Shane Holden » Road Trips

4.8 Mile Hike Today

Shane — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 01:09:56 +0000

This evening, Chase and I decided to hike up the Disney Trail before sunset. This makes our 4th time hiking it, and even after doing it that many times, it’s surprising how much longer the way up seems versus the trek down. It turns out it’s 2.4 miles to the top according to a quick online search. The top has a wonderful viewpoint of the west side of the county. It’s a lightly used trail with hardly any traffic that we’ve seen, so the top would make an excellent place just to go sit, collect your thoughts, or even read.

Chase & I at the top of the Disney Trail

Some North Georgia Fall Colors

Shane — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 01:30:56 +0000

No Color Out Yet

Shane — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 04:02:13 +0000

Today Chase and I took a drive through the mountains, hoping to catch some bright fall colors. We went over Fort Mountain down into Ellijay where we grabbed a quick bite to eat at Chick-fil-A there. The weather was beautifully warm and clear and was perfect to ride with the windows down on what will soon become a rarity as the temperatures decline as Fall ushers in Winter. As far as nice Fall colors in the leaves, there just wasn’t hardly any yet. It’s either going to be one of those years where it’s just really late happening and quick, or not enough rain before the changing to be those bright and vibrant colors.

DC – Day 5

Shane — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 04:36:04 +0000

Before we were to head back home, we had a tour scheduled of the White House at 11:00 that morning. With waking early, getting packed up and having breakfast at the hotel, we had enough time to use our Senate Gallery passes that the folks at Senator Rand Paul’s officer were so gracious to give us. Between the metro, walking and all of the security checks that were necessary, we were able to sit in the Senate Gallery for 20 or 30 minutes before we had to leave to make it to the White House. While we were there, although I dislike him alot, it was neat to see Senator Reid giving a floor speech. As we left the Capital and headed towards the White House, the bottom fell out of it. There became a point just a few minutes in that it was pointless to run, because we were all completely soaked, head to toe. We walked probably a couple of miles or so to make it to the White House, only to be turned away because the tours were cancelled. The 10 hour ride home was done in wet clothes, but by the time we made it home we were nearly completely dry.

Miles walked: 31

Trip cost:
$16.00 Metro
$19.30 Meals
$36.67 Fuel ($110.00 total)
$143.67 Hotel ($431.03 total)
$215.65 for 5 days

DC – Day 4

Shane — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 01:35:11 +0000

The architecture and detail that was put into the Library of Congress is just amazing. We had a guided tour there, as well as a guided tour of the Capitol. Tom Grave’s staff was extremely nice and was a pleasure to visit with. Since it was still rainy outside, we took the underground tunnel from the Longworth House Office Building to the Capitol. The amount of checkpoints and metal detectors you have to go through are amazing, especially in different parts of the Capitol. When we finished the tour, we made our way to the Cannon House Office Building, as we couldn’t resist making a stop by Ron Paul’s office and see if he would by chance be there. Unfortunately he wasn’t, but his awesome staff allowed us to check out his office, which was without a doubt the highlight of the entire trip for all of us. We all very much admire the good Doctor, so really the only thing that could have been better would have been able to meet him. But hopefully, we’ll get the chance to do that sometime on the campaign trail. After we left there, we made a stop by Senator Rand Paul and Senator Jim DeMint’s offices. They weren’t in either, but it was neat to check out where they do their work. We didn’t see any point in stopping by Georgia’s Senators offices, as it’s actually astounding that they manage to continue to get re-elected.

DC – Day 3

Shane — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 01:28:44 +0000

Today we spent most of the day touring the massive Smithsonian buildings, art galleries and the National Archives. It’d be hard to ever come to DC without checking out our founding documents. We got caught in a downpour as we left the Smithsonian as it was closing. It’s amazing how unthoughtful the staff of the museum was on making everyone, most without umbrellas, leave the building with it absolutely pouring down. We made it to the National Museum of the American Indian, where we sat with many other people while waiting on it to slack up. When it looked like it was finally over, we made our way to some of the other museums that were still open, and walked up to Ford’s Theatre. Of course it was closed, but that and the building that they took Lincoln to would be another nice tour to take sometime.

DC – Day 2

Shane — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 01:53:23 +0000

The weather couldn’t have been any better for today. It was nice and sunny out, so we wanted to spend time in Arlington National Cemetery. We spent probably around 6 hours total in the cemetery, walking the different roads within, and checking out the graves of soldiers. We were able to watch the changing of the guard ceremony, which occurs every half hour. Jim caught the entire ceremony on video. We saw the more known graves of President Kennedy, President Taft, Pierre Charles L’Enfant, as well as went into the Arlington House. Walking across the Potomac River back into DC, what I think was Marine One flew over and I snapped a few pics of it. Back in DC, we checked out the Vietnam Memorial, World War II Memorial, FDR Memorial, on our way to see the memorial to arguably the best President our country has ever had, Jefferson.

DC – Day 1

Shane — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 15:50:24 +0000

The ride up was great. We considered getting off the interstate and getting onto the scenic skyline drive, but as we got further into Virginia, the sky was darkening, so it looked like it would have been a dark and wet ride if we had. By the time we made it to DC we were all excited to be there. We checked into the hotel and immediately headed to the Metro to catch a ride to DC. It was going to be a late night anyways, so we took our time and checked out the White House, Lincoln Memorial and then went to the recently opened Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. Surprisingly, it wasn’t too crowded, so I was able to get some really nice shots. We ended up walking across the Potomac River to the Metro near the cemetery, but it ended up being closed. So, we ended up adding quite a walk to the already lengthy day just to be able to ride back to the hotel.

Georgia GOP Fish Fry

Shane — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 02:13:45 +0000

Today, Chase & I went down to Perry, Ga with our buddy Jim to attend the Annual GA Republican Fish Fry. This was a new experience for all of us, one that we all enjoyed quite well. We got the opportunity to meet and talk with a lot of Ron Paul supporters as well as meet some higher up officials such as the former Governor of Georgia Sonny Perdue, and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. As we were walking through looking at all of the campaign tables and saw the supporters for each of the candidates, the one thing that we noticed was that the Ron Paul supporters were the most well-organized, enthusiastic, passionate, and friendliest group of any of the others there. And I’m proud that we are all a part of such a wonderful and passionate group of people.

Everyone that purchased a ticket got a free lunch, which consisted of catfish, fries, and slaw, as well as a ticket to vote for the candidate that you want to ultimately win the primary and become the Republican Nominee. Herman Cain came in 1st with 232 votes and Ron Paul came in 2nd with 229 votes. Not bad at all considering this is Cain’s home state and three votes is almost a statistical tie. The Revolution is growing, and with the time between now and the primaries, victory should be ours!

Jim getting his picture with Newt Gingrich and his wife

Ron Paul's booth

Opinions of the US Military matter

Herman Cain's bus

DC, Short & Long

Shane — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 23:34:45 +0000

I’m a little behind on writing about our trip to DC. My motivation lately can be found near the nonexistant level, even with trying as much as I can to do better on things. Even writing, something that I think ultimately helps me, comes with such put-off that it takes me much longer than I ever want or anticipate to type something out, or in some cases, respond to emails.

I’ll start off with the short version, which was a text conversation with one of my friends.

Friend: So how was your whole trip?
Me: It was good, nice to get away, although very lonely. I want to go back again sometime though and see the rest
Friend: Why lonely?
Me: I dunno, hard to explain, but was. The ride up was emotional to begin with, leaving Dad alone and going the same route we went with Mom last summer, sounds wussy but that sort of thing gets to me lately.
Friend: That makes sense. It isn’t a wussy thing at all. Family should always be one of the things you care about most.

The trip was great. Looking through the pictures, Chase and I had a blast seeing the great pillars of our nation (Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, & Constitution) and buildings that alot of people have only seen in pictures or text books growing up. I was surprised by the number of tourists, because in my head, I had thought ‘Who wants to go to Washington, DC on vacation?’ Surprisingly, alot of people do. We took our first ride on the Metro late on Friday night, which was a unique experience all in it’s own, especially figuring it all out and how it works while everyone else just walked through it like they do it every day (which they do, haha). It was an absolute blast.

I’ve never been so alone, and I’ve never been so alive ∞

But it’s when you walk 10 miles around a city in one day 600 miles away from home among thousands and thousands of strangers with the only person that has the slightest clue of how you really feel, that you realize what loneliness really is and how it effects everything you’ve ever thought or known to be true about everything–even life. Purpose, point, self-worth, meaning, etc.

As bad as that feeling is, I think everyone could benefit from feeling it at some point in their lives. I think it’d make relationships stronger, with the given insight of how lucky the two involved really are. In fact, it’s really a shame that we can’t start our lives in reverse as they are, start alone and then gain a family rather than start with one from the beginning. Maybe then we’d really appreciate how lucky we are to be given such gifts from the get-go.

The trip ultimately served as an acknowledgement to some of the thoughts that I try to fight off in my mind on a daily basis. That my family has done nothing but shrink over the past year to the point that I feel like anyone that I have left is hanging by a rope that is both tattered and frayed. Egos, grief, possibly even some remorse, are all to blame. But rather than tightening the relationships of what’s left of my family, I feel these polarizing them. It made me realize that I miss Mom more than I could ever convey (and I don’t think you ever stop missing your Mom), and I have alot of feelings and sadness hidden deep within that I’m still learning to work through.

With all that said, as long as my Dad’s doctor appointment goes well at the end of the month, I want to make it a priority to road trip more. I think that would help me most.