viaje al sur

Posted by: carogouin | August 15, 2009

night out in nashville

As we left the Smokies, we made a quick stop at the Bass Pro shop, where they claim to be the masters of all that is ‘outdoor world’, though we couldn’t even find a simple atlas with a directory of campgrounds/RV parks across the US. BTW – we received confirmation from the campground host in the Smokies that our Jeep Cherokee with a rooftop tent is still considered a “tent” and not an “RV” – thank god. Also of note: she had never seen our kind of “tent” before and was immediately impressed.

On the road

We were able to find some other Tennessee directory of campgrounds and after 3.5 hours of driving, we arrived at Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park, situated down Nashville’s Music Valley Drive (where I was expecting to see live bands everywhere, but alas, it gets its name from the Grand Ole Opry). At the campsite, they put us way in the back far from all the RV’s and, regrettably, also the bathhouse. At least we had a shady spot, but no matter where you are in Nashville, it is hot and humid.

Plenty of space to camp

Beautiful campsite, away from it all

Unfazed, we unpacked a few things and headed into town to see some real live music. We were not disappointed this time, as there were plenty of places to choose from. We decided to avoid the famous joint Tootsies and opted for an alternative dueling piano bar called the Big Bang. Having grown up around a piano, I have a soft spot for that instrument, and it proved to be highly entertaining. Pat and I situated ourselves in the middle with a clear view of the performers and watched the fanfare of bachelorette parties (must have been at least 6), drunken middle aged men unable to hold themselves up and the entire Big Bang crew (with t-shirts that read “Bang This”) do a cute little dance to Staying Alive. Although all of that kind of sounds awful, it was actually a great show. There were always 2 pianists/singers who took turns playing requests from the audience. The range of repertoire was incredible and their voices amazing – they were definitely American Idol quality and beyond, but maybe it’s just me being a bit envious.

Night out in Nashville

The next day we decided to lounge around the pool in the morning, then braved the heat and went for a bike ride into downtown Nashville in the afternoon. The folks at the campground were very helpful and gave us maps to the new bike path that connects Opryland to Nashville. The path was spectacular going over brand new bridges and tunnels under the highways, hugging the river most of the time, with a nice selection of local parks along the way. It was about a 4.5-hour ride round trip, with a stop for dinner in Nashville, so we were both pretty exhausted afterwards. Sorry, didn’t bring the camera with us! One highlight on the way home was when an old General Jackson paddle boat steamed right past us – a prelude to our next stop: Memphis on the mighty Mississippi river.

Post bike ride at camp

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Posted by: carogouin | August 11, 2009

our first summit

From Damascus, Virginia we spent 3 hours driving through Tennessee. It looks strikingly similar to Maryland, with lush foliage on either side of the highway – until we hit an over developed mess called Pigeon Forge, which we aptly named Vegas of the East. Now I haven’t been to Vegas, but I can imagine with the many hotels, motels, Titanic replicas, upside down buildings and other kitschy attractions – we had hit the tourist promise land. Pat and I quickly drove through to avoid tainting our new simplistic lifestyle. We finally arrived at our destination: Cosby Campground in the Smoky Mountains National Park.

Our home in its element

Although there were sadly no showers, the campground was very well structured and maintained. The next day we went on a long hike up to Mount Cammerer – 3,000 feet of climbing and 12-mile round trip. The trail itself was pretty steep, but we paced ourselves and even managed to see 2 black bears along the way! One female (we only caught a glimpse) and one big male high on the ridge who stared right at us. Unfortunately, these moments were quite fleeting and we didn’t have time to take pictures. Two bear sightings on day # 3 – not bad at all. When we finally reached the top, there was an old fire look-out with a 360 degree view of the Smokies – breathtaking! We ate our much deserved lunch, enjoyed the views, signed the guest book and headed back down. See below some pictures from the hike.

Hiking up towards the AT

The trail crossed a beautiful stream, in which we dunked ourselves after the hike to cool off.

Caro looking out for fires

The Mt. Cammerer lookout

Hike slow and you'll be amazed what you find

All packed up and ready to go.

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Posted in on the road

Posted by: Patrick | July 24, 2009

“like a tree house on wheels”

After a couple years of saving and a few months plotting over the maps, the trip has begun! We’ve been getting lots of emails from friends and family to the effect of “Where’s the blog?” Well, here it finally is! Thanks for your patience.

Jeep is all packed up!

All our stuff barely fits, we're trying to trim it down a bit already.

We took off from Caroline’s parents house around 2:30pm on Wednesday, August 5th – just after I got two fillings at the dentist. A numb mouth was not quite the feeling I wanted to depart with, but the Novocaine wore off in a couple of hours.

Before we get to far from home, we both would like to thank our wonderfully generous parents for putting us up (and putting up with us) while we were temporarily homeless after we moved out of our apartment at the end of July. And also thanks for letting us put all those boxes with our leftover possessions in your basements! We hope to make it home in 6-12 months and move those boxes out of there…

Until then, this is the place to follow us on our Journey to the South, or as the blog is titled in Spanish: Viaje al Sur. We plan to do a couple of months of land cruising through the southern and western United States before flying off to Central and South America.

Since the 5th of August we’ve been on a south western heading stopping first in Damascus, Virginia: a rest for the night to break up the driving. It turned out to be a nice little town focused on hiking the Appalachian Trail and biking the Virginia Creeper trail – in the middle of Deliverance country. I swear there was banjo music playing when we pulled in late that night…

the campground... limo RV?

The campground we found seemed a little on the skeevy side at first, but it was full of nice folks who were very interested in our tent. Walking to the bathhouse a nice fellow said: “We’ve beeeen settin’ heerad-mirin’ yer tent.” Then his buddy chimed in with: “It’s like a tree house on wheels!” We agree, it’s like being a kid again up in a tree fort.

our 'tree house on wheels'

: campground folks

As easy as it is to poke fun at the locals, everyone we have met thus far has been genuine, friendly and helpful. I stopped at a bike shop in Damascus to swap out the clipless pedals on Caro’s bike for flats. Not only did the mechanic swap them out for free, he also found a pair of flat pedals laying around the shop and gave them to us for free too.

After a great breakfast at a little coffee shop, we set off for our first real destination: the Great Smokey Mountain National Park in Tennessee.

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