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Off road in Vermont

Wheeling in Vermont

While pre running the course for the last day of the 2011 Great Race, I looked up and saw two Jeep Wranglers in a yard close to the road. I then noticed the blonde woman standing beside one. I then saw the Opal Justice stickers and I knew it had to be my Facebook friend Sue. I had never met Sue, but we banter on Facebook almost daily.

I stopped in the road and quickly backed up and rolled down the window. She knew we would be in the area and we were hoping to meet up after the rally. Neither of us had any idea that the route would take me past her home.

She met us at Hemmings in Bennington after the event. She and her husband invited us to go run a trail with them.

The next morning, we set out to meet her. We got a bit confused with Dorset and East Dorset but managed to make it to our rendezvous point just a few minutes late. Keith couldn’t make it, but Sue led us up a very interesting trail.

I was surprised when we turned off the paved road that there was a sign that said ”TRAIL.” We climbed up what looked like an old rail road grade. The trail was rocky and slightly washed but Janice’s stock XJ made it fine even loaded with three people and our luggage.

At the top of the hill, Sue led us to the coolest place I have ever been in a Jeep. We got to drive inside a cave. We parked with our headlights illuminating a deep pool of green water. The cave was formed by marble quarrying.

We spent some time hiking in the cave and exploring the cuts in the rocks. Sue told us of some of the many parties she had had in this cave over the years including her wedding celebration.

Sue took a more adventurous path out of the cave. She then led us to an overlook where we could see the entire valley. Next, we followed her up a challenging climb so that we could look down a shaft to the area where we had just been inside the cave.

After touring the top, we went back down and picked up her friend Lisa. Her Jeep was in need of repairs so she tagged along with Sue. We then took a trip across the ridge line toward the next town. This trail was very narrow and I was concerned I might get a scratch or two but I made it just fine. Only one rock scraped the cross member, but only gently.

At the end of the trail, we popped out in a working marble quarry. There were huge chucks of marble waiting to be transported down the mountain. The mine entrance was gated but we waked down to see the huge steel door that seals the entrance to the mountain. This is possibly the largest marble tunnel in the world.

We were somewhat concerned that the lower gate might be closed since no one was working at the quarry site and that we might have to re run the trail to get out. However, the gate was open and we were able to get started on our way back to Tennessee.

The short wheeling run was a great way to meet some friends and to end our long trek north. I have always wanted to drive a Jeep into a cave and now I have. Thanks Sue.

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Hotels

Hotels

I have been staying in a lot of hotels lately. First was a trip to Galveston Texas and then a trip from Chattanooga to Vermont traveling with the Great Race.

The one thing I noticed in al the hotels that I stayed in this past month was that they are dark. The shift to energy saving light bulbs seems to be the cause. In most rooms, I had to get right under the lamps to be able to read my book.

All the hotels I stayed in used electronic key cards. Occasionally they would be deactivated by having them too close to a cell phone, but for this trip my keys always worked.

Another common theme for this trip was a lack of towels. In my previous experience, there were always plenty of towels. But in all these hotels, there was a bare minimum of towels.

Wifi varied greatly from hotel to hotel. The two worst were Holiday Inns. The signal strength was fin e on the router, but the actual link to the internet was slow and often dropped out altogether. In other places, I had trouble getting a signal in my room, but when I did get connected it was fast and reliable.

The hotel in Galveston we booked through Hotels.com. This was a very pleasant experience with low rates and no problems. The hotels for Great Race were handled by Great Race’s corporate travel agency. While I had no trouble with my room reservations, others traveling with us did. The only problem I had was waiting for the person with the hotel info to arrive and get our rooms arranged before I could check in.

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Driving to Texas

A Summer Road Trip

On the first of June we loaded up our Suburban with three adults and three children for a trip to Sante Fe, Texas. The trip was close to 900 miles each way.

Just before the trip, I serviced the Suburban’s AC. It was blowing nice cold air from the front vents but the rear air just blew hot air. I had not been able to get the line at the rear expansion valve off and I had hoped I would work without flushing, but I guess it did not. So the front seat passengers had to freeze to keep the rear cool. The temperature was near 100 most of the trip.

To keep the younger passengers entertained; we had a variety of electronics on board. We had two inverters running to power the video system, laptop computers, phone chargers and even a Wii. I really can’t imagine making the trip in a vehicle smaller than the Suburban. In fact, I was wishing it was bigger at times.

The big truck is very comfortable to drive on the interstate. We took I75 to I24. Then we took I59 across three states form one end to the other. At the end of I59, we took I12 across Louisiana. We met up with I10 and then took the 18 mile bridge across the swamp. We finally dropped off I10 in Texas and then followed the coast to take the Bolivar ferry.

The ferry was a very interesting ride. The DOT operates ferries 24 hours a day across the Galveston bay. These ferries are huge compared to the ones I have ridden hear on the east coast. They hold about 40 cars each. Once loaded on the ferry, we got out and toured the ship and watched the dolphins play in the water as we crossed the bay. It was a nice break in the trip.

While in Galveston, we visited the beach. Beach parking along the sea wall is parallel parking spaces. This was a challenge for me with the Suburban especially since it was loaded so that I could not see out he back window. The first time I parked, I was lucky enough to find a double spot so I could pull in forward and then back into place.

The next day, I had trouble finding a spot big enough for the Suburban. All I found was a single spot by the toilets that made backing in easier. However backing in from the high traffic Seawall Boulevard was still scary. I needed a spotter to get it not the space completely.

The next trip to the beach, I drove on west of the city and found a place where we could park on the sand for free. There were places on the east side but there was a $8 fee and they were extremely crowded. The place on the west beach was very nice and I was able to back the Suburban right up to the beach so we could access our towels and cooler easily.

The big GMC ran well and got about 16 MPG. It developed a hick up at about 65mph on the way down. I am guessing that the trouble is a dead spot in the throttle position sensor. When it started to hick up, al we had to do was speed up or slow down to get it to smooth out. It also had a similar hiccup when idling in the heat in traffic in Galveston. Sometimes it felt as if it was going to die at traffic lights but it would always keep running.

On the way home, the hiccup smoothed out but after refueling, it would bog down when trying to accelerate back up to interstate speed. It was like some sludge got stirred up refueling and it took a while to settle back out. The Suburban has a 42 gallon tank so it was quite a distance between fuel stops.

We saw some crazy things while driving 2000 miles. The two funniest were the bra on mile marker 110 in Mississippi and the pig snout sticking out of the livestock truck somewhere in Alabama.

We were all missing our Jeeps by the time we got home. But the extra space of the Suburban was really nice on the long road trip.

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Atlas Shrugged

I began reading Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged while on a trip to the beach. I was interested in reading the book because I see it referenced by many business coaches and some politicians. I have always felt left out when people ask “Who is John Galt?”

One the surface the story is of big business struggling to operate in an oppressive political climate. But there is much more to the story. Rather than being a traditional battle between good and evil, it is the battle of moochers and looters versus the producers. I have only made it through part one so far. There are three parts to the book.

It is a very intense book to read and has made me stop and think about how I really feel about things. I found out there is a movie but it is only in limited release. Maybe I can get the DVD when it comes out.