Gottawannaneedagettahava

Right there - where the dark green and light green meet. That is the Cumberland Gap.

We were in the Cumberland Gap National Park information center when I took this. It was all very informative - including dioramas! Very Natural History museum-ish. This one depicts Daniel Boone and his group of 30 men heading westward.

Now we're in Virginia; now we're in Kentucky!

Alex on the Wilderness trail. This plaque lets you know you are there...

For some reason, this photo screams American Road Trip for me. 

Monday, June 30, 2008

Stats for today. 320 miles. 7 hours. Luray, VA to Middlesboro, KY.

Here are some notes from the road.

The reality of this road trip is fully upon us now. We’ve been traveling for three hours now, and we are still not out of Virginia. The kids are somewhat subdued – we’ve listened to the family’s choice – The Beatles, and then Eleni’s choice – Walt Disney Princess CD (It’s a present from a well meaning friend for Eleni, and she adores it. The rest of us are questioning this democratic approach to listening to music as we might slowly go insane listening to this CD. We’ll see.). Now we are listening to an audio book, Cat and Mouse in a Haunted House from the Geronimo Stilton series. Good times.

And, yes, we are fully hydrated!

We left Luray on route 211 East, and saw lovely wildflowers on the roadside. Black-eyed Susans and Queen Anne’s Lace. As we traveled east through the town of New Market (established 1786) we saw more haystacks, several Civil War markers, and thankfully, we witnessed Bambi and his father crossing the street. Route 81 South is an interstate highway, and we’ll be here on 81 South until exit 1 in VA. Route 81 begins at Lake Ontario and ends near Davy Crockett’s birthplace in Tennessee. I’m not sure we are headed that far south today. Although, we’ll see. We haven’t decided yet. Nevertheless, it’s beautiful. We have the mountains on either side of us, and we’ve run mostly parallel with Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway.

Intermittent showers. Who knew you could occupy time by contesting who has more raindrops on their side of the car?

Alex, “Wanna know something? I think road trips are called road trips because you are always on the road.”

Road closed in Roanoke. Detour via route 11/460 West. We found Bojangles in Salem. Bojangles appears to be a southern equivalent to McDonalds except they specialize in biscuits and we met the friendliest people there (workers and customers). Alex and Eleni had their first southern biscuits – complete with loads of butter and salt. Neil had a sweet potato pie biscuit that mysteriously disappeared before I had a chance to try it. Hmmm...maybe what their advertisement said is true. Here is their placemat:

Gottawannaneedagettahava – 1. n. A word used to describe the deep, powerful undeniable craving one feels for and only for Bo jangles’ because of its distinct, mad-from-scratch flavor; 2. v. Expressing a resolute course of action: < .e. Every night on my way home from work, I stop by Bojangles; and pick up a 12 piece chicken meal with a few extra flaky buttermilk biscuits, otherwise my family will gottawannaneedagettahava my hide. >

Right. I do hope this chain makes it, though. While I don’t know if this word will make it into the mainstream, they really were kind.

Take me home, country roads, to the place I belong. West Virginia, Mountain Mamma, take me home, country roads. All my memories gather round me…Blue Ridge mountains, Shenandoah river. Yes, my turn for music choice. Good ol’ John Denver.

We stayed on route 81 all the way to Bristol and then went west on Route 58 West. This is also called Daniel Boone’s Trail or Wilderness Road. There are a few shops that seem to cater to this, but not as many as I thought might. We followed it through Gate City and through some great Appalachia back roads. Some rain, some sun, some laundry out to dry, some cows, several deserted barns, trailers, abandoned store fronts, custard stands, and a stop at a gas station for ice-cream.

We’ve seen some signs that we don’t usually see in New Jersey.

We saw these signs outside Churches –

“This Church is prayer conditioned”
“Love thy neighbor. Yes, I mean it. – God”
“Have Jesus in your heart, not just on your tongue”
“Friends don’t let friends die without Jesus.”
“Money can buy a watch but not time”

And a bumper sticker –

“My wife – yes
My dog – maybe
My gun – never!”

Outside a restaurant –

“National Corn Dog month – 2 for $1.39”

Billboard –

“Frontier Firearms – Guns! Guns! Guns!”

25 East takes us from VA to Kentucky! They take the Cumberland tunnel pretty seriously – we were behind a truck with some Hazardous Materials (referred to as HAZ MAT by the man who answered our question as to why we were stopped mid highway). Everyone had to clear out so that the HAZ MAT truck could be escorted through the tunnel by a special HAZ MAT escorting truck. This took about 10 minutes.

You are in Kentucky soon after you get through the tunnel. None of us has been in Kentucky before – and here we are…exciting! We stopped at the Cumberland Gap National Park and read about all of the different travelers who passed through the Gap. I’m actually not embarrassed to admit that I got a bit giddy over the whole thing. Here was history coming alive for me….

While I was pouring over the history, Ranger Matthew filled Neil in on the doable toddler activities. So, after making our mark on the museum (Eleni pulled every stuffed animal out of the basket in the gift shop), we went to the Pinnacle. From a short walk to the Pinnacle, you can see Kentucky, VA, and Tennessee. You can also see the pass that Daniel Boone and co. walked through. This was all too much for me. I actually thought that the whole road trip USA gig we are on was worth it just for this. You can even put your feet on either side of VA and KY. Now, I know that there are other spots in the USA and the world where you can do this, but this was a huge moment in the life of a 7 and 3 year old!

Why is the Cumberland Gap so significant? It’s one of the few natural corridors through the Appalachian Mountains. You go through the Cumberland Gap and then the Narrows and then into the Kentucky Bluegrass country and then the Ohio River Valley (If any of my 7th graders are reading this – you know how vital the Ohio River Valley can be!). Many Native Americans knew this route and traded between the two passes, but it wasn’t until the 1750s that a white man explored the gap. It became famous for American colonists when Daniel Boone headed west with 30 men on what is now known as the Wilderness Trail (yes – what we were on today!) in 1775. After that, the floodgates really opened to the west or at least into Kentucky. Lewis and Clark both walked this trail (backwards actually – it was on their return home). And, in 2008, Alex and I walked a bit of it.

Dinner. Motel. We parked right outside our room. Pool time. Sleep…