Spotlight On
Tracks, Scats, Rubbermolds and Stories
Which Animal Left That? Kids Program Has the Answers.
Tour National Scenic Highway 33 on Outdoor Day and enjoy a great interpretive program too. Read story.
Best of I Madonnari
Amongst an Amazing Gallery of Art, Several Paintings Stand Out
Ray takes a look at the best of the I Madonnari 2008 chalk art paintings, among which several stand out. Read story.
On the Road — Fallen Heroes
Remembering Those Who Fought For Our Country
A sobering visit to Arlington Cemetery and the Vietnam Wall. Read story.
On the Road — Washington DC
Celebrating a Nation of Heroes
There are many things to see in Washington DC but it is the memorials that hit home. Read story.
On the Road — Coal Town
When Railroads Fueled American Industry
Yesterday's trip had taken me across the eastern half of Kentucky. Though as beautiful as the western half as I neared the Appalachians the land gradually turned from rolling hills and grassland to tree-covered foothills and finally mountains. Near Pikesville I was full on into the mountains and as I entered Williamson, West Virginia the sings that this was coal mining country were everywhere. Read story.
On the Road — Kentucky Bluegrass
Old Barns, Rolling Hillsides and a Few Surprises
When I was a kid growing up in Cincinnati, we could look from the bluffs where the mighty Ohio River cut through across and see Kentucky on the other side. Read story.
On the Road — Water, Water Everywhere
Massive Storms Cause Rivers to Overflow
I opened the curtains to a welcome sight the next morning — clear skies. After 36 hours of never ending rain, I was looking forward to getting on the road again — to get an in depth look at the Ozark Mountains. Read story.
On the Road — Into the South
Big Heart OK to Ozark Country
Almost without notice the geography has changed: what were small dips and gentle knolls in Kansas are turning into larger hills and deeper dips. I'm edging my way into the Ozarks, through towns such as Newkirk, Ponca City and Pawhuska. The driving is easy with little traffic on the road and the hills and valleys picturesque. The towns are equally picturesque. Read story.
On the Road — Tornado Alley
Heading Directly Into the Heart of Tornado Country
It is just a handful of miles from Mullinsville to Greensburg, Kansas but far enough that the former was spared, the latter had been almost totally destroyed by an EF5 tornado — the strongest possible — on May 4, 2007, not quite a year earlier. Read story.
On the Road — Kansa Art
A Reality Far Different Than TV News
I'm beyond Dodge City, continuing east on an almost straight line, Kansas is a far wider state than it appears on the map and I'm sort of zoning out on the continuity of a landscape that is almost monotonous in texture — a succession of small towns, huge fields just beginning to be tilled and long flat plains on the horizon. Read story.
On the Road — Santa Fe Trail
State Highway 400 to follow the Arkansas River valley east through Kansas
After breakfast in Eads and my side trip to the Sand Creek Massacre historical site, I drop down to State Highway 400 to follow the Arkansas River valley east through Kansas. For most of the rest of the trip across America I'll be on local highways and back country roads, weaving my way through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky and the Virginia states to Washington DC. Read story.
On the Road — The Great Plains
Heading east out of Denver, the sun was shining overhead but ahead of me, out on the Plains I could see the clouds building. Snow was ahead of me. It was time to turn south and drop below the worst of it. Read story.
On the Road — Over the Rockies
An Adventure Only a Family Can Have
The summer of 1951 was a big one for me. We were moving to California! As we neared Denver I couldn't wait to see the Rockies. Will the trip I'm on today meet those expectations? Read story.
On the Road — Cruising Highway 70
Back Country Roads and Interstate Highways
I've spent the night in Green River, Utah, a stone's throw off Interstate 70 and am on my way to Denver via the small mining town of Leadville. What would have taken the wagon trains several weeks will take me less than a half day on Highway 70, assuming I don't make any side trips. Read story.
On the Road — The Ancient Ones
Barrier Canyon Style Rock Art
Ancient nomads created the larger-than-life image perhaps as long as 7,000 years ago in the deep recesses of the Utah canyons, perhaps a response to a dying way of life. They form a body of rock art unsurpassed in the Southwest. Read story.
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