National Parks Tour - West to East Pt.1

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December, 2021

For simplicity, our story is in five parts; two for the west to east trip, two for the east to west return home.

Wait, that's only four.

Since we didn't do the entire NPT on that one trip, part five is the other rides we have accomplished in order to complete the NPT stamp collection process.

June 22, 2021 Tucson, AZ to El Paso, TX

One of a few places with a reservation made in advance. We managed to get out on the road a bit earlier than expected, due to a change in my wife’s work schedule - yaay for us! An easy, simple ride, but it's a bit warm out.

 

Wild fire on the left side of the road. Read in the news that they closed I-10 here a few hours after we got through. Glad we left when we did!

 

Just a few thousand more miles to go...

 

 

 

 

 

A brief explainer on these daily map images. They are taken from tracking info provided by my Android phone. These traces are then converted into a "Google My Map" image that's viewed. So, yep, every stop, every misdirection (no, never lost!) has been faithfully captured in each map trace.

 

324 miles for the day, no stamps. Yes, planned this way.

 

June 23, 2021 El Paso to Longview, TX

The goal today was to simply get across most of Texas in a single day. From a planning perspective, this was intentional. I took no photos on this day, but then again, it's West Texas. Nothing changes.
 
I’d been here at this exit a few years ago in Longview on my 2016 Why to Whynot Ride, but didn't choose this place back then. I took the one across the street. I should have...one of the disappointments of the trip was this establishment, though a place to eat was within walking distance. That certainly helps. From the desert to the 'piney woods' in a -long- day of riding.

            

770 miles for the day stages us for our first stamps tomorrow.

 

June 24, 2021 Longview, TX to Corinth, MS

The stamp collection process starts here.


I had picked Poverty Point NM because it was the only NPS unit this far north in Louisiana. Highly interesting to think a thousand years ago, thousands of people hand-made these earthen mounds out here. The amount of artifacts found is amazing.

 

 


We've been on the Natchez Trace before, along this same section, but now we claim it as another stamp, along with the stamp from one of the many battlefields we'll check out as the trip progresses.

  509 miles for the day. Four stamps, two states.

June 25, 2021 Corinth, MS to Oak Ridge, TN

 

Russell Cave National Monument, Bridgeport, AL
Many years ago, we'd been on portions of this same route, but in reverse: 2011 East of the Mississippi Ride. It was a nice diversion to get off of some of the Interstates and take some of the less-traveled roads. This will become a theme of the ride, where possible.

Chickamauga and Chattanooga MMP, Georgia
The first deviation in the planning I’d done happened here. I just hadn't realized while coming up with the routing between stamp locations how close to Georgia I was - and in particular, the Chickamauga & Chattanooga Nat'l Military Park.

The two of us decided in the planning process that there was only one stop we were making to see someone . Once this location was chosen for Tennessee, it was impossible not stopping by to see my wife's best friend and her husband. Even if it was only for dinner - and it was *after* we got the stamp we needed!
We were easily able to get the stamps for the Manhattan Project, but there was no way to actually see anything at this point. This pandemic has really made some places a challenge to see.
A couple of stamp examples from Tennessee. These are the items we're after on this trip.

349 miles for the day. Five stamps, three states.

June 26, 2021 Oak Ridge, TN to Tarboro, NC


Wow...a long day today...


What you don't see is one jacket, and our helmets.  There's very little left on the bike in the evening. Messenger bag has electronic stuff, our stamps and other ephemera collected along the way.

More reused routing here. More than a few may also recognize the 'zip thru the Cumberland Gap tunnel to get to Kentucky' from the 48 State ride.


The Visitor Center for the Gap is on the Kentucky side, but I had conflicting details on when they opened. The VC wasn't open at the time I thought it was - ugh. By the time we'd messed around a bit, a ranger had pulled in - about 30 minutes early.


We asked kindly if we could get a stamp - and we did! Woo-hoo! Not only that, but we also managed a couple of postcards we've been collecting all along the way.


Staging for back-up photo at Cumberland Gap, which was not needed.


The Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It seemed like us, and 40,000 others decided this would be a day to go to the park. Ugh! Much like the Grand Canyon and other major parks in the NPS system, everyone wants to be in these places.


Yet, the crowding alone makes the place less enjoyable for some, me included. I'm sure the surrounding areas and roads are magnificent, but there's a goal to be in the middle of North Carolina today; we gotta go.


The Blue Ridge Parkway really wasn't on the list, but since my routing did take me on a piece of it, I'll gladly claim it.


My routing here started to get a little fuzzy. So, putting Google Maps to work, I tell it "shortest distance" to the next location. Wow, did it take us down some little trails in the middle of the woods!


I truly didn't recognize that Cowpens in South Carolina was a Revolutionary War battle. We defeated the British handily that day, the first of more to come. How’d we learn this? Watching the 15 minute video they were playing under the shade of a large tree. It was a great time to rest for a bit before making miles toward the next stop - tomorrow.


As we were exiting the Charlotte area, a big black cloud popped up on the horizon. Several thousand miles and nearly a week, and not much rain to speak of. Fortunately one of those pop-up storm cells. A few minutes of rain, and more than enough miles to dry out on the way to our lodging for the night.



587 miles for the day. Four states, four stamps. Tough day.


We continue with part two of the east to west journey here: NPT West-to-East Pt2

Location: Tarboro, NC 27886, USA

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