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This Week on the Road - February 16th-23rd

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This Week on the Road - February 16th-23rd

Hello Everyone! Well, I was hoping for warmer weather when I came south, but I wasn’t expecting it to be in the mid-80s in mid-February. Temperatures are going to drop back to a more normal Texas winter range tonight, but I’ve been enjoying the heat and the sunshine of the last few days. It hasn’t been extremely motivating to do anything but sit outside and enjoy it, but I’m okay with that for a few days too. I’ve made my way about halfway across Texas at this point, and hope to be starting my exploration of New Mexico by the weekend. Once I’m there, I expect to get back to some more normal photo essays, but for now I’ve just been enjoying the ride west. This week has brought me from Lafayette to the Gulf Coast and then into Texas, through Houston and on to Austin and I’ve really enjoyed my time making this crossing. I’ve gotten a few days at the beach, had some wonderful food and seen some fantastic live music.

It hasn’t been all sunshine this week though, and I’ve actually seen a few things which left me questioning what is happening around me. It’s been disconcerting to say the least as I’m pretty open minded and in touch with what’s going on in the country and these incidents left m speechless. Two of them happened on the road and even though I’ve been reading in the news how traffic accidents and deaths are hitting all-time highs in this country, these both kind of shook me. The first happened when I was crossing the bridge between Louisiana and Texas and I saw a car going backwards over the bridge. They were reversing up the bridge in the oncoming lane – at least they were moving in the right direction, but I simply can’t imagine what they were doing and there was clearly no good or reasonable explanation for it. The second happened in Austin where I saw the same thing go down on two separate occasions involving two different groups of cars. In both cases, there were three cars weaving in and out of each other, running red lights and taking up the entire street. For those of you who played basketball, they were essentially doing a three-man weave and others of you can maybe imagine braiding your hair. This was in the early evening on a Sunday night on 6th Street – Austin’s main tourist drag. There is no way I can explain how dangerous this “maneuver” was, but I definitely wondered why there was no police presence on the busiest nightlife street in the city on a Sunday night of a holiday weekend. If this is the kind of “freedom” that Ted Cruz is always shouting about, I honestly don’t want anything to do with it. I agree that there are places where the number of rules and laws have gotten way out of hand (I’m looking at you, California), but you can’t have lawlessness either.

The other disconcerting thing I encountered this week was at a comedy open-mic night here in Austin. These small open-mics are usually pretty bad as people come out to try out their material on a live audience. But it’s usually similar to a night of karaoke where you get a bunch of average or worse performers and a few who are actually really good and it can make for an entertaining evening. And while this was worse than most, there were some funny moments. What I found disconcerting was the number of men who got up and made jokes about beating up women. There are a small handful of topics I find less amusing like, say, the holocaust (which more than one of them got into as well), but I simply can’t imagine who would find domestic violence funny. And you’d think after two or three of them were met with a completely silent room and people’s faces which no doubt looked as sour on these “jokes” as mine did, the others would have gotten the hint, but one after another kept going there. Just because someone is making a joke about something doesn’t mean they are doing that thing and I certainly told my share of off-color jokes when I was younger, but that was in a different time. This simply wasn’t funny on any level and I found it pretty terrible to watch. Thankfully they all bombed hard so maybe they will be humbled by the experience. Anyways, the good of this week definitely outweighed these few bad moments, as it always does, so I don’t want to dwell on them, but I was sorry to witness them as they definitely left me with more questions than answers.

When I left you last week, I did head over to the fabulous Blue Moon Saloon in Lafayette for their Cajun Jam night. There were some really talented musicians there and I enjoyed the music and dancing and had a lot of fun. Thursday morning was rainy and gloomy with bands of heavy rain moving through the area, so I decided to stick around Lafayette for a while and let it pass. I hit the gym in the morning, then filled up my water tanks, enjoyed a delicious shrimp po’boy at the Olde Tyme Grocery near downtown and sent out a king cake to my mother and one to my brother. By early afternoon, it felt like the worst of the weather had passed, so I started heading down towards Rutherford Beach in Southwest Louisiana. I’ve stayed at Rutherford Beach before – it’s on Louisiana’s oil coast so it’s not the most beautiful beach in the world, but it’s quiet and pleasant and you can stay right on the beach for as long as you want (and it’s free!). I stopped at Suire’s Grocery on the way, one of my favorite little out-of-the-way eateries, and picked up their famous turtle sauce picante for dinner which is always a treat. Then I headed south into the huge expanse of beautiful wetlands which cover that part of Louisiana. The road runs right next to the bayou, and if you’re paying attention you will definitely catch a glimpse of dozens of gators as you go. There were also plenty of pelicans, egrets, herons and a dozen other varieties of shorebirds. It’s really quite a nice ride when you’re not in a rush and I pulled onto the beach with about an hour to spare before the sun set. I had time to get a spot and settle in and then crack a beer and watch the sun disappear into the Gulf of Mexico. It was a nice sunset, and as the day turned into night the lights on the oil rigs out in the gulf came on. It’s actually quite beautiful in its own way, and I had a lovely, if also quite windy, night on the beach.

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This Week on the Road - February 9th-16th

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This Week on the Road - February 9th-16th

Hello Everyone! I’ve had a great week soaking up the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of New Orleans, sharing laughs with old friends and just enjoying a few days in my favorite city. I went to some of the first parades of the Mardi Gras season, ate plenty of crawfish and king cake, heard some great music and generally just wandered around the city I called home for longer than most other places in my life. The weather has been warm and sunny and it’s been a pleasant week all around. I have also taken care of some things this week which needed to get done before I moved forward with my journey like getting new tires for Shadow Catcher and finishing my taxes. All in all, it’s been a great week and I’ve had a great time, and while it was tempting to stay in New Orleans for the rest of Mardi Gras, I hit the road today and ended up at a beautiful little café here in Lafayette to write this week’s This Week. We’re supposed to get storms here tomorrow, so I’ll be laying low while they pass through and hope to press on west in the afternoon. I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine’s Day and celebrated the beauty of love, whether with someone or alone, and that you’re all safe and warm wherever you are.

After I finished this post last week, I did in fact make a beeline for New Orleans. There were plenty of places I would have loved to stop along the way, and people I really wanted to stop and see, but my compass pointed me south and I went for it. Had I left 2-3 weeks earlier as originally planned, it would have been a slower drive south but I really need to get moving if I want to see New Mexico and Arizona before heading to California for work this summer. I arrived in New Orleans at about 9:30 pm and had a nice, quiet walk around the French Quarter, parked just a few blocks from my old apartment there. I always feel a little lighter when I’m walking the streets of New Orleans, like the weight of the world is pressing down somewhere else and we’re all just going to suspend our disbelief a little bit and forget about what’s going on “out there”. The history of the city, its Spanish colonial architecture and creole culture really hit me in the heart and soul and I can spend hours just wandering around and looking at the buildings, as I did often during the two years that I lived there. It never seems to get old. There are even smells that will hit my nose which aren’t necessarily pleasant ones but which link to sense memories of all of the wonderful times that I’ve had there. Sadly, the city is in a low place in its omnipresent cycle of ups and downs which stretches back to the very founding of New Orleans. Crime is as high as it’s been in years and the pandemic and most recent hurricane have definitely had an effect on the infrastructure, population and morale of the city. Having lived there during another low point after Hurricane Katrina, I know it will bounce back again, but I was sad to hear so many of my friends, even those born and raised there, talking about leaving. I know it is different living there and I empathize with everything they told me, but it didn’t stop me from having an amazing week in the Big Easy. Later in the evening I wandered into one of the neighborhood bars I frequented while I lived there and it was nice to be greeted by my name 13 years after I moved away and see a friendly and familiar face (thanks Robert).

Thursday I woke early and wandered down to the river, stopping for coffee and beignets and a little street jazz at Café du Monde. I headed down to the French Market to see what the local artists were selling and then all the way down Royal Street to Canal, enjoying the buskers and architecture along the way. The sun was shining and there was music in the air it felt really good to be there. After a nice, long morning walk, I headed out to the gym and then across the street for some boiled crawfish and king cake at Rouse’s Supermarket. I had a wonderful personal tailgate in the parking lot with some good music, cold beer and a whole pile of mudbugs. When I was nice and full I headed over to my good friend Walker’s house which is where I stayed for most of my visit. I met Walker when I first moved to the city in 2007. He lived down the street from me and we hung out often, exploring the bars in the French Quarter and trying to help each other through that first year of classroom teaching. Walker grew up in New Orleans, so always seemed to have the inside track on what was going on around town and I was happy to tag along. While I stopped teaching many years ago now, Walker has been in the classroom since, but is taking a little sabbatical this year to clear his head and make a plan for the future. It’s been great to hang out with him and his lovely girlfriend Megan and her daughter. We spent Thursday night catching up and walking their dogs and having a couple of cold beers in their charming home…

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This Week on the Road - February 2nd-9th

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This Week on the Road - February 2nd-9th

Hello Everyone! I am thrilled to be back on the road after a wonderful two months at home in D.C. It’s definitely tough to leave my folks and my friends, but it’s time to get back to it and I’m very excited for the road ahead. I left on Sunday afternoon and have been making tracks to get south to warmer weather, which I have found here in Northern Alabama where the sun is shining and temperatures were in the mid-fifties today. While I’m sure you all know by now that I prefer the back roads and scenic byways, the interstate is definitely a nice option when you’re trying to hustle. I do love seeing all the exit signs on the way which remind me of some amazing times I’ve had in these southern states. My drive to New Orleans could have taken months, as it has in the past, but I do want to get out west sooner rather than later.

It is always nice to be back in the South, where the food and music are great and people hold doors and wave a ‘thank you’ when you let them in in traffic. I’ve been somewhat surprised at the number of people I’ve seen with masks on, but I’m also well aware of the low vaccination numbers and high hospitalization rates down here as well. It breaks my heart, really, because I know and have met so many good people in these parts who, because of whatever news they are reading, have decided not to get vaccinated. And now so many are getting sick and dying unnecessarily. I wish they knew as many doctors and nurses as I’m fortunate enough to know who could tell them, as they’ve told me, that vaccination is both safe and effective. But I’m not here in this area or here in this newsletter to preach, I just want people to be safe and healthy.

I certainly had a great few days at home this past week before I took off on Sunday. On Thursday my folks and I headed out to the Surratt Tavern in Clinton, Maryland for a tour of this fascinating historic building. My mom and I had been there before when we were on the Trail of John Wilkes Booth Scenic Byway last year, but it had been closed. We were happy to get back and see the inside of the place. Our guide was a wonderfully informative and we enjoyed or conversation with her. She realized that we knew the basics of the story of Mary Surratt and her son John and the role they played in the assassination of President Lincoln. Mary Surratt was the first woman executed by the federal government. Since we already knew most of that story, she wanted to tell us more about the property itself and the role Mary may have played in the death of her own husband. She also wanted to share what she knew about the enslaved people who worked at the tavern and on the property. We were able to take our time wandering around the building and my mother was thrilled to look in all of the closets, nooks and crannies. It is certainly an interesting place and worth a visit if you’re in the area. From there we drove back into the city and made a quick stop at Mount Olivet Cemetery to show my stepfather where Mary Surratt is buried. We stopped for a beer at the relatively new Other Half Brewing Company in Ivy City. Their beers were good, but whoever named them needs a class in creativity and they were awfully expensive, even for D.C. Then we went around the corner for another beer at Atlas Brewing Co., an old favorite of ours. While we were there, the man in charge of their trivia night recognized my mother from her time working with the Boy Scouts. I was really glad he came over to ask because it really made her night. For dinner, we headed over to the Panda Gourmet just down the road. Tucked away in the Days Inn at the corner of New York Avenue and Bladensburg Road, this is the restaurant Chinese President Xi Jinping ate at during his visit to Washington. It’s a pretty great spot although it’s not what it was before the pandemic. I’m sure they’ve been doing mostly takeout and delivery as there was only one person working the front of the house when we were there. The food was still good though…

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This Week Off The Road - January 26th - February 2nd

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This Week Off The Road - January 26th - February 2nd

Hello Everyone! If you’re reading this on Wednesday night, Happy Groundhog Day to you. One of my college friends was from Punxsutawney, PA so I always think of him today. Punxsutawney Phil (the groundhog) did, in fact, see his shadow today, and in so doing he has predicted six more weeks of winter. That can only mean one thing – it’s definitely time for me to head south. This Sunday is the day, if all goes according to plan. I’ve spent this week packing, finishing up what I can of my projects while I’m here at home, and spending as much time as I could with friends and family. It’s always bittersweet to leave and as much as I’m looking forward to all of the adventures ahead, it’s always tough to say goodbye. To help pick myself up, I have contacted a few people who I will be seeing in the beginning of the week, and I definitely hope to be in New Orleans by the following weekend with plenty of friends to catch up with there as well. On a completely unrelated note, our football team here in Washington has a new name, the Washington Commanders, and I wish them well in the coming years. May their moral compass be a little truer than it has been in recent years.

Packing up my van is always quite a project as there is a place for everything and everything needs to be securely in its place. Every time I am home I unpack completely so I can get in and clean the inside out really well and then repack everything with some adjustments where I believe better efficiency can be achieved. I feel as though this time it’s packed particularly well and even though I’ve got pretty much everything loaded up, there’s still plenty of room. I’m thrilled it’s not jam packed and I think everything is going to work out really well with the way it’s loaded. And I’m still days away from taking off which is even better so that I can make adjustments before I hit the road. Omicron has given me a little extra time here in DC and I’ve tried to use it wisely. Meanwhile it’s been particularly cold and icy in the south so maybe it will all work out for the best in the end.

I have made two adjustments to my media strategy this week and I’m feeling good about both of them. As I have been writing about for several weeks, I’ve been (slowly) building my photography storefront on a separate site which I will integrate into this site as much as I can. While it’s still not where I want it to be and has very few photos on it, I’m thrilled with how it is coming and am happy to offer you all a sneak peek. While you can’t connect to it from anywhere on my site just yet, have a look here and let me know what you think. As always if there is any particular photo you would like me to add, please let me know and I will do so ASAP. Secondly, I’ve officially launched my TikTok channel this week, something I’ve been talking about for over a year now but finally went ahead with. TikTok is a neat form of social media which I’ve enjoyed myself for a while now and which is completely driven by video content but in shorter form than YouTube. If you’re on TikTok, you can find me @miles2gobeforeisleep.

I have gotten out a bit this week even though it’s been so busy. Last Thursday my folks and I headed out into the city for a nice adventure. We headed through Georgetown and the Navy Yard to see what’s new in those neighborhoods and then paid a nice long visit to Congressional Cemetery, one of D.C.’s most famous cemeteries and one which was simply too hot to appreciate when we last visited last May.

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This Week Off The Road - January 19th-26th

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This Week Off The Road - January 19th-26th

Hello Everyone. This is going to be another short but sweet one this week. I have been keeping busy here at home which I’ll get to in a minute, but first I wanted to share a couple of things with you at the top of this week’s post. I’ve set a tentative departure date of February 6th and I’m very excited about getting back on the road. I’ve spent a lot of time looking at numbers and data this week and since I’m vaccinated and boosted and generally in good health despite my diabetes, it looks like my chances of getting a severe Covid case which requires hospitalization are extremely low. They’re not zero (and maybe never will be), but I feel like the risk is acceptable to me. My bigger worry is how overcrowded the hospitals are and what would happen if I needed emergency care for some other reason. Those numbers will hopefully be going down over the next few weeks, but I am always cautious and the reality is that I haven’t made an emergency hospital visit in almost two decades so again it’s a risk I’m willing to accept. I will be keeping my mask handy and taking care to avoid crowded places and will likely be moving quicker than I had originally planned to towards New Mexico. I’m comfortable with the statewide precautions they are taking out there and plan on spending more time outside and alone than inside and in groups anyway. I’ll be leaving about 3 weeks after I had initially planned to, but I should still have plenty of time to see what I want to of New Mexico and Arizona this winter.

Leaving here, I plan on heading southwest through Virginia, Tennessee and Mississippi and all the way to New Orleans, catching up with a few friends along the way in whatever capacity they are comfortable with. If all goes according to plan, I will be in the Big Easy the following weekend and able to catch the first few real parades of the Mardi Gras season, which are small but hold good memories for me. Then I’m off to Texas for a week or two on my way to The Land of Enchantment. I’ve made some good plans for my time in New Mexico and I think we’re going to see some awesome scenery together, but if you have any suggestions or tips, I’m all ears.

My second bit of news this week is that I’ve accepted a job to return to guiding tours this coming summer. I’ll be guiding small group, overland trips for a small tour company called Incredible Adventures which is based in the Bay Area. I will be working for the same manager who I worked for at my old company and will be running tours for many of the same brands I’m comfortable and familiar with. My hope is to spend much of the summer in the Rocky Mountains and I’m pretty sure that will be a good possibility. It sounds like a really great opportunity and I’m definitely looking forward to it. While going back to guiding means putting some parts of this project on hold, I need to make some money so I can move ahead and at least I will still be on the road and taking pictures. We’ll see how it works out, but I’m definitely excited about it.

Lastly, I know I mentioned last week that I would be sharing links to my new photography storefront this week, but it’s not quite ready. I’m happy with the way it is shaping up, but I want to give it another week before I let you see it. It’s going to be a constant project going forward, but it will be far enough along by this time next week to be able to give you a sneak peek. That all being said, let’s take a look at what I’ve been up to this week.

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A Look Back at 2021 and a Look Ahead at 2022

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A Look Back at 2021 and a Look Ahead at 2022

Happy New Year Everyone! I wanted to take a few minutes this week to take a look back at the year gone by and a look ahead at what I’m planning for 2022. It’s definitely been a year of ups and downs, but despite the many challenges, 2021 was a pretty good year for me. I’m hoping to build on that momentum and make sure the year ahead is even better. Before I get into the heart of this post, though, I wanted to take a minute to thank you all for your support over the years and especially through this last stretch. I didn’t know how I was going to keep my little travel blog going through the pandemic as I was at home in Washington for well over a year. Publishing this newsletter every week pushed me to try and get out and do something every week as I tried to make the most of the situation. Your comments, notes and emails really helped me through those trying times, and I wanted to say thank you very much. We did get out to see some pretty interesting and beautiful places this summer and fall, though, didn’t we? And hopefully I’ll be hitting the road again soon to even more beautiful places out west. I hope you’ll come along for the ride.

2021 began in the midst of the pandemic. By the time the new year rolled around, I had been home for almost eight months. I even convinced my folks to stay up until midnight on New Year’s Eve for the first time in many years to wave goodbye to 2020 and all of the challenges it had brought us. From the previous July until this past May, I spent my days with my friends’ two year-old son, Mason, going on adventures near their home in Glover Park. He was such a little trooper and we would go outside almost every day, no matter what the weather was like. We had dozens of different routes which took us to hundreds of different places, all within about a mile or two of his house. He was usually one step behind me with a fistful of worms and a brain full of questions. It was amazing what we got into during that time, but we both learned a lot about the world during those 10 months. I’ve done a lot of different things in my life, but the year I spent helping raise Mason was definitely the most rewarding experience I’ve ever had. I will always remember the sound of his little feet in the morning running out to greet me and the feel of his little hand in mine. Meanwhile, my mother and I would try and get out of town every week and go on at least one adventure of our own. We saw more of Washington D.C. than either of us imagined existed and traveled to small towns and down back roads in Maryland and Virginia as well. We watched movies every Wednesday and had parties in the basement every Friday. We brewed beer, played games and cooked all kinds of different foods and I got back to playing the violin after 35 years. I got a new compass and ran some orienteering courses for the first time in 30 years. Both felt really good. At home, we celebrated everything I could come up with, from Christmas in July to Up Helly Aa. Looking back, there are a lot of projects I wish I’d gotten to and a lot of other things I wish I had spent more time on during those pandemic months, but at the end of the day I got to spend a lot of time with my best friends, my family and a wonderfully curious little boy who really needed a friend through it all. They were some of the best days of my life…

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This Week off the Road - December 1st-8th

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This Week off the Road - December 1st-8th

Hello Everyone! It’s been a quiet and lazy week here in Washington D.C. I had hoped it would be more productive, but it’s been nice to get some rest and not worry about anything too much. It’s always great to be home, to spend time with friends and family, to work out at my local gym and to know where I’m going to sleep every night. Those things aren’t as sweet when they are your everyday normal, but after six months on the road they are a welcome respite. I’ve been trying to clear most of my stuff out of Shadow Catcher this week as I plan on bringing much less with me when I depart in January. I definitely brought too many things I didn’t need and didn’t use with me in June and I plan on cutting it down by half over the next few weeks. I’ve also been catching up on my photo editing and I think I’m just about done with my Minnesota photos. This week I hope to get those photos into my existing galleries and into state-specific ones as well. I also started taking a look at the road ahead – at some of the places I want to visit in Arizona and New Mexico and also at where I will be working next summer (as by then it will be time to refill my coffers). The weather has been pretty good this week as well, but again that is less noticeable and less consequential when I’m off the road. I have gotten out to see and do some cool things this week, though, so let me share some of that with you here.

Last Wednesday I went with my friend Carolina to see the Garden of Lights at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton. This is a wonderful holiday light display in an outdoor, walk-through setting. It was much bigger than we imagined it would be and we really enjoyed it. It definitely put me in the Christmas mood and it wasn’t so cold out that we had to rush through it.

On Thursday I headed down to see Bob Dylan perform at Anthem, one of Washington’s newer music venues which I’d never been to before. Before the show, I went to check out another new-to-me spot, the TNT Tiki Bar at The Wharf right down the block from the venue. As far as tiki bars go, it wasn’t great, but it was a nice enough place to stop in before the show. I got some happy hour snacks which were tasty but really tiny and one cocktail which was pretty ordinary. The bartenders were friendly and attentive, though, the atmosphere was pleasant enough and the beers were cheaper than most of the other bars in that neighborhood. Anthem did a great job of getting people in the door, but it was far bigger than I imagined it would be. Washington D.C. is a great place to see live music because we have some awesome mid-sized venues that accommodate between one and two thousand people – enough to attract bigger names, but small enough to still feel like an intimate setting. Anthem seats up to 6,000 and with the standing-room ticket I had, it was anything but intimate. They also had a small army of security staff who moved me along from any spot I found where I could actually see the stage. If it had been a bigger band, it probably still would have been alright, but Dylan just seemed to get lost in such a big place. He put on a good show for an 80 year-old, but it would have been much better in a significantly smaller venue. I’m glad I saw him, but I would really hesitate to go back to Anthem. Give me the 9:30 Club any day of the week. Having spent some time in Dylan’s childhood town of Hibbing, Minnesota this fall, it was great to tie up my summer/fall travels with this show.

Friday evening, my folks and I went to a holiday celebration at Dumbarton House in Georgetown, one of Washington D.C.’s oldest homes. Now owned by the National Society of The Colonial Dames of America, the house has been restored to its early 1800s appearance when the first Register of the Treasury, Joseph Nourse, lived there…

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This Week on the Road - November 24th-December 1st

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This Week on the Road - November 24th-December 1st

Hello Everyone! I can’t believe it’s December, but it certainly is. Happy Holidays to you all. A very Happy Chanukah to everyone celebrating it around the world this week. And Christmas is definitely right around the corner as the stores are decorated and Christmas trees are starting to show up in the windows of peoples’ homes. I really love the Christmas season and am happy to be home for it again this year. It is sweeter for me to come home for it than just to be home for it like I was last year. I’ve spent a lot of Christmases and New Year’s Eves working, either on tour or at a restaurant somewhere, so it’s always nice to not have to work this time of year and I’m definitely grateful. I’m looking forward to spending the holidays with family and friends, attending Christmas events and enjoying it as much as I can. This is going to be a pretty short newsletter this week as I haven’t been doing a whole lot. I spent Thanksgiving and the following weekend with my dad in West Virginia and then made the drive home to D.C. on Monday in one shot. It’s been more off the road than on the road this week, which is fine with me.

It was great to pull into Charleston last Wednesday and see my dad and his partner, Judy, as I hadn’t seen them since before the pandemic started. They’re both well and in good spirits. Unfortunately, my dad’s macular degeneration has only gotten worse so he can’t see much at all which really limits what he can do. That’s just one more reason for me to keep doing what I’m doing for as long as I’m able to. I’m sorry because all of his retirement plans went out the window with his eyesight, but sadly there’s nothing that he or I or his doctors can do about it. I was definitely surprised that their dog, Sadie, remembers me after so many months. Sadie was rescued from a pretty bad situation and basically hates everyone except the two of them. A few years ago, when we were all visiting my brother in New Hampshire, I thought that Sadie looked like she couldn’t breathe and was having a heart attack. Well my dad couldn’t see her obviously and Judy came down on the side of better safe than sorry so we rushed her to the all-night vet. She was having a heart attack and they kept her overnight. We picked her up the next day, she hasn’t barked at me since. This week she actually came and curled up on my lap. I don’t know how dogs know or how they remember, but she certainly does.

It was a quiet Thanksgiving with just the three of us, but we did have a delicious ham, some great sides including a delightful broccoli casserole and of course two varieties of pie. We all slept in in the morning and we all enjoyed an afternoon nap as well. In fact, I slept quite a bit while I was there. Living in my van, no matter how safe a spot I am parked in overnight, some part of my subconscious has to be alert and aware. When I finally get to a warm, safe place I sleep really deeply and really well…

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Happy Thanksgiving From Miles2Go

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Happy Thanksgiving From Miles2Go

Happy Thanksgiving y’all. I know this is an American holiday, but it’s a great day to express how thankful I am for all of the wonderful things in my life. First and foremost, I’m thankful for all of you for helping make this project and this dream a reality. Without your words of encouragement, notes and emails I don’t know if I could have kept going through four years and a global pandemic. I’m thankful for my family who supports this dream and never pressures me to get a “real job” or to “settle down”. They understand that however strange or foreign this might be, it makes me happy and that’s the most important thing. I’m thankful for all of my friends around the country and the world who have encouraged me, put me up, lent me their ear and pointed me in the right direction. I’m thankful for Shadow Catcher, my wonderful van which has been incredibly dependable for a 24 year old vehicle and to all of those who have kept keep it on the road - especially the great guys at Champion Auto Repair in Sterling, Virginia. I’m thankful for all the travelers who came before me who shared the ups and downs of their journey so that I might learn from their mistakes and not repeat them. I’m thankful for all of the businesses who let me stay the night in their parking lots which allows me feel safe and sleep soundly. I’m thankful for all of those people who keep the National and state parks wild, beautiful and accessible, the historic sites open and accurate, the music venues rocking, the tiki bars pouring and the libraries, gas stations, gyms, coffee shops and restaurants open and welcoming. It’s been an incredible four years and two weeks on the road (minus the time I was home for the pandemic), and I’m just getting started. But this isn’t just my journey, but our journey and I’m incredibly thankful for every one of you and for all of those who don’t even know they’ve kept this project afloat. Thank you all.

-Mike

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This Week on the Road - November 17th-24th

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This Week on the Road - November 17th-24th

Hello everyone and a very Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American friends out there. I have made it to my dad’s place in Charleston, West Virginia for Turkey Day and will be here through the weekend. It’s nice to be in out of the cold and with my family and I’m looking forward to a few weeks off the road before setting off again early next year. This week has been about making my way east, catching up with friends, warming up at some of the Midwest’s finest tiki bars and catching some great (and not so great) live music along the way. I’ve slept a lot this week as the long nights and cold weather have inspired early bedtimes and late mornings, but I’m also coming down from a busy 6 months on the road and need a little extra sleep. When I pulled out of Minnesota, I considered my 3 state mission complete and shifted my focus to some down time. I still have plenty of photos to get to and a podcast that’s been gathering dust, but it was time to enjoy myself and the long ride home. It hasn’t been the busiest of weeks, but I’d love to share with you what I’ve been up to.

When I left off last week I was in Milwaukee and headed out with my cousins for the evening. Sadly, one of the two of them had just gotten her booster shot and was not feeling up to it, so it turned out to be just myself and Emmalyn and we joined her husband, Brian, a little later in the evening. It was great to see them and hear what they’ve been up to these last few months. I’m very grateful for the time they’ve shared with me this summer. While we’ve been Facebook friends for years and kept in touch that way, it’s nice to connect with them and know more about that side of my family.

Thursday I woke up to snow swirling around my van. I hit the gym and then headed to the grocery store in the morning to pick up some things for my dad. He grew up in Milwaukee, so I wanted to get him some brats, sausage, cheese, a Racine kringle and a few other things from his home state since I was on my way to see him. I also picked up some New Glarus beer (which you can’t buy outside the state) to share with my friends back at home. Then I headed south to Illinois and stopped at the library to get some work done and let the traffic in Chicago die down. I knew I would be up late in the Windy City, so I also took a nice long afternoon nap. When I got up, I ordered a deep-dish, Chicago style pizza from Pequod’s on the recommendation of one of my Chicago friends. Chicago pizza takes about 45 minutes to cook, so I ordered it before I left and then headed on down to the city. It wasn’t quite ready when I got there, so I got it right out of the oven which was the plan. I really love Chicago style pizza, and while I don’t think this was the best one I’ve ever gotten, it was still really good. With a couple of slices of pizza in me, I headed on to Kingston Mines, Chicago’s oldest and largest blues club. They have live blues on two alternating stages 365 days out of the year and are always a great bet for good music in Chicago. I was happy to find the club alive and well after having not been there for many years and I was happy to see many young people in the audience as Blues usually attracts an older crowd. Some young theatre kids were even showing off their dance moves which was fun, although one couple looked more like they were having synchronized seizures than dancing. The music was great on both stages and I would have loved to stay until their 3am closing time, but I knew that wasn’t going to be a good idea under the circumstances. The best time to get through the city of Chicago is between midnight and 5am, so I only had two beers while I was at the club and headed south just after twelve. From Lincoln Park, which is on the north side of Chicago, all the way to the Indiana border only took me 35 minutes which is a near miracle. The road along the Lake Michigan shoreline was clear and quick and I enjoyed nighttime views of downtown and the Navy Pier. While I got to bed pretty late, I knew it had saved some serious time for the next day so I wasn’t too worried about it.

Friday morning I headed out to Indiana Dunes National Park on the south shore of Lake Michigan. It was great to see the lake again and I enjoyed a visit to the Century of Progress Homes in the park. These model homes were on display at the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago and then were moved via barge across Lake Michigan and set up on the shoreline there.

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This Week on the Road - November 10th-17th

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This Week on the Road - November 10th-17th

Hello Everyone! Greetings from Milwaukee! I have made my way out of Minnesota after a wonderful 6+ week stay and am on my way home for the holidays. I’ll admit I’m pretty tired after the last 5 months on the road and am looking forward to a few weeks off, catching up with friends and catching up on some sleep. I’ve been pushing hard these last few weeks to get through what I wanted to see and get out before winter really set in. There’s definitely been snow this week, the sun is setting at 4:45pm and nighttime temperatures have dropped below freezing every night. All the signs are there that it’s time for me to follow the geese and head south and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. All of that being said, it’s been another great week on the road. I spent this week exploring the Twin Cities and then cruising down the Great River Road and checking out the historic Mississippi River towns along the way. It’s been overcast and snowy and has made photography challenging, but it’s also cleared up at times and given me some beautiful winter lighting to shoot with. I still have plenty of photos to edit and publish, so you’ll be seeing Minnesota photos for a few weeks to come, but I have officially left the Gopher State.

When I left you last week, I was headed to lunch with my old friend, Rich. I met Rich almost 22 years ago in New Jersey when I was interviewing for the tour company with which I would spend most of the intervening years. When that company shut its doors for good last year during the pandemic, Rich was the one locking those doors behind us. It was good to see him, catch up on the few people we’re both in touch with and share a meal and a few laughs. After lunch I headed on to the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul and took the last guided tour of the day. Our guide was great and told us all about the history of Minnesota’s three Capitol buildings. I was particularly interested in all of the materials they had used in its construction, from local granite to the incredible pipestone I mentioned last week to fine Italian marble. None of the government bodies were in session, so the building was quiet and we had the run of the place. We even got up on the roof for commanding views over the city and a close-up look at the gold-plated Quadriga (four horse chariot) on the front of the dome. After the tour I spent some time wandering the empty building and looking in the nooks and crannies and remembering the pre-September 11th days when I could do the same in our U.S. Capitol. That evening I headed over to First Avenue, one of Minneapolis’ premier music venues, and used the 7th St Entry to get to their smaller, underground club. When I got there, Darrin Bradury was just coming on stage with his quirky tunes about life on the road. The headliner was Minneapolis-based rock band Nato Coles and the Blue Diamond Band, who rocked the small room and got everyone’s toes tapping. It was a good show and so good to see live music again after way too long. I was also happy they were checking vaccination cards at the door which made the small club feel much safer.

Thursday morning I made a quick trip to the Mall of America in Bloomington, which the country’s largest indoor mall. I wandered around for a little while, checked out the amusement park in the middle of it all and the free parts of the aquarium which were both pretty cool. Beyond that, it was just a really big mall. I could definitely imagine it being a nice place to go in the middle of winter to escape the snow and find some fun options with your kids, but I’ve been to malls before and had better things to do with my day. I headed on to the Minnesota History Center which was much more my style. This is the state’s central history museum and I found it fairly progressive, but thought it walked that line well and seemed to present a reasonably balanced look at the state’s history. The main exhibit in the middle was really good, and looked at the different regions of the state and the people that have lived there through the years. I also enjoyed the temporary exhibits on Minnesota weather, the Greatest Generation, Sinclair Lewis and Women’s Rights. I was in the museum for several hours and then headed over to my friend Mark’s house for the night. Mark and I taught together at Francis Gregory Elementary School in New Orleans way back in 2008. It was my second year at the school and his first and I was impressed that he made it through the year (very few teachers there did). While he was fighting different battles than I was, it was an incredibly challenging year in one of the country’s worst schools. He went on to teach in New Orleans for many years before returning home to Minnesota. He’s still teaching now, in fact, and still facing challenges but with a whole lot more experience under his belt. He invited me to stay at his home and then took me to a great dinner at The Blue Door for a beer and a burger. While we were eating and chatting, the snow began to fall but it wasn’t quite the heavy snow that had been predicted. After dinner we went back to his house and sipped some delicious Roknar whiskey (which is made in Minnesota) and chatted long into the night. It was very cozy to sleep in a warm bed in a warm room while the snow was falling outside and also great to catch up with my old friend…

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This Week on the Road - November 3rd-10th

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This Week on the Road - November 3rd-10th

Hello Everyone! When many of you will be reading this, Shadow Catcher and I will be celebrating the 4 year anniversary of this project. We set out together on November 11th, 2017 from our home base in Washington D.C. to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. At the time, the plan was to spend a month in each of the 48 contiguous states, which, if done in one long stretch, would have put an end date right around now. I learned very quickly that a month isn’t very long when it comes to really getting to know a state and while I still try and move right along, six weeks seems like a more realistic timeframe. My dreams of financial success with this project have been all but a complete bust, so I have had to stop and go back to guiding to replenish my coffers. Thankfully, it’s a job I love and it’s fairly easy to put away money in a short time and keep going. And of course who could have predicted a global pandemic, which grounded us for 15 months at home? That time was a blessing as I got to spend it with my folks and watching young Mason every day on his journey from 2 to 3 years old. On the plus side, I’ve seen and done so much, learned more than I ever thought possible and met many truly wonderful people along the way. It’s been everything I hoped it would be and infinitely more and I’m grateful every day for this project, this journey, and all of you who have chosen to share in it. Like any journey, it’s had its ups and downs, but at the end of the day, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. As I wind up my time in Minnesota, my 16th of 48 states, that would leave me 1/3 of the way there. I don’t know if I’ll finish this project, but I’m definitely planning to keep going for the near future. Thank you all for coming along for the ride.

It’s been a very busy week blazing across the prairies of Southwest Minnesota. With daylight savings time ending and snow in the forecast, it is definitely time to start making an exit plan, but I didn’t want to miss out on a whole region. I’ve definitely driven more this week than I usually do and I’ve seen some pretty amazing places but it’s also been pretty fast and furious. That being said, I’ve driven past some fascinating things this week that either gave me pause or a good chuckle. When I drove through Brainerd again this week, I passed by the Warriors Early Childhood Learning Center. Their school team name is the Warriors, but to an outsider I thought this was pretty funny. I also drove past the towns of Nimrod, Sleepy Eye and Weetown – all of which made me smile. I saw a Sasquatch Reporting Station in Starbuck and a street called Oink Joint Rd. The Starbuck High School mascot is the Bucks, the Fergus Falls (county seat of Otter Tail County) is the Otters and of course in Pelican Rapids they went with… the Vikings! It was wonderful to see Amish buggies driving on the roads and tumbleweed tumbling down dusty city streets. It was a wonderful week of clear sunny days and I tried to make the most of it. Here’s what I got into:

When last I wrote I was headed clear across the state of Minnesota back to the western border. Along the way I stopped in the cute little town of Wadena to take some photos and have a wander. I ended up popping into the Little Round Still Distillery and talking with the nice folks there for a while. They gave me a lesson on Minnesota’s complicated liquor laws and it sounded like there is a lot to overcome when starting a brewery or distillery in the state. I ended up buying a 375ml bottle of their Gunflint whiskey which was quite good and the biggest bottle they could legally sell me. From Wadena, I headed on to the even smaller town of New York Mills to check out the Regional Cultural Center there. For a small town, this center is pretty well known and has a wonderful gallery and shop and hosts classes, workshops and events. There was a nice display of “wet felting” wall hangings by Kristen Anderson in the gallery when I was there which were beautiful and told an interesting story. There were also some other smaller pieces from previous exhibits upstairs. I was there for longer than I thought I would be but really enjoyed it. From there I headed on to Perham where I jumped on the Otter Trail Scenic Byway. This beautiful loop road took me through small towns and past some amazing prairie scenery as I made my way around Otter Tail County. I stopped in Pelican Rapids to take a photo of the world’s largest pelican and pulled into Phelps Mill right as the sun was setting to get some great photos of this historic mill now owned by the county. It was a great place to end my day and then I headed on to Fergus Falls for the night. I went downtown and found it pleasant but empty without a single bar or restaurant around. I really find it strange and sad when towns roll up their sidewalks after dark like that. I headed out of town and stopped for a quick beer at their brewery which was actually really tasty but way overpriced. I was sad that my only option for dinner at 8pm was Applebee’s which was on the low side of mediocre. For a town of 13,000 people I had expected a little more, but it was still a nice place to spend the night and it would redeem itself the following day.

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