My Favorite Place

Several people asked me what my favorite place was on this tour. I hadn’t given much thought about a favorite place and didn’t really have an answer. I’ve answered several different places, including the Pacific Coast, Bear Country USA, and the Redwood Forest. While driving from Iron River to Mackinaw City in the upper peninsula of Michigan along the northern edge of Lake Michigan, I had an epiphany. I didn’t have a favorite place on the tour. I did have a favorite part of the tour. My favorite part of the tour was traveling with Erica and Chris. The tour is not about where you go, but about who you go with.

Erica was a wonderful cook on the trip. We ate really well on this trip. I am really going to miss her cooking. Last night I had two beers and half a box of Cheezits for dinner. Chris is so mechanically handy with tools and troubleshooting problems with the coaches. He was great fixing problems with the coaches that inevitably arose. Having Chris around was very comforting knowing he could fix just about anything. Chris was also great cooking steaks, barbecue chicken, and ribs on the grill. You might be wondering what my contribution was. Well, I make an epic charcuterie and cheese plate.

We all got along really well especially being together on the road for three months. Erica and Chris had their own RV, and I had mine, so we had our private spaces to retreat to. We shared most meals together, as well as campgrounds. We toured national parks and other scenic places together. We drove most of the time together caravaning across the country. Having a second vehicle nearby was comforting and gave a feeling of security. While traveling around the northwest side of Dallas, Chris could see that the straps holding my bicycle on the rack came loose and the bicycle was lying flat on the rack in heavy traffic while traveling at 70 mph. I don’t even want to think about what might have happened if the bicycle fell off the rack. I think the rubber tires might have made the bicycle bounce up into the air.

We did have some favorite places on the trip. I’ll mention just a few of them, there were so many. After three months the days seem to all blend together. However, some of the places really stood out. Camping on BLM land in southeast New Mexico was so peaceful. We were the only ones around for miles. I remember wanting to step outside the coach in the middle of the night to see the stars, but I was afraid of a wild animal that I couldn’t see attacking and eating me. The drive through Monument Valley the next day was simply spectacular.

Returning to the town of Paso Robles California was incredibly special for me. My cat Paso Robles is named after that town because of a spiritual experience I had while cycling into that town nine years ago. The next day we drove out to the Pacific Ocean coastline and saw elephant seals. A few days later the drive through the Redwood National Forest starting from the northern California coast filled us with awe.

The Harvest Host at the Trapper Peak WInery we stayed at in the Bitterroot Valley in Montana was our favorite place we stayed. When the owner asked if we wanted to stay another day, we all looked at each other, smiled, and immediately exclaimed to him, yes, before he could change his mind. We had a lovely spot under the trees, next to a babbling creek, across from horses and cows in a pasture, nestled between mountains to the east and west of us.

The first day we went into Yellowstone in the bitter cold and played in the snow is a day we will never forget. Yellowstone National Park opened just two days before we got there and we had the entire park almost to ourselves.

The crown jewel of the trip was Mackinaw Island. The northern part of Michigan is beautiful and the weather temperate in the summer. We took a ferry boat ride to Mackinaw Island, rode in a carriage around the island pulled by two powerful Belgium Horses. Then we had a wonderful lunch at the Pink Pony overlooking the harbor followed by eating freshly made fudge.

Yesterday we went our separate ways. After 13 weeks on the road together, one-fourth of a year, we will no longer be sharing meals and adventures. Chris and Erica are going to stay at Duck Lake by Chris’s Grandfather’s house for a while longer. We stayed there together for three weeks and spent almost a month in Michigan. They may head out west again or work on the road as insurance adjusters.

During the next month, I will travel south towards Florida. I am heading south through Ohio and then to Lexington Kentucky. After a few days in Kentucky, I will head southeast to eastern Tennessee. I have to cross one last mountain range, the Appalachians, to make my way home. With a large rig like I have, it’s best to stick to interstate highways to cross mountain ranges. The interstate roads have grades on average of about 6% and are rarely more than 7% which makes ascending and descending the mountain range much easier. After Tennessee, the next stop is Asheville NC. Then I will head to Hilton Head Island for several weeks. I am staying at a RV resort right in the middle of Hilton Head Island. The island is about two square miles. I will be able to easily bicycle the entire island on a network of cycling trails. From Hilton Head, I will probably head into Florida and then maybe home. I will figure that out when the time comes.

Knowing our time together on this tour was ending was very sad for me. We said our goodbyes at Duck Lake. I quickly left so I wouldn’t cry too much. I turned around and waved to Erica and Chris one last time. Then I bounded off for my coach and drove away. The tour was so long that I felt like the trip would go on forever. When we were in Paso Robles California, Michigan seemed so far away in both time and distance. Now Michigan is behind me. Today feels a little less bright and empty now that Erica and Chris are gone. I guess I just miss my friends.

Evanescence – Lost In Paradise