Episode 19 is the third episode of Volume II and covers my TransAmerica Trail drive on September 8, 2023 from the White Rock Mountain Recreation Area in the Ozark National Forest of northwest Arkansas to Nowata, Oklahoma, near Bartlesville, via the Cherokee and Osage nations. The drive includes Warloop Road, a tightly brush-enclosed, rocky section of an Arkansas county road near White Rock.
I have lowered the volume to make road noise, Siri's suggestions, and the rattling of melting ice and hardware in the back of the 4Runner less obtrusive. But if you want to hear that stuff, or my occasional comments and grumbles, you might want to turn up the sound.
After my wife died in late 2022 I implemented a long-planned dream of driving coast-to-coast on the TransAmerica Trail. I made the trip in two portions: Nags Head to the Mississippi River in May of 2023, and from the Mississippi River to Port Orford, Oregon in September.
I have tried to provide as realistic a representation of the drive as possible. The sound is what a passenger in my 4Runner would have heard (sorry about the radio selection!). The picture is through the windshield from a GoPro camera mounted to my dashboard. There are no beautiful drone shots from high overhead showing me driving down an isolated road through pretty scenery. There's no music, except for occasional snippets from the 4runner's stereo. I'm not promoting anything - including the TAT, though it doesn't need promoting.
I am struck by the beauty of some of these country roads and by the number of people who extended a friendly wave as I drove past. But the Trail also tests fortitude - of both you and your vehicle. It’s a magnificent country out there, but it will challenge you. If you’re planning such a trip: prepare well, be careful, take your time, and enjoy it!
Pokey, the family cat that accompanied me on the first half of my TAT journey, stays in a "pet resort" for the second half of the trip.
29 сен 2024
