Road Trip 2018 - Return Of Navel Gazing II, Reflections

This trip represented yet another step on the road of travel experience experimentation. And there were plenty of firsts for us.

 It was our first long trip within our own country. Sure we’ve gone to plenty of places in the US. Mostly we’ve gone to a specific region, locale or place to see it and then returned. On very rare occasions we made a decision to explore a particular area or route. But never for any great length of time.

It was the first time that we traveled extensively without a detailed itinerary and accommodation reservations ahead of time. (Well maybe second – on our trip to New Zealand while we had a general itinerary we were making reservations for where we would end up for the most part the night before.)

And it was the second time (New Zealand again the first), that we were in an automobile exclusively for transportation with no fixed base. (We have had numerous trips where we used a car predominately but usually were staying in one place for two, three, or four weeks).

So here are some observations and learning from the trip.

Driving is not relaxing – One reason for having selected this type of trip is we’ve been feeling the strain, the wear and tear, on our systems from the trips of the last two years where we’ve gone to a number of countries involving various trips by various non-driving transportation. We theorized that the freedom of our own vehicle (a vehicle we knew unlike a rental car) would make the process of getting around less hard on our bodies and less stressful. Wrong!

Instead what we found was that being in car so much was really hard on our bodies. And the stress was more. Yes you didn’t have to deal with all the issues of the public transportation systems. But you also never had any down time. You were either driving and having to pay attention. Or you were a passenger and often having to help keep the driver alert and helping them navigate.

Would I freak out not having any kind of plan? NO! – Hats off to Commander Spouse (inactive). It was actually great fun to have the freedom to change our itinerary and we do so numerous times based conditions (the hurricane), interests (staying in numerous towns extra time to catch all we wanted to see – adding cities once we decided getting to as many State Capitols was now a goal), changing interests (skipping things we got tired of like going into Nashville rather than spend two days seeing little towns in Tennessee), and physical condition (taking a longer time to get back so we wouldn’t have a couple of long trips).

Since we hadn’t done a whole lot of planning – at least I hadn’t, CS had done her own research – we hadn’t really discussed at all how we were actually going to execute this type of travel. So naturally we both had expectations that were not communicated leading to misunderstandings. But as the month went on we were able to observe what where the misunderstandings were, discuss them and come to some compromises and mutual understanding. Of course being the mature adults that we are, there were no loss of tempers, no one getting upset. Everything was done calmly and rationally because that’s the kind of Elder Fleet Command professionals we are.

A road trip of this nature would save money – compared to international travel, absolutely. Since we lease our vehicles (and are way below our allowed mileage) other than gas, we are already absorbing the cost of transportation without the travel. On all other expenses we were right on budget. The net result was a cost for the month that was a good 40-60% less expensive than the lowest one country trip to Europe or Asia would have been.

Amazed at the diversity in my own country – I am not talking about the stereotyped differences between regions that get bandied about. I am talking about the rich historical threads that can be found from state to state and even within states. I don’t think I will ever lump together an area – whether it be the ‘Deep South’, the ‘Midwest’, the ‘Northeast’ – again in my own mind. Now I visualize the country as this complex painting, like the Renaissance paintings I am so fond of with the multitude of stories within stories.

And we found such interesting interactions and things in such unexpected places. For example:

• Talking to the shrimp boat operators in Pass Christian Mississippi
• The guy who ran the ‘micro-museum in the Eastern Tennessee mountains whose family had been there for 150 years
• The crazy ‘English’ style mansion in Pikesville, Tennessee
• Historic Little Rock Museum where we spent three hours, didn’t get close to seeing all we wanted because we were exhausted and needed to get going, all for a cost of $1.50 each (with our Senior discount)
• The wild history Guthrie Oklahoma and evidence of a town built overnight
• CS’ cousins and family and their deep introspection related to their Native American blood that they are now aware of and how they looked at history now 

Seeing the Deep South in a whole different light – Going to this part of the country as a traveler looking for history is going ground zero of events that have had such a profound influence on modern racial relations – whether black/white or Native American/white. It is also the area where the Civil War was battled one. It was the battlefield. Remembering we were there for only a short period of time and that were tourists, not getting into depth as to actual day-to-day life, the overwhelming impression I got was of an area that was in profound reflection. Not coming to conclusions or having reached a consensus. Certainly with differences of opinion. But at least on the official level of what was being presented in museums and capitols organized by the states themselves, there was an amazing amount of candor about the past. And this is from the governments of states that are hardly classified as liberal. When we got back and I talked to a number of people who hail from what I will call the effete, arrogant coasts, I was rather shocked by a general reaction of “Oh how horrible to go to such a place. We would never go to the South.” To tell you the truth I was stunned.

In conclusion while we are going to have to make some adjustments in how we do this type of travel to reduce the wear and tear it induces, I think both Wife and I feel this is an important augmentation to our travel repertoire and are both excited to continue exploring the US as well as the world.

We are so blessed.

Road Trip 2018 - The Return Of Navel Gazing, Likes/Dislkies Overview

What trip of de-I and the Eldership would be complete without the complete analysis of what has transpired. All kidding aside, as this blog is as much a diary and reservoir of our experiences, these analyses help us to remember the experiences, serve as guides for how we want to revise our travel in the future, remind us of the lessons we've learned and serve as solemn testimony to our continual ignoring of the lessons we've learned.

This was our first ever extensive road trip in the U.S. We have had a car for the entire time for a few long trips in France and Italy. But we've only done one long trip (New Zealand, three weeks) where the auto was the primary means of transportation and where we did not book most of our accommodations in advance. We'd debated about how long to make the trip. I wanted to get back earlier for work purposes. In the event, we were totally ready to be home when the time came.

Here's the list of what we liked and disliked

High Points

• Louisiana - the whole feel of the Creole culture as something different than what you find in the rest of the country, the food, the architecture. Particular high points were the Old State Capitol and Algiers Point
• The Mississippi Gulf Coast - We loved that it was part of the Creole sphere of cultural influence and that in October the shore was so pristine and free of people. All kinds of neat interactions with people as well.
• State Capitols Jackson in Mississippi and Montgomery in Alabama - we loved the cityscapes and the architecture, had some great, meaningful people experiences and of course our incredibly uplifting, spirit renewing experience with Aroine Irby
• The Hunter Museum of Art and Walnut Bridge in Chattanooga - Another place that got our photographic juices flowing and such interesting art to boot
• Nashville's cityscape - the last thing I expected in Nashville was the juxtaposition of impressive modern architecture with classic buildings. Another fun day with the camera. And the Tennessee State Museum was one of many in our trip that was well done, balance, and motivating of deep contemplation about our history and making peace with it
• Little Rock - So funny, I swear we were the only tourists in town but there was enough there that we added a day. The Historic Little Rock museum was yet another of the great and sobering ones we saw
• Guthrie Oklahoma - We were there to see Wife's cousins. But Bill, Cousin G's husband turned into the most gracious and knowledgeable host and turned our walk into a mini-tour of this fascinating small town. Then there was the conversation among the cousins and husbands about their having Cherokee blood and their own starting to deal with the question of the treatment of Native Americans historically, the Trail of Tears, and the Oklahoma Land Rush
• Driving U.S. and State Highways - For a lot of our trip we were able to stay off of the Interstate highway system. For the most part we found (at least in this part of the country) that we could travel speeds close to those of the Interstate, with less traffic and with much more to see

Lower Points

• Texas Urban Drivers - let's be more specific, male drivers in this area who have super large pick-up trucks, who drive at super fast speeds and ride your ass even when you are driving well over the speed limit. So obnoxious and honestly behavior we did not see with anywhere near the frequency that we experienced in the Austin/San Antonio/Houston urban area
• Texas Hill Country - too touristy 
• The New Orleans Trolley - if you are going to have a mass transit system, don't recreate a historic relic that functions unreliably
• The depression of Selma - so discouraging when you find a place that seems locked in the same conflict of 60 years ago
• The Appalachians and Great Smokey National Park - okay I plead guilty to being a jaded resident of the Western Mountain States. I'm sorry, but when you are surrounded by some of the most incredible mountain scenery in the world, it is hard to get pumped by the East. And the pain of driving in the National Park with so many people, outweighed any charm
• Driving the Interstates - The Interstate Highway system is certainly efficient but the amount of traffic, especially truck traffic, means constant vigilance and they are all pretty boring 
• Food other than Louisiana and Gulf Coast Mississippi - to be honest I had hoped for more from the Deep South. But for the most part our meals were nothing to write home about
• Hotel and Airbnb Inconsistencies - we definitely are not going the cheapest though we are not going luxury either. But there was never a place that had its act 100% together. Sometimes it was little annoying things like a nice place where the sheets wouldn't stay on. Or lack of light blocking curtains. Or worn/dirty carpets. But most annoying was the high frequency of lousy hotel internet. Why in the U.S. hotels cheap out on internet in a day and age when connectivity is so important is a mystery to me

Next post - Observations and Lessons

Road Trip 2018 - Day Thirty, HOME!

We love, love, love to travel. But OMG do we love getting back home too!

We had agreed a couple of weeks ago that we wanted a leisurely meander back home. No multiple days of 8 hours or more of driving. And we were able to pull that off. Our morning in OKC yesterday, left us with the afternoon to go half way home (4 hours) to Amarillo, TX. This morning we finished off the last 4 hours and with going from Central to Mountain time, we were back before Noon.

A very busy afternoon of doing laundry, shopping, going through mail and getting ready to reengage with our day-to-day world.

As with all our trips, there were so many experiences and so much learning! In fact as we were unpacking we saw some items we bought from the first week or so. We had totally forgotten them because of all that had happened since. As usual I will be going over all my posts from the trip and provide a synopsis of high and low points, lessons learned, and significant observations.

I finish these travel sagas with the same statement. We are so incredibly grateful that fate has allowed us the wherewithal, the health and the attitude to pursue these adventures.

Road Trip 2018 - Day 29, A Capitol Day In OKC

It is our last day of touring. We rearranged the last part of our trip so we could hit yet another state capitol building, this time Oklahoma's.

With each state capitol we visit we learn of the specific historical aspects that make this particular state so different from all the others. I think after this trip we will never look at the United States the same way. We always kind of thought of our country as this giant homogenized culture compared to countries in the rest of the world. And it is true if one looks at the gigantic retail oriented culture that covers the country. But we've found now that we would never think of Mississippi and Alabama as being the same even thought they be in the 'Deep South'. Or Arkansas and Oklahoma. Though young historically, they are each colored by their particular path of development.

In the case of Oklahoma it is this odd combination of having been the last land the Native Americans had been pushed on to, and then how it was taken away by this massive land boom accompanied by the discovery of oil. As with Captain Spouses cousins, there seems to be many with deep connections to the Native American presence. There is reference to the wrongness of taking of the land. But that is overlaid by the boom town culture that seems to dominate. Sort of a we're dominate but guilty about it attitude. Anyway that is a very unscientific view based on a minute data set so don't take it too seriously.

So since in know you are in complete withdrawal because I haven't shown you a state capitol picture in over 48 hours AND I am so incredibly empathetic, I will assuage your pain.

Welcome to the Oklahoma State Capital

Stolen from Guthrie

Therefore filled with original sin

Very clean and heroic, No?

And look at those capitals on the top of the columns. They are....

....YES! Corinthian! You are so good!

But of course this is a whitewashed version of the capitol for in reality it looks like this

For indeed this Capitol is undergoing a MASSIVE renovation

And to understand how ironic it is that this renovation is you have to understand that only 14 years ago there was no dome on the Capitol!

We were fortunate enough to find a guide who told us the whole story

When the capitol was originally built, it was designed in an orgy of extravagance that matched the oil/land boom times. It was supposed to have a dome

But they ran out of money. Then WWI, the Dust Bowl, the Depression, all thoughts of domes were put aside.

After many years there were a lot of people who said, 'Hey, we are one of only few states with a capitol without a dome. That's cool.' 

But there were others who did not agree and finally under the direction of Governor Kerr, money was raised and a massive renovation project led to erection of a dome.

But there were a few problems

First they build a dome that was much larger and heavier than the one originally designed.

The building could not take it and began to fall apart from the stress

Further they didn't remove old wiring and water conduits, just added to them, leading to other problems

And the new dome had windows that let in light...lots and lots of light...light that seriously damaged much valuable artwork, a lot of it on loan that had to be restored...at a very high price

The result is that the state is now having to renovate the entire building yet again to ensure that it remains standing

Well enough about that let's go inside

Those gigantic frescoes are basically stories of how the Native Americans got removed time and again

The Mandatory 'Dome Interior' shots

Other states have paintings of past governors. Oklahoma makes busts

This is not a governor

And I got photo bombed on this one

Scenes throughout the Capitol

The State has an art museum

What is on display is part of a larger collection that gets rotated in and out

I liked this picture because it had elements of people with different attitudes that reminded me of the Italian Renaissance painting I loved

A couple of others I enjoyed

Oil Wells and Foliage

Not sure what this is

A teachers demonstration was scheduled for Noon

This lady was clearly preparing for her speech

We got to talk to them

 They wanted us to stay, said it would be a good time

But we needed to get on the road

We told them we believed in supporting teachers more and that is the truth!