by Celia Parker
After 28 years non-stop social working in the statutory childcare sector, I took 6 months unpaid leave to re-charge and restore my perspective on the world. During this time I spent 3 months cycling across the USA from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Here is my diary condensed into three weeks.
Monday: 270 blue ribbons
Starting in Yorktown, Virginia and after 348 miles across the plantations and civil war battlegrounds, we come to Monticello and the former home of Thomas Jefferson who wrote the American Declaration of Independence in 1776. This has influenced progressive movements throughout the world. My favourite Jefferson quote is: "the boisterous sea of liberty is not without waves".
In the town centre is a tree decorated with 270 bright blue ribbons. They represent all the children in foster care in the local county and are part of foster care month to promote recruitment of carers to open their hearts and homes. All of Virginia smells gorgeous since honeysuckle rambles over the verges and hedgerows everywhere.
After 28 years non-stop social working in the statutory childcare sector, I took 6 months unpaid leave to re-charge and restore my perspective on the world. During this time I spent 3 months cycling across the USA from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Here is my diary condensed into three weeks.
Monday: 270 blue ribbons
Starting in Yorktown, Virginia and after 348 miles across the plantations and civil war battlegrounds, we come to Monticello and the former home of Thomas Jefferson who wrote the American Declaration of Independence in 1776. This has influenced progressive movements throughout the world. My favourite Jefferson quote is: "the boisterous sea of liberty is not without waves".
In the town centre is a tree decorated with 270 bright blue ribbons. They represent all the children in foster care in the local county and are part of foster care month to promote recruitment of carers to open their hearts and homes. All of Virginia smells gorgeous since honeysuckle rambles over the verges and hedgerows everywhere.
Tuesday - regular taxidermy
Virginia is home to 838 miles of the US bicycle route and takes in 25 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway in the Appalachian Mountains overlooking the Shenandoah Valley. Generally people are less affluent as we head further East and I notice places advertising "assisted living" peter out just as taxidermists start to crop up regularly.
Wednesday - Twelve-bore shotgun
697 miles so far and on a stretch of open road there is a group of "inmates" clearing litter along the highway. They are dressed top to toe in fluorescent orange. Even the rubbish bags are orange. The prison officer looks on with a twelve-bore shotgun in his arms.
Thursday - Do the math
We crossed the State line into Kentucky which is one of the poorest areas in the States. The East is a coal mining area and birthplace of many fine country & bluegrass musicians. The number of churches en route is staggering and each with a message posted for passers by to think about, e.g.
Do the math count your blessings.
Be an organ donor give your heart to Jesus.
And a bit more personal:
Those who think there should be Sunday School should go to Sunday School.
All the schools are finished for the summer by Memorial Day 24th May when all those killed in warfare are remembered, a tradition that goes back to the civil war.
We continue in this very poor region where road kill changes from turtles, raccoon and even beaver, to cats and dogs. On two wheels, we don't want to share the road with coal trucks so are keen to move on through the weekend. Most of the villages have a "family resource centre" attached to the elementary or high school.
Saturday - bible belt buckle
No such thing as weekend if you're not at work and every other home has a yard or garage sale. This ranges from well organized second hand clothes to complete junk. Kentucky is the buckle of the Bible belt. No more cold beer after miles in the saddle as most of Kentucky is dry, i.e. no alcohol for sale based on county law.
Sunday - a storm gathers
The weather has turned very hot and humid. By mid afternoon a storm gathers. Tuning into the Weather Channel for weather warnings there is a piece on children dying from dehydration after being locked in cars. Apparently there have been 10 deaths so far this year and parents are urged not to lock their children in cars during hot weather. It is not clear if it's OK in cool weather.
Monday - social workers praised
Crossing the Ohio takes us into Illinois and we take a rest day at a town called Carbondale. On the front page of the paper is an article about social workers that "have been praised for their work assessing children who enter care". They are named and quoted expressing their fear of unemployment following budget cuts, which also includes reducing fostering and adoption payments by 50%.
There was a joint news conference involving workers from 8 different agencies, carers and children. The Governor has called the General Assembly back for a special session.
Tuesday - neighbourhood mapping
Over the Mississippi River and we are into Missouri. On a number of occasions we have spent the night with the local fire department, which is often staffed by trained volunteers. They were having a meeting when we arrived this afternoon and this included anticipating problems in the community. They were planning their response to a potential domestic situation where a custody battle was going on and they feared a life-threatening reaction if all did not go well for one party.
Again we read in the paper that the fire department is "neighbourhood mapping", which aims to ensure that neighbours in 20 house blocks know of tools and resources in the event of disaster and especially the "golden hour" immediately after when emergency services are overwhelmed. Clearly the fire department is very integrated and involved in the local community.
Wednesday - kindness of strangers
En route we meet a lot of other cyclists following the same route. Some are cycling for charities including a group of 9 cycling the US for MS.
The kindness of strangers is very restorative and we are regularly cheered on and offered drinks and support. Americans are very friendly and interested in us Brits. We are asked if we know cousin so and so in a small place in England called Yorkshire.
Thursday - cycling oasis
Kansas turns out to be not quite as flat as we expected and we enjoy spotting deer and coyote in the Flint Hills. Turns out that Elaine who runs the Cycling Oasis B & B was previously a social worker in family preservation.
There are some large "correctional facilities" en route in the west of the state. In a local museum, Mildred in the courthouse arranges access with a member of the historical society. This turns out to be 80-year-old Ruth Anna who gives us a personal tour of the artefacts. This includes her own account of the day her family home got running water in the thirties and a local tragedy in which five children and the school bus driver froze to death in a blizzard. Ruth Anna has been involved in writing a book about her memories.
Friday - a surreal encounter
Into Colorado where we have a surreal encounter with with a man who makes us a sandwich in return for a donation and an account of his life story. He says he was found at the side of the road at the age of 6 months and was later adopted. He fell out with his family and wound up in a children home where he ran away.
He also claims to have been involved in undercover ops in the Pacific theatre and involved with Walt Disney in films. He's keen to show us his sound system and blasts out Canned Heat "I'm on the road again". Would be a good soundtrack for our photo slideshow.
Saturday - relinquishment incorporated
Rest day in downtown Pueblo where there are the offices of Fostering, Adoption & Relinquishment Incorporated. I wonder if this is the future for independent social work practices in England? I reflect on this with a microbrew while watching the Tour of France. The Rocky Mountains start tomorrow.
Sunday - naked cyclists
Telluride was a boomtown from gold and silver mining and famous for having it's bank robbed by Butch Cassidy. Now it's a trendy, laid back ski and outdoor sports resort but retains a Wild West look. Whilst watching the Tour de France on TV, there is a commotion outside and looking over the balcony, I see 100 naked bicyclists rolling up the street. They are wearing nothing to celebrate the Nothing Festival, the one weekend per month when there is not a festival in the town.
Monday - a tarantula
We decide to take a detour south and cycle through Indian Territory in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah, in the area where the four states meet called "Four Corners". The sale of alcohol is banned for social as opposed to religious regions however the roadsides are littered with broken bottles from people throwing their empties out of car windows. I presume this happens at night because I never see it by day. As a consequence, the puncture rate rockets with a record of 3 in one day. The landscape is very dry and bleak with huge rock formations. There is a huge behavioural treatment unit for Navaho youth on the edge of town. The only wildlife spotted is a tarantula.
Tuesday - social work antennae twitch
In Shiprock, a Navajo youth ambles over for a friendly chat. His face is stitched from a recent beating. My social work antennae twitch and I suspect foetal alcohol syndrome. Later we talk to a young engineer from Michigan who is involved in the installation of running water for Indian families in the area. He confirms the syndrome is rife. I wonder if Navajo children will recount in a local museum, the installation of running water in 2009 in another 75 years? The town is full of fast food places and an obvious obesity problem. Notices at the gas station in Montezuma Creek advertise a homestart group, cooking lessons on nutritious meals, and cultural pride camps for those in possession of a C.I.B. - Certificate of Indian Blood.
Wednesday - spectacular
In Blanding, Utah, I pick up a leaflet in the supermarket offering family training on ADHD at the local elementary school. This is a series of 8 x 2 hour classes including an overview, assessment and treatment, positive parenting and behaviour management, education rights, home- school communication, resiliency and teen challenges.
Southern Utah is wall-to-wall national parks and the cycling is spectacular. When the going gets tough I am reminded of the Mormon pioneers who moved to Utah in the 1840s and they did it on foot with handcarts.
Thursday - wiry fellows wanted
Into Nevada and America's Highway 50 known as America's loneliest road. This is also the "great basin" so there follows days of mountain passes and high desert valleys with endless sagebrush. This is also the route of the Pony Express who set out advertising for riders in 1859:
WANTED
Young skinny wiry fellows not over eighteen.
Must be expert riders willing to risk death daily.
Orphans preferred.
Wages $25 per week.
Such was the recruitment for the Pony Express to deliver mail from Missouri to California in 10 days or less. It lasted only 18 months finished off by the transcontinental telegraph.
Friday - gambling nirvana
Nevada is also gambling nirvana and the most tin pot town seems to have a casino. Even the supermarkets in big towns have slot machines.
In Carson City the oldest church has the back five pews reserved for orphans at the local children's home.
Saturday - hemp ale on tap
A detour around Lake Tahoe takes us into California and suddenly there are bakeries and organic food on offer. The water is turquoise and crystal clear. The number of folk on 2 wheels increases massively. Hemp ale is available on tap. Atop the Sierra Nevada, it's virtually downhill to the Pacific.
Throughout our time in the US, a debate has raged about President Obama's healthcare reform. There are public "town hall" meetings for debate but in the press and at a music concerts it is said these forums have been hijacked by anti-reformers who accuse Obama of socialist policy. He is portrayed as the Batman villain the Joker on the front of Time Life Magazine.
Reform is needed to help those who cannot afford or cannot obtain health care insurance (because of pre-existing medical conditions). Letters in the press suggest the system will be abused by illegal immigrants. Sound a bit familiar? We are asked how much we pay in taxes as the reform is seen to be modelled on the NHS. We are also asked if hospital doctors are lazy without cash incentives to perform more operations.
We present the NHS as a British institution to be proud of where those in need can receive treatment free and where people work hard because they are committed to public service. People may complain about taxes but not usually national insurance.
Sunday - end of an awesome trip
California and San Francisco are definitely wackier than anywhere else. Advertised in one place is a Burger Paediatric Therapy Service. Not sure if this is to wean kids off or on to burgers. Dogs have their own parks where they can play and poop happily together. Feng Shui extends to colonic irrigation and exorcism. It's the end of the trip and the mileage totals 4,438 and the climbing is the equivalent of 7 times Mount Everest. It was, as American's are fond of saying, "truly awesome".
Further information from: The American Adventure Cycling Association
Virginia is home to 838 miles of the US bicycle route and takes in 25 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway in the Appalachian Mountains overlooking the Shenandoah Valley. Generally people are less affluent as we head further East and I notice places advertising "assisted living" peter out just as taxidermists start to crop up regularly.
Wednesday - Twelve-bore shotgun
697 miles so far and on a stretch of open road there is a group of "inmates" clearing litter along the highway. They are dressed top to toe in fluorescent orange. Even the rubbish bags are orange. The prison officer looks on with a twelve-bore shotgun in his arms.
Thursday - Do the math
We crossed the State line into Kentucky which is one of the poorest areas in the States. The East is a coal mining area and birthplace of many fine country & bluegrass musicians. The number of churches en route is staggering and each with a message posted for passers by to think about, e.g.
Do the math count your blessings.
Be an organ donor give your heart to Jesus.
And a bit more personal:
Those who think there should be Sunday School should go to Sunday School.
All the schools are finished for the summer by Memorial Day 24th May when all those killed in warfare are remembered, a tradition that goes back to the civil war.
We continue in this very poor region where road kill changes from turtles, raccoon and even beaver, to cats and dogs. On two wheels, we don't want to share the road with coal trucks so are keen to move on through the weekend. Most of the villages have a "family resource centre" attached to the elementary or high school.
Saturday - bible belt buckle
No such thing as weekend if you're not at work and every other home has a yard or garage sale. This ranges from well organized second hand clothes to complete junk. Kentucky is the buckle of the Bible belt. No more cold beer after miles in the saddle as most of Kentucky is dry, i.e. no alcohol for sale based on county law.
Sunday - a storm gathers
The weather has turned very hot and humid. By mid afternoon a storm gathers. Tuning into the Weather Channel for weather warnings there is a piece on children dying from dehydration after being locked in cars. Apparently there have been 10 deaths so far this year and parents are urged not to lock their children in cars during hot weather. It is not clear if it's OK in cool weather.
Monday - social workers praised
Crossing the Ohio takes us into Illinois and we take a rest day at a town called Carbondale. On the front page of the paper is an article about social workers that "have been praised for their work assessing children who enter care". They are named and quoted expressing their fear of unemployment following budget cuts, which also includes reducing fostering and adoption payments by 50%.
There was a joint news conference involving workers from 8 different agencies, carers and children. The Governor has called the General Assembly back for a special session.
Tuesday - neighbourhood mapping
Over the Mississippi River and we are into Missouri. On a number of occasions we have spent the night with the local fire department, which is often staffed by trained volunteers. They were having a meeting when we arrived this afternoon and this included anticipating problems in the community. They were planning their response to a potential domestic situation where a custody battle was going on and they feared a life-threatening reaction if all did not go well for one party.
Again we read in the paper that the fire department is "neighbourhood mapping", which aims to ensure that neighbours in 20 house blocks know of tools and resources in the event of disaster and especially the "golden hour" immediately after when emergency services are overwhelmed. Clearly the fire department is very integrated and involved in the local community.
Wednesday - kindness of strangers
En route we meet a lot of other cyclists following the same route. Some are cycling for charities including a group of 9 cycling the US for MS.
The kindness of strangers is very restorative and we are regularly cheered on and offered drinks and support. Americans are very friendly and interested in us Brits. We are asked if we know cousin so and so in a small place in England called Yorkshire.
Thursday - cycling oasis
Kansas turns out to be not quite as flat as we expected and we enjoy spotting deer and coyote in the Flint Hills. Turns out that Elaine who runs the Cycling Oasis B & B was previously a social worker in family preservation.
There are some large "correctional facilities" en route in the west of the state. In a local museum, Mildred in the courthouse arranges access with a member of the historical society. This turns out to be 80-year-old Ruth Anna who gives us a personal tour of the artefacts. This includes her own account of the day her family home got running water in the thirties and a local tragedy in which five children and the school bus driver froze to death in a blizzard. Ruth Anna has been involved in writing a book about her memories.
Friday - a surreal encounter
Into Colorado where we have a surreal encounter with with a man who makes us a sandwich in return for a donation and an account of his life story. He says he was found at the side of the road at the age of 6 months and was later adopted. He fell out with his family and wound up in a children home where he ran away.
He also claims to have been involved in undercover ops in the Pacific theatre and involved with Walt Disney in films. He's keen to show us his sound system and blasts out Canned Heat "I'm on the road again". Would be a good soundtrack for our photo slideshow.
Saturday - relinquishment incorporated
Rest day in downtown Pueblo where there are the offices of Fostering, Adoption & Relinquishment Incorporated. I wonder if this is the future for independent social work practices in England? I reflect on this with a microbrew while watching the Tour of France. The Rocky Mountains start tomorrow.
Sunday - naked cyclists
Telluride was a boomtown from gold and silver mining and famous for having it's bank robbed by Butch Cassidy. Now it's a trendy, laid back ski and outdoor sports resort but retains a Wild West look. Whilst watching the Tour de France on TV, there is a commotion outside and looking over the balcony, I see 100 naked bicyclists rolling up the street. They are wearing nothing to celebrate the Nothing Festival, the one weekend per month when there is not a festival in the town.
Monday - a tarantula
We decide to take a detour south and cycle through Indian Territory in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah, in the area where the four states meet called "Four Corners". The sale of alcohol is banned for social as opposed to religious regions however the roadsides are littered with broken bottles from people throwing their empties out of car windows. I presume this happens at night because I never see it by day. As a consequence, the puncture rate rockets with a record of 3 in one day. The landscape is very dry and bleak with huge rock formations. There is a huge behavioural treatment unit for Navaho youth on the edge of town. The only wildlife spotted is a tarantula.
Tuesday - social work antennae twitch
In Shiprock, a Navajo youth ambles over for a friendly chat. His face is stitched from a recent beating. My social work antennae twitch and I suspect foetal alcohol syndrome. Later we talk to a young engineer from Michigan who is involved in the installation of running water for Indian families in the area. He confirms the syndrome is rife. I wonder if Navajo children will recount in a local museum, the installation of running water in 2009 in another 75 years? The town is full of fast food places and an obvious obesity problem. Notices at the gas station in Montezuma Creek advertise a homestart group, cooking lessons on nutritious meals, and cultural pride camps for those in possession of a C.I.B. - Certificate of Indian Blood.
Wednesday - spectacular
In Blanding, Utah, I pick up a leaflet in the supermarket offering family training on ADHD at the local elementary school. This is a series of 8 x 2 hour classes including an overview, assessment and treatment, positive parenting and behaviour management, education rights, home- school communication, resiliency and teen challenges.
Southern Utah is wall-to-wall national parks and the cycling is spectacular. When the going gets tough I am reminded of the Mormon pioneers who moved to Utah in the 1840s and they did it on foot with handcarts.
Thursday - wiry fellows wanted
Into Nevada and America's Highway 50 known as America's loneliest road. This is also the "great basin" so there follows days of mountain passes and high desert valleys with endless sagebrush. This is also the route of the Pony Express who set out advertising for riders in 1859:
WANTED
Young skinny wiry fellows not over eighteen.
Must be expert riders willing to risk death daily.
Orphans preferred.
Wages $25 per week.
Such was the recruitment for the Pony Express to deliver mail from Missouri to California in 10 days or less. It lasted only 18 months finished off by the transcontinental telegraph.
Friday - gambling nirvana
Nevada is also gambling nirvana and the most tin pot town seems to have a casino. Even the supermarkets in big towns have slot machines.
In Carson City the oldest church has the back five pews reserved for orphans at the local children's home.
Saturday - hemp ale on tap
A detour around Lake Tahoe takes us into California and suddenly there are bakeries and organic food on offer. The water is turquoise and crystal clear. The number of folk on 2 wheels increases massively. Hemp ale is available on tap. Atop the Sierra Nevada, it's virtually downhill to the Pacific.
Throughout our time in the US, a debate has raged about President Obama's healthcare reform. There are public "town hall" meetings for debate but in the press and at a music concerts it is said these forums have been hijacked by anti-reformers who accuse Obama of socialist policy. He is portrayed as the Batman villain the Joker on the front of Time Life Magazine.
Reform is needed to help those who cannot afford or cannot obtain health care insurance (because of pre-existing medical conditions). Letters in the press suggest the system will be abused by illegal immigrants. Sound a bit familiar? We are asked how much we pay in taxes as the reform is seen to be modelled on the NHS. We are also asked if hospital doctors are lazy without cash incentives to perform more operations.
We present the NHS as a British institution to be proud of where those in need can receive treatment free and where people work hard because they are committed to public service. People may complain about taxes but not usually national insurance.
Sunday - end of an awesome trip
California and San Francisco are definitely wackier than anywhere else. Advertised in one place is a Burger Paediatric Therapy Service. Not sure if this is to wean kids off or on to burgers. Dogs have their own parks where they can play and poop happily together. Feng Shui extends to colonic irrigation and exorcism. It's the end of the trip and the mileage totals 4,438 and the climbing is the equivalent of 7 times Mount Everest. It was, as American's are fond of saying, "truly awesome".
Further information from: The American Adventure Cycling Association
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