KiKitC's VirtualTourist Home Page

UNDER CONSTRUCTION (I have been building and editing ALOT since we got back from the trip!)

"When one door closes, another opens.
But we often look so long and regretfully upon the closed door that we fail to see the one that has opened for us."
Alexander Graham Bell

Don't call us the "Accidental Tourists" but, it seems every time we take a vacation, the plans will change along the way. And it seems that both Gordie and I have that "Rambling Fever" that so many sing about. So, we have adopted a "Roving" lifestyle...of sorts. Often times, we are far from home...with no reservations or set destinations. This makes for some interesting, off-the-wall, "never would have known that" adventures.

Our favorite travel companions??...RedRover and Nigel. RedRover is our modified, off-road Land Rover Discovery...Nigel is my trusty mostly on-road Land Rover Discovery.

Our latest adventure took us through 17 states. We headed to Montrose, CO for the National Land Rover Rally, and towed RedRover out there with Nigel.

The rally introduced us to some roads and trails that are spectacular, steep and exhilerating. Many of the trails we did get to explore were outside of Ouray, CO, offering trips to the heavens...

Unfortunately, RedRover broke at about 14,500 feet...so we continued exploring with my Rover, Nigel...there are trails to explore in the Canyons of the Ancients, which brings you past numerous ancestral Native American ruins...

We also explored Hovenweep National Monument in Utah and Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. Each offers visitors a look at the life and history of the native American puebloen people.

So, our off-road adventure turned instead, to a spiritual journey.

Tips and pictures being created. Glad to be home...and back to 104 feet above sea level. I have thousands of pictures to sort through, and limited time...so stop back...I'm building as fast as I can...

Yes, we enjoy driving our Rover off-road, but, we all have adopted the Tread Lightly attitude, one which respects and protects our environment. Following is an excerpt from the Tread Lightly.org website:

Tread Lightly! On Land

*Travel responsibly on designated roads and trails or in permitted areas.

*Respect the rights of others including private property owners and all recreational trail users, campers and others to allow them to enjoy their recreational activities undisturbed.

*Educate yourself by obtaining travel maps and regulations from public agencies, planning for your trip, taking recreation skills classes, and knowing how to use and operate your equipment safely.

*Avoid sensitive areas such as meadows, lakeshores, wetlands and streams, unless on designated routes. This protects wildlife habitat and sensitive soils from damage.

*Do your part by leaving the area better than you found it, properly disposing of waste, minimizing the use of fire, avoiding the spread of invasive species, restoring degraded areas, and joining a local enthusiast organization.

You got a problem with that???

Just kidding...but New Jersey is more than the Parkway and mobsters. So many visitors never leave the concrete jungles of North Jersey...or they drive straight through unique ecosystems and historic sites to catch the rays at our beaches. I'd like to introduce travelers to the historic, the charming...the Garden State.

If Gordie and I ever come up missing...start searching the 1.4 million acres of the New Jersey Pine Barrens. This area of unique ecology and beauty is a part of New Jersey that offers incredible historical, geological, anthropological and adrenaline adventures.

The European settlers refered to the area as "barrens" because of the sandy, acidic soils that would not cultivate crops. But, the area offered other resources, such as bog iron, clay, lumber, sphagnum moss and game. This desolate area played a pivitol role in our country's industrial and national advancement through the centuries.

New technologies, new cultivating techniques, new industries, the pines raised them all. This "barren" expanse of land played a pivotal role in our country's independence and strength...

The bog iron found here was used to craft cannons and cannon balls for use in the revolutionary and civil wars. 2 large munitions factories were built here in 1918 for World War I, including the largest in the country at the time.

A Pennsylvania investor...owning a large portion of the land in the 1800s, had plans to dam all the streams, flood the pines and pipe that water to Philadelphia. Luckily, the New Jersey Legislature would not allow that, and Wharton had to change his plans for the area. Eventually, the land was obtained by the State of New Jersey, this becoming Wharton State Forest.

The pine barrens is also the home of the cultivated cranberry and blueberry industries...did you know the plastic wrap that covers produce in the stores started with a blueberry cultivator here...in the pines?

Crowleytown the home of mason jar...now a ghost town...

I wish to share a history of the New Jersey Pine Barrens, offering a virtual tour of the many ghost towns of abandoned industries throughout the centuries as well as the folk stories that accompany this unique area.

Begin your tour here...at Atsion, a famous bog ironworks, which eventually saw ruin...another wonderful stop is to the Village of Allaire, a restored iron village with period demonstrations of iron work and other 18th century crafts.

Stay tuned!

Gordie and I are low level adrenaline junkies (cause I'm afraid of heights mostly). After the motorcycle accident (see Hawaii pages), we tradedin two wheelf for four. Read about more of our adventures at various NJ and PA pages...Rausch Creek Off Road Park, in Pennsylvania. There's a warning sign by this mud pit stating it's five foot deep, and there's a way around. Luckily, there's video of the action.

Andy went first...See Andy's Video...
Then Gordie went through with Red...Red Gettin through the Mud!

Another fun break is just down the parkway, not far from Forked River, NJ

I know alot of people that have 4 wheel drive never do take the vehicles offroad. Boy, are they missing out...
Seems since the accident, we've traded in two wheels for four.
Like most, I work a full time job, but I'm also a professional clown, so I work most weekends clowning around and twisting balloons. (see my travelogue for pics) But on the occassion that I'm not completely booked for shows, we head for the pines, sometimes around Atsion, or Jackson, or Hammonton,

Gordie and I became clowns as a service project for Kiwanis International. (not because a judge made him do it...) Our first "gig" was a walkathon for autism awareness. We had a profound effect on the children, almost every child came right out of their shells to visit with this bouncing, squeaking, cartoon character come to life...

But, it's not the children at the hospital, or the autistic children at carnivals...the person that gets the most out of the experience is me...
My husband, who doesn't bounce quite like he used to, told me often that when he put the clown makeup on and became "OhNo" he could bend down to the kids level and dance around, and his arthritis was non-existant. I couldn't relate to that until the accident. It's true. While I sit here and type, my hand is screaming with pain, but, iy's all part of my therapy. But, when I'm clowning, the pain isn't there, my fingers all move just the way they should, and "all is right with the world."

June 2005

I spent a year planning our first trip to Hawaii. The Kiwanis International Convention was in Honolulu that year. But really, if you are going half-way across the world for a trip, you want to stay, explore and enjoy. So, we planned 15 days to explore three islands: Maui, Oahu and the Big Island.

We purchased our own snorkel gear, packed the hiking gear and flew 10.5 hours non-stop from Newark to Honolulu. This would be the trip that changes my life forever. Just the second day of our trip, a freak accident almost took our lives.

It's an ancient native belief that if you face death, and are scared during the ordeal, a piece of your soul remains in that spot until you come back to reclaim it. Thus, I need to get back to Maui...I have a lot to say to the mountain that tried to kill us.

August 2005

Our friends decided to move to California...3,000 miles away. Shortage of drivers for their vehicles, and both of us out of work...ROAD TRIP!

We drove all the way across country in 3 DAYS!!!

Visit my Modesto, CA page for more of the story!

Well, since the accident in Hawaii, we have really traded in the two wheels for four. But, you really can't beat the deal on a good "Fly and Ride"

Love to ride motorcycles? Maybe you're tired of the same old scenery?

What a deal!! Fly to your destination and rent a Harley for the day. Ride all day, give the bike back full of bugs and road dirt, and the best part...I don't have to clean it.

Fly and Rides have offered some of the best rides I've ever taken. What's the top rides of my life?

Hands down, Maui The scenery is unparalleled...we rode along the west coast, stopping at one gorgeous overlook after another. We did not get a chance to ride the Hana, but someday I will be back...in a Jeep.

The second best from Austin and rented a bike to ride through the hill country. We rode the hill country, to New Braunfels, around the "Devil's Backbone" and north towards Enchanted Rock. (too much rain kept us from reaching that sacred spot.) Simply...this is like riding a rollercoaster through a John Wayne movie.