super bummed that I wouldn't get to do the whole thing but understood. Little did I know that I actually wouldn't get to see very much because of the crazy fog and of course, the rain that soon began to pour. Below is a picture of what most of the journey looked like when I could actually see.
That night I stayed in a Southern Virginia hotel listening to flood warnings on the t.v. Fortunately I did not experience such a fate. The next day I awoke relatively early because I had a ways to go, and headed to the Blue Ridge Parkway, which spans (hard to believe) the Blue Ridge Mountains. This crosses from Virginia into North Carolina and speeds max out around 45 mph. It was amazing though! Absolutely amazing! Below is a picture from the drive.
It was such a clear day and I could see for miles. I followed the road for quite a few hours, even getting up into the snow (so exciting) but finally it was closed and I had to back track briefly to exit to another road. The road was also relatively vacant, at least on the human front, so I had it largely to myself, just the way I like a scenic drive. It's quite hard to capture the blue mountains in the distance, going as far as the eye could see, but if ever given the chance, I vote that this is definitely on people's bucket list. It helps that it is started in the North by Shenandoah and finished in the South by Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Finally I arrived in the Great Smoky Mountains which I got to explore on the 2nd. The views here were phenomenal as well. There was lots of snow on this trip as they actually climb up above 6,000 feet in some places. This national park falls across the Tennessee-North Carolina border and the views were freaking spectacular. Not only that, but I got more snow!
I did a hike here in the park which, in spite of being on the chilly side, was so great. It's the first time I've really hiked since the badlands and the physical excercise was much needed. Just being active was so nice after riding in my car for a month now. There was snow and sheets of ice across the trail, and if those weren't there, creeks were literally running down it. I learned that if my national park guide book tells me that a trail is very steep, I should believe it. This factor, coupled with the ice, made it a long four mile hike. The guide book also said it was worth it, and it was right about that too.
No I did not make this snowman above, but I was super stoked to come across it! Anyways, I started the hike relatively early because another side road I wanted to take earlier on was closed. So I was also the first one up to the very top and encountered nobody until my way back down. My least favorite part was this last little bit that you can see in the picture below. To get the full 360' view, you had to climb up this rock face, scramble rather, and the worst part was, then you had to come back down. But again, it was well worth it.
The views from the top were absolutely awesome. It was in fact a 360' view of the Great Smoky Mountains. In the distance behind me, in the picture below, you can see the small specks that begin to creat Gatlinburg, TN. It was so nice to be in real mountains again (sorry PA, your mountains don't quite measure up, you've got lots of other things going for you though)! Anyways, well worth it! My legs are still a little sore though, haha.
After coming down from the hike, I swung through Gatlinburg for some lunch. You know you've made it to the south when you order ice tea and they ask you if you want sweet tea or regular. Finally I drove the Cape Cove Road, a little side road into another part of the park, which was once settled. There are more prairies or flatlands in this area at the base of the Smokys, which you can see below. I got to see lots of deer though and potentially one black bear. Unfortunately my hostility was mounting due to the inconsiderate people in front of me who insisted on holding up 15 cars to take pictures of, of course, deer. They were so adament about this too, that they would harass the deer with pictures, it would run away, they'd pull forward 15 feet to where it had run and the process would start all over again. O.k. I won't launch into my rant, I promise.
One of the really cool things about this drive, other than the scenery and the stupid tourists, was that they had houses and barns that were built in the 1800s that you could actually go into. It was crazy. Granted, I've seen lots of them, but none that were originals that you could actually go into. This barn, below, was really interesting. I am not quite sure what they were thinking when they designed it this way, but alright.
Finally, I got on the road and headed straight for Nashville, Tennessee. I have to say I was super impressed and pleasantly surprised by this part of our country. If I've ever said something joking about this area (which, knowing me, is pretty much a guarantee) I have to say, I would probably take it back. It's an area that the change of seasons would definitely change it as a place, and the experience, the views and the feel would all be different with each season. So, looks like I have some return trips to make. More to come....
I've finally finished my current adventures... and by that I mean, I am safely back in Oregon and currently hanging out with the family. It's really good to be back, but I also really have no idea what's next. But anyways... backtracking now, the last week was spent crossing the country, but this time heading west again. I started after Arkansas with a brief stay in an Oklahoma hotel and then a 16 hour drive across texas to southern Arizona. The above picture is of what most of my drive across Texas looked like. I lost a lot of interest in the drive once I hit Bush's hometown. But it was well worth it to arrive at my friend Dash's in Tucson.
My first two days in Tucson, the temperature reached up into the 80s... way too far from the snow I have been envisioning for months now. I had to unpack half my car to find summer clothes again. I got to sleep most of this day which was wonderful. I needed to catch up after a 16 hour drive. Once I finally woke up and regained consciousness I explored Tucson a bit. The city itself is really unappealing to me, but the surroundings and the environment are phenomenal. The below picture is the view from Dash's front door. The city is surrounded by mountains and sandwiched between two sides of Saguaro National Park. It was really awesome to see all of the cacti and the desert environment.
We took a drive up to the top of Mount Lemon, which overlooks the city of Tucson and the surrounding valleys. There is a ski-resort on top of this mountain, which is over 5,000 feet tall, but there was only like a four foot square patch of snow. It is currently unclear why anyone would think to build a ski resort there, but I am not the best source of an opinion on the issue. The view was incredibly beautiful and it was an absolutely perfect day, only in the 60's thankfully.
I had to take the below picture in the spirit of my Bryce canyon adventures. In the below shot you can see both hoodoos and a natural arch. The only difference is that this mountain is made out of granite.
I can't fully explain my enthusiasm over being around real mountains again. This was definitely the redeeming part of Arizona and I have to say it is an all around phenomenally beautiful state. If it weren't for the excessive heat and lack of discernable seasons, I would love to live in the state.
After our excursion to Mount Lemon, we did a quick drive through of Saguaro National Park East. This was my first real glimpse of cacti. They were prominent throughout Tucson, but were divided by houses and buildings and wrapped in light of lamp posts and lots of christmas lights too. I had no idea how many different types of cacti there were as well. It was truly phenomenal to see.
In case you haven't already realized from reading my blog, I love national parks. To me, they are very much my playground in the sense that I feel most like an overly excited rambunctios kid when exploring the outdoors and especially our national parks. It was kind of a stormy afternoon, but it made for very interesting and vibrant displays of desert fauna. 
Another night that I was in Tucson, I got to meet up with Eddie Ryan, the oldest of the Ryan clan. It was a lot of fun and I got to meet his youngest Conor who was a total kick. Ed and I talked politics, I learned about trains and got to hear some great new music. There was definitely a lot of laughing though. It was really wonderful to hang out with Ed. 
The next day, I drug Dash to Saguaro National Park West which was overflowing with cacti but especially a forest of, not surprisingly, Saguaros. We stopped while driving through the mountains to get a great view of the area. After a brief drive by of the western movie-set town, we headed into the park. I was blown away by the area and by the forest that unfolded around us. We did a short hike to a valley overlook, through the cacti. I was definitely in love.
After the park, we went out to dinner. One of the most phenomenal aspects of Tucson were the incredibly amazing sunsets that they had, every single night. I did get to see the sunrise the day I left, but it didn't even come close to the amazing sunsets.
After leaving Tucson at 6:30 in the morning, I headed north to Flagstaff to meet up with my old friend Reis. We met my freshman year of high school in north eastern Oregon. I left at the end of that year. It was so great to see him and I am totally stoked for how awesome of a person he has become and the adventures that await him. It was a really great visit and I'm so glad I got to make the trip. Unfortunately I still had 12 hours to go to make it to Reno for the night.
About an hour outside of Flagstaff, I pulled off the highway on a little side road to take a nap. Unfortunately in my far too well versed tradition, I left my lights on while I rested and of course the battery on my car died. This culminated in me having to stand on the side of the interstate trying to flag a car down to help me which this wonderful family finally did stop. I am soooo grateful to them as it would have taken way too long to wait for roadside assistance and I still had 11 hours to go.... OY!
I hit snow about 20 miles from Reno, but I ignored all suggested requirements of chains. The blizzard I was driving through was exhausting and after heating up some soup, I crashed quickly at my hotel. The next day consisted of crossing five different mountain passes, two covered in snow. The picture above is of a good portion of the road crossing the Sierras. I had to put my chains on once per requirements of the California Department of Transportation. I soon realized this was rediculous and ignored all other requirements in the future. I made it over this pass to be swamped by rain in northern california. Then more snow, then more rain, and after 10.5 hours I finally pulled up to my mom's house in rainy coastal weather. She greeted me with some of my favorite home made soup and a very-much anticipated hug. I have really missed her over the last five months. It's nice to be back in Oregon, with my mom, brother and Kaleigh. It's nice not to have sales tax, and it's so nice not to have to pump gas again. Every time I leave, I forget how much I love coming back to Oregon. I most definitely love my state! Merry Christmas everyone and thanks for following me around the country. I can't even fathom what's next! 
