October 2012 – There And Back Again

50 Miles Per Gallon!

Welcome to Arjan and P.J.’s 2012 travel blog. [Well, maybe we actually got 49 miles to the gallon, but you get the idea.]

We embarked on a cross-country trip during the months of August and September 2012 in our red Prius. This blog shares about our happenings along the way. We started out on August 1, returned home on October 2, and reported our progress as we went.

We made a blog entry almost every day of our trip. Arjan usually did the writing, and P.J. added the pictures.

Our trip has ended. That’s why our Prius points at Massachusetts. During the trip, we moved the car icon on the map above to show our progress. Now the Prius is back home.

If you are just joining us, you can start at the beginning of our trip on August 1.
See an overview of our trip on Our Itinerary.
Get a kick out of Arjan’s Highlights and Lowlights.
Learn about P.J.’s Vintage Postcard Project: Aunt Esther’s Vintage Postcards (new site).

An important part of the journey for P.J. was taking modern photographs that match her Aunt Esther’s vintage postcards. There are now links to Aunt Esther’s Vintage Postcards blog at the bottom of any page with matching photographs.

Latest Updates

We returned home to Massachusetts on October 2, a little tired of traveling, but thrilled to have had such a wonderful adventure. During October that fall, we also took two more quick trips: to Vermont for a week, and back to California for Arjan’s father’s birthday.

There are still some photos missing: our Alaskan cruise (August 12 through August 18); Mount Rainier (August 20 & August 21); Oregon Coast (August 28 & August 29); Redwoods (August 30); Grand Canyon (September 12 & 13); Yellowstone (September 23 & 24); Black Hills and Badlands of South Dakota (September 27 & 28); and lots more vintage postcards from Great Aunt Esther (now in a blog of its own).

This may sound like a lot still left to do, but there are over 300 photos that made it into the two blogs! Enjoy!

Be sure to review “Older Posts” to see anything you may have missed!

October 2: Home Again and Epilog

Mile 12,631 – Home Again. Our last day, we drove home from Austin, Pennsylvania. It was only the third day (out of 63) without any sunshine. The weather was dreary and drizzly when we arrived.

Those of you who have been following the blog regularly may have read some of my sneering comments about other tourists and tourist traps. The overpriced hoopla and interminable “commutes” in-and-out of Yellowstone and Grand Canyon National Parks are not the fault of the Park Service. The truth is that the most popular attractions suffer from their own popularity. Providing more services and accommodations will only make things worse.

Some of my more memorable experiences were often spontaneous surprises in not-so-famous places:

Taking a swim in a lake in Northern Minnesota
The Grand Coulee landscape in Washington state
The kite festival in Long Beach, Washington
Driving down an abandoned stretch of old Route 66 in Arizona
Hiking the Pancake trail near Pikes Peak with my friend Johanne
And a silly afternoon with P.J.’s sister Wendy and brother-in-law, near the Kinzua Dam

We threw apple cores into the Allegheny River and, to our surprise, the cores got caught in eddies and started floating up-stream until they got caught in the rapids. Watching that process was a pleasantly mesmerizing, relaxing, and educational activity (in hydrodynamics) on a beautiful day in the beautiful Pennsylvania Wilds.

On my next cross-country trip, which will not be any time soon, I’d like to spend more time visiting not-so-famous places and places I have not been before. I also want to plan a destination trip to Yellowstone, with accommodations inside the park. That park may be crowded, but it is also big enough so you can escape the crowds if you are willing to walk. And it has such a variety of sights to see!

This concludes my daily posts. I have updated the highlights and lowlights with trip summary entries, and P.J. still has more pictures to upload. We hope to have the blog complete soon.

October 1: Sightseeing in Pennsylvania

Mile 12,170 (we were driven around). Today we went out sightseeing and were driven around for a change. We went to the Kinzua Bridge, a railroad viaduct orginally built in the late 1890’s— at the time the highest bridge in the world. Regular use was abandoned in 1959, and it was made into a tourist train attraction. In 2003, a tornado tore down part of the bridge and now the part that is still standing ends in an observation platform with a glass floor. We also went to the Kinzua Dam and Reservoir in the Allegheny River.

We saw no foreign tourists, and it was not overcrowded. Sometimes, lesser-known attractions closer to home are just as enjoyable and allow for more serene pleasures.

First Fork Lodge, Austin, Pennsylvania (our lodging)

Wendy and Al's House — Wendy and Al’s House (Austin, Pennsylvania)

Wendy and Al — Sister Wendy and Husband Al

September 30: To Austin, Pennsylvania

Foliage in Pennsylvania — Emporium, Pennsylvania

Mile 12,167 – Austin, PA. Back in the Appalachian mountains. A driving day where the scenery was enhanced by cloudscapes with towering cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds. We had a downpour immediately followed by the most gorgeous, clear late-day sunshine. The foliage here in Potter County, in north central Pennsylvania, has started but not peaked yet. The countryside looks fresh and dust-free.

October 1, we’ll be spending with P.J.’s sister Wendy and her husband, Al. Tuesday, we drive home.