In Search Of New Glarus Beer

My oldest son sends me ideas on places to go and sometimes requests.

He knows I'm now in McHenry, IL and a short distance to Wisconsin.  I'm visiting my aunt for a few days so with the knowledge that New Glarus Brewing only distributes in Wisconsin, I planned a trip in the Prius to the state with my aunt.

We cross the state line from Illinois and the BP Gas Station was the first stop.  I walked in and cases of various brews of New Glarus were stacked on the floor.

My son was very specific in that he wanted Spotted Cow.  There it was!

I continued our trip to Lake Geneva for lunch with my aunt and the case of beer went for the ride.  

The case will be moved to the front passenger seat floor for the next few days until I get to Maryland where I can deliver it.

The things a father does for his beer loving son.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com

GTG to McHenry, IL

In the next few blog posts I will catch you up on my travels as my most recent posts are a bit dated, having busted many places I wanted to write about and post.

I left the GTG on Saturday, 4/16/16 - (Day 104) having stayed with one other vandweller an extra night after the others moved on to another site in TN.

I was headed to McHenry, IL for a couple days to visit my aunt, who I have visited each year of my travels.

I broke the trip up by taking back roads through much of TN and all of KY.

I stopped to play disc golf in KY and decided to stay a night in a hotel in Evansville, IN, using my hotel points.

I got a suite for 8K points and I also went downtown Evansville and found a nice German restaurant and went out to eat.  On very long days of travel I may stop and eat out. I also do this more on my way home.

The next day, Sunday, 4/17/16 (Day 105)

I drove the rest of the way to McHenry and stayed Sunday, Monday (Day 106), and Tuesday (Day 107) nights.

We only see each other once a year during my return trip home so there was lots of catching up to do.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com

My Prius - "Living in a really small Space."

I met Dan at the GTG my first day there flying his two drones.  Both have cameras and can take video.

Dan and I have something in common in that we were both in the fire service and we were both EMT's.

I am kind of an oddity in that I'm just under 6 feet tall and I live in a Prius.  Not only do I live in my Prius, I have the same general capabilities in my Prius that I had in my Class B.

This being my second year living in my Prius, I have some engineering improvements this year that stand out.  One is my table that doesn't have legs and stores in the same space I had least year.  That's right no additional space requirements for carrying a table.

I carried my back packing table too but never used it.  My table design worked so well I will not bring the backpacking one next year.

I also designed a better water storage system and access to my clothing.

These along with some things that are less visible, my Prius living was much better.

So, Dan asked I he could video my setup and I was happy to help others looking to travel in small spaces. 

Here is the link to Dan's blog where he posted still shots and there is a link to the YouTube video.

https://dancordray.com/2016/04/11/living-in-a-really-small-space/?blogsub=confirmed

Thanks to Dan for making this available and if anyone has questions please email me or post to this blog and I will reply.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com

Little River Canyon National Preserve - Monday 4/11/16 (Day 99)

My oldest son told me that I need to check out the "Grand Canyon Of The East" in Alabama while I am here.

Searching for "Grand Canyon Of The East" brought a number of responses from Southwast states, but he was sure that it was Alabama so the Little River Canyon must be it.

I stopped in to the Visitor Center about a mile away and to the left of the bridge.

The woman ranger at the information desk gave me a map with the rim road on it showing all the turnouts to overlook the canyon.  There is no fee to enter or access the preserve.

I watched the movie about the National Preserve prior to coming to the falls overlook.

I am told that the spring is the best time to come to see the water flow in the river as seasonal changes in water flow changes the falls and river level.

The rim road takes you plast this hoodoo in the middle of the road.

The canyon is deep at about 500 feet.  The Grand Canyon in Arazona is about 5000 feet deep.

This falls is listed as seasonal so I'm glad I got to see it flowing.

I stopped at all the turnouts along the rim road and got out to look at the scenic overlook.  There isn't much parking at many of the turnouts, but being a weekday there wasn't any cars at most of them.

There is on good hike with parking that I partially hiked that goes to the bottom of the canyon to the river.  The trail is the Eberhart Point Trail. It is very steep and is popular in the summer for swimming in the river.  It is so steep that in the. Summer any cooling off you may do will be a long memory as you climb back to the top to your car.  When you stop at the Visitors Center ask for the hiking map.

I didn't hike all the way to the bottom as rain was coming east towards me and I wanted to get back to the GTG before puddles fill the pot holes on the dirt road and obscure the deep holes.  The Prius is not happy with large pot holes.

If you do ever hike to the bottom be mindful that the river level can change fast making it dangerous at times.

Although this is a nice park and a significant canyon it is hard to compare this to the Grand Canton.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com

Looking For The Beginning Of Appalachian Trail In Georgia

On Saturday, 4/9/16 (Day 97) after leaving my cousin's house in Notthern Georgia, I headed out looking for the start of the southern end of the Appalachian Trail.

Websites were confusing to me on how cot get to where the A.T. starts.

My decision was to go to Amicalola State Park as it has a trail listed as the A.T Approach Trail.

I arrived at the toll booth for the state park and I asked if this was where the start of the Appalachian Trail was and I got a kind of sort of yes story.  The story included the words Springier Mountain.

Since it was well approaching mid-day I figured I would pay to enter the park and see the falls and ask the visitor center for more A.T. Information.

I had a hard time finding s parking spot close to the visitor center for information on such a nice spring weekend day.

I parked up hill and walked down to get the information.  Once inside a young woman asked me if I needed help and I said I am looking for the start of the Appalachian Trail and she began the explanation.

She said the State Park where we are is the Approach Trail for the Appalachian Trail and that the actual trail starts 9 miles to the east on Springer Mountain.  I asked if this is where the A.T. market  is and she said yes.

She went on to explain that about half begin their trek on the A.T. from the campground here at the state park the rest start at Springer Mountain either walking up the 6.5 mile Forest Service Road to the top of the mountain or get a ride to the top on a so so dirt road.

She gave me the written directions to the A.T. Trailhead and that my Prius should make it up the steep dirt Forest Service Road.  The 9 miles to hike to the trailhead from here is compared to the 1.25 hours to drive to the top of Springer Mountain and then .9 miles hike to the actual start of the Appalachian Trail.

Since I was headed back to AL and the GTG I did not have the time to add this drive and hike to my day. Also I did not know if my Prius could make it up the mountain road.

So I decided to hike the A.T. Approach Trail up this mountain and see the falls.

It's a strenuous hike up the stairs there are over 200 to start.

Then you add on 425 stairs to the top of the falls.

It's a short hike that required me to take a couple breaks on the way up.

At the top it is very scenic.

At the top of the falls the A.T. Approach Trail continues to Springer Mountain.

I did not have enough time to make the now 8 mile hike to Springer Mountain, so my quest to see the A.T. marker will have to wait for another opportunity.

Above you can see the detail showing the Approach trail from the state park to Springer Mountain.

The reason I came to find the A.T. Trailhead was because I took the REI course last fall in hiking the trail and wanted to see where it started.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com

Gerst Haus, Evensville, IN - Dinner & Beer

After my drive up from the GTG in Stevenson, AL Saturday, 4/16/16 - (Day 104) I decided to end my day with a free hotel in Evansville, IN using my hotel points.

After checking in I decided to treat myself to dinner.  A search brought me to the Gerst Haus German Restaurant in the old section of Evansville.

There were a couple of restaurants across the street that also appeared to be popular too.

The high ceilings and Germsn artifacts gives a pleasant atmosphere.  I sat solo in a booth and had wonderful service, although my food order was misplaced the waitress immediately told me and apologized.  I was still working on my beer and checking things out so it didn't matter.

I had a locally made lager.

And the Knockwurst plate to round out my German experience.  

Here is a bit of the motif above my booth.

It was a great restaurant with excellent food and service.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com

Smothers Park - Owensboro, KY

Still on Saturday, 4/16/16 - (Day 104), after playing disc golf at Yellow Creek Park, and before heading for Evansville, IN for the night, I stopped at Smothers Park in Owensville, KY along the Ohio River.

It turned out to be Prom night with couples all dressed and family and friends taking pictures.  It was a beautiful afternoon with temperatures near 80.

Although the park is relatively small it looks new and people were out enjoying the spring day.  Above is the children's playground with a large fake tree with a large squirrel holding a nut.

I parked across from the Bluegrass Museum.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com