Let’s say you want to attend the Centennial Celebration for the Poetry Society of Virginia but you don’t want to stay in a hotel in Richmond for 4 or 5 days. The solution is clear. Reserve a spot at the state park nearby. Colleen joined me for the final couple of days. Our second visit here: it was the first place we stayed, the day we purchased Wanda last year. 3-8 May 2023

Actually, this photo is from 11 April 2023, the evening I settled into Natchez Trace State Park. But let’s say that I raised a glass to my dad, born 13 April, 2011. He would have enjoyed the bourbon. He was a cigarette smoker (died of lung cancer), but I don’t think I ever saw him smoke a cigar. I think I smoke about five or six a year. However, the travel bug and the love of state parks comes directly from him. Happy birthday, Dad.

Again, a new state park for me, right in the northeast edge of Tennessee. Left me with a very manageable drive for the final day home. This campground is closer to a large town and busy interstate, so it is a bit busier and more crowded, but I enjoyed it, the quiet. 12 April 2023

I decided to break my travels back from Arkansas to Virginia into two nights. So for the first time, I stayed at Natchez Trace State Park (not really very close to the Natchez Trace Parkway—if you know about that.). A large park with several campgrounds. I was in spot 23 in Campground 1. Right next to the water. Very quiet, peaceful. 11 April 2023

Do you think I like this place? Yes, so much so that I stayed there on the way back home, and for two nights. After three museums and three days of talking poetry, listening to poetry, I opted for a little silence. 9-10 April 2023

William and I traveled back to Tulsa and this time toured this important and somber history center that commemorates this awful tragic moment in American History. Educational and effective. If you want to be an American who fully understands your history, you should/must visit here. (Wanda stayed at Warrior RV Park once again) 8 April 2023.

It is always good to see old friends (meaning friends I have known a long time—no reference to age, here.). David Meischen is a terrific poet and sterling human being. 6 April 2023.

This is not my photo—again, I was slacking on my documentation duties.. But I highly recommend the Scissortail RV Park in Ada, Oklahoma. I stayed there last year and came back this year. Management is friendly, the camp grounds are quiet and easily accessible. 5-7 April 2023.

Okay, so William and I are terrible tourists. We visited both the Woody Guthrie Museum and the Bob Dylan Center, downtown Tulsa. Loved, loved, loved both places (I had been to the Guthrie Museum before). We bought t-shirts, but did not take photos. Duh! 5 April 2023.

Stopped here for the night, after a quick drive from Russellville. My son, William, met me and took me to dinner at Amelia’s Woodfire Cuisine. Highly recommended. Why didn’t we take any photos of our food and drink? 4 April 2023.

For me, it is a long drive from Crossville, Tennessee, to Russellville, Arkansas, but it is worth it. I love settling in to my spot by the lake and just sitting and watching. 3 April 2023

If you are making a pilgrimage west, why stop stop at a favorite. First day of my annual trip to Ada, Oklahoma for the Scissortail Writers Festival. This park has long sentimental value for the Grant family. 2 April 2023.

If you are itching to get on the road, and it is still kind of cold, a weekend at a state park is a good idea. Colleen and I stayed here for a couple of night. Her brother and sister-in-law stayed in a very nice cabin. Also we rented a telescope from the park office to get some amazing looks into the night sky. 3 March 2023.

If you are boon-docking your way back home, you should read the signs better. But here in Tennessee on IH 40 the fall colors have arrived. So you just want to rest a little longer. (You have been spared a photo of a Walmart Parking Lot near Hope, Arkansas.)

15 October 2022

If you are wandering around Northeast Texas thinking about one of your old teachers, traveling from Paris to Blossom to Detroit, and you see this old building, why don’t you stop?

13 October 2022

If you need to camp near Austin, this is one of the best choices.

10 October to 13 October 2022

Outside the RV window. Student enjoying an early fall night. Lot 58.

Texas A&M University. 3 October 2022

If a University will let you park in one of their lots for seven nights at a reasonable price to let you conduct research, you remain grateful.

3 October to 9 October 2022

After Driving All Day: A Still Life

2 October 2022

And why does a self-respecting pseudo-Intellectual do things like this? On the road again.

Crossville, Tennessee. 1 October 2022

If you are camping and it is not a scorching day, a campfire at night is just what a body and soul needs.

16 September 2022

When Wanda sees a vineyard, she just can’t help but turn in. Virginia Eastern Shore.

15 September 2022

If you are in the Eastern Townships and thinking about cheese (and Louise Penny novels), you have to stop here. 1 Aug 2022.

https://www.abbaye.ca

When you see a sunset like this, you gotta stop thinking and just watch.30 July 2022

When you are hungry and you pass by a Boulanderie, you have to turn around and get lunch. 29 July 2022. https://www.magasingeneralsirois.com

If you happen to be in Knowlton because you are fans of Louise Penny novels and you want a little lunch outside, you can’t do better than Sapin—Bistro du Lac. Was that Olivier and Gabri I just saw? 26 July 2022

Let’s say that you have been married to a beautiful woman for 20 years and you find yourself in Burlington, Vermont, and you just had a great meal at Hen of the Wood, well, you want to look at her and look at her and be grateful and happy. 25 August 2022

https://www.henofthewood.com

If you are of a particular religious disposition, and the passion of Christ resonates for you, you might just be moved by this place at the tip of Isle la Motte. 24 July 2022

https://www.saintannesshrine.org

If you see water like this, you have to put your feet in. 23 July 2022

If you see a place like this on the side of the road, you gotta stop. 22 July 22

https://smittiespretzelproducts.com

If Colleen is driving Wanda and Jacob is riding shotgun, and you are at the kitchette table looking out the window, well, life is pretty good. 14 May 2022. On U-128 outside Moab.

When you are in Denver with your middle son, you got to go to Rockies game. 13 May 2022

When you spend the night in Wilson, Kansas, you have to stop at the World’s Largest Czech Egg, don’t you? 12 May 2022

When you are in St. Louis with your middle son, you have to stop for a Cardinal’s game. 10 May 2022.

If you are in Cincinnati with your middle son, and the Reds are playing, you have some place you gotta go to. 9 May 2022.

Let’s say your middle son is moving to Moab to work, well, he’s gotta take the jeep, right? Our first experience towing. 8 May 2022

Let’s say that you have been on the road almost three weeks, and you stop in Flatwood, West Virginia, for a Starbucks and gasoline, you gotta walk through Everyday Fiesta. 5 April 2022

If it’s your birthday and you are driving through Kentucky and you see a sign for bourbon, it’s a sign, even if you don’t have time for a tour. You can promise yourself that you can come back. 4 April 2022

https://heavenhilldistillery.com/#3

If you spend the night at Montgomery Bell State Park west of Nashville, and your parents are buried at the National Cemetery in Nashville, and it is your 69th birthday, you better stop by and say hello and thank them for the life they gave you. 4 April 2022

If you love poetry and like poets, Scissortail Poetry Festival in Ada, Oklahoma, is just perfect. This year, you could even have heard Arthur Sze read his poems. 1 April 2022

If you are heading north on highway 281 and make it to Hico, Texas, and you are in need of pie, any kind of pie, you have to stop at the Koffee Kup. 28 March 2022

If you have a nephew homesteading outside of Lampassas, Texas, and you are in the area, you really should stop by. You might get some honey, beef, and eggs, if you have been a decent enough uncle over the years. 28 March 2022.

Let’s say you are working on a book about the Texas writer William A. Owens. If you are going to do your job correctly, you have to spend a lot of time where his archives are. 5 March 2022.

If you are in Austin, visiting your oldest son and his wife, one place you can stay is Emma Long Municipal Park. Good spaces right beside the Colorado River. Pretty nice! 20 March 2022

Let’s say about a dozen good people that you went to high school with decide to gather, informally. You know you want to join them for the weekend. 18 March 2022. At Summer’s Mill Retreat and Conference Center, Belton, Texas.

https://summersmill.com

So the first night of a two week plus trip you just might find yourself in Crossville, Tennessee. And look! It’s the building where you were married almost twenty years ago. Amazing. How did that happen? 15 March 2022

Let’s say the first night you spent in your new RV was so great, you need to schedule another two weeks later. This is where you might find yourself. 25 February 2022

Ok. If today you picked up your new RV and you don’t just want to drive it home and let it feel neglected and unloved, you are going to find a spot to spend the night in it. Get to know it, let it get to know you. 12 February 2022.