Gribblenation

One thing that I like to do is combine my road trips with hikes. Sometimes, I get the chance to blend the two interests together, whether it be a hike down an abandoned stretch of road, or even taking a hiking trail to get an unique view of a road from a different angle. Recently, I took a short hike on the Appalachian Trail in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, specifically from US 20 to I-90 in Becket, Massachusetts. The goal was to see the Massachusetts Turnpike from a different perspective after driving through Western Massachusetts for so many years. This was something that I had long wanted to do and decided to finally do it during a drive around the Berkshires. It's not a far walk to get from the pull-off on US 20, just about a half mile. However, you do have to walk a little bit east from the pull-off to the stairs that will take you along the way. Then it's a short walk through some woods and a small stream to Greenwater Pond. From the pond, it's a quick shot over to...

The reason I swung all the way over to Cleveland was to visit some family that was moving to Florida in the following week and to cash in some hotel reward points to get another National Park in with Cuyahoga Valley.  I visited Cuyahoga Valley back in 2014 and found it to be worth another look, especially considering it really wasn't far from Chicago.  I made way up I-271 to OH 176 and took Wheatley Road into the park proper. I stopped at the Everett Covered Bridge which to my understanding was recently rebuilt but may have been constructed in the 1860s.  My understanding is that there were hundreds of covered bridges in the Cleveland area and the Everett Bridge is the only one left in Summit County.  Everett Road now swings around the covered bridge and the portion which became Oak Hill Road seems to be undergoing to construction. At the junction of Everett Road and Riverview Road is the village of Everett.  I don't know when Everett was fou...