Morning rush hour murders your nerves. Worse for turtles. I saw one the other day, stranded on the center line of a busy expressway. He was upside down, legs fully extended, grasping at the sky. His chances for survival were … Read More
Inappropriate Truck Route
On this day the mountains became the bumper sticker. We left I-40, swerving down rollercoaster roads. Deep in the woods after passing a polite sign warning “Inappropriate Truck Route” we stopped to ask directions. “Easy! Follow the road past Rocky … Read More
The Confluence
It was a cool day. As we paddled down the Missouri River into the Mighty Mississippi, a flock of pelicans took flight from the far shore.
Music City
On our way to the Smoky Mountains we encountered major flooding along the Ohio River, forcing detours through Marion into Kentucky wilderness, past the Bigfoot statues in Hopkinsville and the Coon Dog Café to downtown Nashville. Headed to Broadway. Halfway … Read More
When you come to a fork
Hit the Jacks Fork at the Prongs, keep your eyes on the road, and eat dive bar burgers at Lucky Boys in KC. This guy hit the trifecta. Be like this guy. (Photo by Peter Price).
Ode to Road Hogs and Road Rage
I only did this once. On a lonely west Texas highway, where the flat boredom is punctuated by a battle between oil wells and windmills, we came upon a left lane hog in a nondescript sedan with heavily tinted windows. … Read More
Meet de Boys on the Battlefront
The dancing spirit of Big Chief Jolly inspires nephews named Neville, and the Wild Tchopitoulas mix with the Meters and Toussaint, Norman Bell and Booker T. Washington, Flag Boy and Spy Boy and the ghosts of Professor Longhair and Dr. … Read More
A winter float to the Irish Wilderness
The Eleven Point River was running full and fast. From Greer Access, floating downriver through Stair Step Hole, whistling past Graveyard Hollow, I crossed Mary Decker Shoal, passed Hurricane Creek, the Turner Mill wheel and Stinking Pond, rounded Horseshoe Bend, … Read More
Hillbillies, Hay Bellies and Hostess Twinkies
It was a dream. A nightmare. When I was a kid, I don’t remember seeing any over-sized hillbillies. Hill folk worked hard to squeeze a living from rocky soil. They were rugged, independent, self-sustaining people. Skinny, mostly, but healthy. They … Read More