Jenga! (USA Day 88) — Ivan Brett

What with a caterwauling town siren going off right next to our tent, Tom (100% a bear) tripping over our guyropes, the sprinklers going off for hours and the occurrence of a light rainstorm, we didn’t sleep too well. Not to worry: a brown breakfast and fresh, bright morning cheered us up no end, and off we sped downhill (mostly) for a short ride southwest, to Cambridge.

Quite early on we passed an enormous logging operation with a chimney that belched smoke into the sky. On one side of the road were piled thousands of logs, kept fresh by sprinklers soaking them with a constant stream of water. On the other side, fresh hewn planks in great stacks, ready to be transported to builders’ merchants in nearby states. The number of trees that would have had to be cut down for this sort of business was astonishing. That company’s name? Evergreen Forest. How deliciously ironic.

Anyway, five miles down the road, a truck carrying all these planks had jack-knifed on a naughty corner and spilled its wooden wares all over the road. A clean-up crew of jolly folks was playing Jenga as we passed. One had a splinter.

But could you be a little clearer about what you’d actually like me to do?

We only stopped once, to glumph down some trail mix at a gas station and try a chewable cup of coffee in tablet form that I’d picked up, enthralled, a while back. Guess which of the two was a regrettable and disgusting experience that I’d never wish upon my worst enemy?

It’s amazing how some miles can speed by so quickly. It helps that many were downhill, but they weren’t all like that. We found ourselves outside Cambridge (no) by lunchtime, and rolled into our hosts’ house shortly after. Their dogs, Angus and Peat, are awfully friendly, think my legs are delicious, and like to steal my gloves. A good game for all the family.