Pondelok - zamračene, občasne daždivo. Prešli sme cez úchvatný Oil Creek State Park. Viedla nás parádna cyklocesta vybudovaná na starej železnici. Oil Creek je v údolí takmer vysokohorského charakteru, akurát tie hory chýbajú... Všade bolo plno pripomienok na doby, keď tu ťažili ropu. Skoro som prešiel cez obrovskú užovku. Pri prenášaní bicyklov cez popadané stromy si Baška všimla orla bielohlavého, sedel na strome kúsok od nás. Čipmankovia nám vkuse skáču pod kolesá (ale zatiaľ všetci prežili), z mosta sme pozorovali rodinku potápačov, keď z lesa vyletela sova prenasledovaná kŕdľom bluejay-ov a drozdov. Cyklocesta skončila v Titusville, nakúpili sme nejaký proviant v Giant Eagle, potom sme opäť začali zdolávať kopce ako pred Allegheny (šmária to bola fuška). Dostali sme sa hlboko do končín, kde žijú Amish-ovia, prechádzali sme “dediny “ ako Rím alebo Sparta. K večeru sa krásne vyčasilo. Pred Spartansburgom sme zabivakovali na pozemku farmára Dale-a, vlastní pílu, dvoch psov a deväť detí, nie je Amish, pripravil nám oheň na večeru, nabili sme si uňho batérie, SaraJane s ním viedla hlbokú filozofickú debatu o viere, celkom fajn chlapík. Večer nám SJ porozprávala svoj životný príbeh - prvá “story night".
Utorok - opäť je pod mrakom, ráno leje, vyrážame až pred obedom, počasie je na draka, “Amish land“ je nádherná, farmy, pasienky, lesy, kopce - tých je kopec, očakávam, že z ich vrcholu už uvidíme jazero Erie, ale to je ešte ďaleko. Učíme SJ jesť surovú zeleninu. Aj napriek tomu, že je vegetariánka, je to pre ňu celkom nový zážitok. Nachádzame ďalšiu cyklocestu, ďalšia stará železnica, ale je to piesková pasca, tak ju po chvíli opúšťame a ideme po ceste, malebným údolím s meandrujúcov riečkou a pasienkami. Navečer po asi sto päťdesiatom kopci sa SJ spýtala jedného Amisha, že kde môžeme prespať, poslal nás do “folklórneho centra“, z čoho sa vykľul parádny hipisácky kemp - Brushwood (dajú sa nájsť aj na Facebooku, alebo na http://www.brushwood.com, je to pri mestečku Sherman, v štáte New York, ozaj už sme v ďalšom štáte :-)), s úžasnými festivalmi, niečo na štýl našej Zaježky, či skôr Rainbow -hudobné, umelecké workshopy, bubnovačky, táboráky, tanec, meditácie, atď. Bohužiaľ sme tu boli priskoro, najbližší festival bude až o mesiac. Ale zase sme mali celý kemp pre seba, vrátane výrivky s horúcou vodou a bazénom. Dnes som rozprával ja svoju story - druhá “story night". Keď sme išli spať, vyzerali sme trochu ako sušené slivky - tak to dopadá, keď sedíte do druhej v noci vo výrivke.
Streda - ráno krásne, slnečno, teplo. Sušíme všetko mokré, opäť sa ráchame vo výrivke, využívame výhody reálnej kuchyne, to všetko iba za 10$ na hlavu. Vyrážame až okolo štvrtej a začína pršať. Ďalšie kopce a cyklocesta, ktorá je pre zmenu takmer bažina. Opäť mnoho amishkých usadlostí. Konečne kopec, z ktorého vidíme jazero Erie. Spíme na jeho vrcholku a pod nami svietia mestečká na americkej aj kanadskej strane jazera Erie. V noci sa popri nás prehnala búrka, ale prístrešok kde sme zabivakovali (je tu malý park) spolu so stanom nás bez problémov ochránili.
Štvrtok - od rána leje, je hmla a fuka studený vietor. Keďže sme už všetko zbalili a sme pripravený vyraziť, jediné vhodné miesto, kde sa dá schovať pred vetrom sú dámske toalety, čakanie na lepšie počasie si krátime písaním denníkov a listov... Doposiaľ sme urazili 275 míľ.
Monday - we passed through Oil Creek State park with an amazing bike trail, many interesting things to see like an eagle, snake, tons of chipmunks, beautiful nature, owl being chased by bluejays and robins and once we portaged our bikes because trees had fallen on the trail. We passed the small town of Titusville, bought some supplies and heard some life stories from people passing by. Then we went though hills again, many hills, the weather was cold and rainy as usual, do they have something like summer weather here? But in the evening clouds disappeared and we biked in nice sunset light. All around us were farms, hills, cows, meadows and a lot of Amish people, which was very interesting to see. Before the night we ended up on Dale's farm. SJ asked him if we could stay and he showed us quite a nice campsite near his "crik" or creek, brought fire wood (he runs a sawmill), then while we prepared dinner he talked with SJ about religion - it was quite a philosophical debate. It was also our first story night, we heard SJ's life story, so we went to sleep very late.
Tuesday - another rainy and cloudy day, we passed through places like Sparta and Spartansburg. We crossed more hills, got trapped in a sandy bike trail, tried to teach SJ to eat raw vegetables and saw a lot more Amish people. Barbora continues to beat us up the steepest hills. In the evening SJ asked one Amish guy if we could camp somewhere nearby and he sent us to the coolest place in this part of Amish country - Brushwood folklore centre (http://www.brushwood.com , it is in New York near the town of Sherman). It was a true hippie camp with amazing earth-spiritual-arts-friendly atmosphere, music/dance/arts/spiritual workshops... The people at registration were quite surprised when they saw us, because first festival will be in July and the camp was nearly empty. Better for us, there was a pool and hot tub, kitchen, many cool things and it was there only for us (probably we would not be able to enjoy it like this with another 2000 people) and it all cost just 10$ per person (compare with Europe it was quite cheap). So after dinner we sat in hot tub till 2am, while I was telling my life story :-).
Wednesday - finally a sunny day, but swimming in the pool and sitting in the hot tub was also nice, so we left Brushwood very late and we didn't want to leave, but there are still a few miles to ride. So back to the rollercoasters, up and down through hills to the rain and clouds. We rode through another bike trail which was a mud trap this time (bike trails here are really horrible), but the country roads are good and empty. We passed the town of Mayville with a really big lake. SJ started to yell that we did it, until I corrected her that this is not Lake Erie. But finally at the end of day we saw it from the top of one hill near Brocton - there was small overlook park with shelter so we camped there, and the guy who came to close the park doors was really ok with that. So far we did 275 miles. In the night a nice storm hit us, but the pavilion together with our tent kept us dry and warm.
Thursday - raining whole morning, it is cold, foggy, windy... Perfect time to hide in the bathroom (the only place out of the wind) and write our journals, blog and letters. We are waiting for the sun :-).
No comments:
Post a Comment