Take a hot, sunny day, a small trailer towed by a Subaru Outback, a camera that can’t quite keep focus, and a two-lane road that stretches along the top of Kansas from one side to the other. What do you get? Two days of seeing rural America way off the interstate highway system. Most of the sporadic traffic on Route 36 is big rigs, screaming by me in the opposite direction, on their way to somewhere at the highest speed they can go without being noticed by the few police who patrol this long stretch of pavement. I don’t have…
Month: July 2019
Back Roads: Illinois
Trying to beat the searing heat of a midwestern July, I got up at 6AM with the goal of making another 200 miles or so across the middle of the country. I just missed the sunrise, but the sky was still streaked with purple and orange when I opened the blinds of my trailer. Between the campground and the interstate highway was about fifty miles of back roads, where the speed limit ranged from 20 through the heart of small towns to 45 as I passed corn field after corn field. Tucked between the long, green fields of corn were…
Update: Jul 10, 2019
Wow, what a week that was! My friend decided last year to host a gathering of runners and ex-runners who have been part of an internet-based group for over 20 years (so, yeah, we’re all older now and that kind of explains the ex-runners…). We met up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and had a wonderful weekend of it. My head is still kind of reeling from all the people, stories, and photos! One of the things I love about Lancaster (and this is my third visit since 2017!) is how very photogenic everything is! One of the group activities was a…
Weekly Update: Jul 4, 2019
Happy Independence Day, United States! In our 243 years of life, there have been many, many growing pains and sometimes the way forward had been bitterly contested and the people sharply divided. My fellow Americans: let us remember the good things about America: pick a few that are meaningful to you and think on those as you watch the fireworks tonight. I spent the much of the last week in Maryland, splitting my time between two campgrounds. The first one was not only just 20 miles from Gettysburg and a great dinner with friends, it was also about 20 miles…