On, interstate 84 in Pennsylvania, shortly after we began the trip, the supernova auto chart system was put in a full gear.
"Write in 'plan' category, during this entire trip, I will drink coffee only in the mornings. I won't drink coffee while we're moving." said Sumi.
I wrote it down as it is in the chart while sitting in the passenger seat. She's right. There's nothing better to drink than water.
"Wow, that tree looks cool!" said Sumi.
Only in 1.5 seconds, I found that single tree out of thousands of tress passing by the car window. Then, while setting focus of the lens, I twisted my torso to the right and took an ultra speed panning shot. A success! However, my back was cramping from twisting too much. I would need to find the object sooner than 0.5 second. I need practice.
There were many things to do. I wrote down road numbers, town names that we passed, what we ate, gas stations we stopped at and the specifics such as fuel price and mileage. I also wrote our conversations, thoughts from each of us, impressions of the landscapes, stories from meeting people. I wrote down every references that would become the foundation for the travel book. We wanted to leave a record of the traces of our travel. If we put these down well enough, it would be a piece of our life history. It would be rewarding to show our children after many years- sort of like the travel book that Bilbo Baggins handed to Frodo Baggins.
In the afternoon, we were driving through the cornfield. I heard there are wealthy farmers in Pennsylvania, and it must be true. We were driving through cornfield last two hours and would find fence or divider every twenty to thirty minutes. With trees and water in abundance, gentle hilly landscape, four seasons, and strong summer sun, anything would grow in this land. Bring Yul Brynner here and he would start growing hair.
I once read that George Washington had illegally acquired land west of the Appalachians which were reserved for Native Americans. These days, he would've been scrutinized at a hearing by the government. He must've really wanted the land. Now I know why he fought with England so vigorously. On the other hand, we were also fighting vigorously with cornfields. It was already 8:12 PM when we arrived at our first campground.
Parker Dam State Park Campground
First one to greet us at the campground was a young deer. It was cute with white spots on the back and long legs. The cutest part about juvenile animal is that they are so clumsy and naive in their actions. This deer looked at our car and must've thought to himself at least three times. Uh, should I run away? Should I stay? My friends are gone. Should I run backward? Forward? Well, I dunno. Let's go to the side! He ran with the white tail up and hopped away clumsily. I was worried about him. Hope he takes good care of himself.
As we entered the park ranger's office, three rangers looked at us simultaneously. They were chatting before we came in and it seemed like we both needed some time to figure each other out. Maybe two seconds? but it was a long two seconds. I couldn't tell what they were thinking but my impressions of them were as follows:
'How come their arms are so thick? Did they share something bad to eat and got bloated? How are their uniforms so tight? Are there not enough large sizes? How old are they? The one with the goatee must be the oldest? By the way, is this the park office? not the mountain bandits headquarter?'
It took about 17 seconds for me to figure them out. They were all in their 20s. They were all very muscular and had enough fat layer in between so the uniforms looked tight on them. They were very friendly park rangers and we were indeed in the park ranger's office. Sooner or later, we were conversing about the Route 66 and they recommended us campsite #60. One ranger asked the other which site would be good for us, then the rest of them said, "60. 60!" It was a perfect spot with the shower facility right next to it.
Morning of the 28th. I woke up by the fresh breeze in the wood. Wait, what is this fresh air, then, I was woken up.
Sumi left the front of the tent fly open when she went to the restroom and I could see up the trees through the gap. The tall trees surrounded the sky in a small circle. Fresh morning air is a great part of camping. Sumi and I ate the fresh air of the woods along with sandwiches and checked our next route. Indiana is next.
Also check out Jingoogk's original posting in Korean. Korean letters look really cool!
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