Camping Gear: Food Box

Green Lakes

This past weekend Matt and I went camping at Green Lakes State Park in upstate New York and spent a day or two at the New York State Fair. It was a beautiful Fall weather type weekend and we loved every minute. When we weren't munching deep fried deliciousness or walking around the beautiful Green Lakes themselves, we were chilling at our campsite where we welcomed a new member to our collection of camping gear: a food box.

our new old food box!

Growing up camping with my parents we always had two homemade boxes, one for food and one for cooking stuff. I asked my dad to make us one for my birthday this year and he dug out my his first box and gave it a fresh coat of paint for it's new owners.

Last September Matt and I went camping and shoved everything into one container. Finding anything was a hassle, especially smaller items like forks and spoons, and we never knew if we had everything because it was all buried. The food box is a wonderful solution and I love it.

Here are just a few from the state fair, more details can be read at my fallenpeach blog.

Midway Madness

Performer

Busy Busy Busy

I apologize for not following up on this blog more closely to our return. I intended to, but things got crazy and more focused on fallenpeach. We had a huge craft fair to prep for and I'm still working on setting up a "show" for my photography in a local eatery.

But back to Nowhere Nerds. My article about our trip (written pre-trip) has been published in the new online magazine Joie - please go read it and read the rest of the great magazine while you are at it! My article talks about what I had hoped to get from the trip and why we were taking it to begin with. And I must concur that the Away We Go roadtrip had close to it's desired effect.

When we returned from our adventures, we both had to settle down and get some things out of the way. Bills and other things that were waiting us when we returned. After about a week things started to make their way back to normal - but with slight differences.

One difference is that we realized that maybe we should focus on non-industry jobs for a while. I was very actively seeking graphic design jobs before we left, and although I had a few interviews last Winter - the market had pretty much become dry. It was hard for me, pre-trip, to think about what else I could possibly do to get a job. I had tried agencies, looking for design work, photo work and theater work.

When I returned I set my priorities and realized that I needed SOMETHING. My unemployment was on the verge of running out (although a new law extended it for just a little longer) and so I turned to what I know best after design: bookstores. Within weeks of returning I had cold called 30 plus bookstores throughout Connecticut looking for a job. Several said to come in and apply but that they weren't hiring, one said they were hiring. I applied but too late, the job was already gone because they had been interviewing while I applied. I'm continuing to work on this approach, but come September I'll try something new - maybe an art store or something similar.

I suppose you can say I've lowered my standards for a job. But, my theory is that if I work retail again (something I never thought I would go back to) I can also work on building my business and more importantly I can have a steady income again that will allow me to live my own life for a while. The economy is not healthy and if I can't get a job making the amount I should be making at this point in my life (which is a whole nother discussion - what we grow up thinking our lives will be and what they end up being) I must get a job that will be steady - retail or no.

The moral of the story? Take a trip, it doesn't have to be as long as ours, and when you come back re-evaluate what is most important to you - that job of your dreams or a steady income - and work towards your goals not some job.

What about you? How do you deal with this economy? Are you unemployed as well?

Traveler's Rest SC to Ashland VA to HOME

 We started the second to last day of our adventure with a trip to our last Roadside Attraction of said adventure: South of the Border. For the uninitiated, South of the Border is a mini city of craziness on the North Carolina / South Carolina border. It looked like they had put a fresh coat of paint on everything since the last time I had been there, but it still gave me a weird feeling. I can't really describe it, the place just gives off an odd feeling and most people wander around baffled.

There is a giant sombrero ride, tacky ' Mexican Shop's ', plastic oddly colored animals, a campground, a motel, food courts, and a variety of other shops and madness. It's an experience. And getting there is also an experience as there are billboards for it like every mile for a long long time coming from either direction.

After a quick mediocre lunch there, we kept going to Raleigh North Carolina where we just missed a friend of mine. We had to keep moving, but someday we'll catch up with her. Eventually we stopped in Ashland Virginia and crashed for the night. We took a swim in the pool, which was okay but not great (a few too many dead bugs for me) and I was able to make a few of these blog entries live.

The next day we drove home to Connecticut and our adventure came to a close.

I'll be updating this blog with more of our adventures, when we have them, but I'm also going to begin work on the book I'd like to write about this adventure. Please keep visiting as I may put some of my more personal thoughts about this adventure up here soon.

Point South SC to Charleston SC to Traveler's Rest SC

 Knowing it was a short day allowed us to sleep in and enjoy our morning. It was nice to just sit at the camp table for a little while, even if the blog post I was trying to write wouldn't post to the internet.

I drove us the short distance to Charleston, South Carolina, practically bouncing in my seat. Charleston is, I believe, my favorite city in the USA. Or my favorite city that I have been to. My first trip was years ago, I went with a friend to see the last three concerts of the band Jump, Little Children (Charleston natives). The concerts were incredible, but in the meantime we wandered the city and both fell in love with it. I went back with two other friends and spent half the week in Savannah and half the week in Charleston and fell in love again.

 Something about the old buildings, palm trees, cobblestone streets and GAS LAMPS (!) just makes me happy. Marion Square was holding a Farmer's Market/Craft Fair that morning and we went there first, looking at the photos and crafts and debating the crepes. Then we walked the other direction towards the water and stopped to eat at Sticky Fingers. Delicious.

 Completely full from lunch, we walked to the water where I dipped my toes into the Pineapple Fountain and we blocked our cameras from the spray of water from the fountains the kids were playing in. It was nice and calming just to walk and hold hands and take photos and enjoy ourselves.

Next we went to Market Street and looked at the crafts and wares, some local shops and finally had dessert at Kaminsky's. A dessert place, Kaminsky's only serves desserts, alcohol, and specialty drinks that combine both. Matt had a piece of chocolate chip cherry pie and I had two small desserts - one orange creamsicle and one chocolate and white chocolate mousse. So so delicious.

Now truly stuffed we walked back to our car and drove to my friend Beck's house in Traveler's Rest SC. There we visited and watched movie trailers, chatted about movies and jobs and trips, played with the dog and relaxed. We spent the next day chilling and doing much of the same. We also took time to spray paint our mascots... which backfired. Turns out you need to prime them first or they stay sticky.

 The second day in Traveler's Rest was the Fourth of July and we stayed for a second night to go see fireworks and delay the trip home and visit more. The above photo was taken with light refraction glasses held in front of the camera lens. It does some really cool things to the fireworks.

Amicalola Falls GA to Savannah GA to South Point SC

The closer we got to Savannah the more the clouds made room for blue skies. Savannah is one of those cities that I really should spend more time in. I've been there three times, but never for more than a couple days -and usually just for a couple hours.

I love the weeping willows lining the streets and the cute little coffee shops and the pirate city by the riverfront complete with hearse ghost tours and real trolleys. A lot of Savannah, though, is business-like and not very touristy. It's a strange place, but I like it.

I took Matt to Moon River Brewery for a late lunch, a place that my friends and I had liked so much last time we ate there more than once over two or three days. The food was delicious as I remembered and we even tried an awesome appetizer featuring sweet potato fries and a vanilla frosting like dip.

We wandered the windy riverfront and ducked into touristy shops galore. There were so many galleries to look in, we kept getting distracted with the art. Some of it was well known and some more local, all of it great to look at and be inspired by. Then met up with my friend Melanie and wandered a little farther into the city. There is a street that reminds me of Quincy Market (only because it is open only to foot traffic) that we wandered down and we passed by Paula Deen's restaurant (and the ridiculous line to get in) as well. Unfortunately, things were starting to close so we headed out and towards the KOA an hour away.

At the KOA we were pleased to find out that our tent wasn't as wet as we thought and that it would definitely dry for the next day. We also had a really successful fire, I think our first of the trip, and it was a good night.

Columbia MO to Dawsonville Georgia

Our morning at the Days Inn started as badly as it had been good the night before. Does that make any sense? I woke from a bad dream, a little later than planned and we went to breakfast. The woman working the room was angry and surly, the rest of the people eating breakfast were quiet and nervous seeming. Everyone else at the hotel was so nice that it was a bizarre way to open the day.

From there the drive was okay, but a bit hectic. We made sure to keep laughing, but I think we were both tired and cranky. We drove through a lot of states to get to Georgia and somehow managed to arrive just around sunset. We camped at Amicalola Falls in the mountains of Georgia where the Appalachian Trail begins.

Matt had trouble building a fire because he only had small and large wood but nothing in between to keep everything balanced. Finally the fire started to get big enough to cook on, and that is when the sprinkling rain began. We had just enough time to cook one hot dog each before the downpour started. We ate in the car in silence and then moved into the tent. Listening to the rain we both started thinking about how we would be packing up a wet tent and just got a little more frustrated.

The rain slowed down and we walked to the bathroom feeling a little hopeful that maybe the rain was done and we would get a nice breeze to air out the tent. When we got back we noticed that the water pump at our site was dripping water. Matt was able to get it to stop, but then he pumped it and a fresh flow of water began.. and didn't seem to want to slow down or stop. We called the lodge and they sent someone to fix the pump and we crashed for the night.

It rained even more as we slept, but was simply foggy when we woke. Breakfast was delicious at the Lodge, but as soon as we had packed everything up (wet tent and all) the rain started again. We were unable to really see the mountains because of fog, so we just drove to our next destination. I think this was the only day I didn't take any photos. Someday we'll go back, I think.

I promise that our next few days were much much better than these past couple. Stay tuned!

Clearfield UT to Colby Kansas to Columbia Missouri

 Part 1: Utah to Kansas

We drove a lot on this part of the trip with little stopping. We wanted to get as far as possible because we knew we would be crossing mostly states we had seen before. We drove through the beautiful Rockies again, a lot of Wyoming and then went south into Colorado. Unfortunately, we drove through the corn field part of Colorado instead of the mountains. Some day I want to go back and visit Boulder.

Through a lot of Colorado I napped. I was so incredibly exhausted that I just couldn't help it.  Napping made me more refreshed and felt good.

In Colby, a smallish town, we were surprised to discover that the Days Inn we had planned on staying at was full except for one smoking room. We ended up at the Super 8 down the road, in a decent enough room with supposed working internet. It didn't work. I brought the netbook to the office and they fixed it, but it was so slow that it wasn't even really worth using.

We slept well though, and overslept a bit because we knew we had a short day ahead of us.

Part 2: Colby Kansas to Columbia Missouri

One of the first slightly strange billboards we saw upon leaving the hotel was an ad for a store proclaiming that it was the SECOND FRIENDLIEST YARN STORE IN THE UNIVERSE! This billboard raised a lot of questions for me. Why the second friendliest? Who is the first? Why wouldn't you just say you were the first? And - the Universe? Really? Have you been to that yarn store out on Venus? Mars? It all made me smile, but I can't remember the name of the store.

I wanted to go to Liberty Kansas, home of animatronic Wizard of Oz displays. But it was three hours out of our way, so we went to the Oz Museum instead. We first saw billboards for it not long after the yarn one and immediately knew we would stop because we both love the Wizard of oz and the billboard just looked cool.

So, a few hours of driving later we got off of I-70 and on to "The Road to Oz" towards the museum which turns out to be in a town full of a whole lot of nothing. Indeterminable stores lined a downtown area with one restaurant that I could see - Toto's Tacos - and an Oz Winery.

The Museum itself was set up well, if a little cheesy. You opened the screen door on a farmhouse facade and entered a very colorful Oz with wax figures of the main characters and lots of glass displays. I particularly liked seeing the old Oz books and illustrations. There were also Oz games and toys from around the world and a really cool selection of props from the musical Wicked. Overall, we spent about a half an hour wandering there and it was pretty fun. We could have sat and watched the movie too, but of  course had to keep moving.

A tale of Smelliness and a Lesson in Curiosity:

We stopped to get gas somewhere in Missouri and Matt goes in to the bathroom while I pump the gas. He comes out laughing a few minutes later and I have to ask what he's smiling about. He tells me that in the bathroom there was a box on the wall that you could buy cologne from. There were these little knobs to pick which scent you wanted and then a big knob. He pulled on the big knob out of curiosity, not really expecting anything to happen, and a stream of cologne shot out straight at him. We had to drive with the windows down for a while until the smell went away.

After that little adventure things got boring until we stopped for the night. This time the Days Inn was empty and we watched Dave and munched on ordered Dominos. By the way, their Mac N Cheese bread bowl is crazy good. And the chocolate lava cake is even better. The internet worked perfectly and I blogged a lot that night. It was good.

Jackson Hole WY to Clearfield Utah

There's a less artistic photo of the Elk Antler arch in Jackson Hole for you. :) In the morning we walked around town, found some postcards to buy and then headed to Utah. On our way out of Jackson Hole, on the side of the highway, we saw a Sheriff and two inmates who, I swear, were wearing orange and white striped jumpsuits and digging a hole or something. It fit in very nicely with the old West feel of the town and definitely made me look twice.

Along our drive we saw some interesting things:

A Liquor Drive Thru at the gas station,

Sheep!

a truck with my name on it. Granted, my name spelled differently but still!

Along the way we also drove through the Rocky Mountains on a path we took the last time we were out that way. Last time it was in April and the mountains were covered in snow. It was raining and foggy and very moody and I loved it. This time everything was green, the sky was blue and there were puffy white clouds. We stopped at a pull out that we had stopped at last time and took the same photos as best we could remember. At some point I'll post the old photos alongside the new ones, but for now:

For a late lunch we finally hit up a Chick-Fil-A. We both love Chick-Fil-A, but there aren't very many in the Northeast and there are NONE in Connecticut, so we always get excited when we find one. It was about 103 degrees outside and one of their employees was in a cow suit outside waving to people, we felt kinda bad for him or her. The food was delicious. 

In Utah, we stayed with my cousin Elizabeth and her husband and three kids. We spent some time chatting with Liz, playing Mad Libs with her daughter Zoe, playing with the cat Cooper and just relaxing. We watched The Three Amigos, which both Liz and Matt were astonished that I'd never seen. :) I liked it.

Missoula MT to Jackson Hole Wyoming

 On Day 14 we explored Yellowstone National Park. We started by driving through a stone archway entrance at the Northern part of the park.

The first section that we stopped at was Mammoth Springs - a series of bubbling geysers that smelled of sulfer and other nasty things. They were really cool to look at though.

 We also saw the "Grand Canyon of Yellowstone", which was formed of beautiful colored rock and a gorgeous green river. Yellowstone is also one of the places that we saw the most animals. Bears, Elk, Bighorn Sheep, Coyote, Bison, all were there causing traffic jams just by going about their business.

I enjoyed Yellowstone, but I didn't connect to it as much as I did to Yosemite. I was a bit uncomfortable being on top of a volcano, which didn't help, and though the views were beautiful - I loved the Grand Tetons in the distance more than the mountains I was on.

 It was a good day though, a hot day. Walking around outside and driving through the beautiful park was fun and we even waited around for Old Faithful to go off.

Driving through Grand Teton National Park to get to Jackson Hole, I couldn't stop staring at the gorgeous mountains across the lake. The sun was setting behind them and they were glowing in the light.

In Jackson Hole, our fun stalled for a bit. We had trouble getting a hotel room as most hotels were full, food also became an issue. We decided to walk and arrived everywhere just as they were closing. We eventually drove to the two fast food joints just outside the cute tourist area. If you are planning a trip to Jackson Hole, WY and it is Summer - CALL AHEAD! This is the lesson we learned.

The town itself is super adorable and a bit upscale. Shops and restaurants are all Old West Cowboy style and their park entrances are marked with arches made of Elk antlers. Elk shed their antlers every year and the local boy scouts go retrieve them from the woods so that these arches can be made every year. Pretty cool.

Yakima WA to Missoula Montana

As we crossed from Washington to Idaho I was surprised to see beautiful mountains. I know, I should have known since we were in the Rockies and all, but it surprised me. When I think of Idaho I think of potatos and I think of farming and I do not think of mountains. So, it was a nice surprise.

Montana was equally beautiful and that was where we camped in our first KOA. This particular KOA was crammed so tight that our neighbors were no more than two or three feet away from us on all sides. But it was okay, it actually felt safe and comfortable for just one night. More than one night and I would probably have wanted a lot more space and privacy though.

We made a campfire and had hot dogs for dinner, using Burger King ketchup packets for condiments. They were delicious. We also bought a packet of s'mores from the campstore and those were equally, if not more, delicious. All in all it was a good night of camping.

Unfortunately,  I can't seem to find any photos from this part of the trip. I think I was driving a lot of it, I'll check with Matt for a photo later!

Arcata California to Yakima Washington

 At Breakfast on Day 12, I sat chatting with an older couple from Southern California. They were on their way to visit their grandchildren in Oregon. The woman had never really been outside of Southern California and was asking me questions about the snow we get in Connecticut. I couldn't imagine living my whole life and never going anywhere outside of my home town.

 While in the Redwoods we drove through another tree.

and we visited Pauly Bunyon and Babe the Big Blue Ox. They were much bigger than they look in this photo, can you see the people near Babe?

After a few overcast days, we were delighted to find blue skies as we moved farther away from the coastline. We followed a beautiful river through the mountains for a while, and were amazed by more beautiful trees and mountains as we finished off California and started into Oregon.

Once in Oregon we immediately started seeing signs of civilization; tiny little towns, herb shops and thrift stores abounded. We thought about driving a little out of the way to see the beach that Goonies was filmed on, but ended up deciding against it. Which was probably for the best since we hit about an hour of traffic once we reached Portland.

Portland, Oregon, for those who don't know (as I didn't) has a sky tram for public transportation! We saw it above the highway and I was fascinated and a little scared. I'm not a fan of heights.

We drove straight through Oregon and into Washington where we encountered a bizarre stretch of land which featured rolling hills on one side of the highway and craggy, rocky hills on the other. We also drove past a series of windmills, which made me smile, and eventually arrived in Yakima.

Why Yakima, you ask? Because one of my very first best friends lives there and I hadn't seen here in probably more than a decade. It was great to see her and meet her fiance and his son. We sat around chatting and just relaxing most of the time, walked around downtown Yakima the next morning. It's a cute town to walk around, though not very big.

I don't have very many photos for this time frame, for some reason. I think part of it is that I was driving and part of it was that we were going longer distances and didn't have as much time to stop places. Around here, also, was when I really started thinking about home and what is going to happen when I get back. I'm hoping that this trip refreshes me and helps me think of new ways to promote myself and also find a job of some kind. I'm excited to go through all the photos I've taken and see what ones I can use, which I can sell and which I just want to print for myself. There are A LOT to go through. It should be an adventure of it's own.

Manteca to Arcata California

Day 11 was full of curvy twisty road driving through the always incredible Redwoods of California. We also drove through lake-side towns that felt like seaside towns and both were wonderful drives. At one point there were rumble strips on both sides of the lane and driving became like driving in a game of Operation. I was never very good at Operation.

We had lunch at the most 50's-tastic Burger King with a Wurlitzer (gorgeous!) and James Dean posters on the walls and stopped briefly in the very hippie town of Fort Bragg; which, for being on the coastline is very not touristy.

Later in the drive we took a scenic alternate route through Humboldt Redwood Forest, stopping several times to take photos and just wander in awe of their size. Redwoods are so beautiful, I would love to build a log cabin in a Redwood Forest. The trees are massive and the mood is awesome.

 We drove through the Chandelier Tree. Or, rather, I drove through it and Matt took photos of me driving through it. We also found a store devoted to Big Foot (he lives in that area somewhere).

When we arrived in Arcata, we found that most hotels were sold out because the local college was having an orientation. Luckily we got a room at the Best Western and took full advantage of their pool and hot tub before crashing for the night.

Route 66: Day 7: The Grand Canyon to Barstow CA

 And on the seventh day... we drove more. Well, actually it was a day that started late (.. forgot to turn my alarm back on after resetting it) and consisted of our shortest driving day yet. Arizona Route 66 is full of dirt roads, blocked roads and advice to stay away. Our guide book suggested taking the highway most of the time, exiting for certain towns. We followed this advice, although didn't stop in as many towns as we had in previous states.

 In Hackberry we stopped by the general store, a treasure trove of great photo ops and a "tastefully" decorated mens room. One great thing about Route 66 is that it's a haven for great cars, both in good shape and bad. Along the way we also saw a giant Tiki head:

and a worn out sign pointing the way to a lot of the towns on Route 66. This was a great 66 detour and I'm really glad we took it, though the open desert scares me so I was cautious at first. But once we saw the Tiki I was excited again and anxious for the next awesome thing.

Around this time we realized that Toy Story 3 was out in theaters and I started researching drive in movie theaters theorizing that if there was anywhere they could thrive it would be California. I was right and we discovered that there would be one in the very town that we were staying in that night!

Crossing the border into California we entered an alien planet. The landscape was so different from what we had been seeing that I just couldn't stop staring. These bizarre hills that looked dark purple or black dotted the landscape and I truly think that there must have been some outer space film shot here that I was remembering because I felt like we were on Mars. It was really hard to photograph though.

 We arrived in Barstow with time to spare. We got a room at the local Days Inn, stopped at a taco place for Matt and went right over to the drive in. We chose our spot, close to the screen, and I went to the snack shop. It was near perfect sitting in the car eating corn dogs and watching the sunset over the desert mountains as we waited for the movie to start. And start it did - with a Bugs Bunny cartoon - "That's Opera Doc" and a slew of trailers for movies we didn't know about but are excited to see.

The short before the movie featured both traditional animation and CG and was very unique and stunning. I loved it but can't really describe it. Toy Story 3 itself was awesome, a great conclusion to the story and a bit of a tear jerker. We both loved every minute and were so glad to be seeing it in a drive in.

All in all it was a wonderful day with a perfect conclusion.

Day 6 Continued: Fires and The Grand Canyon

 Another fun Route 66 classic that we saw was the Wigwam Hotel. It looked pretty incredible with a line of old classic cars lined up next to each "room". We wished we could stay there, but that particular one looked very closed and the other was too far away.

As we got closer to Flagstaff Arizona, we saw this huge mound of white smoke rising up in the distance. Shouts of White Smoke Monster! filled the car, but we weren't joking anymore when we drove through it and saw the smoke was actually a sickly shade of brown. We found out via a fast food joint in Flagstaff that it was actually a forest fire. Because it was so close to Flagstaff, a town we had planned on coming back to after the Grand Canyon, we decided then that maybe we should stay closer to the canyon instead. A quick google search tells me that today, 10 days after the fire began, it has just been classified as fully contained.

I thought that driving to the Grand Canyon would be full of more flatness and a desert with a sudden stop at the canyon. For some reason I pictured just lines of people looking out into it with nothing to block their view. Boy was I wrong. We drove through forests of trees, saw mountains in the near distance, observed cows and farms and finally arrived at a tree covered bit of land and had no idea where to go to see the canyon itself.

 After a brief bout of confusion we obtained advice from a nice gentleman in the bookstore and got back in the car - taking the Desert Drive. We stopped at a several points and took photos, but eventually ended up at the Grand View. Stunned we stood there looking into the abyss just enjoying the view. Beautiful dips and curves below a flat horizon line full of gorgeous blues and purples and reds.

We took a ton of photos, but this is really something you need to see for yourself to fully appreciate. I never realized just how big and how incredible this sight would be. As it got darker we sat on the rocks and enjoyed a glorious, peaceful sunset over the Grand Canyon. I'll just leave you with that for now.