Natural Highs

The US has some of the most beautiful natural scenery found anywhere in the world. For much of the past ten days we've been living higher than any point in Australia (Mt Kosciuszko is 7,310 feet or 2,228 metres, and Canberra is only 1,893 feet or 576 metes above sea level).

Mt Rushmore

We've been to the top of Pikes Peak, and Mt Evans, in Colorado, both above 14,000 feet. The views were great, but the air was thin and I found I had to concentrate to think and to walk (just as well I didn't have to chew gum too!)

On 21 August, an eclipse crossed the US, with many states
directly under the path of the total eclipse. There was a general frenzy, exemplified but the fact that Walmart sold out of eclipse glasses nearly a week in advance. We know because we tried unsuccessfully to buy glasses in places 300+ miles away on our travels to Colorado.

Lindy and Chris at Evergreen

Luckily our friends had enough for us, so we ventured to the Red Rocks Amphitheatre near Denver to take in the experience.

Somewhere in Wyoming

We've also been to Mt Rushmore, an amazing engineering and sculptural feat, and through some high mountain passes on the backroads in Wyoming.

Tennessee to Colorado

Our trusty Rav4 has made it across the Great Plains. Yes, we saw the Mississippi River, some bison (on a farm - sigh), some rollercoaster moraines, as well as miles and miles of sorghum and corn (almost as high as an elephant's eye).

Nothing will prepare you for the theme park that is Branson. Amongst other things it boasts a King Kong clinging to a high-rise in the main street.  You can attend any kind of variety or tribute show you can think of. And then some. If you love Las Vegas, you may well love Branson.

Dodge

No sign of Dorothy or Toto (or many people or businesses at all) in the town of Baxter Springs, following a tornado a few years ago. Sad sign of the tough economic times.

You might want to dodge Dodge, especially if you are a Texas longhorn. Some of the world's largest feedlots are dotted around this regional town. Think tannery and dial the smell down 25%. I'm officially off hamburgers for the foreseeable future!

Royal Gorge

Canon City is home to the Royal Gorge. Take the 2 hour train ride along the Arkansas River and enjoy the splendid views.




A little further down the road at Colorado Springs we took the funicular to the top of Pikes Peak (14,115 feet above seal level). Amazing views and a day to round out the bonus points for train enthusiasts.

The Garden of the Gods in the centre of Colorado Springs is a fabulous (free) natural attraction. Beautiful. Make sure to put this on your bucket list. Historic downtown is also worth a visit.

All Shook Up

Channel your Loretta, Dolly or Shania and get ready to party in Nashville. A tour down Broadway will give you that up close and personal experience with another 50,000 C&W music fans all out for a good ol' time. Y'all might never know who y'all might bump into.

In a party mood

Maple fans know that cowboy boots go with everything. If you already have yours on, you can strut your stuff, but you might still need a few essentials, such as a hat, oh, and feathers to go with it.

Y'all will need a hat

Down at the Country Music Hall of Fame, you can build up a thirst checking out the sequins, guitars and cadillacs.

Y'all can never have too many guitars and sequins

Over at the Ryman Theatre you can soak up more musical history and relive the highlights of this historic building.

When you've had enough you can fall into one (okay several) of the dozens of bars to listen to live music, kick back with those boots and remember to 'swing with who swung you'.

Southern Comfort

We've been enjoying southern hospitality over the past week in Greenville and Clemson, home of the champion Clemson Tigers football team. This experience mirrors the welcome I enjoyed as an exchange student in a town where everyone owns something orange.

Ian and David

In Greenville, it was great to catch up with our friend Ian and his wife Lindsey.

We soaked up the foodie experience, enjoyed the BMWs, and walked around the revitalised centre of town.

We tested out the lattes at Due South, a place hidden in the old printing district and discovered the coffee highlight of our trip so far. Congrats Due South!

Testing out the i8

Next time we have some spare cash we'll wish we were in Greenville where BMWs are churned out at an astounding 1450 per day. Perhaps they do mail order??

Clemson Tiger and Chris

In Clemson we stayed with my schoolfriend Chris, caught up with a 'herd of Tims' as well as Patrick, Steve and various family members. Remarkable after so many decades...they haven't changed a bit!

Apart from checking out the changes around town and around campus, we picked blueberries, walked to a waterfall and enjoyed a visit to the new DW Daniel High.

Carolyn and Chris

On that note, I'd like to also thank Carolyn Culhane and her family for hospitality last week, rounding out the Clemson retro experience.

Fiddle-dee-dee

"Open your mouth and let the moonshine in" with a healthy dose of fiddles, banjos, dulcimers, guitars, oh, and the spoons if you have a set! The Appalachian music scene is alive and well at Floyd, Galax and all points in between.

Street music with overalls, fiddles and 'flatfoot' dancing 

On Fridays outside the Floyd Country Store people gather informally in the street to play music and dance 'flatfoot' (think tap shoes and dungarees).

Inside, for a nominal fee, you can mix with the locals for a two-step, square dance, or more toe-tapping hillbilly fun.

Because 'Grandma's rules' apply (no alcohol, no swearing, no bad behaviour), all ages can have a good time - from the 8 year olds tapping away, to the 88 year old band member who stood up to play dulcimer and banjo for nearly 2 hours without a break.

8 to 88 years having fun at Floyd Country Store

The nearby Blue Ridge Music Centre contains a potted history of the influences on local music including instruments and musical styles from Africa, Germany, Ireland. Here are some things we found out today:

*the banjo is derived from a 3 or 4 string African instrument made from a gourd

*'hillbilly' music stems from a 1924 band called the Hill Billies

* Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys, dressed in overalls, led to what we call bluegrass music.

Bring your fiddle to Galax

If you want to hear the best fiddle payers around, be at Galax Virginia (population 7042) and join around 500 RV-driving, Appalachian music-loving country folk for the 82nd Fiddlers Convention.

If you have your fiddle, take it along. You could win $20,000USD.

Get-to-Burg

As we drove along one of the ten roads heading into Gettysburg we had no idea this civil war town would hold a charm that belies the tragic events that took place here 150 years ago. Here are some must do's in this town:

*visit the Heritage Centre to re-live what it must have been like to hunker in the cellar for three days of fighting (and ponder some more recent examples of besieged communities)
* walk around the first Soldier's National Cemetery (and think about how many more cemeteries there are today)

Civil War Battlefield Site

*drive to one of the many battlefield sites (and contemplate what it must have been like to go up and down the hill five or six times on the hottest day of the year in 1863)
*take photos of statues with men on horses (and remember the symbolism of the horse's legs - 2 in the air died in battle, 1 in the air died later from wounds, all 4 on the ground lived to see another day and died later)

History in the Street

*Think about the Gettysburg Address (and why so few words in the pre-Twitter age were so powerful)

Downtown Gettysburg

* check out the pretty streets (and marvel at the antiquities on sale)

* dine at Dobbin House, built in 1776 (and chew on that fact for a while).

Time Travel

What if you lived your life backwards? You would be able to grasp the end of that piece of string and follow it to those inconsequential things that were actually setting the foundation for something amazing later.

In the last few days the beginnings of a string that commenced in 1988, and which has been winding along through Australia, Uganda, Canada and a dozen other places, finally wrapped itself around a group of us who had, perhaps, never thought to meet face to face again.

Reunion in Toronto

So when 'global community' is mentioned, think not only of the technology that facilitates modern travel and communication, but also of the strands that bind us, and join our common humanity across race, gender, language and citizenship. Deep down we all know this is more important.