In the POD - Petrified Forest National Park

Blue Mesa

Petrified Forest National Park 

I did not expect this! 

At over 220,000 acres, Petrified Forest National Park is one of the best places to see fossils from the Late Triassic Period - remnants of prehistoric forests that are now petrified wood. But there is so much more to see and explore here. There is one road through  the park - a 28 mile meander through what looks like another world, a foreign landscape of painted desert, grasslands, Native American ruins, and the “forests” of petrified wood. It was stunning.

 

The painted desert 

Petrified Forest National Park

When one first enters the park on the northern edge there are many pull outs to enjoy the vistas of the painted desert. Sprawling out in front of you - and below - it is difficult to get a sense of scale and distance. The colors pop and I’m sure that, depending on the light/ time of day it becomes a never ending changing canvas of colors. 

2 happy campers! 

Heading south you pass through sprawling grasslands eventually coming upon Puerco Pueblo. These archeological ruins are the ancestral home of native people who lived and thrived here between 1250 and 1380 CE. Both at this site and at another in the park there are over 650 petroglyphs! Tim and I kept coming back to the history we have witnessed over the past week ….. we are neither the first, nor the last. We share this world - whatever your world is - with a past. And that past is history that needs to be acknowledged. 

Petroglyphs 

From there you drive through another painted desert -  The Blue Mesa - however this one is mostly blues and purples! There is a beautiful 1 mile trail down into the badlands and you begin to see the colorful remnants of the petrified wood that is the namesake of the park. 

Overlooking Blue Mesa

At two other stops along the route -  Jasper Forest and Crystal Forest - there are the greatest concentrations of petrified wood. In Crystal Forest there is another 1 mile loop trail that takes you among a “forest” of these specimens. 

Petrified logs

So how did these trees become petrified-  basically turning them into rocks? First a bit of history- 225 million years ago this area of the SW was a tropical landscape with abundant vegetation and giant conifer trees that reached 180 feet. When those huge trees fell along the banks of the many rivers it was buried under sand and mud. This deep burial seals it away from oxygen and bacteria preventing decay. Eventually, silica from volcanic ash in the groundwater infiltrates the tree replacing the organic matter with quartz….. hence, petrified. Different minerals in the water create a rainbow of colors that can be seen in many of the pieces. These petrified specimens are stunningly beautiful- from tiny shards to massive trunks that are strewn across the landscape.

Gemlike colors!

For scale…

It was a very full day! We slept well that night- lulled to sleep by the sound of trains passing in the distance. It is a sound that we both love…..

When I awoke there was a dense, cold fog laying over us. As I looked out the window all I could see was the headlight of the train in the distance, coming our way. 

Heading westward.

In the POD - Tulsa and the Trail of Tears

Lake Dardanelle State Park

Russellville, AR

In 1838 over 16,000 Native Americans were forcibly removed from their homes and lands and marched 1600 miles to Oklahoma for “re-settlement”. Indian removal was a priority for President Andrew Jackson and  along  this “Trail of Tears” many perished. It was not the first, or the last, indignity that white people have perpetrated upon people of color.

Beginning with our visit to the Legacy Museum and our drive over the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, AL we have felt the tugs of history all around us. Those tugs are not pretty….. but we must acknowledge the past and face it head on. 

 I had planned some of our stops on this southern route but I did not see them as “thematic” in any way….just places I wanted to see.  However, as we continued our drive west along Route 40 from Tulsa, Tim asked if we were actually on our own “trail of tears”. Maybe the political backdrop, the cultural reckoning……played into my choices… not sure. But here we are. And we are learning something new at every stop.

We left Fayetteville, AR the day after a snow/ice storm. In these parts there are no plows so everyone just settles in and waits. Actually, kind of a wonderful response…. Slow down, take it easy, no rush.

We had planned a stop in Tulsa, OK to visit the Woody Guthrie Center. Opened in 2013, this museum and research center is located in the arts district of downtown Tulsa. - vibrant and very interesting area.

Woody Guthrie Center

Tulsa, OK

We all know (some of) Woody Guthrie’s music and the influence he had on so many folk artists that followed but I did not know that he was also an artist, that his father was a member of the KKK, that he was under surveillance by the FBI, that he died at 55 from complications from Huntington’s disease, and…. that at one point he lived in housing managed by Fred Trump! 

“Oh the tangled webs we weave….”

Beech House Ain’t My Home

Woody Guthrie wrote over 3,000 songs in this lifetime - although only a few were recorded. He sang/spoke to the disenfranchised and was a committed activist. 

Let’s all be more like Woody. 

We then made our way down the street a few blocks and visited Greenwood Rising. Opened in August of 2021, this museum and history center is located at the corner of Greenwood Ave and Archer St - the center of Tulsa’s historic Black district. It is also the district that once was called “Black Wall Street” because it was the home of a thriving and successful Black community that put down roots after the Civil War and continued to prosper into the 20th century. 

In 1921 the entire area was burned to the ground by their (across the tracks) white neighbors. The Tulsa Race Massacre was not acknowledged for many years, it was not taught. 

The Greenwood Rising commission had its birth in 2015 with the goal of establishing this center and legacy on its 100 year anniversary. It accomplished that goal and continues in their efforts to revitalize this area, speak the truth, and foster local entrepreneurship.

It is working. 

We drove west out of Tulsa and truthfully, in my mind, there is no real reason to stop until one enters New Mexico. Sorry, but I speak my truth. The rolling hills of Oklahoma slowly become flattened as one crosses the Texas panhandle. From there it is flat…. Flat…..flat until approximately 20 miles from the New Mexico border and the hills reappear and slowly rise to become mesas (hills with their tops cut off!). 

It is a  spectacular moment. And for some reason, at least for me, the sky just gets much bigger than it had been. 

In the high desert of New Mexico it is currently 39 degrees. But with that big sky and a full sun a sweatshirt is all I need. 

Tucumcari, NM

 

In the POD - Arkansas, museums and family

 

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

Bentonville, AR

 Founded by philanthropist and arts patron Alice Walton, Crystal Bridges opened on November 11, 2011, and welcomes all with free admission. Set over a natural spring by the same name the museum sits seamlessly in the environment built with materials that will patina and age along with its natural surroundings. The permanent collection spans 5 centuries of American art and is committed to telling broad and inclusive stories by acquiring and showcasing the highest quality works by artists underrepresented in art history. And let me tell you - they do that perfectly. 

This museum has been on my list for a number of years… but being tucked away in the NW .corner of Arkansas made it a seemingly difficult visit. Truthfully, there was nothing else around. However, this year, another year of Covid, another year of not traveling made me realize that we had to do this…. Now. 

And I am so glad that we did! The grounds, the architecture of the museum itself, it’s connection to the area, and, of course the art itself is stunning. 

Our Town

Kerry James Marshall

Pink Bird Figure II

Helen Frankenthaler

There were so many amazing artists represented that I did not know (notes written to learn about) and many artists that I did know of, and yet I had not seen these pieces. The flow/curation of the museum, as well as the documentation, was well presented making for a wonderful experience. 

The Reader

Emma Amos

Number 184T

Leonardo Drew

Ambulance Call

Jacob Lawrence 

Untitled

Felrath Hines

All I can say is that this was a perfect day. Enough for one’s eyes and enough for one’s soul.

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For the two (plus) days we were in the Fayetteville, AR area we visited with Tim’s niece Sierra, her husband Christopher, their 3 year old, Simon and her in laws, Tracy and Michael. Hats off to the Beckers family for opening their home, their lives, their kitchen, and their hearts! We waltzed into a beautiful family dynamic and the music never stopped…….. thank you so much! ❤️❤️❤️

In the POD - Hot Springs National Park

 

Hot Springs!

Hot Springs National Park was designated as a National park in 1921. It’s 5,500 acres of forested mountains surround the downtown area of the city of Hot Springs, Arkansas - creating a true urban park.

In the early 1800’s explorers in the Ouachita Mountains were told of the hot waters that people would soak in to “recover their health” and in 1832 Congress declared a four square mile reservation to protect the water for public use. By the late 1860’s  the area began to draw many people lured by the promise of improved health and at the turn of the century Hot Springs was among the most visited health resorts in the U.S. boasting many fine hotels and opulent bathhouses. Today there are 9 remaining bathhouse buildings - most repurposed. 

We visited the Fordyce Bathhouse which is now the park’s visitor center. Built in 1915 this elegant building houses, as a museum, separate men’s and women’s baths, dressing rooms, massage rooms, a gymnasium and social areas set up to recreate what it looked like in its heyday. The men’s bathing area features a large domed stained glass ceiling with a sculpture of Hernando DeSoto and an “Indian” maiden as the room’s centerpiece. Questionable at best…. Needless to say, the women’s  bathing area was quite utilitarian. 

Fordyce Bathhouse men’s bathing area

We were scheduled to have hot spring baths and massages at the Buckstaff Baths, the only bathhouse on the row to operate continuously for over a century, but our reservations were canceled at the last minute due to Covid. 

Buckstaff Baths

We did, however, find a bathhouse that offered us something that made us both quite happy. Superior Bathouse Brewery! Yes! The only brewery located within a national park, it occupies one of the remaining bathhouses, and it uses the park’s thermal spring water as their main ingredient. Okay…. So instead of sitting in the thermal water we drank it and instead of getting a massage we drank it! 

All good.

Superior Bathhouse Brewery

As one enters the park on foot, running behind the row of bathhouses, there is the Grand Promenade. Wide, bricked and surrounded by plantings this walkway was the outdoor accompaniment to the indoor “health restorative”. The promenade is .5 miles one way and is the entry point for many of the trails that run up into the park. There is also a one way loop drive inside the park to the top of Hot Springs Mountain. Along the drive there are occasional pull outs for additional access to the many trails within. 

The Grand Promenade 

The loop road was steep and winding (similar to most of the roads we have encountered here in Arkansas!) Near the top there is a tower that will carry you up 216 feet to an observation deck for views of Hot Springs Mountain and the vast Ouachita Mountains. It’s an approximate 1.5 mile trail hike to the tower from the park entrance. It was difficult to get any good pictures inside the park because the trails are all quite narrow and tree lined.

The most amazing thing about this park is the geology. Unlike many hot springs - like Iceland, which are volcanic in nature - the springs here are created by a complex system of of faults and fractures in the rocks. Rain and snow trickle into cracks of brittle rock ( novaculite and chert). Gravity pulls the water downward into the earths’s crust and the water’s temperature increases with the depth. When the water eventually reaches a major fault on Hot Springs Mountain, pressure propels it back upward. Through carbon dating experts have determined that it takes almost 4,500 YEARS for the water to complete this journey! It emerges from the springs at @ 143 degrees F. 

Wow! 

Most of the hot springs within the park have been capped/covered since the turn of the century in order to protect them from contamination, however, there are 4 on display along Bathhouse Row where you can touch the water. There’s are also 3 additional thermal spring fountains and 2 cold spring fountains where you can fill up bottles. 

While visiting Hot Springs we stayed for 3 days at  Lake Ouachita State Park. Approximately 30 minutes away it was nestled in the mountains….. so quiet and peaceful - we saw only 3 other campers the entire time. There was ZERO connectivity in the park but it was actually quite welcome for us right now…. Lots of conversation over what we had seen in the past week. 

Lake Ouachita State Park

Today was a POD care/self care day. Before moving on to our next stop we spent the morning taking stock, filling/emptying tanks, cleaning and replacing water filters etc. We also then found a laundromat because, yeah, you have to make time for that. We took our time through the rest of the Ouachita National Forest - more winding roads. 

Tonight we are spending the night at Lake Dardanelle State Park - another pristine mountain lake.

Lake Dardanelle State Park

in the POD - the weeping time

*Photo of museum from their website

Water surrounding you, swallowing you. An ocean that is angry and loud.

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That is what you are confronted with as you step inside the first room of the Legacy Museum: From Slavery to Mass Incarceration, in Montgomery, AL. It is just you and a 20’ tall video screen of churning and crashing waves - seemingly shot from the water line - and  the constant roar of a storm. A bit shocked by the sight and sounds you stiffen up and push back.  But the longer you stand there watching the weaker you become…… and you are lulled into the abyss.

 Helpless.

The Legacy Museum, opened in the spring of 2018, is housed in a warehouse building that once stored cotton and is steps from one of the most active slave auction sites in America. Using sculpture, text, video, holograms, first person accounts, and photos the museum painstakingly shows how slavery, after Reconstruction, was “dusted off and repurposed” in the American penal system.

There are many “ghosts” that guide you along this journey - from the haunting sculptures of faces and torsos that rise up from the depths of the ocean as you are pulled through the second room, the life size holograms of human beings in cages crying out for help, the towering walls lined with clear jars filled with the dirt from lynching sites and the inmates sitting on the other side of the glass connected to you by only a telephone. So many untold stories. So many continue to be untold….. 

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Memorial for Peace and Justice 

Memorial for Peace and Justice

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A short shuttle bus ride from the museum is the Memorial for Peace and Justice. Water is an important element here as well. It is the tears for those lost and it is the tears that allow us to heal. The memorial seems to be growing out of the top of a hill and as you walk up the angled walkways it’s hard edges of concrete and metal come into focus. Rusted metal coffins emblazoned with the county and state and the names and dates of those lynched are hung from a wooden ceiling. I do not know how many counties are represented - all I know is that it was overwhelming. 

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“Over the course of three days, while the rains poured down on the open square in the center of Montgomery, over 450 men, women and children were sold off. It became known as the weeping time.”

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in the POD - an extended road trip .....

 

Wright Brothers National Memorial

Kitty Hawk, NC

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With the world, once again, begging us to engage we decided to take our newly completed POD, our vaccination certificates, and the need for adventure out for a spin.  A 3 week spin. The first goal is to continue to test the systems of the van in new situations, off grid, and in heat. The second - and probably the most important - is to reconnect with distant friends that we have not seen in years! 

Our first real stop was in Raleigh, NC to spend an afternoon and evening with some dear friends that we have not seen in 7 years since they relocated from Florida to NC! Allyson and Mike have created a wonderful home for themselves and their two young girls, Emma and Morgan (and their dogs, Bailey and Zipper!) - each of them welcoming us into their home and life. We all caught up and settled in for relaxed conversation and an amazing dinner that Mike had prepared! I must admit the fig, arugula, prosciutto, goat cheese and SMOKED walnut pizza was my absolute fav!!! As well as the smoked Bourbon Old-Fashioned!!! Mike is VERY into smoking.

The thing about relationships with good friends ..... they never dissipate! 

Alas.....There are no pics from this perfect get-together .... we were too busy enjoying the company! 

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We left Raleigh the following morning and headed east to the Outer Banks. The Outer Banks are a 200 mile string of barrier islands along the South Virginia and North Carolina coast.  Traversing over 10 miles of bridges we entered the series of islands just south of Nag's Head and headed south along the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. 

Along our right we could see the low grasses that led out to the intercoastal and on our left were, first, stilt homes piled together and then ..... dunes. 

It was 60 miles of this - and a few bridges - to get to the south end of Hatteras, Frisco, NC. We camped at Frisco Campground, a NPS maintained campground. Scattered among the dunes the camp was bare, isolated, and perfect. 

the boardwalk from the campground to the beach

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We love barrier island beaches - and this 60+ miles of beach was over whelming to say the least. However, I was very surprised as we climbed over the dunes to reach the ocean (yes... you can actually walk on all these dunes except for those areas specifically marked by the rangers) because I did not expect to see a beach filled with  SUVs! All of the beach is 4 wheel drive accessible - which I guess makes sense because it is so big and wide. 

The picture below does not clearly capture the number of vehicles - all lined up next to each other - with added tents, awnings, inflatable pools, fishing equipment.......

I believe it was the most crowded beach I have ever been on!

Frisco Beach, Cape Hatteras NC

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It truly is a beautiful beach. The water was crystal clear and quite warm. We walked the beach in awe of the amount of people and, unfortunately, also in awe of the amount of HUGE "Trump 2024" flags planted in the sand ...... ugh. We headed back to camp after a few miles deciding that an early morning beach walk might just be a bit more relaxing. The evening was star-filled, quiet and very warm.

peaceful.....

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The next day we visited the Wright Brothers National Memorial at Kitty Hawk. Of course, we all learned about what these men had accomplished - but it was really quite inspiring to see the spot - the approximate 100' high sand dune (now planted with grass so that it does not shift/disappear) that they had carried the glider up for each test, the wooden shacks they lived and worked in, the markers where they did each of the four test flights from ...... each flight teaching them something new and each flight going just a bit further! 

The exhibit in the visitor center was also very well done explaining their process and the principles of flight that they slowly learned and there is also a replica of the plane they built for these first historic sights. 

Replica Wright Brothers airplane 1903

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We saw the original plane at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. However, that one is suspended very high above and actually difficult to see up close. It was wonderful to be able to walk fully around the replica no more than 10' away and truly understand the scale of it.

monument on the dune at Kill Devil Hills

Wright Bros National Memorial

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Wanting to experience another NPS camping site on the Outer Banks, we moved into Oregon Inlet Campground which was much closer to the center of the island near Nag's Head. 

Also nestled within the dunes, this campground did provide some electric hook-ups (which we did not choose) but the slots were spaced very close together and it definitely was not as relaxing as the last. 

We were only there for one night ...... so it was fine.

The walk to the beach from the campground was actually lovely and our early morning dip in the ocean was divine.

morning over the dunes

Oregon Inlet Campground

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The next morning we headed to Fort Raleigh National Historic Site. It is the home of the first Roanoke settlements of the 1500's - well known as the Lost Colony - as well as the first Freedmen's settlement in 1862 during the Civil War. 

The visitor center was filled with artifacts and displays of historical information.

I cannot say enough about the NPS and the multitude of sites that they oversee, support, preserve and teach from. At every site we have visited we have always encountered rangers that have been knowledgeable and welcoming. 

We attended a ranger talk on the first Freedmen's settlement which was very enlightening, informative and just so happened to be delivered to us by a young, female Black ranger on June Thirteenth! 

Seemed like the exact thing we should be doing at that moment in time.

Roanoke Island looking into the sound

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Besides the visitor center Fort Raleigh has a few walking trails, a theatre that has produced "The Lost Colony" play since 1937 (!), and archeological evidence of structural berns used for protection. Its well worth visit - history!

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And of course .... we found a brewery!

Outer Banks Brewing Station

Kill Devil, NC

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in the POD - goin' back to Massachusetts.....

 

Wells State Park

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There are 31 state parks in MA that allow camping. We have been huge fans of Horseneck Beach State Park in Westport, MA and have repeatedly gone there over the years. However, this past month we tried out 2 new parks and have been enamored with each one!  Both beautiful - and each totally different from the last. It has kind of made me re-imagine some travel plans ..... we do not, necessarily, need to always plan extended trips. We could do lots of mini road trips to more local places - exploring those spots much closer to home. 

We had a family wedding to attend in Salisbury, MA - at the same farm that Ty and Amy got married at 6 years ago! So we booked a few nites at Salisbury Beach State Park. Located at the southern end of Salisbury Beach where the Merrimack River empties into the Atlantic, the campground is HUGE with over 400 sites and is, by far, the largest campground we have ever stayed in. That said, although a bit "sardined" in, the camp was well maintained and the access to the beach - both on the ocean and river sides - were easy to access and provided for wonderful walking and views.

along the Merrimack River

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We wandered around downtown Salisbury - an old beach town and summer tourist destination. Your typical pizza stand, arcades, cotton candy kind of place. We watched as various "getting ready for the season" projects were being undertaken - a fresh coat of paint here and there, repairs on the downtown merry-go-round. 

We ended up having lunch at a gorgeous spot overlooking the ocean - Seaglass Oceanside . Tuna poke and steamed mussels. Perfect.

sky, surf and sand on the Atlantic

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Later that day and the next we walked the oceanside and river beaches. 

And for the wedding we actually had to look presentable - for the first time in 15 months!!! 

wedding day!

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The following week we headed to Wells State Park in Sturbridge, MA for a 4 day stay. With over 1,400 acres this park has 60 sites - some of which overlook Walker Pond, and 10 miles of hiking trails. Our site was perched on a small hill overlooking the pond. Every camping spot was situated for privacy and you truly felt alone .......

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settling in

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down by the pond

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hiking one of the trails

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This was a pristine campground and each spot was perfect in its own way. Could easily return here gain and again ....... except we DO have 28 more state parks to check out!