Road Trips and Hike Reports

By Chris Ransdell Brian was able to get a cat scan and find out that one kidney stone passed unnoticed but another one has now started its way down from the other kidney into the bladder.  The pain hasn't come back (it was probably leaving the kidney at that time) and we carried on after a 3 hour emergency room visit. The Hampton Inn in Scranton was ok and on Wednesday morning we promptly got our lease signed and got Comcast installation scheduled, etc.  That went so well we figured we could zip across the street to Sears and get a bed delivered while we were out.  In just a few minutes we found that a floor model mattress was a good deal and we found a microwave too along with some bed related items (rails, mattress cover etc).  Actually paying for these items was very painful.  Not because of the price but because of Sears systems.  The first item (mattress) had to be separately (because it was a floor model?) and went ok. The second item was just the bed rails but that time

by Chris Ransdell Our visit to Harrisburg started with dinner in Harrisburg Wednesday night at the Sturges Speakeasy downtown with Brian's friend David.  Dinner was great and way beyond what I expected from a place with speakeasy in the name.  We also made a whirlwind tour of the 3 gay bars in town before driving back to Lancaster for the night. Thursday as David left on his flight to San Francisco, Brian headed off to a recruiter meet and greet in Lancaster.  After that was done he had a phone interview for the job in Newfoundland PA.  I, of course, worked from the hotel.  Once we got out of Lancaster, we wandered around Hershey PA a bit and had lunch at Wendy's.  We then headed back into Harrisburg to unpack at David's house.  Parking is not one of the charms of David's house downtown so we dropped the car off maybe 3/4 of a mile away in a spot that David has a permit for.  We ended up going out to dinner in the car and when we came back I opted to park on the str

By Chris Ransdell Tuesday started off not with a drive to Lancaster but with a drive to Newfoundland PA.  One of the jobs that Brian is being considered for is up there (Newfoundland is vaguely near Scranton).  We thought it would be good to be able to say that he'd been there (since it's a little remote and they may question if somebody was prepared to live and work there) and also to determine if WE thought we could live there.  The drive was scenic, through the Poconos and along various waterways on little roads.  It was not a fast drive at any point.  There were quite a few abandoned houses and even a few big resorts that have been abandoned years ago which you don't see on the West coast ever.  We had to drive back and forth a few times around Newfoundland to find the correct office where he would probably work.  The job would be a good resume builder for Brian and would use both his HR and his mental health backgrounds so I think it's a special opportunity. Af

Finally on Saturday around noon, we crossed over into Pennsylvania after a tedious drive though Baltimore and northern VA. Our first stop was lunch in Coatesville PA at Jack's pizza .  It was very East coasty with the various items under glass to choose from.  The guys in there didn't look very friendly but they were actually pretty good to deal with.  Brian's Pepperoni roll was better than my stuffed buffalo pizza but both were tasty.  The rest of the drive was filled with anticipation as the miles counted down.  Even just 10 miles from the Hyatt Place in Bethlehem it was very rural and agricultural/light industrial looking.  The hotel was very similar in layout and features to the San Antonio Hyatt Place.  Again, I got to work as soon as I could and got a little over 3 hours in that afternoon.  After that we walked briefly around downtown Bethlehem to look for a Bank of America ATM machine.  We failed at that endeavor and headed out in the car to eat at Red Robin.  On t

By Chris Ransdell Friday's drive from Charlotte to Richmond was pretty straight forward.  Some of the local expressways around Richmond, in particular VA-288, were beautifully built and maintained.  This was our first stay at a Hyatt House hotel.  Hyatt House is probably in the same vein as Residence Inn or other extended stay hotels.  Hyatt really takes things to a high level though and it was a very welcoming and upscale place to be at.  The location seemed odd at first, directly adjacent to a new lifestyle (outdoor) mall.  I worked quite a bit the day we arrived and was very tempted to make dinner on the tiny but beautiful two burner smooth top stove in the room.  Instead we ate at PF Changs at the other upscale mall across town.  There was an impressively long causeway over the James river on the way to the other mall. Saturday I worked some more and then went shopping for job interview clothes with Brian. We started at Macy's for pants and shirt and then finished up at

by Chris Ransdell Monday was a pretty straight forward travel day.  In order to provide something to do during the day and avoid anything close to Atlanta, I routed us first to Brasstown Bald, Georgia's highest point.  The drive there was relaxing and enjoyable but when we got near the Bald the road got higher and higher and the clouds got lower and lower until we were in a dense fog.  The visitors center was closed and the only other person we saw in the parking lot was the UPS guy who was friendly and chatty.  It was kind of a bust in terms of something to see but it did keep us out of Atlanta. From the Bald to Charlotte was still a long drive and when we got there we headed to TGI Friday's for a great dinner. Our server, Katie, was amazing.  Our hotel was actually over the line near Carowinds amusement park in South Carolina.  The Best Western Carowinds hotel was pretty good and very inexpensive. Tuesday we went for a little walk near the hotel on a gravel road betw

By Brian Gilbar Warning, post contains some graphic medical information! On Saturday, April 4th we headed out from Nashville to Alabama.  We stopped in Beersheba Springs, TN to hike a trail Chris had been on before, the Stone Door Trail, in South Cumberland State Park . The trail was 9 miles long and was definitely challenging, with plenty of ups and downs.  The part considered the stone door is a huge crack that you can walk through, and down to the lower trail.  The hike was a bit torturous at first as there were swarms of bugs flying around and crawling on us.  But we put some bug repellant on and then it was much better.  The trail was beautiful, with several water features and some great views. We stopped for dinner in Jasper, TN at this cute restaurant that reminded me of a restaurant that would be in northern Vermont.  We had some decent food and the people there were really nice.  Here is the graphic medical part so close your eyes if you don't want

by Chris Ransdell After the long hike I made some chicken quesadillas and then we broke camp.  The drive into Nashville was ok but my old neighborhood on the West side of town along Charlotte pike has completely  changed into a densely packed mixed use area with a Costco, Best Buy, Target and numerous other new businesses.  Just getting through town on surface streets was a completely harrowing and slow experience.  Staying at John's house has been nice, both saving money and getting to spend more time together.  We went to dinner at Rafferty's which was always a favorite of mine when I lived here and it didn't disappoint. Thursday Brian and I took a break from hiking and did some basic around town tourist stuff.  We went to the Gaylord Opryland hotel (26 dollars to park, really?), I got a haircut and then after a brief return to John's house we went to the Country Music Hall of Fame.  The Opryland Hotel is still an impressive place with its acres of enclosed atr

By Brian Gilbar We both woke up on Sunday a bit congested (I suspect from the casino air) and it's also spring allergy time so we took a bit of time getting up.  We did one load of laundry while getting ready to head out.  We stopped at Zaxby's (chicken place) in Collierville for breakfast/lunch before a hike.  I had never been to one before.  The chicken was delicious but everything was quite salty.  Probably good before a long hike to have extra salt in our bodies! We then headed to do a 7 mile hike at Herb Parsons Lake.  The trail goes around the lake.  It was quite chilly at first, about 49 degrees and quite windy.  We had decided to wear shorts as it was supposed to get up to 68 degrees today.  It did warm up eventually.  The trail was beautiful and we didn't see too many people, although there was a mix of hikers, bikers and runners.  Chris had been on this trail before when he lived in Memphis, probably 7 or 8 years ago, so it was fun to do the trail with him aga