Meriwether Lewis at work on his journals. The renowned explorer was frustratingly inconsistent in keeping an ongoing record of his historic journey across the continent. (Illustration created by Clay Jenkinson using the AI tool Chat GPT)

Exploring the Ohio River with Captain Lewis

Following the path of Meriwether Lewis, Clay notes that while the famous explorer could be an outstanding journal writer, he was frustratingly unreliable in keeping a daily account of his transcontinental travels. No known journals exist for about half of the 28-month expedition.
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Fear and Loathing at the DOT

Registering the new pickup truck. This, too, is America.
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Reading America’s Rivers

Tracing America’s great rivers this summer along the Lewis and Clark Trail, Clay rediscovers the power and beauty of William Least Heat-Moon’s forgotten classic, River-Horse: A Voyage Across America.
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At the RV Park. (Shutterstock)

A Few Reflections on RV Life

A short report on the RV Life.
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Launching This July – The Listening to America Book Club

The Listening to America Book Club is coming soon.
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The Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers join, forming the headwaters of the Ohio River in Pittsburg, Penn. The Ohio River then flows southwestward, eventually joining the Mississippi at Cairo, Illinois.

Following the Ohio River on the Lewis and Clark Trail

One of America’s truly grand rivers, The Ohio ranks eighth in length in the United States but second in volume.
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Lewis and Clark’s Traveling Magic Show

Attending a magic show by my friend Joshua Jay in Pittsburgh got me pondering the “magic” of the Lewis and Clark expedition.
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Animatronic depiction of York at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Sioux City, Iowa

The Ten Young Men From Kentucky — History, Old and New

Clay reflects on the historical dynamics of the “Ten Young Men” who made up the original core of Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery.
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LTA truck and Airstream at Poplar Forest

Delightful Ignorance: Jefferson and the American West

Clay begins his 2025 Lewis and Clark transcontinental journey in the land of Thomas Jefferson, the patron saint of the famous 1804-1806 expedition.
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Off Interstate 40 (and old U.S. Route 66), at the Continental Divide in New Mexico.

Racing the Southern Interstates Across America

About three days and 2,870 miles: Clay makes a rapid dash across the continent. 
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