Summer Travels

Post-Pandemic Road Trips

Reuniting Family

 

One of the worst things about the pandemic over the past year was our inability to be with family. Our kids and grandkids are scattered across the country and in Canada. Travel to see them was impossible until we all got jabbed and the country in between our respective homes became safer for travelers. 

 

Now that all of us, except the youngest granddaughter, are fully vaccinated we are embarked once more on a great American road trip. 

 

We started early in the morning and boarded the Lake Express Ferry with 20 other people for the journey across Lake Michigan to Muskegon. We then drove to Ann Arbor to see a first cousin. Like the others on the ferry, I noticed that many of the others on the road were geezers like us. 

 

After a lovely dinner sharing family stories, we retired to a sparsely populated hotel for the night. The next day, we drove to Pittsburgh to see our son and his wife. We stayed with them and caught up on the news of their kids and new changes to their family business. 

 

Three days later, the four of us drove to America’s newest national park, the New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia. We rented a large Airbnb in Fayetteville close to the longest single arch bridge in the Northern Hemisphere that spans the river. We were joined there by our youngest daughter, her husband and their two daughters. The family stories flowed, and laughter followed. It was good to have us together once more. 

 

Our middle kid lives in Canada with her husband and they could not join us in person, so we FaceTimed with them for a virtual whole family reunion. Hopefully, we will be able to be with them later this year when the border reopens to visitors. 

 

The next two days were spent exploring the New River ecosystem which is older than any of the generations of humans who have occupied parts of the gorge etched through the steep mountains by relentless moving water. The National Park Service has done a great job protecting the space which was designated a National River by President Jimmy Carter. Now that it has joined the National Park system, more will be protected for future generations. 

 

In addition to the water and forests, we were able to explore a mining camp ghost town, Thurmond, which straddled the railroad tracks that opened the area to coal mining and lumber operations which lasted from the late 1800s into the middle of the last century. Native American histories are also preserved in the Visitor Centers that surround the park. 

 

Then it was on to the Outer Banks of North Carolina and a rented house on the beach at Kitty Hawk across the road from America’s first airport that was home to Wilbur and Orville Wright and their first flight in a powered aircraft. While the area has some of the trappings for tourist crowds, it seems sparsely populated with outsiders. Fresh seafood called out for the first night’s supper and Henry’s did not disappoint. Crab cakes, scallops, shrimp, and flounder accompanied with hushpuppies and served with a Southern drawl were a warm welcome after a long day on the road. 

 

Our son headed home to Pittsburgh from the New River, so we just have our daughter and her family on this leg of our journey. The first morning, we just sat on the beach and watched the pelicans fly in a line down the shore looking for their breakfast. We all collected shells brought in and left uncovered by the tide and waves. Dolphin fins cut the water just offshore as small waves broke on the sand. The water is cool in comparison to the hot humid air blowing from the shore towards the sea. 

 

Evening dinner at The Black Pelican was a seafood lover’s dream. Baked crab and shrimp in a butter garlic cream sauce with green beans Southern style and garden rice was a delight. Shared deserts finished it perfectly. At the beach house we watched a summer thunder and lighten display fill the night sky over the ocean.

 

The next day, we drove to the northern end of the Outer Banks to a restored historic village with an old lighthouse that warned sailing ships off the shoals that claimed many a shipwreck. Descendants of Spanish mustangs washed ashore there still populate the wildlife refuge. A truly magical place.

 

In our isolation over the past year, we missed seeing new parts of this globe we call home. On this trip, we’ve passed through wildly diverse ecosystems and geological formations. It never ceases to amaze me what a diverse and beautiful country we have the privilege to occupy. That diversity certainly includes the people and cultures included in our United States of America. 

 

Visiting our National Parks, Monuments, Seashores, Wildlife Refuges, and other protected places refreshes the soul and provides a unique opportunity to experience how we grew and changed into the vibrant society we have today. Teaching our children and grandchildren the history and how important it is to protect our varied heritages is made easier with each visit.