Open Mic Tour

It’s hard to know what to say about Yellowstone – it’s a classic example of the inadequacy of language.  How many times can you say “spectacular” or “remarkable” before it loses its meaning, if it really had any to begin…

Wyoming favors the dramatic – vast open spaces and unusual landscapes with huge masses of rock, cracked and riven by time and water, reshaped by millennia of unimaginable pressure and stress, sunken under vast seas, lifted by tectonic forces.  The…

I had to park in Wildcat Hills with the tail of the car higher than the hood, even though I had set up my car bed to work in the other direction.  It turned out to function fine both ways…

I spent the night at Uncle Buck’s Lodge, based on a tip from Dean Settle via Kevin’s Facebook page.  Good call - thanks!  Nice people, good lodging and some cool horseplay.  Walt runs the ranch and Marilyn tends to the…

Wow!  That was awesome.  

I had been driving along the Interstate, eating Meltaways, a unique Nebraska confection.  Kevin reminded me that he brought Trish a giant bag of them one time when he visited.  The next morning he spied…

I plotted out three days in Lincoln so I could hang with Kevin and Val and especially Rachel, whom I haven’t had a chance to spend time with in the last three years while she’s been in Japan and Bulgaria…

• I took I-70 out of Lawrence and discovered that Kansas doesn’t recognize Easy Pass, although 15 other states do.  Speed limits going up – 75 here.  Now on US 75, which is only two lanes, but they are wide and…

Leftover pictures from Jefferson City: the state capitol, a wall mural on a deserted site I passed, and Dunklin Street (home of Dunklin Donuts?) 

Woke up in Lawrence feeling much better…

Yesterday was a long day.  I didn’t sleep well, but I roused myself at 7:30, aiming for the full breakfast being offered at Hermann Crown.  I roused myself again at 8:00 and once more at 8:30.  I had slept a…

I’m in Hermann, Missouri, a place I never would have visited if not for a book that Chris and Hilary gave me, Road Trip USA: Cross-Country Adventures on America's Two-Lane Highways. I’ve looked at a number of travel books and…

I know that I’m in the Midwest because I just crossed the Mississippi River and I saw my first Menards. 

Last night was another example of hidden treasures of…

I’m a big fan of Paducah.  When I describe it to people I sound like I work for the Chamber of Commerce.  Joe has started referring to me as The Palooka from Paducah.  I don’t mind – I’ve got a…