Urban Renewal in Little Rock

I came to Little Rock a couple of years ago to cross a few things off the “bucket list.”  One, after living in the bordering state of Texas most of my life, I had never once been across the state line to Arkansas.   We as a family always went west on road trips.   Second, I wanted to see the Clinton Presidential Library.   And lastly, I was working off my list of National Parks, and Hot Springs would be an easy target – a triple play over one long weekend. Continue reading

When in Memphis…

First of all, may I just say that the 18-wheelers on I-40 between Nashville and Little Rock are the meanest junk yard dogs in the yard!   It doesn’t matter how fast you keep up, or how slow they are entering the entrance ramps, they are going to run you over without so much as a sideways glance.

To make matters worse, I was kicked out of the Walmart parking lot in my pajamas Continue reading

Life in Cave City

Since I took my virtual office on the road, my life sometimes feels like a game of “Frogger,” that old 1980’s video game, back in the day when video games were the size of an entire phone booth rather than a smart phone.   Life seems like a series of lily pads, highways, and RV Parks where I must wait for them all to align with my work schedule before I can “leap” to the next safe stop. Continue reading

A Grand, Gloomy, and Peculiar Place…

Those are the words that Stephen Bishop, one of Mammoth Cave’s best known African-American slave guides and explorers, used to describe the massive cave system located in central Kentucky.

Mammoth Cave is the world’s longest cave system Continue reading

Hiking the Shenandoah

For all the massive crowds I saw on Skyline drive during the peak of leaf peeping season, there were none on the hiking trails, thank goodness.   Oh, I saw a few families along the trail, but very few.  And what few I did see appeared to be foreign tourists.   I talked with a family from Israel, and met several from Asia and India along the trail.   But none who “looked like me.”  Continue reading