Exploring the American Landscape
The last trip I posted about included a recitation of the many delights of the Blue Ridge Parkway; less than a month after we returned home the Parkway was severely impacted by Hurricane Helene. The storm inflicted terrible damage on many communities in Western North Carolina, and the damage to infrastructure was widespread. Sadly, our … Read more
Our home away from home for the month of July is the Big Sandy Mush, a secluded valley located about 15 miles northwest of Asheville. European settlement of the valley dates back to around 1800, but the mountains ringing the valley kept it fairly isolated. Generations of residents raised all their own food, kept cows … Read more
Our 2022 summer sojourn finished up with several days of driving on rural roads punctuated by two short stops in Georgia. And our stops provided a fitting bookend to a summer that started with a very challenging and thought-provoking stop in Montgomery. Hard Labor Creek State Park On our way south from Asheville, we made … Read more
Springfield has enthusiastically embraced its role as the hometown of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln arrived here in 1837 as a 28-year-old man whose earthly possessions fit into two saddlebags, but who had recently become a member of the Illinois State Bar after teaching himself the law. He left Springfield in 1861 as President-elect of the United … Read more
My ill-fated trip to the East coast last week affected our planning for the fall, since after leaving El Paso we needed to traverse many miles of West Texas and fit in several planned visits before getting ourselves to Austin in time for Thanksgiving. Our hop-scotching across the state started with a drive to Davis … Read more