Drive from Houston to Pittsburgh - "The Departure"

5-27-2010 Close on house (sold finally!) (see last post for house details)
5-28-2010 Quit job and leave town for Pittsburgh (and beyond!)  :-)

This was a 4-5 day journey with very little pre-planning (30 minutes), an iPhone, and a laid back schedule.  I enjoyed it, and learned a bit about the benefits of pre-planning :-)  (after sleeping in a rest area with a car packed so full i couldn't put my seat back).  I thank God for a safe trip and some solid memories :-)

The Journey Begins: (headed to Tyler State park for some biking)

Tyler State Park

(my car was so packed, that when I opened the door, all this junk fell out.)

I got a good ride in though :-) big fun.

I stopped at a local diner (after sleeping in a rest stop) for some grub.
A pretty solid thunderstorm came through and I really enjoyed
sitting on the patio listening / watching / feeling the storm.

The Natchez Trace Parkway: I took a brief sidetrail along the "old" parkway.
It was nice and relaxing, a windy road through the woods.

Supposedly the whole parkway used to be like this!  (now it's a bit wider)

Along the Blue Mountain Parkway: A nice man named Elliot was out taking pictures, and kindly took my picture too :-)  We talked for about an hour about the way people, cameras, cars, and bikes work, and I believe we both enjoyed the company & conversation.  Then we went on our way.

That night, I ended up driving through fog at 20 mph for 2 hours (frown face) and finally stumbled upon some campers (2 girls with dogs hiking in about a mile to a waterfall).  So, I asked for some advice on where to sleep (i was pretty exhausted).  They told me to hike down a trail for about 1/2 a mile through bear infested woods to a field and "camp anywhere."  I felt like a big baby whistling and singing to myself to comfort myself.  Then I woke up and took a picture of where I had slept:

Somewhere in Virginia on the Blue Mountain Parkway:
I went biking and got caught in an afternoon thunderstorm.
Good trails & nice rain to cool me off.  :-) Another good ride.
I got sick of being constantly wet though, and drove all the way to Pittsburgh after
this so i could sleep in a dry place and put on clean (dry) clothes.