“With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt

The Hulk! You wouldn’t like him when he’s angry! A superhero who is a beast, yet not always reliable…

After getting paperwork settled, doing some repairs, and gear sorting, I was prepared to set off to continue my journey of the USA by vehicle in the big green van. At 7:00 AM on the morning of departure, the car horn sounded…not just a beep, but a continuous, deafening, nuclear meltdown warning siren which woke up every neighbor in a mile radius. I ran out to the car, head vibrating with sound and disconnected the battery to shut it up. I feared it was my electrical work from repairing the horn the day before, but with Dad’s help we deduced that it was water in a component that had been dismounted when the handicap lift was installed on the van, problem solved, but it didn’t instill much confidence in me.

Hulk’s Handicap Lift

Removing Hulk’s steering wheel to replace the clock spring.

Horn blowing aside, the show must go on! I departed around 10 AM. My first stop was Muddy Creek Falls, the highest waterfall in Maryland. It took me about four hours to lumber my way out there, but I couldn’t drive away from the feeling of anxiety of the vehicle I had purchased. What seemed like a steal with only 50 thousand miles on it, was also 22 years old and officially deemed “Historic” in the state of Maryland. I didn’t trust the Hulk to reliably take me across the country, every bump and every sound felt like I was going to be stranded. I walked around the Muddy Creek falls area for a few hours, but my mind was thinking hard. I walked back to the van, sat in the back seat and called my most trusted advisers back home (Mom and Dad)…”I have a crazy idea that I need you to talk me out of…I’m going to come home, sell the Hulk, and get a different vehicle.”

Muddy Creek Falls

Of course they didn’t talk me out of the idea, but fully supported me and I think we all had our doubts of the Hulk. And so I turned back for home the same day. I climbed hill after hill of Western Maryland, watching my heat gauge climb every slowly higher with each exertion. Finally, towards the top of the Cumberland Gap, the needle tipped into the red zone and I heard the coolant begin to violently boil. I pulled off to the side of the highway in the grass, popped the hood and waited for 30 minutes. Sitting there, I felt great about my decision to U-turn. After letting the engine cool, I was able to get out of the mountains and had no problems the rest of the way home once I was out of the elevation. I arrived home around 10 PM after 8+ hours of driving that day…back the the drawing board. I put it up for sale that night.

Hulk’s interior in the morning light.

It took me about a week to sell the Hulk and acquire the new ride, a great week spent with family and friends. Here she is! A 2013 Nissan NV200, a spacious beauty which provides an outstanding 25+ MPG and drives like a dream! The verdict is still out on the nickname, so post your best ideas in the comments!

I spent days and nights designing, measuring, cutting, drilling, and sanding a sleeping platform and shelving unit for the new car. The finished product was exactly what I had in mind all this time, cozy, compact, concealed, and lots of storage. Here we go…plan C!

The first day back on the road took me out to Savage River State Park in Western Maryland, had a nice hike, feasted on cherries and peanut butter sandwiches, then continued to drive until dark to make up for lost time. I slept great in a hotel parking lot.

Day two took me to Hocking Hills, Ohio to the Grandma Gatewood trail, named after the first woman to through-hike the Appalachian Trail, she was 61 years old when she accomplished the feat, and became a revolutionary long-distance hiker for many years afterward. Hocking Hills was a beautiful gorge with sculpted cliffs on both sides and scenic water formations through out, famed for Old Man’s Cave, but I personally enjoyed the massive amphitheater of Ash Cave all the more! I drove into Kentucky in the evening and had dinner at a highway rest stop before finding another hotel parking lot to bed down for the night.

Old Man’s Cave

Ash Cave

Next stop was Wyandotte Cave, Indiana, but when I arrived the parking lot was barricaded and the building was half torn down. A worker suggested that I try the nearby Morenga Cave, a National Landmark! The cave was beautiful, a chilly 52 degrees, and filled with cheesy tour guide jokes, we spent an hour underground and walked a full mile.

There were great facilities in the park, so I stuck around to cook up some lunch on my small wood stove. A pot of brown rice and some stir-fry (bell peppers, garlic, peanuts, mushrooms and falafel). It tasted pretty good, but between the set up time, the cook time, and the clean-up time, I might revert to my methods of eating without cooking, simplicity. The outdoor showers were on, so I helped myself to a cold shower and hit the road!

 

In the evening I arrived at Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, the longest known cave in the world, with over 400 miles of mapped cave passages! After exploring the visitor center for an hour or two I hiked around a bit as the evening cooled off, I gained an hour crossing into the Central timezone, so the night was still young. A beautiful evening of weather called for a twilight run, doing several half-mile hill repeats from the Green River up to the top of the gorge. A cleaned off with a soothing dip in the Green River before walking back to the van while hundreds of lightning bugs lit up the forest around me in every direction, a spectacular display of lights. I slept in the parking lot of the Mammoth Cave Hotel, a hot night, but no rain and a quiet corner left me comfortable to crack the doors while I slept. In the morning, I joined a tour of Mammoth Cave, we covered two miles underground over two hours and learned about the history of the cave, including Native Americans who explored several miles deep as many as 4,000 years ago! Unfortunately, my camera battery was dead here, so I wasn’t able to capture this neat place.

Looking over the Green River

Who knew the Norse God had such a sweet tooth?

From Kentucky, I hauled 300+ miles into Missouri. A thunderstorm came upon us along the highway, the rain came down so hard and so strong that I couldn’t see the car just feet in front of me at 15 miles per hour. I pulled onto the shoulder with my flashers on, along with many other cars and waited out the 20 minute deluge. It was so fun to be safe and dry and snuggled up in my bed in the back of the van, I prepared lunch, read a book, this is what van life is all about!

My co-pilot

I haven’t listened to a single CD yet, passing through so many towns, I just scan the radio and there is always fresh music on the radio. Crossing into Missouri I saw the Mississippi River for the first time in my life, and further into the state, went over the Missouri River.

Bridge over the Mississippi

An evening exploring Elephant Rocks State Park, Missouri was just what the doctor ordered. Giant boulders with a rough texture allowed for climbing, leaping, and pretending to be spider-man on this large rock formation.

I tried to make it up the nearby Buford Mountain for sunset, but time was quickly ticking by. Leaving my shirt in the van, I sprinted for a mile up the only trail I found, lungs on fire, gasping for air, but fueled by the orange light filling the forest limbs. I crested the mountain to find that both the sun had dropped behind the horizon and there was no clear viewing spot on this ridge trail. So the sunset escaped for today, but the great thing about the freedom of this lifestyle…everyday brings a new horizon to watch the sun fall!

Top of Buford Mountain