Driving a Big Rig through the Big Dig

We saw Boston as an obstacle in our Sunday route from Cape Cod to Boothbay, Maine. The best option seemed to be I-495 that skirts Boston to the west, but it’s 45 minutes longer than going straight through downtown Boston. However, the thought never occurred to us that we might consider going through downtown through the tunnel.

Then slowly George began to recall a documentary he had seen on the “Big Dig” as Boston’s downtown highway construction project was called. Curiosity and intrigue set in. George began to research the big dig and also posted a message on the Country Coach forum asking if anyone had driven a coach on I-93 through downtown Boston. A local Country Coach owner responded and said he drives his coach through there when he is going to New Hampshire. That news capped the plan. The Busbloggers would drive through the big dig in a big rig.

 

The big dig is the largest highway construction project in the history of the United States and cost 14.6 billion dollars. It was completed in 2004 after the first planning stages began in 1982. The project involves the 3.5 mile Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neil, Jr. tunnel underneath downtown, and the spectacular Zakim cable-stayed bridge connected to the tunnel on the north side.

One side benefit of the project is that the space above the tunnel that formerly was underneath the elevated expressway has now been turned into a beautiful linear park for the people of Boston called the Rose Kennedy Greenway.

The controversial project has incurred criminal arrests, cost over-runs, death, and tunnel leaks. Readers may recall that a couple of years ago a woman was killed when a piece of the tunnel ceiling fell on her car as she passed through through. Charges of poor execution and use of substandard materials and fraud on the part of contractors resulted in for their having to make reimbursements to the construction authority.

Significant engineering challenges were encountered in building the tunnel including glacial debris, foundations of old buried buildings, subway lines, and even several sunken ships. Special supports had to be built to support the commuter rail lines above and also supports to hold up the overhead expressway while the tunnel was being excavated. A technique to freeze some unstable earth to make it safe to excavate even had to be employed.

Our trip through the famous (or infamous) big dig went well and we will long remember it.

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Sightseeing on Cape Cod

 

in addition to bicycling on Cape Cod, we did some sightseeing, too. We visited Hyannis and Hyannis Port on the southern end of the cape.  This is the location of the Kennedy Compound and the place from which  the Nantucket Island ferry departs.  We ate lunch on the docks at a seafood restaurant where we enjoyed fish chowder, lobster bisque, native clams and sea scallops.

After lunch we took a boat tour of Hyannis harbor and saw the marina where the Honey Fitz, President Kennedy’s yacht, was kept.

The tour then took us out to see the Kennedy compound including the homes of Ted Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, Joan Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, and the Shrivers.

We learned that when President Kennedy was visiting the compound, the Secret Service did not want him staying in his own house for security reasons so he stayed in a a house loaned by a neighbor.

After the boat tour Irene and I biked to the Kennedy Memorial and around the harbor. We then headed home concluding another interesting day.

The next day, after riding the northern section of the Cape Cod Rail Trail, we drove north to the town of Provincetown, MA, at the end of the island, a town with many old homes of sea captains.

We found Provincetown to be an interesting and charming town that reminded us of Key West, FL. We took a trolley tour that gave us an overview of the town and also took us to the Cape Cod National Seashore.

We learned that the Pilgrims actually came to Provincetown first and stayed five weeks, but they moved on to Plymouth Rock because they found no farm land at Provincetown.

Bicycling Cape Cod

 

Who would know that Cape Cod is such a good place to bicycle?  We’ve enjoyed bicycling the Cape Cod Canal Trail and also the Cape Cod Rail Trail.  Both trails are paved, have good scenery, and are pleasant to ride.  After driving most of Monday from Jim Thorpe, PA, it was great to be outside and moving on the Canal Trail Tues.  Boats, bridges, and birds were the main scenery there.  And the weather was great – sunny, breezy, and in the low seventies.

The Cape Cod Rail Trail (CCRT) is longer and we’ve biked it in sections – not all at once.  It is primarily a wooded trail that passes thru many communities, offering a place to stop and “see the sights” or have lunch.

 

 

While the trail often crosses a road, sometimes it goes thru tunnels  to avoid road crossings. Motorists are used to the trails and stop at crossings when they see a biker. Signs with a map of the trail are placed at parking accesses and trail junctions.  A hint of fall could be seen along the trail.

 

On our last day on Cape Cod, we rode to the northern end of the trail, passing Nickerson State Park en route.  This rail trail is the site of the first trains to Cape Cod.  Many communities developed along the route as people and goods were carried between Boston and the Cape in both directions.  We really enjoyed the legacy of the trains as we biked the Cape Cod Rail Trail on our visit to the the Cape.

Jim Thorpe – a Town In PA

 

We drove into the town of Jim Thorpe, PA, and were surprised and impressed with the 3 and 4 story buildings in the small Pennsylvania town.  And we were a bit tense about driving through the narrow streets in the motor home to get to the campground (but we made it). 

The history of the town is about anthracite coal and the Lehigh Valley railroad founded by Asa Packer.  The railroad hauled coal east to fuel the industrial revolution in America.  We toured Mr. Packer’s mansion which is on a hilltop overlooking the town.

 

On the third day we bicycled on the Lehigh Gorge Rail Trail, beginning in White Haven and ending back in downtown Jim Thorpe – 25 miles and a record biking distance for us. The trail has a barely perceptible 2 per cent descent and is hard packed fine gravel which rides almost like pavement.

The trail followed the Lehigh River on the left and the Lehigh Valley Railroad.  We stopped at waterfalls, views of the river, and old railroad junctions.

 

Rock outcroppings, the beginning of fall color, and pleasant weather made for an enjoyable ride.   And as we neared the end of the trail, the Lehigh Valley Scenic train came by, taking people to see the area that we had just biked through.

On the Road Again . . .

 

We were in the bus barn at home in Rome for five weeks after returning from a trip to New Mexico.  We’ve now set out on a trip to the northeast which will include bicycling venues in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Cape Cod, and points to the north.  After visiting Cape Cod and Nantucket Island, we plan to scoot around Boston and head for Maine, visiting Booth Bay, the Camden area, and Bar Harbor.  We are traveling with our friends Jim and Hope from Peachtree City with whom we made our first trip to Maine in the late 1980’s.  The connection goes way back – George was 12 when he met Jim.  After Bar Harbor, Jim and Hope are visiting Niagara Falls area while we spend some time in the Portland, ME, area.  We will meet up again at the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania where we will do more Rails-to-Trails biking. 

We left home on Tues. following I-81 through the Shenandoah Valley, continually climbing and descending the supporting ridges of the Appalachian chain.  It really was a beautiful drive with beautiful weather.  We overnighted at Wal-mart near Roanoke, VA, where we met fellow RV’ers, one of whom was returning home to Knoxville, TN, in their Prevost bus while another was headed to Maine. 

Yesterday we rendezvoused with Jim and Hope at Ft. Frederick State Park about 15 miles west of Hagerstown, MD.  We are dry camped in a peaceful, wooded campground in a site along the Potomac River.  As an added bonus, CSX trains are running on both sides of the river.

After early arrival at the campground around lunch time, we went on a ten mile bike ride from the campground, partly on the C & O tow path, and partly on the Western Maryland Rail Trail (WMRT). 

The C & O Canal was built west out of Washington, D.C. in 1831 primarily to haul coal from the Alleghany  Mountains.  It operated until 1924.  The canal is fairly narrow, and mules pulled the barges from the

tow path.  Amazingly, in places the canal crossed large ravines and streams by means of arched aqueducts.  The canal was eventually superseded by the railroad.  The railroad, too, eventually met the same fate and has been turned into a rail trail.  However, there are still active rail lines in the area. 

Today we drove west to a bicycle shop in the town of Hancock where we got a bike shuttle west to the end of the WMRT.  We biked 10 miles back to Hancock where we had lunch.  Along the way we had good opportunities to view the remains of the C & O Canal locks.  The trail went through rock cuts and woods with some early fall color making a pleasant ride.  After lunch rain set in so we returned the coach.  And it’s still raining.

More Cumbres and Toltec RR

 

The train and the scenery were great so we just had to add a few more photos!

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Driving Home

 

On Thursday, August 5, we left Chama, NM, and began our trip home.  Driving south from Chama on US 84 (which also goes through Irene’s home town, Valdosta, GA) we had fantastic views including more of the colorful rocks and cliffs which we’d seen in other places in the state. New Mexico truly is the Land of Enchantment.

George announced that our trip home would be an adventure – not just heading for home – and he planned our stops along the way with that objective. We spent the first night in Tucumcari, NM, with a view of a mesa and dramatic sunset out the window of the coach.

The next day we passed a very large large wind turbine farm near Weatherford OK.  The blades were turning gracefully generating power.  Interestingly, I Googled the name of the town to find info about the wind turbines and learned that Weatherford Wind Energy Center, which is spread across more than 5000 acres, is owned and operated by Florida Power and Light Energy.

Red Rock Canyon State Park near Hinton, OK, (west of Little Rock) was our destination the second day.  While not as dramatic or large as Palo Duro Canyon in Texas where we stopped heading west, it did have interesting  red sandstone canyon walls, and was also a nice campground.  We explored the park by bicycle in the late afternoon when it was a little cooler.

On our third night “on the road,” we parked alongside the Arkansas River at a Corps of Engineer campground called Toad Suck Ferry CG.  (No, I didn’t make that up!)  Our campsite was near the dam, and the lock was across the river.  On the other side of the coach was a very old tree with a huge trunk.  In spite of the heat and humidity, George bicycled around the campground.  After being in arid New Mexico for 3 weeks, we really felt the humidity!  As we left Sunday morning, we saw coal barges in the lock.

As we drove east on Sunday, we crossed the Mississippi River and shortly afterwards left I-40 which we had followed most of the trip.  We enjoyed seeing the green rolling hills and lots of trees.  Our last night on the road was at a National Forest campground, Corinth Recreation Area west of Cullman, AL, a first rate campground  with full hookups in a very woodsy setting.  We were surrounded by trees with no other RV’ers in view – a quiet, peaceful setting.

Now we’re back home in Rome, having had a great trip.  We saw lots of beautiful sights, ate lots of good New Mexico cuisine, and enjoyed traveling with our friends George and Jan.