Oct 20 2011, near Somerset PA

Now holed-up a couple of days at a RV park near Somerset PA...not far from Cumberland MD as a cold (mid 40s), windy, drizzly mess passes overhead, with cable TV for World Series we pause to reflect on our past month and touch on places visited but unmentioned…as well as to vent, once/for all on the issue of the ubiquitous STOP sign.

V entering TurtleToo after visit to RV park shower, 42 degrees drizzle/windy

But before coming here, we made it as far N as St Mary’s PA, near Allegheny Nat’l Forest, where we stopped for the night at a Wal-Mart. We climbed into the back to discover we had no lights…no electricity at all in the living part of TurtleToo, the RoadTrek. Dead battery? No…likely not, but being a breezy/chilly night in a WalMart parking lot, we couldn’t very well get into intense diagnostics, so we adjourned a short walk to a McDonalds to ponder…

The leaves were past their autumn color peak up there, mostly off the trees, so there wasn’t much to glorify in…earlier that day we walked a trail in a State Forest – nice creek, etc, but we couldn’t justify parking in the Nat’l Forest with no hookups and no battery power, waiting-out the cold wet mess among the half-denuded trees before heading S. We decided to instead head S in the morning.

…So we returned to TurtleToo, and after a couple of random switches thrown the power came on in the back! Still, we decided to await the next time it happens…in the morning we left and made it here, after stopping by the site of the 1889 Johnstown Flood, where an earthen dam broke and 2000+ died, and the site is now a National Park – go figure! $4/head to see the museum etc, so instead we took a couple of pics and split. We also passed along the Flight 93 (9/11) Memorial Highway, where the plane crashed into the PA Highlands…but rather than stop we said, “Let’s Roll.” No use burying the dead over and over…RIP.

Autumn foliage in PA

But back to the past…

A month ago, when we left Wilmington NC we stopped by Son/stepson Brian and fiance Missy's house near Southern Pines NC where our remaining stuff is in a barn...

Brian/Missy and their barn

...and we enjoyed some time together before moving on...

So Rails-to-Trails is an organization involved in reclaiming abandoned railroad beds as biking/walking etc trails…northern climes also use them for snowmobiling in season. We seek out these trails, and you’d like them as well. They can be found here:
http://www.traillink.com/viewnationalmap.aspx?z=9&lat=35.86349730858590&lon=-86.33975899931570

A beautiful area of our great nation is where NC/VA/TN meet – lots of little towns, woods and creeks.

We made it over to Kingsport TN and pedaled from Warrior’s Path State Park to this trail:
http://www.traillink.com/trail/kingsport-greenbelt.aspx

we pedaled around there…and after getting lost a few times we made it back home…and then we continued to Abingdon VA, where a really nice trail…the Virginia Creeper Trail runs for about 35 miles along an old logging railroad bed:
http://www.traillink.com/trail/virginia-creeper-national-recreation-trail.aspx

The first day we covered the west half round-trip, and the next day we moved on to Damascus, VA, the halfway point on the trail, and the following day I covered the east half. Either leg is a real nice ride with old railroad bridges and stations and forest.


Virginia Creeper Trail old RR bridge, V on clown bike

Back in the period mid 1800s to early 1900s most of the Eastern US forests were clear-cut, to the extent that construction wood and forest wildlife were hard to find. Since then, the 2nd growth forests have recovered, and in another 50-100 years it will resemble the old-growth forests of days of yore. At this point, to my eyes, the Eastern forests are far more lush and diverse, with a beautiful blend of hardwoods – sycamore, hickory, hemlock, oak, walnut…many more I don’t know, along with laurel and other understory plants along the steep slopes, with beaver dams in meadows and chipmunks and woodpeckers, etc busily maintaining the forest process of growth/decay/regeneration – it takes many generations to become “old-growth”…and will get there with the little logging that I could see – as opposed to the western states, where the National Forests are little more than tree farms – in the East it appears the forests are largely left alone! Here’s hoping they continue that way…

You wonder at state map boundaries, and here is an answer for TN/VA/NC



Another spactacular PA barn

…But about those STOP signs – we have all seen them, those octagonal barriers that have popped up like weeds in parking lots and deserted intersections. The intent of the sign is obvious enough…a legally enforceable kibosh on forward progress. We must come to a complete stop before proceeding, regardless of circumstances. Deserted or not, STOP!...but who is that stupid as to follow a sign’s instruction in the face of irrefutable evidence – it is OK to go! Try standing by any stop sign and see who comes to a complete STOP, as the sign requires. Wheels must make no forward progress to be stopped, and police and regular folks all disregard, after slowing down. In short, we treat the STOP sign as though it was a YIELD sign…all of us!
A YIELD sign is triangular and requires less material to manufacture. It notifies the driver that he/she must stay out of the way of other cars – if you have no problem, then proceed without coming to a complete stop. If you cause an accident, you are held liable as with a STOP sign intersection.

I read that the amount of petro-fuel converted to forward progress is around 15%, with the rest lost to heat, overcoming friction…idling at intersections, etc – not very efficient!...so coming to an unnecessary complete stop is a waste of fuel and a drag on our lives. Brakes and other vehicle components are also often unnecessarily stressed.

I propose that all STOP signs be replaced with YIELD signs, but gradually…as normal replacement becomes necessary.

As a kid, I pondered the STOP sign and the way the NY Police judiciously enforced the law, watching for reasonable behavior that was in violation, and it made no sense – I lost respect for the law and became suspicious of all other laws. In this case we are all criminals! Are we all in the wrong, or is the law wrong?

The intent, the bottom line in laws is DO NO HARM TO SOMEONE ELSE - we are liable for the harm we cause. In the case of these signs, the result of failure to YIELD is the same as failure to STOP – a collision, injury, death…but we should not use STOP signs to cater to the lowest denominator – we are responsible and do not need to be sign-bludgeoned into all this foolish stopping.

I feel better now...