On the road: TN and KY

Welcome to Tennessee!

Saturday morning we enjoyed one last home cooked breakfast with our wonderful Atlanta couch surfing hosts before the 4 hour and a half drive on I-24 W to Nashville. The landscape changed from the grunge of northern Georgia to the rolling hills and winding rivers of the Tennessee wilds.

Just north of Nashville, we rented an Airbnb located on a farm off the highway. There were several farmhouses, one of which had all the rooms rented out for travelers like us (and a traveling band staying downstairs in the basement), and another had someone living in it, with chickens running around outside. Every morning, fresh eggs were left for us in the communal kitchen. After the hustle and bustle of Atlanta, the rural Tennessee farmhouse was a welcome relief.

 

After a good night's sleep, we drove an hour and a half north into Kentucky to spend the day at Mammoth Cave National Park. It was warm, but snowy out, and I was excited to experience a national park as a visitor this time, instead of a park ranger.

Inside the visitor center, one of the rangers gave us an overview of the tours and the cave, and we decided on the Historic Tour, a 2 hour walk through the historic areas of the cave, covering 2 miles and 440 steps.

It turned out to be a great choice as we descended into the damp darkness of the meandering caverns with a handful of other tourists. I would have liked a smaller group better, but overall it was enjoyable. Most of the walk was pretty easy through dimly-lit winding pathways, but my favorite part was an obstacle called "Fat Man's Misery." At this point, the path narrowed to the point where even I had to squeeze a little through a hip-high maze of rocks and duck under low ceilings. A few bats flitted about here and there as well.

When we finally exited the cave, the air felt warm and dry again, the drip-dripping of melting snow pattering down to the rocks under the gaping cave mouth. We all had to walk through a weird soapy mat to clean our feet afterward to help prevent the spread of White-nose Syndrome that has been increasingly killing off bat populations.

I was surprised to see the disease had spread as far west as KY. Three years ago when I was doing bat counts in PA, the disease had just been discovered on the east coast and was wiping out populations along the eastern states. But now it has been found as far west as OK, killing off almost 6 million bats nationwide, sometimes 90-100% of localized hibernating groups.

Once we were out of the cave tour we split off from the crowd and hiked some of the trails above ground. It was getting towards mid-afternoon and we were hungry for lunch, so we drove on through the park, looking for a spot to picnic.

One of the coolest spots we stopped was near the river ferry, but instead of heading towards the main waterway, we followed a side creek into the woods. Here we found all kinds of cool lichens and fungi, which Peter quite enjoyed, since he has studied bryophites before. Unfortunately, I don't remember what kinds of fungus he said these were. :)

 

In addition to the beautiful plant life, several deer plodded about in the woods across the creek, perhaps aware of us or perhaps not. Unfortunately I couldn't get any good pictures, as I only had my camera phone on me... Alas.

Wanting to make the most of our day, we decided to hit up downtown Nashville in the evening before heading home. Although it was incredibly touristy, we had a good time wandering the shops until dark. It seemed that as soon as the sun went down, the street came alive, despite being a Sunday night. Live music floated through the air from the dozens of bars, street musicians played, and groups of people dressed up in cowboy boots and Stetson hats hopped from one pub to the next.

Peter and I joined in the fun at a couple places with live music, putting our swing dancing skills to use (his more than mine!). At several places, we received compliments all through the crowd on our way out, and a homeless guy came up to us on the street to say he saw us dancing through the window and thought we were amazing (then asked us for a dollar).

What a day in Kentucky and what a night in Nashville! The next day we would be on the road again, driving towards the Gateway to the West: St. Louis, MO.

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On the road: Atlanta, GA

Couch surfing in Atlanta reminded me once again what travel is all about. Our couch surfing hosts for the first night were a young Portuguese couple who lived in a cute apartment near downtown. As soon as we arrived, Isabel made us a huge dinner, and we talked about cultures, work, and life. It turned out she also worked at a bakery and she invited us to come by in the morning for their world-famous croissants. In the morning, we did just that on our way to the Georgia Aquarium, and they were, indeed, amazing croissants!

Some kids enjoying the dive show

The aquarium was outrageously expensive, but fortunately Peter found a crazy discount online that got us in for about half the price of a normal ticket, and we ended up with more bonuses on top of that. After watching a dive show in the first exhibit we entered, I got to talking with one of the staff members and she took a liking to me and Peter. 

"You know," she whispered sneakily, "I bet I can get you in for free on my behind-the-scenes tour."

Peter and I looked at each other and shrugged, "SURE!"

After she radioed in to check with her superiors, she got the okay and took us on a 30-minute private tour of some of the back areas of the aquarium.

 

Behind-the-scenes view of the whale shark

This was where I saw my first ever whale shark. She took us in to the top part of the football field-sized tank where we could look down on the 4 whale sharks circling the glassy water. I was so excited I could hardly listen to what she was saying!

In addition to the whale shark tank, we also were taken into the back penguin husbandry area, where mating pairs of penguins and chicks were being cared for by lab technicians in white coats. Our lovely tour guide probably would have kept taking us around had it not been time for a scheduled dolphin show, so she took it upon herself to personally usher us into the dolphin exhibit before we said our goodbyes. 

The dolphin show was pretty spectacular, but entirely over the top and I almost felt uncomfortable watching it. It was more like a Disney musical than an animal exhibit, but nonetheless the dolphins seemed quite happy to do their tricks for handfuls of fish thrown in by the dozens of trainers coordinating the production.

Mesmerized by whale sharks

Penguins being inappropriate in the penguin tunnel :P

It took us almost the entire day to visit every exhibit in the Georgia Aquarium, but I was pretty impressed with the whole thing. In the evening, we tried out Atlanta's iconic diner, The Varsity, before heading to our next couch surfing location. 

I wasn't sure what to think at first -- the place was in an "intentional community" and our hosts, Daniel and Megan, greeted us with big hugs instead of handshakes. Their apartment was every bit the hippy abode but we quickly found out that we all got along swimmingly. We ended up spending the evening playing a strategy board game with them and their other roommate, Kevin, and had such a good time we decided to stay an extra day in Atlanta. 

The next day we spent hanging out downtown and getting some work and trip planning done for our next few destinations. That evening we played more board games with our hosts, and the next day we hit the road again, headed to Nashville, TN, the heart of American music.

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On the road: Christmas in Florida

What was intended to be a 3 week visit to Florida for Christmas ended up being a 5 week stay with my family over the holidays, but this wasn't entirely a bad thing. For starters, Peter hadn't expected to like my home state from everything he'd heard about it, but after our first day in the balmy weather, he was hooked.

 

We spent our days up until Christmas catching toads and fishing in the pond across the street from my house, going hiking, and re-organizing our lives from the road trip. Even I came to gain a new appreciation for the sunshine state, and the value of being with my family for the holidays. Last winter I'd been alone in Alaska for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years, but this year, all felt right with the world again.

Sunrise hike in the park

Sunrise on the lake

Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks

Pelicans at the Sponge Docks

During our stay in Florida, we spent some time checking out the local attractions, such as the Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks (the largest population of Greek sponge divers outside of Greece), Homosassa Springs (the wintertime hangout for Florida's manatees), and farmer's markets in St. Petersburg.

Manatees at Homosassa Springs

  

In addition to local travels, I also took on the task of trying my hand at carpentry under Peter's tutelage. Although it took nearly 3 weeks, we successfully made my mom a red oak and birds-eye maple cutting board as a post-Christmas present.

 

The finished product

Loaded into a cannon

The last two weeks of our stay in Florida I was itching to hit the road again, but things kept coming up and pushing our departure date back further and further. It was a good test in patience, and ultimately it turned out to be beneficial as I was able to see a few more of my friends before we left and we were able to stock up on all the supplies we would need for our final push across the country.

It was bittersweet to leave my family, but finally, on Wednesday, Jan. 22, we were off again, driving north to Atlanta. Our journey was beginning again.

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On the road: NC to GA to FL

I didn't realize until now that I have absolutely no pictures from North Carolina to Florida, so I will have to rely on the power of the written word a little more this time. In North Carolina, we found a room to rent for $20 on Craigslist. The place seemed a little strange, but fortunately we didn't have to spend a lot of time there as we were spending the evening hanging out with one of Peter's longtime friends. We ended up hanging out a a couple local places and then spent the rest of the night playing Apples to Apples with everyone.

The next day was more of a chill day, which we planned to spend doing laundry at our rental place and taking care of some errands. As we began to put in our laundry, we realized there was no detergent around. In fact, we began to notice there was no soap of any form in this house at all, which was quite strange considering there were at least 6 other people living there. Nothing in the bathrooms, kitchen, laundry room, or anywhere. Finally, we opened up a closet in the utility room to check.... and we froze. There, laying on the wood laminate floor beside the water heater was a 4-foot long crocodile. It was very much alive, and breathing.

"Don't... move..." I whispered to Peter as we both stared in shock.

"Do you think it got in somehow?" He whispered back.

I thought about it but quickly pieces of the puzzle came together in my head. "I think it's a pet." Glancing around, there were successively larger fish tanks and aquariums around the house, and I got the distinct feeling the homeowner had raised this reptile from infancy. Suddenly, I also became afraid the guy might kill us if we knew he had it, since he hadn't mentioned anything before.

We decided not to bring it up, closed the crocodile back up in the closet, and I settled on looking up exotic pet laws later after we got the heck out of North Carolina.

After one more (slightly restless) night, we hit the road again to head down towards Florida. It was a nice drive, spent listening to audiobooks and music, chatting, and enjoying the beautiful scenery of the southern Smoky Mountains.

We made it to Brunswick, GA in early evening, but soon found that the hotel we'd planned on staying at was absolutely horrendous. Note to self: NEVER stay at a Days Inn. After quoting us the wrong price for the room we'd requested twice, we were given the key to a room that reeked of cigarettes, had a burnt out bathroom light, and was probably in violation of several health codes. We were told we couldn't change rooms (even though we seemed to be the only ones there), so I promptly filled out a refund request, and we drove next door to a neighboring hotel.

This hotel was kind enough to give us the same price after we told them our experience at the Days Inn, so we ended up with a luxury room and hot breakfast the next day for the price of a budget hotel. Not bad!

On the road once more, we drove south through the sunshine state, where the sun beat down through the windshield and we shed layers of winter clothes the nearer we got to Tampa. It was a welcome change from the chill of the northeast and the sketchiness of the deep south. I couldn't believe we were nearly halfway done with our road trip, and coming home to see my family for the holidays. The feeling was surreal and, as much as I was having a blast on the trip, I couldn't wait for a few weeks' break from constantly driving!

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On the road: Washington, DC

After Boston, Peter and I returned to CT once more to spend another fun night at my friend Christy's place on our way down to Washington, DC. The weather had become quite cold and snowy, but we made it down to the nation's capitol by nightfall and checked into the youth hostel we'd booked.

Although the hostel was in a somewhat sketchy part of town, it was only $10 per person per night and we were able to share a sort of loft bunk that made it feel a little more comfortable and safe.

In the morning, we took on the daunting task of figuring out the DC bus system, and, after getting off at a wrong stop and trying to find more change for the bus at a strange raw vegan cafe, we eventually made it to the metro station and rode the train the rest of the way to the National Zoo.

We soon found, however, that because of the bitter cold temperatures that day, the zoo brought most of the animals in off the exhibits so we spent the majority of the day peering into empty enclosures looking for animals that weren't actually there.

Some of the more cold-tolerant animals were left out however, such as the red pandas and big cats.

One of the more interesting events at the zoo was the octopus feeding. Unfortunately, this octopus happened to be on her last legs (or should I say, tentacles?), as she had recently laid eggs and reached the end of her lifespan. Nonetheless, she got pretty perky for some prawns and was rather photogenic for the occasion.

As we began making our way out of the zoo with the setting of the sun, we heard a great uproar from the lion enclosure. Turned out they were having a little disagreement and I got it on camera!

The next day, we repeated our bus and metro route a little more smoothly and made it to the National Mall by early afternoon to explore the Smithsonian. After a stop by the National Monument, we ended up spending the entire day in the Air and Space Museum. It was super fun, but I really wish we'd had more time to see the rest of the museums.

Unfortunately, we had to get to North Carolina by the next day to meet one of Peter's friends, so our day ended with the closing of the museum and a long ride back to the hostel on the public transit. One thing was for sure though -- we both want to come back to DC to explore the rest of the museums sometime!

Beautiful sunset behind the National Monument

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