Fort Worth

I was changing my socks when I told Skye to get out of the car and see why all the tourists were taking pictures. After being yelled at by cowboys riding horses wielding lassos, we had a clearer idea.

We followed the long horn to their pens.



We certainly do like to mess with nature, don't we.


When I was growing up I got my learning permit for driving when I was 15. I taught myself how to drive a stick shift and when I was 16, my parents thought it would be a good idea for me to visit my grandparents who lived in Stephenville, close to Fort Worth.

Being as rebellious and as independent as I was I was all in.

I think that it planted a seed for a love of the road that continues to thrive to this day.

Anyhow, at the time I also had a lust for steak. And it was always properly quenched in the stockyards of Fort Worth.



I remember this place from my youthful travels.

This time around was no different, unless nausea and hot flashes are normal reactions to lunch.





They openly and proudly advertise their "Fat" bulls.

They also promote their stock being "corn fed" which has become such a no, no, since cattle are not supposed to eat grain, they're just not built for it, but oh well, too bad for them.

Celebration???

I was not the best example of "sportsmanship" for Skye after taking a 30 minute deduction at the GUR in Dallas. I was cool and not crazy upset, but she had just put in several miles of running and my obvious frustration with our placing, due to a stupid oops by another team did not help make her feel positive about the race experience. So to try to balance this we headed of to the Texas State Fair, the largest event of its kind in the entire country.

I DON'T LIKE FAIRS.

I DON'T LIKE CROWDS!!!

I AM BY FAR THE MOST SOCIAL MISANTHROPE I KNOW.

That is probably the most significant proof of my love for Cindy Carr.

BTW she hates fairs too!

Skye at age 11 loves them.





This was the first attraction we came upon, a slovenly(not his fault) immense pig of something like 1700 lbs, again I am not sure of the weight but the pig was BIG!!!!




OK the view from America's biggest Ferris wheel was incredible, I suppose the the distance makes fat Americans seem smaller.



Yes incredible.

And then the rest of the fair happened.






Celebrating, after a pig race, America knows how to have fun!!!!



"For me this fair SUCKS!!!!"




There were not a lot of people attending the R & B session.



FRY FUCK

Everything that is edible apparently can be fried, including butter, which by the way won the most creative use of frying. How bout fried liposuction, that would be in the spirit, no?

While in line for parking, I realized that I had not put the rain fly on our tent. I realized this because it was raining.

But maybe it wasn't raining at the camp ground.

Why wouldn't it be raining there?

No reason, which is why it did rain there.



It sure seemed like the perfect camping site.



This was the morning after. We got the rain fly on and the damage was not too bad, I had laid our towels over the top of the tent so that they could dry, ha ha ha.




Coming out, one foot at a time.

Actually we got pretty drenched. It rained all night and we were literally sleeping in puddles.

It would end up taking days to dry out.

Luckily were headed out west, to deserts and there lack of humidity.

The Great Urban Race--Dallas

We arrived early to the race, the Great Urban Race Dallas headquartered at Dick's Last Resort, but not nearly as early as we thought we'd be. Here we are posing at the finish line before the race, sporting our matching gear(T's and socks) purchased days ago from Mellow Johnnys, Lance Armstrong's bike shop in Austin.



You know it's going to be a crazy day when you can take a picture of a tennis ball and racket taking pictures of a bunch of gnomes in a bar before noon, you can quote me on this.



Gnomes on a day off.



Apparently the beers in their bonnets were just props, either that or they're quadropble fisting, either way, pretty impressive pre-race hydration techniques.



Yeah, it looked to be a pretty interesting event, remember this is before the race.



Is that Skye at the bar???



She got 86'd after her second round.

Totally kidding, she is outside waiting for the race to begin as I made my way to grab the race clues. We were ready to run.



This is our second pic with this guy. Our first didn't show the Segway he was on. This should have been an early warning.



We had no idea which clue we were posing for but obviously it was one on the course.

As far as these races go, this one was very much of a sprint, it was over before we knew it. This left very little room for error and made every second count. We had some technical problems early on.



At this point, well into the race we still didn't have a real game plan. This was very atypical for me. The race was short, not geographically or physically challenging, because Cindy was working, we were reliant on one of her co-workers who was great at the clues but because he had never done anything like this he could not help formulate an over all game plan. For me it was frustrating, we never had a race imposed public transportation "break" where we could check the clue sheet and organize.

It was different from other races in that most of the questions could be answered without support. In 20/20 hindsight we would have been better served trying to map the course ourselves but like I said that is 20/20 hindsight.



Skye is an amazing teammate. She keeps her attitude as high as she can. I am always so proud of her.




We finally found a "U" on a license plate. As far as we were concerned this was our the missing piece in our race puzzle. We sprinted for the finish line. I ended up carrying Skye on my back in the final blocks, passing racers in their twenties.

Yeah I am all that.

My legs were burning. Sprinting with 100 lbs on one's back, has its consequence. I ground my teeth and pushed. I did pass teams with Skye on my back. For me it is less about beating others and more about how far I can push myself. But it does feel nice to win.

When we checked our pics and clues with the officials, we found we were missing a picture that another team took for us or didn't as the case may be. I was pretty pissed and didn't do a great job concealing this to Skye(We would end up going to the Texas State Fair as due penance). My legs were full of lactic acid and I watched as team after team checked in, knowing we would be placed behind them because of our time deduction even though we "should" have been in front of them. Well we needed to double check our photos. Tough lesson to learn.

Ironic.

When Kip and I raced, I insisted on covering ourselves in case of such an error. That cost us first place, we ended up out of contention with a four spot. We would have easily taken first had I not made us hit every obstacle and here we were in Dallas taking a 30 minute hit because I didn't check our photos and we skipped an obstacle because of time constraints.

Yes, Ironic.

Hiding in Plain Site

What a Difference a Week Makes
A week ago, I was posting from a motel in Texas. I went to the major chains at first, the rates were "fair" and typical and to me overpriced, but we persisted and found a family run joint. The receptionist was Indian(from the country of India not native American), pregnant with a toddler constantly underfoot, with a thick Texan accent. Her husband, also Indian meanwhile was on the phone with another guest helping them connect to the internet. We were still wet from the drenching we received the night before in Dallas, but I realize, I am jumping ahead of myself.....


Leaving Family, Finding Family
The above description of just one of our on-road, cross country experiences that could not have happened until recent years helps illustrate the changes that are happening right now and the implications are ????? We really can't and don't know.
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We awoke early on Oct. 2, a Friday. Our wonderful host, "Breezy"(I still am struggling with the who's and what's to blog when including people's beyond myself and very immediate family, and even with that I must always weigh my boundaries), a friend I have worked on more films with than anybody except Cindy, was still asleep and I opted to let him sleep in.

Skye and I retraced our steps as it were and headed east from Shreveport to bag another "High Point". After several missteps we found Louisiana's highest point, a mud soaked tramp to Driskill Mountain, elevation 535 ft.



Unlike yesterday's highpoint, Louisiana's claim to fame was incredibly well documented and well marked.



A well marked trail, that warns of false summits and gives detailed history of the property and "high point".



One more high point grabbed. Onto Dallas and our "BIG" race.

We cruised into the Big D, and headed downtown to what would be the start of our race. A rather cheesy, although completely warm and inviting semi-chain establishment, Dick's Last Resort. Yes the double entendres were constant and free-flowing. I had some of the local beer and then we went off on our recon mission.

Within minutes we hit up the Dallas tourist center for a bunch of maps and such and then we stumbled on the "Sixth Floor Museum" Kennedy had been killed here. It struck me like a ton of bricks. Skye and I discussed that event, Gandhi, the assassinations of RFK, MLK and Malcom X. And yes, the possibility of an Obama assassination. This was an incredibly rewarding turn of events as far as home school learning was concerned but unfortunately, we were losing light and needed to find a campsite and set up our tent.

Cedar Hill State Park

Texas has an incredible state park system, and Cedar Hill was no exception. Probably fifteen minutes from downtown Dallas, this park has it all and was an oasis for us. We pitched our tent and ventured into the environs which netted us with the audio text of Twilight at the local Barnes and Noble.

After listening to the first chapter of what would become Skye's obsession. We tucked in for the night. On the morn, we came upon a little biology lesson of camoflouge.





Nature amazes and yet too often takes second seat.

Too Much See, Too Little Time

We headed off wishing we could spend more time with the cousins, but also looking forward to grabbing a couple more "High Points". We had to decide whether to go through Memphis, where we could check out Graceland, but more importantly grab some delicious ribs which Uncle Mace made sound oh so delectable or swing south into Mississippi and climb Woodall Mtn, Elev. 806 ft, to stand atop it's highest summit.

Ain't No Mountain Tall Enough

Our latest quest won out and in true Danniells fashion we were poking around the back roads of rural Mississippi. We finally found signs, leading to a gravel road that seemed to "climb" to a summit.


We past this sign at first because we came at it from the other direction. It was a one-sided sign so you can understand the error.



The next sign was easier to find, but did little to convey any level of significance to summit.



But once we got there, we couldn't find anything that said highest point or even Woodall Mountain.



I took lots of pics and today went onto the High Point website and did confirm that indeed the almost unmarked circular drive was indeed the highest point in Mississippi. Apparently they had more important things to spend the state's budget on.

Mississippi

Our first drive through Mississippi was through it's heel and took like 15 minutes to drive. OK, an exaggeration, but today we started across it top to bottom, actually top to half-way down. Because of our high point detour we ended up on various smaller highways and by-ways, including the Natchez Trace Parkway. Unfortunately as beautiful as it was and it was really gorgeous, we really didn't have time to meander, we were supposed to get to Shreveport to have dinner with friends. Friends who by the way put us up in their apartment in New Orleans and were offering us another night's stay in Shreveport where he was working on a movie. Also right off the highway along the way was Louisiana's high point. There was no time to lose.

Vicksburg National Military Park

We had held off having lunch as long as we could. We thought we'd grab a bite in Jackson but ended up jumping on a highway that circumvented the city and on the outskirts of town was nothing worth stopping for, at least not what we could see from the highway at 80 mph.

We pulled off at Vicksburg, desperately needing to eat, but the first thing of the highway was a Civil War memorial boasting the National Park Shield. Well since I had paid for the year membership and it was coming close to expiration I decided to squeeze a bit more out.

We flashed the card, got in for free and before we knew it we were on a one-way road on a 16 mile driving tour of an incredible battlefield. The park was about to close and we were still way behind schedule, but this memorial was awesome. It helped flame an interest in the Civil War for Skye that had been sparked in Atlanta at the Cyclorama. This was just much grander, more real and full of magnificent monuments and canons and the wow, it was awesome and frightening, very, very thought provoking.



Skye dwarfed by one of the many memorials.



This one honored the soldiers were from Wisconsin.



When we traveled through Ireland and Spain and Skye was but a toddler, I have series of shots with her and canons. This is sort of a continuation.



Headed towards the visitor's center to get an idea of what we had just witnessed.

After short-cutting the battlefield, we raced into and through the visitor's center(something I had not planned to do). Our appetites had taken a backseat to history and we were better off for it, no doubt. So we made due with our bag of snacks and water.

We had to skip the Louisiana high point, but since it was so close to Shreveport, we planned to come back for it in the morning, regardless of how much I hate to backtrack.

The evening ended with a wonderful evening out with old pals, reminiscing over the many times we'd worked together, wonderful tales, but a tad boring for Skye.

I have stayed up too late tonight working on this blog, so must go

On the Road Again

How This Trip Came to Be, How It Took Shape, and What May Be Left Ahead

When Cindy started her current job we kind of figured that she'd probably come home once(we opted to meet up in San Francisco for a friends wedding instead) and that Skye and I would come out and visit. I got the notion that it would make for a great home school educational experience to drive out, and that if we took the Prius and camped out or crashed at friends and family houses along the way the cost difference between that and flying would be close enough to justify.

Well I haven't worked out the finances, but the trip has been priceless, so I guess that we struck a pretty good bargain, all things considered. That being said, we still had duties and obligations back home; house and garden, pets; demanding hobbies and interests; ie juijitsu, aerial arts, capoiera, girl scouts, just to name a few and then of course all of our friends we would be missing, so the trip couldn't go on indefinitely. Our date to leave was settled on roughly how soon after the SDSA Emmy party I could have the house in order and us ready for the road and then our arrival and departure to and from Cindy and Atlanta, took the form of a race, that I signed us up for weeks and weeks ago, cause I thought it would be fun, the Great Urban Race in Dallas on Oct. 3.

Our return revolved around getting to the Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Festival before it was over on Oct. 11. Other than that we had no schedule or itinerary.

Along the way, namely when we veered of course to tag Florida and then further of course to see it's highest point, we took on a new hobby/distraction, that of reaching the highest point in elevation in each of the 50 states. (Not all on this trip of course)

Wednesday, Sept 30--Some High Points Along the Way

With more than a little sadness, we left Atlanta and Cindy on Wednesday morning, but in an attempt not to dwell on it too much and get us down, we turned our sights to Brasstown Bald, Georgia's highest point at 4,784 ft. On the map it didn't look very far from Atlanta and not really that far out of the way.

Skye was back asleep after less than an hour into the drive. I was soon winding my way through some amazing mountains and not making nearly the time I had hoped to, but what an incredible drive it was.



A view of the summit from the parking lot.

Skye woke up a little before we got to the parking lot and was a little groggy for the 1/2 mile climb up. When we got to the summit, I was ready to get a quick photo, take in the view, and turn around straight away and hit the road, but one of the rangers liked to talk, and talk and talk, and I didn't want to be rude. So we ended up burning more time than I anticipated.




Peaked another summit.



The views were incredible, well worth the climb.

We practically ran down the mountain, attempting to make up for lost time.

Family Here We Come
Cindy's mom, as well as her sister Amy and her family live in Nashville which is pretty much on the way to Dallas from Atlanta, or at least close enough that there would be no way we would miss the opportunity to swing by and see them, as brief as a visit as it may be.

As long as we were headed that way, we might as well grab another high point, this one would be in Tennesse, Clingman's Dome, 6,643 ft, right on the border of North Carolina and in the middle of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

I'd never been to the park, but had read, heard, seen pictures, etc and knew we couldn't go wrong with the detour. I also read about its high concentration of black bears and told Skye we might see one. She didn't believe me.




You can sort of make out the bear. Skye took the picture, from like 30 ft away. There was a traffic jam of tourist snapping photos, so Skye jumped out and took some shots as well. It was her first wild bear sighting ever, so she was more than a bit excited, actually crazy jazzed by it. So needless to say, getting a great photo was not the biggest priority.




My own wildlife sighting less than a 1/2 mile after we saw the bear. Not nearly as impressive, I know.



It's a bird, it's a plane, oh, it is a bird, but a bald eagle, mind you. We actually saw him from atop Clingman's Dome. He was catching a thermal, taking him far and quickly away from us. Skye at least has a bird in her shot, mine was nothing but blue sky.



There you have it, another amazing view and another "High Point"



"Proof" we were both actually there, even if it does look like we photo shopped ourselves in. C'mon if we did that, don't you think I would have kept Skye's beautiful smile in.






Skye way up high in the sky!!!



We also hiked a portion of the Appalacian Trail, something I have always wanted to do, granted I wanted to hike more than a tenth of a mile of it. Gotta save that for another trip.

Speaking of saving it for another trip; we're going to have to come back and give the Great Smoky Mountains the time it truly deserves. It is an amazing national park that we sped through.

This trip is becoming a sampler platter for discovering America. One day we're immersed in the Civil War or the Civil Rights Movement or the Western Expansion, then we're exploring our National Parks and all the while trying to take in regional flavors. Add to that trying to see friends and family.
Yes, I know I take on way too much.

Viva Las Vegas?

When did the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains become Appalacian Vegas? I was in shock at how built up and "glitzy" it was as we left the park and start towards Nashville.







Just a few of the dozens of "attraction" vying for tourist dollars.

We had to pass on "High Points" in North Carolina and Kentucky. They were very close, very tempting and would have been nice to add to our list, but as it was we got to Nashville with just enough time to briefly visit with Cindy's mom and then crash her sister Amy's family dinner, hang out and briefly bond, lay down our heads for the night and then leave with them in the morning. They headed of to school as did we, just a different kind of school.