1. Prepare with at least 6 months of high intensity weight training, focussing on the legs and lower back and combine that with thorough a cardiovascular workout programme.
2. Treat escalators with the same contempt you would a rabid dog or a rattle snake and avoid.
3. DO NOT take the bag off your back for any reason until you reach your destination.
Unfortunately while waiting for a New York subway transfer to JFK airport, Mar chose to throw caution to the wind, took off her rucksack, and then promptly tore a muscle in her neck while trying to lift the bag back onto her back.
What did this mean for me…? Three days of providing massage therapy and taking on board all of the driving.
One thing that jumps out at you when you drive in America is that absolutely no one keeps to the speed limit! The only thing to keep us company below 65mph on the interstate highway was an overweight truck and a couple of other driving tourists.
Our first stop after New York was our KOA (Kamping Organization of America) campsite in West Chester Pennsylvania, west of Philadelphia.
This was a good introduction to our camping experience – good facilities, a spacious campsite and free wifi internet in our tent! Adjacent to our campsite we discovered a little used railroad. For the two days we were there, the local diesel engine only drove up the tracks once.
After West Chester, we spent two night in Greenbelt National Park, a small park surrounded by suburbia ten miles north of Washington DC. We used this as our base to visit the capitol, driving only a couple of miles to get a metro train into the Smithsonian station, halfway between the Washington Monument and Capitol Hill.
This was the first day we experienced real heat, well real heat for someone Irish at least. The temperature was in the high 20s Celsius/low 80s Fahrenheit.
In DC we met my friend Jen and went for a few drinks in the Capitol City Brewing Company, which is a micro-brewery restaurant and bar. It was an alcohol free night for me as I was designated driver for the night, but Mar gave Jen a good run for her money in the drinking stakes and we all had a great time.
The next day we journeyed to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia where we camped for one night. Although we didn’t really get a chance to fully appreciate the park, I did get my first brief glimpse of a black bear. Sadly I was driving and we had no time to stop and take photos.
However Mar told me the next morning that she awoke in the middle of the night to the vicious growl of a snarling bear. This was however followed by what she believed was a ranger telling people to be quiet, so it was more likely to be the midnight groans of some camping college students nearby.
The next stop on our trip was Horseshoe Point campground near Henry, Virginia, halfway between Shenandoah and Knoxville. This was the first US Army Corps of Engineers campground we stayed in. Compared to the National Park campsites we had stayed in up to this point, the facilities available were a significant improvement.
As with most Army Corps of Engineer campgrounds Horseshoe Point is located beside a lake. This means you get to hear the sound of speedboats rushing up and down the lake and children playing in the man-made beach at the lakeshore.
The next day, on our way to Cades Cove campground in the Great Smoky Mountains we passed through the town of Sevier. It was like a mini Las Vegas without the casinos, with plenty of themed hotels including one built to appear as if it were upside down.
After a night in Cades Cove we bypassed Knoxville and headed straight to Nashville. With neither of us having much interest in country music however the highlight of our two days there was the campsite situated right on the J Percy Priest lakeshore.
The lake was shallow enough that you could in the first few yards and there was a conveniently placed three stump to sit on where you could admire the view.
Surprisingly, the campsite was relatively insect free, possibly thanks to the family of ducklings that would come into to the campsite each morning with their mother to rummage for insects on the ground.
Next up was Memphis….
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