Our Final Good-bye

 June 17, 2024

The focal point of this trip was for us to drive to New Hampshire, meet my brother-in-law and a sister at  Mount Washington to scatter my sister Kathy's ashes co-mingled with her daughter's . . . our final good-bye to them.  Kathy faced serious medical issues from the day she was born as a preemie until she lost her final battle with cancer.  She was strong, undaunted, and fought long and hard with her disease.  She was caring and a terrific auntie to my children.  She rescued more dogs than I can count.  She was optimistic and an adventurer.  In fact, her last adventure was a trip to Hawaii where she rode an ultralight and soared above the earth.

A small contingent of family and friends made the pilgrimage to the summit by riding the Cog Railway.  We found a somewhat sheltered spot, and then Brian and I and my sister Patty set her free on the winds of Mount Washington.  Everyone in the group met back at the summit sign before boarding the railway car that took us back down to the base station.

Mount Washington Hotel, the cog railway tracks going up the middle, and Mount Washington summit

in the upper right 

Kathy's husband Rob, his sister Susan, my sister Patty

Throughout this trip, I am constantly thinking about loved ones who are gone and my own mortality.  We are revisiting some of our favorite places knowing that we will likely not see them again.  I have learned to adapt to my own limitations and be grateful for every day and experience God has given me.

Kathryn Marie Carrow Kouts, you will live forever in our hearts.

Life in the Big Cities = Stress, Followed by Lovely Landscapes

 June 14, 2024   FLAG DAY

This next portion of our trip was planned so we could visit (and geocache in) a handful of counties to achieve a goal we set for ourselves: to find caches in all counties of New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.  To do this, Brian had to drive our big van through Staten Island, Queens, and Bronx while I had my own challenges as navigator ... so many bridges, toll booths, confusing exits, and interchanges.  We were very relieved when we managed all of that and reached Long Island for three days.  A visit to Teddy Roosevelt's Sagamore Hill home and the drive out to Montauk Point were the highlights.  To avoid NYC again, we happily paid for a ferry passage from Port Jefferson, NY to Bridgeport, CT.

We stopped at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery before leaving Pennsylvania.

The state Veterans' Memorial there is quite impressive.

We visited the National Lighthouse Museum on State Island.  We have visited many

lighthouses from coast to coast in both the U.S. and Canada and around the Great

Lakes.  Even the restroom was interesting.

In Bayonne, NJ we saw the 9/11 Teardrop Memorial - a gift to our country

from Russia.  The names of all who died are carved around the base.

We were very close to Liberty Park in New Jersey so made a quick stop for a view

of Lady Liberty's backside and New York harbor.

Once safely past the outer boroughs of NYC, we made it to Long Island for three days of camping and exploration.  Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, Theodore Roosevelt's home, and his nearby gravesite were our first stops.

A very nice rocking chair on a very nice porch with a very nice view

TR's Rough Rider uniform

Because of TR's vision, we have enjoyed camping and hiking in many national forests over the years.

We drove out to Montauk on the east end of Long Island.

Another nice place on Long Island is the Shrine of Our Lady of the Island.

reproduction of "The Pieta"

Holy Family sculpture

This part of Fire Island National Seashore is designated as wilderness, so we didn't venture very far.

Next door to the Fire Island Visitor Center is TWA Flight 800 Memorial where the plane exploded offshore here in 1996.

We had only one more county in Massachusetts to visit, so off we went for a day trip to Nantucket to finish our 42nd state.

our ride to Nantucket

Quaker Meeting House - outside and inside

Interesting stone and its history

old cobblestone streets

While in the Boston area, we had two more places we wanted to visit - JFK Presidential Library and Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site.

JFK Presidential Library was designed by I.M. Pei

We have visited eight presidential libraries; this one is not as overwhelming as some

(like FDR's) and the exhibits are well-spaced and end with an unadorned wall

that simply says "November 22, 1963."  Those of us who are of a certain age remember 

where we were when we heard about the assassination. I was at school and watched 

the funeral on television a few days later.

Happy Flag Day

Family sailboat Victura and Boston Harbor

I knew that Olmsted designed Central Park and the grounds of the U.S. Capitol, but 

we found out that he and his sons designed hundreds of parks in 47 states.

He is considered the founder of American Landscape Architecture.  His home

and design studio are situated on less than 2 acres in Brookline near Boston and the

grounds appear larger than they really are.  

We joined long-time friends for breakfast, then crossed into New Hampshire for the main objective of this trip . . . Mount Washington.

Getaway from the Heat - Houston to Pennsylvania

June 9, 2024

We waited until early June to leave on our summer migration north to see our first grandchild finish elementary school.  The end of May saw a flurry of school functions for all three grandchildren and preparations for this trip.

Three generations have passed through the halls of Clear Lake City Elementary.

Logan looked quite sharp in a suit for the last day of fifth grade.

On our last four-month adventure driving to Alaska through Canada, we missed most of last summer's brutal heat and drought in Houston.  We were eager to set off on this newest journey.

The first two days of the trip were quite arduous with us logging 500 miles each day.  As the road began to rise into the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, we both felt more relaxed.  We made a stop near Chattanooga to visit Chickamauga National Battlefield before heading east into Cherokee National Forest for a lovely night at Chilhowee Recreation Area with fireflies for company.  The road up the mountain had terrific viewpoints and I could feel the beauty and grandeur fill my soul.

We routed ourselves through Oak Ridge, Tennessee to visit the third unit of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.  We have already visited the Hanford Reactor site in Washington state and Los Alamos, NM.  We made stops at a few meaningful sites in the "Secret City."

International Friendship Bell represents peace and friendship with Japan.

It weighs 8,300 pounds, was designed in Oak Ridge, and cast in Kyoto.

It is constructed to last 1,000 years.

It commemorates lives lost in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Our next target was Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, where Daniel Boone forged a trail across the Appalachian Mountains - the Wilderness Road.  The Pinnacle Overlook in the park is very near where Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia meet.  

To reach the Visitor Center, we drove through a tunnel under the mountain from Tennessee into Kentucky.

Rainy weather made for interesting views from overlooks

old iron furnace

Along the interstate on the way to Roanoke, VA, we saw a sign for "Birthplace of Stephen F. Austin." As alumni of Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas, we were intrigued and made a side trip to the small community of Austinville on the New River.

(Texas flag is on the left pole)

From Roanoke, we drove the northern 120 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway. (In 2015, we drove the entire 469 miles of the parkway from Shenandoah National Park to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.)  We prefer the slower pace of 35 - 40 mph and the absence of 18-wheelers with lovely scenic views around every bend.

Under the Roanoke River Bridge

Kris was given a book about trails by grandson Caleb for Mother's Day so a stop along the Parkway

where the AT crosses was a fun photo op.

Several weeks before Mother's Day, we made camping reservations at Pine Grove Furnace State Park in Pennsylvania.  As I later learned, the AT passes through this park and is the location of the Appalachian Trail Museum, the only museum in the country dedicated to hiking.  It is also the midpoint of the entire AT. Serendipity is a beautiful thing!

Old sign from the northern terminus at Mount Katahdin, Maine.  A newer one is there now.

An original trail shelter that was taken apart and moved to the museum.

We encountered this gentleman at Mile 0 of the Blue Ridge Parkway.  He is a "through-hiker"

 and left Georgia on March 20.  He graciously allowed us to take this photo.