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Home > Close-Ups > The Best and Worst of My 2001 US Trip
The Best and Worst of
My 2001 Trip Around the U.S.
December 3, 2001: Bellingham, Washington
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Best Experience:
I've had a lot of great experiences on my 2001 trip around America, including visiting numerous friends and
relatives around the country, of course. But the single best experience was meeting a spry 87-year-old
woman in North Dakota named Hester Bailey. As I discovered, Hester was a former student of my grandmother
Helga's when Hester was in kindergarten in 1921. Hester told me a lot of
stories about my grandmother Helga. I never knew my grandmother Helga, who passed away in
1964, so it was really interesting to meet Hester and talk to her about my ancestors.
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Other Great Experiences:
Doing genealogical research in North Dakota, Massachusetts and Michigan and meeting a lot of wonderful people, including
an ebullient woman in Bismarck named Bernie Swang whom I may or may not be related to. Also, receiving e-mails from folks I've
never met but who are following my website, and getting a full-day tour of the Civil War battlefields in Mississippi from Tommy,
a historian I met in Corinth, Mississippi.
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Most Pleasantly Surprising City:
Knoxville, Tennessee. I had never been to Knoxville before this trip and discovered that it's a real gem.
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Most Pleasantly Surprising Town: Jonesboro, Tennessee.
Jonesboro is the oldest city in Tennessee and is lined with lots of interesting old historic
buildings. Second place goes to Webster, South Dakota. I spent a
week in this area and the people there were incredibly friendly and helpful.
Greeneville, Tennessee was also a very interesting town with lots of nice folks.
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Most Interesting City: Boston, Massachusetts, a place I'd like to move to... if only it were out West!
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Most Disappointing City: Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (tie),
near Great Smoky Mountains National Park. These are the tackiest cities I've ever seen – in my entire life.
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Most Disappointing National Park:
Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee and North Carolina. It wasn't nearly as beautiful as I had imagined and, even worse,
it was jammed with tourists.
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Worst Frustration:
Not being able to spend more time updating my website because I've been traveling so much. I promise to do better in Australia!
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Best Night:
Camping in my truck while overlooking the beautiful and desolate Clay
Canyon in southeastern Utah, and being the only person within hundreds of square
miles. Second place: Camping on my great-great-grandfather's former
homestead, on the desolate prairies of northeastern South Dakota.
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Worst Night:
Sleeping in a pool of sweat during a hot and steamy evening in mosquito-filled
Harold Parker State Park north of Boston, when the temperature dropped only to
82 degrees.
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Biggest Regret:
Not visiting Colorado, where I worked for six years as a ranger during the 1980s.
It was just getting too late in the season and I was anxious to get back to Washington.
Maybe next summer?
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Best E-mails:
I enjoy getting e-mails from everyone, but the best
e-mails I get are probably from those people who don't know me and have written
to tell me how much they enjoy reading my website. The website is a
pain-in-the-neck sometimes, but it's worth it when I get nice, unsolicited
e-mails (or even solicited e-mails).
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Most Pleasantly Surprising Campground:
Beartree Campground in the Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area, Virginia. Without a doubt, this is
one of the nicest campgrounds I've ever stayed at. There's lots of privacy between sites,
small creeks run throughout the campground, and, at 3,000 feet in elevation,
it's high enough so you can avoid the sweltering summer heat.
Runner-up: Fort Sisseton State Park near Lake City, South Dakota.
It's fairly small and open, but affords sweeping vistas of the prairie and, best
of all, is usually empty.
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Creepiest Experience:
Visiting the desolate, 19th-century Rocky Springs cemetery along the
Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi one rainy morning in June. I heard a
conversation in the nearby church only to find, upon opening the doors, that the
church was totally empty. The second creepiest experience: Hitting my golf
ball and watching it stop 20 feet from the hole at an empty San Diego golf course one afternoon. When I got to
the green, the ball was gone – totally gone. My golfing companion, Troy, was just as stunned as I was.
The third creepiest experience: Hearing Navajo chanting and drumming at Muley Point Overlook
in southern Utah, miles from the nearest person. Too many donuts, I guess!
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