Author Archives: Janet

Charleston is a magical city, even in the rain. The big “pictures” I  took with my mind and heart.  A few little details, I took with my cell phone camera.

I’m pulling together sets of photos from my travels so far.  Here’s one from Wallace, Idaho.    

In geographically random order, here are a few more of the folks I’ve met along the way….   When Anthony was a kid, his uncle woke him up every morning by playing a stack of Delta Blues albums.  Every morning, the blues. He hated it. But somewhere along the line, the music entered his soul […]

Hurricane Sandy and 12 inches of snow  have a way of changing one’s plans. My friend, Janice, met me in Lexington, KY, for a week of traveling together.  But instead of heading east, we turned west through the rolling hills of Kentucky. They really do roll, by the way, but even squinting, I couldn’t quite […]

Bella taking a snooze on the porch of the house where Elvis was born and lived until he was 13. Three days in Tupelo, Mississippi, and I hate to leave.  Partly, I suppose, because these have been three absolutely perfect summer days.  In October. Yesterday was an errands/chore day and I bought a couple of […]

What you’ll find in Harrison, Arkansas:  A tidy town with clean streets and a solid feel to it.  A pleasant bike path along the Buffalo River.  Friendly folks who stop to chat with you, and then honk and wave when they see you elsewhere in town. An awesome historical museum. What you won’t find in […]

With a major storm upon us, we slept in the car last night.  I oohed and ahhhed over the lightening show, while Bella finally stopped jumping up at every roar of thunder.  It was quite the night – we were rocked at times by the ever-present-but-now-stronger Oklahoma wind. Unfortunately, I made a minor blunder while […]

Once the Rockies are in your rear-view mirror, driving across eastern Denver and western Kansas can get a little . . . . monotonous . . . I entertained myself by aiming my little point-and-shoot camera out the window, using the top of my head or my shoulder to steady it a bit.  (Keeping one […]

I’m in Iola, Kansas, staying with my friends, Susan and Brian.  Susan is the publisher of the Iola Register.  On Friday, she asked me to write a guest column about why I’m doing this trip.  What could I do?  I’m getting luxury accommodations here:  A sink in the guest room!  An office to work in! […]

The last time I drove onto Lowry Air Force base, I told the guard I was there to pick up my cousin, Joe.  He has something to do with bombs, I told the guard.  Munitions, the guard corrected. It was 1977, and my friend Janice and I were on the First Epic Road Trip. We […]