Annihilation in the Badlands, Actual and Potential

In addition to being completely blown away by the scenery in the Badlands, we also visited several sites that reminded us of the grim history of this wild and unpredictable place. One preserves the history of a massacre that actually occurred, while the other tells the story of the destruction of the human race that … Read more

Turning Toward the Frontier in Northeastern Kansas

Our relatively brief stop in the northeastern corner of Kansas was full of unexpectedly interesting things, and did a lot to change our preconceived ideas about the Sunflower State. This visit included the last African American civil rights landmark we expect to see for some time, and started us thinking about the great western expanse … Read more

Hitting the Heartland to Learn About Harry

Independence, Missouri is Harry Truman country. There are signs all around the downtown area adorned simply with a silhouette of Mr. Truman with his cane, which was a familiar sight on the streets of Independence after he left the presidency. The fellow at the hardware store who filled our propane cylinder recounted his memories of … Read more

A Busy Week in St. Louis, Part 2

Our stay in St. Louis was seven days, which is pretty long for us, and it was completely action-packed. As I said in the prior post, the only way to keep my summary from blowing up the blog was to break it up a little. This installment features some history and lots of botanical photos. … Read more

Enduring Awkwardness in Tuskegee

“Hello! We’re white, and we’re here to talk about racism!” If I were wearing a T-shirt with this slogan, my awkwardness would have been increased, but not by much. We knew when we started this journey that there would be difficult times. We knew that our plan of crisscrossing the country and visiting many of … Read more