The Big Loop (95 Days)

Ft.Collins--Greeley (facsimilie of Book of Isaiah)---Colorado Eastern Plains---Rocky Ford. Hiking in Comanche National Grasslands---Oklahoma Panhandle---Amarillo cowboy motel---Austin---Ron Paul Rally at LBJ Library---Physics Dept. retirement banquet---Arjendu---to the top of Enchanted Rock finally!---James(!!)---Casey's house and family---Half Price Books to shop for language books like old times---My how Austin has grown.

San Antonio---south Texas---Mexican border--Brownsville. Mouth of the Rio Grande. Palo Alto Battlefield. Corpus Christi (after all these years again---so much the same). Beach camping. Meandering up the Gulf Coast obsessively. Hotel where Rita Hayworth stayed. Galveston (after all these years again---so different!). Port Arthur. Sightseeing amidst the oil refineries. Sabine Pass. The Louisiana coast. Touring many houses on stilts until it seemed normal. Cutting inland into Cajun country. Historical plaques in French and English. The Cathedral in Lafayette. Revisiting Highway 61 (which has been widened, I think). Natchez (again). The Natchez Trace. Finding the speed limit has been raised. Jackson. The state capitol. Vicksburg Battlefield. Taking a business conference call while walking the Confederate lines. Back into Louisiana. Splurging for a Best Western in Monroeville and embarassing myself regarding the tv remote. Visiting (at last) the 4000 year old Indian mounds at Poverty Point (!!!). Up the river in the flat Delta region.

Memphis (!!!!). Harbortown. Seeing Grey, Nate, and Ben again. Dogsitting for Lou for a glorious relaxing week. Miss Cordelia's for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Lunch with good old Martin. Almost winning at Trivia. Hamlet as performed by junior high school students in the basement of an Episcopal cathedral.

Nashville (again). A big new tent. A mad dash through the night across the Great Smoky Mountains. Sleeping in a rest area in Virginia. Manassas. Chantilly. Bilderberg. Living in my new tent. Alex Jones on the bullhorn. Confronting the world's elite. A glorious victory.

Over into Maryland. Two wonderful weeks in Silver Spring with Howard and Mia. Seeing Promethesus and hating it. Watching John Carter and liking it. Learning "I Can See Clearly Now" with Howard (playing guitar) over three hours (in honor of our mutual friend Kelle) and then performing it that very evening in an old farmhouse in rural Maryland with other amateur musicians. Actually having the courage to pick up a guitar, finding I could do barre chords well enough without much practice, and leading the entire group in "The Ballad of John and Yoko" for which I remembered most of the words.

Driving into D.C. at last. Walking around my old campus. Sneaking into my old dorm after almost thirty years and finding in completely changed and unrecognizable.

Father's Day in Baltimore with an air show featuring the Blue Angels. Riding the Baltimore subway for kicks. Camping in Delaware and being awakened by a state trooper for not having put up my tent at my campsite. Meandering along the Delaware river. Getting lost on the backroads in far southern New Jersey (easy to do). Cape May (again, after all these years). Watching the waves of the ocean crash on the beach. Atlantic City. The Boardwalk (which made me feel like I was in NYC again at last). Losing 10 bucks at the Trump Taj Mahal on purpose. Finding the eastern end of U.S. Highway 30. Eating at a real Jersey diner in Egg Harbor City. Hunting the Jersey Devil in the Pine Barrens. Driving crazy on sand roads to find the Carranza Memorial.

Meandering up through Jersey on the Turnpike. An evening from hell trying to find a campsite in northern New Jersey. Revisiting my old neighborhood in Staten Island for the first time in eight years. Having a slice of pizza in the old neighborhood pizza parlor and asking for "Sicilian" like the old days. Over the Verrazano. A night in Brooklyn with my old friends Adam and Marie from Portland who have since become New Yorkers.

Trying to get out of New York. Getting stuck in traffic in the Bronx. Car overheating. On and off the freeway all afternoon. Getting helped by a friendly Galician with coolant on hand. Spending hours in Younkers waiting for car to cool down. Blowing a tire and having to change it as the sun set. Giving up and spending a night in a Younkers motel to find hard core porn on the tv as I flipped it on.

Trying to get across the Tappan Zee to the west side of the Hudson. Realizing something seriously wrong with the car. Giving up in rural New Jersey. Calling around to get my car looked at in a small lake resort town on a Friday afternoon. Finding out I need a new radiator. Enjoying three nights in comfort at a Day's Inn watching classic movies and eating at the diner right next door. Almost wishing that they needed another day to fix my car.

Finally getting out of New Jersey. Revisiting the Poconos. Across Pennsylvania. Checking in late to a private campground in the Wilds and leaving twenty bucks with a note in the morning when I left. Looking unsuccessfully for my great granfather's grave in Drums, Pa. Getting stopped by a Pa. state trooper for nothing at all and then being let go (?). Into Ohio. Wishing I could tour the car factory near Youngstown but being in a hurry. Getting stuck on the Ohio turnpike and detouring up to sit in the shade along Lake Erie. Scrambling to find wifi in Toledo. Crossing southern Michigan then down into Indiana. Thinking I lost my camera in Fort Wayne but then finding it under my water container.

Finally visiting Hartford City and seeing where my grandfather grew up. Spending an incredible afternoon with Great Uncle Clayton and hearing stories about my great-grandmother and my great-great grandparents, and seeing the houses where they lived. Seeing my great-grandfather's grave (a different one). Seeing all the memento's of my astronaut cousin on Clayton's wall.

Driving across Indiana on a very, very, very hot afternoon. Touring Purdue in West Lafayette. Cooking camp meal in Illinois state forest in Danville. A morning spent touring Univ. of Illinois campus. Seeing the buildings where the web browser and web server where invented. Passing pleasantly through Peoria. An impromptu visit to Carl Sandburg's house in Galesburg in 100 degree heat. Finding Sandburg's current neighbors are not impressed by living next to his old house. Crossing the Mississippi. Finally visiting the University of Iowa campus. Taking refuge from the oppressive heat in the air conditioned buildings on a campus. Driving across Iowa without stopping. Rushing to get to Omaha in time for dinner. Finding the restaurant just in time for a beer and a meal with my friends.

Four nights in a motel in the incredible heat. Watching fireworks right above our heads while Huey Lewis played nearby. An awesome wedding. Seeing old friends and making new ones. Staring up at the Union Pacific Building on the 150th birthday of the old railroad (as it happens). Seeing the aforementioned Kelle again after a year and getting an awesome pep talk about life in the Cheesecake Factory next to the Westroads Mall.

Leaving Omaha and driving up the Missouri. Rediscovering my love of historic sites while following the Lewis and Clark signs. Buying water in a pathetic convenience store on an Indian reservation. Camping along Lake Lewis and Clark on the night before the Fourth and being invited to partake of beer and brats by my neighbors while watching the fireworks across the river.

Crossing up into South Dakota. Yankton. Vermillion. Sioux Falls. Incredible heat. The falls of Sioux Falls. Trying to find a campsite. Finding a cool air conditioned motel in Madison.  Mitchell. The Corn Palace. Huron. Laura Ingalls' hometown. Brookings, where I tourned the SDSU campus and ate delicious ice cream at the campus dairy bar next to the dairy science building. A street fair in downtown Watertown where I bought a gyros and listened to a medley of pop songs. Sunset as I drove into the lakes region on the Coteau des Prairies. Lakes that looked like a sea coast. Beautiful rolling hills. The taste of water at Fort Sisseton State Park.

Crossing into Minnesota along the Laurentian divide. Following the Minnesota River from its headwaters downstream on backroads. Taking refuge from the heat in New Ulm watching the new Spiderman movie. Swimming by myself at sunset in the pool below the falls at Minneola State Park near Mankato. Visiting the Maud Hart Lovelace house in honor of my sister who is a huge Betsy-Tacy fan. Continuing down the Minnesota. Walking the entire Mall of America and spending only fifty one cents (on a souvenir smashed penny for my collection). Finding the mouth of the Minnesota and watching the sun on the sparkling water of the fast-flowing Mississippi.

Racing down the Mississippi at sunset to find a campsite. Lake Pepin (!). Across the Mississippi. Up the Chippewa River in Wisconsin. A night at Moose Lake in Chequamegon National Forest. Returning to the tiny town of Moose Junction after four decades. Pattison State Park. Being devoured by mosquitoes there. Into Duluth. Seeing Lake Superior again. Up Highway 61 along the north shore of the lake for the first time since 1972. The magic coming back. A night (again) at Gooseberry Falls State Park at a campsite shared with two lesbian college students. Grand Marais (!). Meeting an awesome group of canoers from the the Twin Cities who were traveling down the lake. Hiking up to the highest point in Minnesota in the Boundary Waters camping area. Grand Portage. Camping in the Indian Reservation. A three hour ferry ride. Isle Royale (!!!!!!!!!!). Incredible hiking. Incredible experience. Intense wilderness experience. Discovering the strengths and weaknesses of my current gear. Making some friends from Kentucky. Wishing I could stay longer.

Inland through the Superior National Forest. Ely by night. Stopped by the cops for not having headlights on. Finally finding a campground that evening along Lake Vermillion. Virginia in the morning. The Mesabi Range. Up to International Falls. The Canadian border. Down to Bemidji, where I had an awesome time (as previously mentioned).

Up to the Red River. Crossing at Grand Forks and being in North Dakota for the first time ever. Splurging for a motel. Hearing about theater massacre in the morning on my smartphone. Touring U of ND campus. Camping on island in the middle of Devil's Lake and watching Japanese guys trying to fish there. On Highway 2 westward, just like old times from 2004. Having an omelette at the geographical center of North America in Rugby. Arriving in Minot to find myself in the midst of the parade for the state fair. Buying a ticket and touring the livestock barns. Watching a horse shoe in the air conditioned pavilion.

An intense experience at the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Getting lost on buffalo trails in the badlands. Sliding down a mountain where I reached a dead end. Wading across the Little Missouri River twice with the aid of my trusty trekking poles. Impressing the park ranger with my adventure.

Crossing down into South Dakota on the high plains. Three nights in the Black Hills. Camping next to Mount Rushmore. Commuting into Rapid City to work with the wifi. Sneaking into Mount Rushmore the back way so that I was nearly even with the faces. Deadwood. Lead. Keystone. Custer. Hunting souvenir shops for gifts for my family. Getting crappy service at biker-themed restaurants and learning to avoid them.

Down across Nebraska. Finding the old auto shop in Chadron where Howard and I were once stranded in 1986. Finding the old motel in Crawford outside of which Cara and I tried to sleep in the car one cold night in 1982. Being pleased at how things have changed over the years in my own life. Scottsbluff. Kimball. Looking for the old Beef and Brunch in honor of James. Into Colorado. Splurging for a motel in Fort Morgan, my favorite town on the plains.

Into Denver and up to Westminster in time for my niece's birthday. Spending three nights hear relaxing before...?

Total: 23 states. Three months and three days. Broke my personal record of continuous days in travel that I've held since 1985. Thirty nights camping. Stayed with friends in Austin, Memphis, Silver Spring, and Brooklyn. All this while working from the road (at Starbucks and other coffee shops in Austin, Galveston, Lafayette, La., suburban Virginia, suburban Maryland, Baltimore, Atlantic City, Yonkers, N.Y., Toledo, Fort Wayne, Peoria, Omaha, Duluth, Bemidji, Grand Forks, N.D., Minot, Rapid City among other places) and having almost as much in the bank as when I left three months ago.

And now? Well it's not even over. Just a pause. The loop goes on.

The Dixie Swim Club@Paul Bunyan Playhouse

It had been ages since I'd actually seen any live theater---over six months by my reckoning. I was wondering when I might get around to actually seeing anything on the stage again, probably, I figured at some time during this big loop around the country I've been making.

As it turns out, it was here in this little town of Bemidji in northern Minnesota that I was finally motivated to buy a ticket. Last night I'd been here a couple days, resting after after a successful wilderness trip to the far North Woods, which itself followed the whole Maryland funtime, the New York/New Jersey adventure, the mad dash across the country in extreme heat, and the wedding in Omaha, etc.

Bemidji is a charming little college town beside this wonderful lake that sits near the headwaters of the Mississippi River, which trickles in and out of the lake at either end. The state park that has been my home for the last couple days sits astride the north end. It's the kind of place I could stay for weeks, especially given this nice little coffee shop from which I can work, and where I can plug in my electronic devices (big revelation: Caribou Coffee is as good as Starbucks as a work place).

After putting in a day's remote work, I went into downtown yesterday afternoon to finally do laundry after the wilderness trip. While my clothes were going through the cycles, I wandered around the small grid nearby and saw a classic movie theater (the Chief Theatre) that turned out to be a converted playhouse, home to the Paul Bunyan Playhouse, which bills itself as "one of the oldest stock theater companies in the upper Midwest."

When I see something like this, I usually make a dare to myself: if there is something showing that evening, I will go. Turns out that last night was opening night for their production of The Dixie Swim Club, about the ongoing reunion of a women's college swim team.

It was about four o'clock when I encountered the theater. The showing was an eight. That gave me plenty of time to finish my laundry, return to my campsite, build and campfire, and to cook and eat the filet mignon that I had just bought at the local Wal-Mart (the filet mignon cooked very well on the skillet).

I got back to downtown all showered and in clean clothes just before showtime and bought a ticket in the back row. The theater itself was rather quaint and antique with huge decorative statues of Chief Bemidji flanking the back of the auditorium.

The auditorium was about two-thirds full and production itself was well done and fairly well acted. I wasn't too impressed by the play itself, which seems a rather trite rehash of Sex and the City-esque female empowermentfest set in the North Carolina Outer Banks. Often during the production, I would do my trick of closing my eyes and imagine the script being typed out onto the page as I hear the dialog. The number of cliches was amazing. Not much to be impressed by. The whole message was basically: "you go girl! break free! you're never to old! do your own thing! celebrate yourself while you do it!" Yawn.

Nevertheless I was well pleased by the experience of attending. It was worth the twenty-two bucks, which is only three dollars less than the per-night cost of my camp site.

After the production I walked down in the dark to the edge of Lake Bemidji and watched the waves ripple in the night. It was a beautiful end to my restful stay here. I was more than reluctant to pack up my tent this morning (I was able to use my REI Kingdom 6 for the first time since Virginia---my portable hut, as I call it).

Bemidji feels like a little paradise. I could almost live here. But the road calls. I have only a few miles to go to reach the source of the Father of Waters. Then it's onward to the west, to pick up another state on my list of states visited (the 49th, as it happens).