Home!

From Janie:

Saturday, November 17, 2012.  We arrived home yesterday, about 4:00 pm., after nearly three months of travel, including driving to California, cycling across the country, and driving home from South Carolina.

Whew.  Very happy to be home.

Iowa City to the West Coast by car

Galena/Santa Barbara to Hilton Head by bike

Hilton Head to Iowa City by car

 

Rush hour, leaving Louisville KY.

Driving through Indiana.

A load of Christmas trees, from the South, headed to the North.

Indianapolis, from the highway.

Entering Illinois.  There was no stopping The Little Darkness at this point.

Not even for pictures.

GalesburgIL.

Food and a haircut for Jody.

Home!

 

46 maps.

We didn't keep all of the local maps.

Some are duplicate state maps.

All but 3 or 4 were in the glove box of The Little Darkness!

9 more shot glasses for Theo.

There are probably 20 or so more from the first part of the trip.

One of the hot sauce bottles, from Louisiana.

Purchased in Charleston SC.

 

Hot sauce from Costa Rica, bought in Savannah.

Janie couldn't resist the label.

Pecan oil from Louisiana, bought in Sylvester GA.

Smoked olive oil from Johns Island SC, bought in Charleston SC.

Not counting what we ate along the road:

1 cotton boll

4 t-shirts

2 sweatshirts

1 bottle olive oil

1 bottle pecan oil

1 bottle of jalapeno wine (not hot enough!)

4 bottles of bourbon

2 carved fish

1 carved turtle

5 carved or ceramic boxes (turtles and bears)

pecans (both in the shell and shelled)

(the pecan brittle didn't make it home)

2 jars salsa

8 jars of jelly or preserves (most with peppers)

1 bag organic granola

2 chocolate drink mixes

honey maple syrup

honey

sorgrum

jalapeno pecan honey butter

2 kinds of BBQ sauce

sweet potato butter

1 box of heirloom Bhutan red rice

14 or so bottles of hot sauce

 

Home is the nicest word there is.
     ~Laura Ingalls Wilder

 

I heard the train - where are we?

Thursday, November 15.

 

Last night, as I was trying to get to sleep, I heard the train whistle.  Pretty close.  Not home yet, the train was too close, but I couldn't remember where we were.  I could hear Jody breathing in his sleep.  That helped.  I knew then that we were still in the car part of the trip back home, but couldn't remember which town, or even which state.  Not Charleston.  Ah, yes.  Asheville.  North Carolina.

 

We left there this morning.  Drove out of NC, across TN and into KY.  Stopped at the Museum of Appalachia - very interesting.  Late afternoon, we stopped at the Buffalo Trace Distillery, where we toured the facility, then sampled (and bought) bourbon.  Then on the Louisville, where we're spending the night.

 

We've been re-routing on the fly - Louisville, instead of Lexington.  One night, instead of two.  Home tomorrow instead of Saturday or Sunday.  Here's our journey so far:

 

All the way to Louisville KY.  Homeward bound.

 

Sock monkey at the Museum of Appalachia.

Hand-made toy tractor, at the Museum of Appalachia.

Bedpan banjo.  No kidding.

Commode seat guitar.  Still not kidding.

Ironing board guitar.

 

Tiny, tiny house.

Schoolchildren, at the Museum of Appalachia.

Lots of hand-written, folksy signs.

About half way through, I realized that the Museum was the private project of one man:

John Rice Irwin.

And he pretty much knew everyone he had acquired objects and stories from.

One of the outbuildings, Museum of Appalachia.

Tallest stills in the country, at Buffalo Trace Distillery.

Private water tower, at Buffalo Trace Distillery.

 

The buffalo isn't as dangerous as everyone makes him out to be. Statistics prove that in the United States more Americans are killed in automobile accidents than are killed by buffalo.
     ~Art Buchwald

From Charleston to Asheville - Still Homeward Bound

From Janie:

 

Tuesday, November 13 and Wednesday, November 14.  Last of four posts going up today.

 

After a much needed rest day in Charleston, we were ready to start our journey home.  One last ride in the South, however.  There was a Rotary meeting, across the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, in Mt. Pleasant. 

 

The walking guide to Charleston told us there was a wide bicycle and pedestrian path over the 2.5 mile span of the bridge.  So, of course, we rode to Rotary!

 

Janie, climbing the east side of the Ravenel Bridge, toward Charleston,

after a Rotary meeting in Mt. Pleasant.

 

Cruise ship, seen from the top of the Ravenel Bridge.

Naval ship, from the top of the Ravenel Bridge.

Jody and the bikes, on the Ravenel Bridge.

Janie and the bikes, on the top of the bridge.

Jody and the bikes, on the top of the bridge.

Looking toward Charleston, over a mile in the distance.

 

Janie, giving a thumbs up, coming down the bridge.

 

Jody put the bikes on The Little Darkness, and we headed for Asheville NC.

Jody, at yet another border crossing!

 

I have a dear friend who lives in Winston-Salem NC.  On Tuesday, Deb drove the two or so hours from Winston-Salem to Asheville, just to see us and celebrate with us!  And celebrate we did!

 

Photos from Wednesday, November 14:

Janie and Deb, by The Little Darkness.

Note we're wearing coats!

 

After a leisurely brunch with Deb - shout out here to THC, a/k/a Tupelo Honey Cafe, for their great sweet potato pancakes - we drove back to the Blue Ridge Parkway, intending to ride 10-30 miles.  Part of the Parkway is closed for repairs.  We started at the Folk Art Center, thinking to ride up the road to the closure.

The Flying Fish, on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

 

Little did we know just how 'up' the road would be.  Turned out to be too steep for tired, cold legs.  At least for this trip.  We rode up a little under a mile, to where the road really pitched up, then rode back down toward the Visitors Center.  Put the bikes back on The Little Darkness, and drove up, up, up the road, into the Smoky Mountains.  Saw a few cyclists on the road, braving both the chill and the hills.  Not for us.  Not today.

 

The Great Smoky Mountains.

 

It's much chillier here in North Carolina.  Below freezing overnight.  In the mid-forties this afternoon.  Not too bad in the sunshine, but colder than we've been since . . . oh, Kansas, I think.  We're headed into colder weather as we drive north through Tennessee, Kentucky,Indiana, Illinois and into Iowa.  We;re not excited about the approach of winter.  We are happy to be headed home.

 

Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.
      ~Edith Sitwell

From Sea to Shining Sea

The Pacific, August 26, 2012.

The Atlantic, November 11, 2012.

 

You know what you can do, even if your body says quit. It's only pain.

     ~James Alexander Thom, From Sea to Shining Sea

Homeward Bound - A Rest Day in Charleston

From Janie:

Monday, November 12, Veteran's Day celebrated.  Our rest day in Charleston.

After a leisurely breakfast, we went across the small park next to our hotel for massages.  On the way back, Jody spotted the fountain in Marion Square - which bears the inscription of the Rotary four way test.  We didn't have the camera, so didn't take pictures in the morning.  Later, we decided to go walk about Charleston a bit.  We took the camera and went back to snap these photos of the Marion Square Fountain.

Marion Square fountain.

Dedicated to the Citizens of Charleston

by

The Charleston Rotary Club

Of the things we say and do:

Is it the truth?

 

Is it fair to all concerned?

Will it build good will

and better friendships?

Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

 

Our hotel, in an old fort.

Seen from across the neighboring park.

 

Had we not walked back to the fountain to take pictures, we would not have seen this:



Holocaust Memorial of Charleston.

Our hotel in the background.

This Memorial is in honor of the Holocaust survivors

who settled in South Carolina.

Their names are listed on this plaque.

 

A view of the Memorial sculpture, in the background.

The Holocaust Memorial in Charleston SC.

 

The Holocaust Memorial, Charleston SC.

The Holocaust Memorial, Charleston SC.

 



That afternoon, we walked around historic downtown Charleston.  We walked through the local market, down restaurant row, and down the waterfront.  Beautiful small city.  Many interesting sights.  We stopped in a shop that carried nothing but hot pepper products - and yes, we bought some for ourselves and for Theo.

These pictures are for Cokie:

Hers.

And his.

 

And for me, another dog that didn't chase me.

Permanently sleeping dalmatian,

outside the Charleston Fire Department.

 

In Charleston, we also repacked The Little Darkness.  We may be upwards of 15 bottles of locally made hot sauce, hot pepper jam, and other hot fare.  No, we do not think that's excessive!  Yes, we will share.

 

For those who are given to excess, abstinence is easier than moderation.
     ~John Drybred, retired journalist