LONG STORY SHORT By Kristine McGowan I made a mistake in our last newsletter, specifically in the Where are we going next? section. Somehow, after looking ahead in the calendar, I listed all our final Florida stops in the newsletter—but omitted every stop after that. The Floridian humidity must have gotten to my head. It convinced me we were never leaving. Thankfully, the Sunshine State has loosened its grip on us, and now I’m writing to you from a coffee shop in the town of Cherokee, nestled in the North Carolina mountains. For the first time in months, we have no signal and no RV hookups at our campsite—and I have to say, I’m relishing it. (Jason, not so much. The Masters Tournament happened this weekend, and he was anxious to check the leaderboard every day.) We enjoyed our time in Florida (mostly), but the weirdest part about our time there? We didn’t see a single mountain for weeks. Everywhere we went, the state unfurled around us either in an endless, flat, grassy expanse or a congested metro area populated by some of the worst drivers we’ve ever seen. (And we’re from California.) It was unsettling. We’ve lived our entire lives in the shadows of mountains, and I didn’t realize how unmoored I’d feel without them looming on the horizon. It’s good to be back among them now, however brief our stay might be. Where have we been?Dry Tortugas National Park, Fla.  Getting to Dry Tortugas was not easy—we’ve visited remote parks in Alaska with fewer headaches—but there’s no denying that it’s worth the effort. Where else can you explore a nineteenth-century U.S. fort built on a remote island, then go snorkeling in turquoise waters to see coral and meet some of the locals (aka fish)? We may not like everything about Florida, but we do love its national parks. Everglades National Park, Fla.  Everglades didn’t look like much when we first arrived, but we quickly found that this park’s greatest treasure is its biodiversity. While canoeing through mangrove forests and boating out to the keys, we met American alligators and crocodiles, manatees, pelicans, and even a bald eagle. We also got to watch a clumsy young osprey (pictured above) struggle to balance on a tree and eat its catch while its sibling looked on in embarrassment. Gotta love nature. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, N.C.  Finally--mountains. We kicked off our visit to the Smokies with a “raft and rail” trip, wherein we hopped on a train for a scenic ride up the Nantahala River and then hopped on a raft to paddle our way back down. (Just look at the photo above to see how excited we were about that; we’re sitting in the second row.) We’ll be here for a few more days, and I can’t wait to see what else the Smokies have in store for us. Where are we going next?No stops left out this time, I promise. After leaving the Smokies, we’ll head north to Ohio for a baseball game (go, Angels!), and then we’ll make our way east to our nation’s capital.  70. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, N.C. & Tenn.
71. Cincinnati, Ohio 72. Harpers Ferry, W. Va. 73. Washington, D.C. 74. Baltimore, Md.
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