Updates from the Road - Day 84 - Hello Again East Coast
That was a long one.
Current location: New York, New York
Miles traveled since last update: 1930+
Max miles traveled in one day on this leg: 920!
Total miles traveled: 12,000+
Wow. Next Sunday will mark ninety days on the road. I only intended this to be a two month journey but here I am set to arrive back home exactly thirty days past my intended target. I am grateful that I had the means to take this extra month. Some of the best sights came in this last thirty days and it would have been a bummer to miss some of my intended stops. I'm currently in NYC trying to readjust to the city life after being out in nature for so long. What better place to do it than here?
Only a couple major talking points this week. Most of my time over the next week or so will be in reviewing my most favorite parts of my time on the road and some of the biggest things I've learned to put together a nice recap of it all.
National Park Finale
My final two national park stops came in the last two weeks. The final one, Hot Springs National Park in all honesty was one of the worst. The other was Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico which was definitely worth the stop. As for Hot Springs which is in Arkansas, all I can say is that while it has a good amount of hiking trails, the hot springs themselves have been surrounded by tourist-y bathhouses that are well past their prime. Glad I didn't go too far out of my way for that one.
Carlsbad Caverns
View all my Carlsbad Caverns photos here.
I've never really visited what might be called a cavern. I wasn't even planning on stopping by this national park but after some recommendations from a few locals in New Mexico I decided to make the trip. I hiked the entirety of these caves which go to a depth of 1600ft (although it isn't possible to hike to that particular depth). The caves are well lit which allow you to see the expansive rooms filled with stalactites, stalagmites, and other formations I didn't know existed. It was a super cool experience with the only adjustment required not being the darkness, but the dank smell.
I'm excited to visit some friends and family on my way back to Boston with only one more major point of interest on the way. I'm not quite ready to talk about that one so we can just leave it as a mystery for now. Hoping this final stop will be some frosting on the cake that has been this incredible journey. Talk soon and thanks for reading.
