Twenty-third Psalm Major Domo, Reserve me a Table for Two

I must say, it feels really good to be back in the desert after spending the summer out East... 

I've Gone South (Since my Baby's Gone North)

One of my favorite spots to hang out in town is the Mississippi Welcome Center right off the I-20 bridge.  From here you can watch the trucks on the interstate, barges going up the river, and trains coming over the old US 80 bridge.  (Also, they've got free coffee and wifi.)

Yes, I Think it can be Very Easily Done...

Here's my first view of the port of Vicksburg, Mississippi.  During last year's flood, about half of that sign on the left was underwater.  Take a look at the map, and you can see that nature accomplished what Grant failed to do.  Shortly after the war, the river changed it's course, largely bypassing the city.

"An Abomination of Desolation"

...is how Father Hubbard described the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes when he first explored the area.  I finally made it out there on a trip with our dispatcher Ryan (aka "Radio".)

TrailBlog Season Three: Alaska Edition

I suppose an update is in order.  I'm writing now from Eddie's Fireplace Inn in King Salmon, Alaska.  All people and supplies have to be brought in by plane, which is why the turkey sandwich I'm eating costs fifteen dollars and a case of Rainier runs thirty.  It's pretty quiet here right now, but once the salmon start running, the town will swell with fisherman and cannery workers.  I'm here, however, to work in nearby Katmai National Park, another plane ride away.  Although officially set aside to preserve the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, the site of a colossal volcanic explosion, the park's main draws are the fish and the bears that come to catch them.  If you're not a fisherman and you've heard of the park, it might be because it's where Timothy "Grizzly Man" Treadwell and his girlfriend were killed and eaten in the fall of '03.  For my mother's sake, I'd like to stress that bear-related injuries in the park are exceedingly rare and, in fact, the Treadwell incident was the first fatality in over twenty years.  Moreover, we'll be carrying a portable electric fence to set up around camp when we're in the backcountry.  I still have yet to see the park, as we've been in training here in King Salmon all week, but I will be flying out on Friday for boating class.  More about the town and the park later, but in the meantime, enjoy these images from my stayover in Anchorage.  

Next Time, Someplace Like Bolivia

Located between Robert LeRoy Parker's boyhood home and Butch's later hideout, it's not unlikely that he passed through this area.  This lends credence to the authenticity of this signature in a nearby cave.

Cathedral Valley District

This is either the Temple of the Sun or the Temple of the Moon, in Cathedral Valley, a remote part of the park that lies north of the Reef.

Uranium? I Barely Know 'im.

 See here the old Oyler Mine, off the Grand Wash road.  Before the Atomic Energy boom (ha) of the fifties, the Uranium was used mostly for medicinal purposes, such as these radium suppositories.  It's abandoned now, except for...

The Best of the Rest (of the West)

 

The world's highest suspension bridge, outside Canon City, Co.  I drove all the way there before discovering there's a twenty-six dollar toll.  I still got this shot, anyway.

I Think I'll Have a Drink

I wanted to segue back in with the final resting place of another famous crimefighter.  As Safety Director of Cleveland, Ness was a key player in the investigation of the Torso Murders.  Here Tom imagines what it would be like to be one of the Untouchables.

Chi-cago, Chi-cago

At Graceland Cemetary, I find the tomb of one of my heroes.

And on the way home KC poses next to an old campaign poster for some local politico.

Into Iowa

This Lincoln Highway marker outside the Iowa welcome center is one of a handful still in their original positions.

Smile When You Call Me That

Of course, that's not what he really said. Breakfasted on oatmeal and coffee at the historic Virginian Hotel in Medicine Bow, WY.

You Have Died of Dysentery. : (

The road I'm on right now follows the route of the old Oregon Trail. You can still see some of the wheel ruts left by nineteenth century emigrants, as here outside a highway rest station.

O! The Joy!

My journey begins where Lewis and Clarks' ended, on the Columbia River estuary across from Astoria, Oregon. Here's where the Corps first spotted the Pacific Ocean.

On this particular morning, all I could see was fog.

The National Parks: America's Best Idea

Thought I'd hip you to this so you can set your TiVo.

Six Degrees

We find a fair amount of garbage on the beach brought from Japan and China by the Kuroshio current. In 1834, this current brought three shipwrecked Japanese sailors to Cape Alava where, depending on the source, they were taken in as guests or prisoners by the Makah. These men, the first visitors to America from the strictly isolationist island, were eventually rescued by the Hudson Bay Company and brought to Fort Vancouver. News of the fine porcelain they had brought with them intrigued a young Matthew Perry, whose elder brother had won fame in the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813. The younger Perry would go on to force Japan's ports open with gunships while the elder would go on to die of yellow fever after giving his name to a handful of towns in the Lake Erie region.