Wagons Roll

I’m writing this blog entry off-line in the back of the Trek America van (14 seat minibus). Here’s what’s happened so far...

Trek Day 1

My room-mate, and subsequently tent-mate, Carlinde and I headed down to an early, hearty breakfast at the departure hotel in New Jersey. We packed our bags, myself still nervous about the amount of stuff I have with me and whether it would be acceptable on the van, and went down to the conference room where our own and three other departing tours were assembling.

There are two “Southern Sun” tours running in parallel with 11 in each group plus one leader per group. We sat around on the floor, cross-legged, faces showing varying degrees of jet-lag, nerves and anticipation.

The group breaks down into: 2 Aussie girls travelling together and a 3rd Aussie on her own... Aussies travelling, who’d have thought it? A Japanese girl, two girls from Maidstone, both teachers, a German guy, my tent-mate Carlinde is a student from The Netherlands, a guy from Essex who has also just been laid off, a loud chap from Huddersfield who booked the trip on a whim 3 days before departure and me.

We got the introductions and admin stuff out of the way then dragged our varying size piles of baggage out to the van and its capacious trailer. It was with more than a little sense of relief that I realised all my stuff could be easily accommodated, even including the tents, cooking facilities,

food, utensils, pots, pans and sleeping mats.

Hit the Road Jack

At this early stage I was amongst the perkiest of the group so when it was clear that everyone else was being reserved, I called “Shotgun” for the first leg from New Jersey to Washington DC. This gave me the opportunity to get to know Kate, our tour leader. She’s from Minnesota and was very surprised to learn that Minneapolis is going to be one of my most eagerly anticipated destinations on my upcoming tour. She says she’ll give me a few must-see sights for when I am in her home state.

There were a few stops for refreshments and lunch on this first leg. From New Jersey, we passed through Delaware and Maryland before arriving in Washington DC. DC stands for District of Columbia and sits outside the normal state system.

Our campsite for the first two nights was “Cherry Hill Park” . Kate had made good time on the journey and we’d stayed ahead of the other Southern Sun trip meaning we got the better camping spot. Down in a wooded section and with a wooden covered “pavilion” with benches around the edge and picnic tables in the middle.

With the van unpacked, it was time to learn how to pitch our tents... in the rain, of course. The tents aren't as difficult to put up as many had feared and Carlinde and I had ours up in pretty short order.

The camp site had a pool, so some of went for a splash and shower before dinner, prepared by Kate, but only because it was our first night. Cooking responsibilities will be shared out, along with washing up, food buying, and van cleaning. We've also got two assigned van-loaders who are exempt from other duties, but do have a labour intensive morning on most days when they have to load all our stuff into the trailer.

Dinner was Burritos, and once we’d fed our faces, it was all aboard the van for a night tour of Washington’s major landmarks.

In Memoriam

We started at the Capitol building and looked down the huge national mall where people had gathered in their hundreds of thousands when Barack Obama was inaugurated earlier this year. From the Capitol, we went to the Washington Monument, the huge obelisk built in memory of the first US President, George Washington. It’s very impressive, and dominates the centre of DC. Next stops were, the Jefferson Monument, for third president, Thomas Jefferson then a short drive to visit the Korean War Memorial, a very moving tribute, featuring bronze statues of soldiers walking through undergrowth. The names of all nations involved in the conflict are engraved around the path alongside. The atmosphere was enhanced by the dark and high heat and humidity.

From there we walked along the National Mall to the World War II memorial, a larger area with pillars marking the 56 US States and territories involved. Back up the Mall to the opposite side of the Korean memorial is the Vietnam Memorial. I long, open V shaped path stretched down into the lawns with one side of the path lined with a wall of black marble with the names of those who fell in the conflict. The names are quite small, and the wall stretches to around 1 feet tall at it’s highest. The sheer volume of names is almost hard to take in and this way of presenting the names of the fallen forcefully presses the point home. Shame we didn't learn more from the conflict.

Last monument of the night in DC was the Lincoln Memorial which is a huge, temple-like structure with a huge white marble statue of Abraham Lincoln sitting inside.

American Monuments

I might be doing Britain an injustice but, by comparison, the American’s really know how to build a monument. The sense of the messages the War Memorials convey feels more graphic and powerful for the more literal presentation. Similarly with the commemoration of past Presidents, they are big, bold and unashamedly celebratory.

There is also a difference in the respect paid to them. The monuments were all busy, even at the late hour we were visiting. There were as many American voices in the crowd as foreign accents. You could hear them speaking with authority, respect and knowledge, frequently explaining the significance to their kids.

Maybe it’s the relative lack of history that means the US is so proud to mark what it has.

Under Canvas

Exhausted, we returned to the camp site, immediately headed for our tents and the stifling heat. Sleeping Bags were slept on, not in and we struggled to sleep through the background noises of a 12 lane Interstate Highway, crickets, some unknown creatures which made a sort of ratcheting chirp all night and, most alarming of all, two horrendous bangs which we all believe to have been gun-fire.

I slept terribly with the main problem being the complete inadequacy of my tiny camping pillow. A full size pillow immediately made it to the top of my shopping list.

Goodnight... NOT

Stats - Day Five

Distance Travelled (as the crow flies) - 196 miles: Secaucus New Jersey to Beltsville, nr Washington DC

States entered - Delaware, Maryland (plus Washington DC)

Total States Count - 4

Campsite Count - 1