I'm not going to include a city in the location for this post, since there really wasn't one single place I stayed longer than the others. Truly, I've been in Toldeo, Ohio, now longer than any place I visited in Michigan. But since the overwhelming bulk of the day was in Michigan, I'll just leave it at that. The day started in Illinois, and by the time I finished, I had been in 4 states: Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio, too. My absolute first stop was for gas and a breakfast pizza at Casey's General Store, which Beth had told me about on Saturday and for which I had been searching. I found it, bought it, ate it, and loved it. Then I made my way to the NIU campus to find Huskie Stadium. Check. I had ... read more

Well, now that I've attended the 2nd of 2 TCU road games in a row, the ostensible reason for my Great Plains road trip is at an end. But that doesn't mean I intend to go directly back to Athens, GA (a.k.a. home). I'm planning on taking a circuitous route of sorts, so while I won't be in the Great Plains anymore, the road trip will continue a few more days. I saw the first familiar face in about 10 days this morning - Beth, a friend from my days of working summers at Camp Westminster, and who also attended McAfee School of Theology with me. She had seen my blog a few days back and asked whether we could work out to meet up since I would be coming to Iowa. I was happy to ... read more

This was a day I had been looking forward to on this trip since the start. And it did not disappoint. I guess I was anticipating it so much, I woke up around 5:30 and couldn't get back to sleep! Deadwood is very quiet in the morning. Some might call it "dead," but I'm above puns. It was also exceptionally chilly - about 28 F. But the morning drive to the Crazy Horse Memorial while the sun was coming up over the Black Hills was unbeatable. I took a few pictures while I was driving, always at places where it would be safe - and there was zero traffic on the road at 7 AM. It took an hour to get to the memorial from Deadwood, but once there, it was a breeze to get around. ... read more

I'm back in Nebraska for what I hope is the last time on this trip. I came here to see a couple of really cool geological sights before I head back up north into Wyoming and South Dakota tomorrow. The two places I visited, Scotts Bluff and Chimney Rock, were exceptional. One of the things that surprised me today was the sun. The temperature never got over 75 F, but the sun was brutal. I felt like I was in Texas again with 100+ degree temperatures, shading my arms and bare skin in the car as I rode around. And when I got to the top of Scotts Bluff for the fantastic views, I felt quite unprotected. I brought bug spray on this trip, but I didn't think sunscreen would be necessary in October, this far ... read more

I wasn't sure where I was going to stop when I started this day, but I decided on staying in Nebraska for a couple of reasons. First was the fatigue and work factor: yesterday was the least driving I had done on this trip, but being in the sun and in a College Football atmosphere for several hours takes its toll, not to mention the excitement of the game itself. The other factor is money. Hotels in Colorado (my next stop) are expensive! Denver, you would imagine; but 1.5 hours outside Denver and still twice what I'm paying here in North Platte, Nebraska. There's a magical line at the border called taxes and cost of living, I guess. I'll pass on paying for those things. My hotel in Kansas was certainly not the Ritz, but it ... read more