Looking for couth and coffee
The Midwest was not the home of high style. The roadhouses had whole aisles devoted to beef jerky, some places you could assemble your own hot dog or taco, and although the pour-your-own coffee sections often had cappuccino machines, they had several spouts, labelled “Vanilla Capuccino”, “Caramel Capuccino” or “Chocolate Capuccino”. I began to suspect [...]
Joplin’
The talk was of tornadoes that day in Joplin. A massive outbreak had hit the US over the preceding few days, and here we were in tornado territory. We were back on Route 66 after taking a few days off to see friends in Kansas City and to attend a Sister Hazel concert in Columbia, [...]
Over the Miss
A city and a river. Surely not New Orleans already? I raised my eyebrows at DD. “Baton Rouge”, she replied. I shrugged. Another hour to go. FutureCat looked around from the front passenger seat. “The Mississippi!” she exulted. I smiled. It was exciting. The first time I crossed the Mighty Miss, I did it three [...]
The first leg of our footloose freedom
Canberra’s new airport terminal is world-class. It’s light, airy, spacious, transparent. And half-complete. When the second building, a mirror-image of the first, rises over the rubble of the old shed, it will be a welcome worthy of the nation’s capital. A glass atrium will end the u-shaped two-level drop-off and pick-up rank, allowing arriving passengers [...]
The best meals…
The plane landed, the kids were there to pick us up, we came home, did a few chores and fell into bed. Some hours later, a BookCrossing meeting to attend, I woke up. And I had not the foggiest notion of where I was. In bed, obviously. Time, date, continent, all a total blank. Was [...]
Soundtrip
Isn’t that the dream? The everyday world is behind you, there’s a long road ahead, rising and curving to a far destination. Days and night stretch out, diners, service stations, motels, bridges, toilet blocks and a growing litter of wrappers and empty bottles in the back seat.
Hit the play button and let’s get this show on the road!