Post-Hike Road Trip Down to Alabama, Post 26-31
- Jimmy Lee
- Aug 2
- 4 min read
Updated: Aug 8
With the hike over, we begin a road trip south to visit friends and family. In this post we start out in Maine and end up Alabama where we went our first kayak trip on a river with rapids.
Tuesday, July 21 – Thursday, July 31, 2026
At times it seems like we are eating our way south, and Sondra thinks she has certainly has gained back the weight, plus some, that she lost during her 17-day hike.
Transition from backpacking to a road trip
Driving through Maine, self-nicknamed “Vacationland” Tuesday morning was very enjoyable with its northern conifers and hilly roadways. We are looking forward to returning here next year for more backpacking. For now, Sondra finds it a little strange not to be hiking, but honestly, she is happy but happy to let the body rest.
Switch from van to car
The first destination on Tuesday was to head to Boston to pick up rental car. It was interesting to drive the big Sprinter van in the busy Boston traffic. Once downtown, Sondra dropped Jimmy off and drove to a hotel near Peabody, MA. When Jimmy arrived at the hotel with the rental car, we transferred all of our gear and food from the van into the car. Wednesday morning, we dropped off the van in Peabody and began a two-day drive to Charlotte in the rental car.
Enjoying the sights along the way
From Boston we headed inland to take the route that follows the scenic Appalachian Mountain chain. It was fun crossing the Appalachian Trail a few times as we drove through New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
Since we both grew up in areas without snow we found it interesting to drive through areas where snow is a normal occurrence. I’m sure locals would crack up listening to our comments and questions about how infrastructure is designed to accommodate the foreign-to-us occurrence of snow.
Another delight of the road trip came when we found a last-minute hotel along the Interstate system to stop for the night after leaving Boston. About 10 minutes away was downtown Carlisle where we headed for dinner and ended up at a local brew pub on music bingo night. It was a blast to play and the people working at the place were a joy to interact with. The road trip and the evening are examples of the enjoyment we had discovering new parts of our own country.
Visiting family & friends across three states
North Carolina
We arrived in Charlotte late Thursday afternoon, along with the rain, which stayed with us while visiting Jimmy’s sister for a few days. During the visit, Sondra got her first haircut since mid-January, and we did a lot of dog walking when the rain let up for a moment. On our walks, we watched parts of the 24 Hours of Booty, a cycling event fundraiser to provide support and services for cancer patients and their families.
Watching the 24 Hours of Booty
On Sunday morning we were back on the road, taking an alternate route through North Carolina on our way to the Atlanta, GA area. It was a very pretty drive with mountainous views, with a lunch stop in Waynesville.
Georgia
Sunday evening was spent at our hiker friend “Yogi” and his wife. It was fun to reminisce about when we hiked together in 2024, as well as sharing other hiking stories. Sometime after leaving their home Monday morning, I realized that I forgot to get a photo of our reunion.
Alabama
Sondra got to visit her mother’s sisters who live in different cities on Monday. We had lunch with one and drove south for dinner with the other. Sondra was very happy to visit with them again and Jimmy listened to a lot of fun family stories.
Lunch in Fort Payne, Views in Mentone, Dinner in Gadsden
Tuesday morning, we visited my mother’s and grandmother’s memorials in different parts of Gadsden, AL before taking more back roads on our trip further south into Alabama. The day's road trip ended in near Montgomery where we visited with Jimmy’s father for a few days.
While in the area we spent one day kayaking with Jimmy’s son. We met at Coosa River Adventures and were taken seven miles upstream the Coosa River, just downstream of the Jordan Dam. From there we paddled and floated our way downstream on sit-aboard kayaks, crossing several rapids. Austin had run the river several times a few years ago, but it was our first time kayaking rapids. This was a great run for an introduction to rapids as it starts out as a gentle paddle trip before reaching the first set of rapids. Each set increased in technicality but only reaching a Class II, and maybe a low III in rapid classification. We simply followed Austin through the rapids deploying some tips he provided. Jimmy had good beginners luck being the only one to not fall into the water on the most difficult drop of the day.
Next stop will be Mississippi to visit humans and a certain cat.
Post 26-31
Comments