Alaska Bound:

PART 2:

Day Two:



We left Tennessee on a gray morning and headed onto Kentucky and then Illinois. The terrain became flatter and you could see for miles with the sights only occasionally being interrupted by a farmhouse or building. Kentucky and Illinois held their individual forms of beauty. As we continued our trek Northwest, however, a trend became apparent…flooding. There were rivers and small lakes where they obviously did not belong. This was made apparent by trees or structures that jutted out appearing to be islands on this recent water-ways. Many of the rivers we swollen past their banks and miles of fields and farmlands were under water.  I truly hope they dried out quickly as it appeared that farming was taking a hit this year and it was a sad sight to behold.

Flooded Banks

We saw the great St. Louis Arch miles before we actually crossed into Missouri. We detoured off the interstate to play tourist and parked right off a cobble street near the waterfront. It was misting rain and cold, but passing this land-mark was not an option. Here again, the waters where swollen past their banks and the skies where a very distinct shade of gray. We wondered around the Arch, trying to get good shots and learned very quickly that photography here was tricky due to the enormous size of the Arch itself. After walking through the plush grass that carpets the arch and exploring the immediate vicinity, we decided to load back up in the car and head further down the road to eliminate some of the miles necessary to make it on to more fun destinations.  

Swollen Banks by the St. Louis Arch

Under the Arch

The St. Louis Arch

After leaving St. Louis, the roads again became pretty rural. The vast remainder of Missouri was miles of farmland punctuated by hilly flatness, where every structure and tree stood proud and obvious in placement with little to no protection from the elements. We made it to somewhere around St. Joseph, Missouri, that second day and found a hotel room to rest our weary head. Much to our surprise, and my delight, we were also given a complementary wine-cooler at check in which helped me relax after hours in the car with two children, a dog, & a sleep-deprived husband. Too tired to go for dinner, we snacked off my “road fuel” snacks and found our way to dream land very quickly.

Our Nomadic Migration Northwest: Alaska Bound

PART 1:

Goodbye NYC...

The Grand Exit from NYC:

New York was one of the most difficult places we have ever left. Not, because we were sad to go (although parts of us were), but because NY apparently did not want to let us leave! My husband spent a large chunk of money and three weeks of his time, prior to our departure, doing preventative maintenance on the vehicle that would be used for our cross-country trip…only to have it overheat & shut down HOURS before we were due to leave NYC! Imagine the frustration. However, we had several members of our wonderful family ready to make the 20-24hr round trip to get us and one very good friend NY-side who helped us through the sticky part of that jam. Thankfully, I also, married a man with a good base-knowledge of mechanics and he was able to slap a “band-aid” on it and get us through the first leg of our journey…home-base in NC. We spent a wonderful week and a half with our families in NC before heading out on our Big Adventure.

Day One:

Saying goodbye to our families (and friends) was especially hard this time due to the sheer number of miles and space we were putting between ourselves and our families. But, alas…duty calls and this is our life. As difficult as the goodbyes were, we were all extremely excited for the “Big Adventure” in which we were about to embark.  We left NC on a beautiful warm day with big puffy white clouds framed by a gorgeous blue sky. Our first leg of the journey took us through the breath-taking Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee.

French Broad River that runs thru NC & TN

Driving through the Blue Ridge Mountains is an adventure in itself. Hairpin turns with sheer drop-offs, large sections along the craggy mountain-side littered with warning signs about falling rocks, and tunnels that take you right through portions of the mountains, are all common place as you journey through those majestic mountains.  We stopped for the night on the far side of Nashville, Tennessee late in the day and decided we really weren’t up for sight-seeing. So, we found a little park to get some exercise in and stumbled upon a Historic 1779 Frontier Fort called Manskers Station, The Bowen Plantation House dated 1787, and a part of the Civil War Trail.

Historic Manskers Station

Towards the end of our exploration/walk, the wind whipped up and the clouds rolled in signaling that a very-nasty storm was imminent. We headed back to our hotel with some take-out and watched its fury unfold. That first night in the hotel was, at the same time, exciting and scary. That looming storm thundered through with tornado-like fury producing a power-outage, hail, and damaging winds making sleep nearly impossible. The storm finally petered out in the wee hours of the morning allowing our vigilant protectors, the man & his dog, to finally get snippets of rest. The next morning, the true-fury of the storm was apparent in the littering of trees, branches, pool furniture, & other debris littered about in the pool, parking lot and road-ways. Thankfully, we emerged unscathed, albeit a little tired, from the night’s adventure. We loaded up the car & headed on to St. Louis...