Merry Christmas

Actually, today is Boxing Day but I'm thinking outside the Box. I had a Christmas celebration with my family at my grandmother's house in Berkeley, California. We had presents, dinner, live music (from my dad and uncle), and some really cool home movies from when my grandmother was a child.

Veterans Day

Today Dad and I drove out to Pt. Reyes National Seashore for a little bit of beach time. Interestingly, it was the first ocean I've seen since visiting the Atlantic back in July. It was a sunny day with (for me) T-shirt kinds of temperatures. It made me glad to be back in Northern California since I've been hearing about blizzards and tornados in the central part of the country that I traveled through last summer. I think if I were back in North Dakota right now I'd at least put on a sweater.

A Happy Birthday

Today is my 22nd birthday, and it was a great one! My family and friends celebrated at the Davis Farmers Market. Check out the cake I got- a whimsical and delicious work of art created by Pam Cohen and her step-daughter. That's the Ice Cream Goddess topping it all off. When I got back home, my former caregiver, Alejandra Hernandez, was waiting with a gift for me.

It was really great to see everyone. I'm really feeling the love tonight. The only thing more amazing than my birthday party was the fact that it rained... in California!

Labor Day

This camping trip seems like a perfect bookend to a great season. Not only did we stay at the same campground as on Memorial Day weekend, we got the same campsite (Unit #5).

The end of the camping season is always a little bittersweet for me. As we pack up our tent and sleeping bags for the winter I'm sad that we won't use them again until the Spring. On the other hand, I revel in fond memories of places we've been and people we've met this summer.

I'm sure that we'll have many more excellent adventures in the future, but I think that 2015 will be hard to match in terms of epicitude. It seems like we've been everywhere (just like in the Johnny Cash song). On this year's travels I spent 30 nights sleeping outdoors in a tent, 12 hotel stays, and 6 overnights as a guest with friends and family. I visited 31 U.S. states and 1 Canadian province. I will always remember this summer!

Mt. Shasta City

I can't believe it's been five weeks since Dad and I returned from our summer trip. But here we are again on a Labor Day weekend adventure. This area seems to be quite the power spot. We're camping here for the second time this year, watching the Burning Man crowd pass through town. I think I'd fit right in. Maybe some other year...

Also, I have a strong suspicion that the Ice Cream Goddess is watching over me.

Homeward Bound

Well, it's the end of the line for this adventure. We're back home in Davis, California. What a great trip! Here's the stats:

Days: 42
Miles driven: 9,290
Time zones: 4
National Parks, Monuments, Lakeshores and Seashores visited: 19
McDonald's meals: 0
Walmart shopping: 0
Starbucks: 1
Ice Cream Goddess visitations: numerous

I'm going to sign off for a while now that I'm back home, but I'll be back later with more blogging. Thanks for following all my posts.

I Am A Patriot

"I am a patriot, and I love my country
Because my country is all I know
I wanna be with my family, people who understand me
I've got nowhere else to go"

I've got three words for you: I love America! Its people, its beautiful places, the freedom to enjoy them. It's my home. I'm almost 22 years old and I've had the opportunity to explore much of our country. I plan to continue doing so in the future.

A Salty Wedding

When we stopped to check out the salt flats west of Salt Lake City, there were a bride, a groom, and a photographer out there on the playa. We offered congratulations and asked when the wedding was. "Tomorrow," came the answer. Very cool.

It would be even cooler if the couple came back in 2040 and 2065 to add a bit of silver and gold to the salt.

Old Faithful

This was my third visit to Yellowstone National Park. (The previous ones were in 2005 and 2012.) Each time, the park's most famous natural feature went off within five minutes of my arrival. You see, Old Faithful and I, we have a thing, an understanding if you will.

I think what goes on is this: while we're parking the car other visitors are gathered, impatiently checking their watches. Meanwhile the geyser is sitting quietly, thinking to itself:

"Yo! Chill, dudes. I'm just waiting for my homeboy Westley to show up. Then I'll put on a show."

It works every time.

Pompey's Pillar

We stopped by Pompey's Pillar National Monument in Montana.

On the return journey from the Pacific Ocean in the summer of 1806, the Corps of Discovery split temporarily. Meriwether Lewis led one group on a northern route and William Clark followed the Yellowstone River to its confluence with the Missouri. On the way Clark's group found a large sandstone formation next to the river. They named it after Jean Baptiste Charbonneau (aka Pompey), the infant son of Sacagawea. Clark, the graffiti artist, carved his named into the rock and his inscription is still there.

There's a little town in California's Central Valley named Westley, but it's not much more than a gas station. I'd like to have some natural feature with my name; a waterfall, a cliff, a mountain, even a hurricane... although in my case there would have to be at least 23 hurricanes in one season.

Walk Softly And Create Big National Parks

This national park in western North Dakota is named after the 26th president of these United States, Theodore Roosevelt. Rightly so, because more than any other president before or since he put the ethos of conservation into the public spotlight and helped further the concept of national parks. The beautiful badlands in this region inspired TR as a young man.

We didn't see any actual bison (my favorite large land animal) but I know they're here because on the scenic drive there was a pile of poop in the road so big we had to swerve the car around it.

Nice People

Besides seeing all the natural beauty of our country and reconnecting with old friends and family, one of my favorite parts of traveling is having the opportunity to meet new people and make new friends. Kayla Wiese is one of the nicest people we've met on this trip. She works at the Fort Mandan Visitors Center in North Dakota. If the Mandan tribe gave the Lewis & Clark Expedition the same kind of warm welcome back in 1804 that we got from Kayla, no wonder they decided to stay here for the winter.

10,000 Lakes

Minnesota's license plates boast of the state's ten thousand lakes. The part they left out was the ten trillion mosquitos.

After camping in the Mississippi River headwaters region and fighting off lots and lots of annoying little creatures, we stopped by to visit my two favorite big creatures in the region: Paul Bunyan and Babe, his blue ox. Dad and I are both big fans of roadside kitsch, and this statue is one of the classics.

Lake Superior

Back in the U.S.A.

We camped at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Lake Superior is awesome! It's very, very big. Just to put it in perspective for California folks, it would take eighty Lake Tahoes to fill this one.

Long May You Run

Neil Young wrote a song that references Blind River, Ontario. It's a love song for a car he used to own that died here. We've been saying "long may you run" to my dad's Subaru because we're counting on it to get us back home to California.

Boat Ride- The Sequel

We took another ferry from Ontario's Bruce Peninsula to Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron. It was a beautiful ride with lots of forested islands to see on the way. Canada is a cool place!

O Canada

Canada has enriched the world in many ways: Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, 4/5ths of The Band, Rush, hockey... Oh yes, and maple syrup, without which where would pancakes and waffles be?

This is my first visit to a foreign country. Well, sort of... I've visited the Navajo Nation in Arizona four times and the Dine people will assure you that they're sovereign.

Niagara Falls

The first thing I noticed were the signs warning visitors not to jump into the current above the falls. That is some good advice. Secondly, I realized that's the biggest darned waterfall I've ever seen! On average, 85,000 cubic feet of water per second goes over the drop. You're not going to see me getting into that, even in a barrel.

The Dumas Family

We stayed for two nights at the home of Christie and Tony Dumas and their daughters Renee and Cameron in Brockport, New York. They used to live in Davis but moved here two years ago. It was really great to see them again.

My favorite parts of our visit were: walking in the evening by the Erie Canal, getting a guided tour of the SUNY campus and downtown Brockport  (courtesy of Renee and Cameron), going to Lake Ontario for a beach party, and of course hanging out watching Pixar and Disney movies.

Thank you Christie, Tony, Renee and Cameron for being such great hosts. We love you guys!

The Declaration Of Sentiments

We stopped by the Women's Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls, New York. Dad was talking with a ranger and mentioned that we're descended from the Motts (James and Lucretia). The guy said that they get lots of Stantons coming by (after all Elizabeth Cady Stanton had seven kids), but they haven't heard from very many Motts. The park superintendent gave us some free NPS tote bags.

In the photo I'm standing in front  of the Wesleyan Chapel where the Declaration of Sentiments was signed in July 1848.

Ithaca Is Gorges!

Dad says that Ashland, Oregon + UC Davis = Ithaca, New York/Cornell University. I don't know about that, but I really enjoyed our stay in Ithaca. The Finger Lakes region is really beautiful.

You've probably heard of the Moosewood Cookbook. Maybe you even have a copy in your kitchen. Well, we went out to dinner at the Moosewood Restaurant. It was yummy! The next morning we hiked up one of the gorges on the Cornell University campus. Nice place.

Fort Ticonderoga

At first I thought we were going to visit a pencil factory...

Fort Ticonderoga on the New York side of Lake Champlain is historically significant for the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. The French first built it, then the British captured it, then the Americans took over, then the British took it back... It gets confusing after a while.

The staff were all dressed in period uniforms and we saw a musket demonstration. More loud noises, but it was pretty cool.

Bernie's Town

Burlington is Vermont's largest city, set on the shores of Lake Champlain. It has a lovely downtown pedestrian mall. U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders served as the mayor here for a long time before going to Washington, D.C. I'm sure the residents of Burlington are very proud that he's running for president in 2016.

The Ice Cream Goddess

What's that?... Off in the distance... It looks like a sign... Do my eyes deceive me?... Could it really be?...

The Ice Cream Goddess has heard my entreaties and bestowed her blessings upon me! For weeks I've had restless dreams of Chunky Monkey and Cherry Garcia. And now we're here at last at the Ben & Jerry's Factory in Waterbury, Vermont!

It was in the nineties and very humid, but it was worth the wait.

Damp Camp

O.K., the good news is that we had just finished packing up our gear right before the monsoon started. The bad news is that we saw more rain in two days than we've had in California all year.

Actually, if you're from California I guess that's good news too.

Live Free Or Die

Well, we didn't exactly do. And we certainly didn't die. But it does feel like we're living free. We made it 3/4 of the way up Mt. Washington via the Tuckerman Ravine Trail in New Hampshire's White Mountains. We didn't miss anything in terms of spectacular views. We talked to a guy who said the fog was so thick at the summit that you couldn't see two feet in front of you. Still, it was a pretty challenging hike even though we didn't go the whole way.

I ♡ Maine

We spent two days at Acadia National Park and it is a beautiful spot. On Thursday we hiked to the top of Cadillac Mountain (1,528 ft) and had a clear view of Mount Desert Island and the Maine coast. I think of this as being the easternmost "western" state because of the sense of wide open space and many outdoor recreational opportunities. It's also cooler and less humid than the rest of New England.

Map Nerd Nirvana

We stopped by the DeLorme mapping company in Yarmouth, Maine to check out Eartha, the world's largest globe. That's Madagascar poking me in the back. Dad went crazy in the store they had there. He bought a bunch of maps and I think it was the high point of his day.

Hahvahd Yahd

It's very expensive to pahk your cah near Hahvahd Yahd. I won't say exactly how much right here.

I like college towns. I live in one after all. And even though going to university isn't really in the cards for me, if it were I'd like to go to Harvard. It's a cool place with lots of activity, even during the summer. Later this day we met my dad's cousin, John Tracey, for lunch in Cambridge where he lives. It was nice to get to know John a little bit.

Land's End

There's a very large body of water directly behind me. Strangely, it lies to the east. I think I'll call it the "Atlantic Ocean." It seems that we've run out of continent. Since we can't drive a car to Europe, we'll just have to turn around and head west.

Bass River

Bass River, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. A quiet and relaxing place to chill out for a few days.

Ancestors

A lot of my people are buried here at the Yarmouth Meeting House. These are my great-grandparents. My dad remembers them as kind, generous and loving folks. "Grammy" was a great-great-granddaughter of Lucretia Mott (1793-1880), the famous Quaker abolitionist and women's rights campaigner.

Meeting With Friends

On Sunday we attended the Yarmouth Quaker Meeting on Cape Cod. We were greeted with open arms by some very friendly folks. (My great-uncle is a member although he now lives in Pennsylvania.) As you can see, this Meeting has been around for a while. In fact, it's the oldest one in the United States. Cool, huh?

Boat Ride

We took the ferry from the eastern tip of Long Island to New London, Connecticut. It was a beautiful day. I had some practice taking a ferry ride last summer on Washington's Puget Sound so this one was a breeze for me (not scary).

The Big Apple

Looking from Brooklyn's Sunset Park at dusk with the Manhattan skyline in the background. The big building with the light bulb on top is the brand new "Freedom Tower" that rose from the ashes of the September 11th terrorist attacks.

Crossing the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, two drivers in front of us at the toll booth got into a verbal altercation, New Jersey style. Luckily, it did not come to fisticuffs. Also, my dad was thinking about phoning the New Jersey governor's office for a bridge traffic update (ha ha). Dad says that we should forgive all of New Jersey's sins because the state produced Bruce Springsteen.

The sheer human energy in NYC is incredible. This city is crazy... and that's a compliment.

Gettysburg National Military Park

Gettysburg! In 1863, two huge armies just happened to run into each other. The rest is history. Most of the time it's not a good idea to stand right in front of a cannon. Besides, this was a Confederate cannon and I'm pretty sure it had me pegged as a Yankee. But I figured since this all happened 152 years ago I'd be O.K.

John Brown's Body

We visited Harpers Ferry National Historical Park at the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers. As my dad's history students all know (of course they'll remember this over the summer), the militant abolitionist John Brown tried to capture a federal arsenal and start a slave insurrection here in 1859. It didn't work out so well for JB and his friends because he was captured and later hanged for treason. I'm standing in front of the building where he and his followers were holed up.

Barr's Fiddle Shop

We stopped by Barr's Fiddle Shop in Galax, Virginia. That's me with Stevie Barr, the owner. He's a really cool guy. He "got" me right away because his wife works with autistic children. Dad bought a mandolin from him and he gave me a free dish of ice cream.

Blue Ridge Parkway

We drove a 60 mile section of the Blue Ridge Parkway on a beautiful morning. It sure was spectacular. Up close, the mountains are very green. When you look at them from far away, through the haze, they're blue.

Look Homeward, Angel

Well, we're not quite headed home yet but we did stop by the Thomas Wolfe House in Asheville, North Carolina where the author grew up. This a nice medium-sized city nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains with coffee shops, bookstores, and everything else a long distance traveler needs.

I'm Only Sleeping

"Please don't wake me, no don't shake me
Leave me where I am
I'm only sleeping"

If you think I'm getting out of this comfy hotel bed anytime soon, you're crazy.

The Appalachian Trail

We camped for two nights in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and did some hiking. My dad says that in South Carolina if you say you're planning to hike the Appalachian Trail, what you really mean to say is that you're going to hang out with your mistress in Argentina. I have no idea what he's talking about, but we really did hike a section of the Appalachian Trail... really.

Lookout For That Mountain!

O.K., I know the post title is a bad pun... just indulge me, please.

We stayed with my step-aunt, Mary Beth Conklin, at her home in Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. She served us a very nice dinner. I'm not much of a green salad guy but I ate many slices of ham. The next day we toured the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga which was awesome. It's the largest fresh water aquarium in the country. Mary Beth owns the local Learning Express store, so we went to check it out. Guess who walked in to shop while we were there? It was Usher, the famous singer. There was much excitement and snapping of selfies among the staff and customers.

Thanks for your hospitality, Mary Beth.

Shiloh National Military Park

We visited both the Corinth and Shiloh sections of the park, in Mississippi and Tennessee respectively. At Shiloh the rangers gave a cannon demonstration for the public. That was a really loud gun. I'm glad I wasn't at the actual battle back in 1862. But then again, I don't think the Union or Confederate armies would have wanted me for a soldier (too much self-preservation instinct and not great at following orders I don't agree with).

Oxford, Mississippi

We made it to Oxford today. Home of Ole Miss and, more importantly to me, the home of my late grandfather, Winthrop D. Jordan (1931-2007) and step grandmother, Cora M. Jordan (1941-2011). I miss them both terribly. Behind me is the Courthouse at The Square.

America!

"O, beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain
For purple mountains' majesty, above the fruited plain"

"This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York island
From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me"

Those are my two co-national anthems. None of that "rocket's red glare" stuff for me. Plus they're easier to sing.

Happy Independence Day everyone!

P.S. A happy birthday shout to Wendy O'Brien too!

The Big River

Today we crossed the Mississippi River at Helena, Arkansas. The delta region is a mecca for blues fans and we visited the Delta Cultural Center and learned about Sonny Boy Williamson and Howlin' Wolf and other blues legends who spent time in the area. On the other side of the river, we drove by Stovall Farms near Friars Point, Mississippi where Muddy Waters was born and raised. My dad was in full on music nerd mode, bowing forward and muttering "we're not worthy, we're not worthy." It looked like any other farm to me. The picture is at "The Crossroads" in Clarksdale, Mississippi.