Saturday, April 08, 2006
Day 4.
Still heading west and the mountains slowly level out and the roads get straighter. We stopped at the scenic 76 falls, a stream with small cascading falls into the dammed up lake Cumberland. Undoubtedly the most scenic part of my time in Kentucky. Campaigning for county representatives was in full swing.. and nope, they weren't just electing mayors. There were signs up for Sherrif, County Court Clerk, Judge, Magistrate, Constable, even Jailer and Coroner would you believe it. So one day you're Joe Blow, village butcher, and tomorrow you're Sherrif Joe Blow, "the law". And in a few years time you might be Jailer Joe Blow, making sure those you arrested stay locked up! And no-one I discussed this with seemed the least bit concerned! Passing through these counties where the only thing resembling a tourist attraction was a sign for the local penitentiary put me most certainly on best behaviour!
A tip off from a local in Glasgow that Bowling Green, though in a dry county is in fact a wet city. So we put rubber to the road and rolled into Bowling Green Kentucky, a small college town with a big heart for drink. Finally some live music, cold beer, pool tables, and friendly locals to pass away the night. Well the night passed away, and after three offers of a place to crash at I passed out in the van out the back of the bar.
Day 5.
At 9.15 the next morning we were up at Mammoth Cave national park and on a 3hr guided tour through the worlds largest cave. At 365 miles of surveyed cave, it is over twice as large as the next known largest cave. We only walked 3 miles. The tour was rich in the history of the cave, its formation and uses by early pioneers, which include a production factory for gunpowder used in the war of 1812, and a tuburculosis hospital (which failed).
The day ended pulling into Nashville, Tennessee, home of country music USA. It was late but bars were just getting cranking down on Broadway. Almost all offered live music - bands out trying to impress and get signed onto a record label. Nashville feels like the deep south more than any place I've been. The folk here wear their stetson, country shirt and high leather boots, and listening to talkback on the radio every second word is "and yeeeehaa"!
Day 6.
Today we parked up and took the bike off the back to explore the city. Nashville not such a large city. On the north side is the state capitol a DC style mall off of it. The mall is a beautiful park - along one side is the history of Tennessee engraved into stone, and a WwII memorial within it. On the east is the Cumberland river, one of the major trade routes and probably why the pioneers settled there (Nashville by the way has a bloody history of battles with American Indians). On the south is music central, all the bars, clubs and shops catering to the masses of tourists who visit. And on the east is Vanderbilt university, complete with a big rec centre and a friendly guy at the front desk who let me in for my first shower.
Late in the afternoon we headed out of Nashville heading south west towards Memphis. The road took us into Perry County, a "semi-dry" county that sells beer but not hard liquor. Stopped into a nice little place called the split rail bar, drank beer, played darts, talked shit, and was even treated to one of their t-shirts at the end of the night.
Still heading west and the mountains slowly level out and the roads get straighter. We stopped at the scenic 76 falls, a stream with small cascading falls into the dammed up lake Cumberland. Undoubtedly the most scenic part of my time in Kentucky. Campaigning for county representatives was in full swing.. and nope, they weren't just electing mayors. There were signs up for Sherrif, County Court Clerk, Judge, Magistrate, Constable, even Jailer and Coroner would you believe it. So one day you're Joe Blow, village butcher, and tomorrow you're Sherrif Joe Blow, "the law". And in a few years time you might be Jailer Joe Blow, making sure those you arrested stay locked up! And no-one I discussed this with seemed the least bit concerned! Passing through these counties where the only thing resembling a tourist attraction was a sign for the local penitentiary put me most certainly on best behaviour!
A tip off from a local in Glasgow that Bowling Green, though in a dry county is in fact a wet city. So we put rubber to the road and rolled into Bowling Green Kentucky, a small college town with a big heart for drink. Finally some live music, cold beer, pool tables, and friendly locals to pass away the night. Well the night passed away, and after three offers of a place to crash at I passed out in the van out the back of the bar.
Day 5.
At 9.15 the next morning we were up at Mammoth Cave national park and on a 3hr guided tour through the worlds largest cave. At 365 miles of surveyed cave, it is over twice as large as the next known largest cave. We only walked 3 miles. The tour was rich in the history of the cave, its formation and uses by early pioneers, which include a production factory for gunpowder used in the war of 1812, and a tuburculosis hospital (which failed).
The day ended pulling into Nashville, Tennessee, home of country music USA. It was late but bars were just getting cranking down on Broadway. Almost all offered live music - bands out trying to impress and get signed onto a record label. Nashville feels like the deep south more than any place I've been. The folk here wear their stetson, country shirt and high leather boots, and listening to talkback on the radio every second word is "and yeeeehaa"!
Day 6.
Today we parked up and took the bike off the back to explore the city. Nashville not such a large city. On the north side is the state capitol a DC style mall off of it. The mall is a beautiful park - along one side is the history of Tennessee engraved into stone, and a WwII memorial within it. On the east is the Cumberland river, one of the major trade routes and probably why the pioneers settled there (Nashville by the way has a bloody history of battles with American Indians). On the south is music central, all the bars, clubs and shops catering to the masses of tourists who visit. And on the east is Vanderbilt university, complete with a big rec centre and a friendly guy at the front desk who let me in for my first shower.
Late in the afternoon we headed out of Nashville heading south west towards Memphis. The road took us into Perry County, a "semi-dry" county that sells beer but not hard liquor. Stopped into a nice little place called the split rail bar, drank beer, played darts, talked shit, and was even treated to one of their t-shirts at the end of the night.
a bit of south western kentucky scenery
more proof :)
nashville, tennessee
broadway, nashville
the tennessee river
looking across the shenendoah valley
our first beautiful clear night in the blue ridge mountains
just for proof ;)
you go "bo"
just driving down the road in kentucky and driving through the pleasant woods, and JESUS GOD what was that i just passed... could it be a stand used for lynchings?
a tiny part of lake cumberland, kentucky
Friday, April 07, 2006
all packed up and ready to leave
home for 2 months...
Day 1.
With the orange kombi bulging full with all our belongings, bike on the back and dog crate strapped to the roof, we said goodbye to the quiet blossoming neighbourhood of 637 21st street and put Washington DC firmly in the rear view mirror. The route for the day was chosen an hour before and we headed out on the interstate 66 and then SW down route 29 slowly making our way out of the metropolis. The first top was a small town called Culpepper, proud of its confederate history. The shit was scared out of forrie and me alike when a band of confederate "wanna-be's" let off a mortar. They soon befriended me and tried to get me to join their force - the Sons of the Confederates, so that I too could taste the glory of battles during one of their reenactment weekends. I pointed out that I did not have direct linage to a confederate soldier and that New Zealand was not in fact a southern state of the US. As is the case in a lot of the east coast, the only way to really get away from people is to head for the hills. So with that we diverted west and into the Blue Ridge mountains south of the Shenendoah National Park. The Blue Ridge parkway offered beautiful overlooks on its quiet winding road through the peaks of the mountains. I had a chat with an old guy who reminisced about his time driving a brand new '71 bus up through Canada on the trans-Alaskan highway, then (and maybe still now) a grueling gravel road. Forrest was more interested in searching for scorpians.. not yet forrie. The most notable part of his story was them calling a mate who was engaged and had just gone up to meet and stay with the in-laws. After a couple of days he'd had enough. His friends offered to pick him up on the way and so this guy packed his bags,left a note on the fridge to his (now ex) fiancee and cleared out!
First night we spent at a trailhead of the Appelacean trail, and with Greece still on my mind dined on a fresh greek salad followed by a shot of tsiporo brought back from Γεωργία's folks.
Day 2.
Breakfast of weetbix and greek coffee (Greece still on my mind but not so much). Forrest and I went off for a walk up the trail to the nearest peak - all of about 15 minutes walk, and then back down to work out which direction to drive. We continued down the parkway, and then dropped out to the west and headed south sideling past Roanoke. We resisted the temptation to stop at Christiansburg, and turned NW and up into West Virginia stopping only for phonecalls from NZ and Greece. Day 2 finished up trying desperately to find a pub in the town of Tazewell. We were guided there by a friendly couple riding Harley's, but sadly the only place in town closed at 2pm. We found a spot close to a stream and made dinner, an uninspiring pasta creation. And like all failed meal attempts I made enough for 4 nights.
Day 3.
Excited by the prospect of a new state, we made tracks for Kentucky. Stopped for the obligatory photo welcoming us in... then made for the scenic Kentucky byway, a smaller windy road that doesn't stray much more than 20 or 30 miles from the Virginia or Tennessee border. Kentucky is an interesting place. I say that because I'm all too aware of my dislike for Bill Bryson's "Travels in smalltown America". But to be perfectly honest I am beginning to gain an appreciation for it. The towns we passed through were small and for the most part borded up. A fairly poor part of the country. I stopped for gas at a small town called Cumberland, asked about any pub in town, and was pointed in the right direction for once . The pub had just been painted and was waiting for its licence to come through, but that was ok as I could buy a beer off a nice looking guy with "fuck u" tattooed on his forehead. "For the law", he told me. He buy's his beers from the gas station across the street and takes them into the pub until they get a licence. The other guy Rick, had obviously drunk a few too many kentucky bourbons in his life as he stumbled, stuttered and shook and the only thing I could understand him say was to ask the bar lady to show him her legs. Shirl, the bar lady was another unfortunate creature, overweight, crosseyed and I couldn't tell if she was severely handicapped or if it was just her strong southern accent. I had a game of pool with Rick, who could barely stop shaking to hit the ball. I was getting the hang of his accent as now I could hear him say "bad shot" after each attempt.
I left Cumberland and headed west until I hit Pineville, a charming looking town. I took the bike off the back and went for an explore. I came across an old guy who worked in the local homeless shelter, and asked him about a pub. Nope, this is a dry county, he said. We had a good chat about the place, which was quite relieving after my earlier experience in Cumberland... maybe that county should be dry too (did i really just say that?!). He informed me that I was in the heart of the bible belt. No truer word was said, for in this part of the country churches outnumber pubs 100-0. Even more. As I drove on I noticed more and more the religious notices. One particulary alarming one read "WARNING: Jesus is coming - are you ready?". Nope, but can you tell me were I can find a beer around here? It was late in the afternoon so I started looking for a place to stop for the night. I pulled off the main road into a dirt lane and went to ask at the house nearby if I could stop for the night. There was a car and at least 13 bicycles but noone home so I drove on. The next attempt the track turned into a bog before it was out of sight of the main road so again I drove on. Third time lucky I thought as I pulled off down a road that wound down to a stream with a dirt yard with some heavy machinery in it. I stopped and asked the friendly looking man at the house opposite if he knew who owned the yard and if they'd mind me parking there for the night. He owned it, and yes, he did mind. "Ok, not a problem" I replied, "Have a nice sleep tonight, God bless", and off I went. Nah, I didn't really say that. So for the second unfortunate time in my life I found myself in the parking lot of Walmart, feeling strangely safe and happy in this strange land.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
greece
the swiss alps.. on our way to greece
this was on our drive up north - the Corinth Canal, which allows ships from Italy to get to Athens without going around the Pelleponese
Georgia and her mum with her mums village in the background.
this is Georgia's dad.. mean looking bugger huh?
this is why i ate meat in greece..
the quintessential pic from athens
no sooner did i ask to see a goat climbing a tree we spotted this one beside the road!
bloody freezing is all i can say about this experience!
another obstruction on the road (not as dangerous as the greek driving ;) )
crete is full of roads winding their way up the mountains, this one had over 30 hairpins..
and gorges like this one..
previli monastary - this place organised the refuge of hundreds of allied soldiers after the lost the battle for crete against the germans in WWII
this was a village we stayed in, a traditional restoration of an old village that was abandoned
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
London!
tasteless? of course..
big ben.. and us with Allesandro (sp?) Steven, and Marco
kate, si, me + γεωργία
on top of st. pauls
toy soldiers
i could star on king kong, surely
