Looking for America in London

Clay shares impressions from a recent visit to England, where he led a cultural tour.
Maple River, North Dakota
In October 1960, traveling through eastern North Dakota, John Steinbeck stopped along the lonely Maple River. Here, the author had a remarkable encounter with an itinerant Shakespearean actor.
Edward Abbey

To the Desert With Edward Abbey

Clay visits with Edward Abbey, the colorful, eloquent, and passionate advocate of the American West.
Never one to pass up one of America’s “World's Largest” roadside attractions, our intrepid traveler makes a pilgrimage to the site of the midwest’s legendary lumberjack Paul Bunyan and his blue ox “Babe.”
Teddy Roosevelt at Yosemite Valley, CA. 1903.
Imagine America if Theodore Roosevelt had never been president. During his tenure, the “Cowboy President” set aside an astounding 230 million acres of U.S. public land as National Parks, National Monuments, National Forests, National Wildlife Refuges, and National Game Preserves.
It was one of the hottest days of the summer of 2024. I was on Route 66, somewhere east of Needles, California.
Just as rivers serve as an automatic and compelling metaphor for our life journeys, so roads invite us to muse about the trajectory of our lives.
Lindsay Chervinsky’s new book closely examines the dramatic events that shaped America’s pattern for the peaceful transfer of power.
After grueling weeks on the road, our weary, and perhaps delirious, wayfarer visits the “Last Resting Place” RV park in the northern Colorado Rockies.
Lewis and Clark at Columbia

Happy Birthday Meriwether Lewis

August 18 was Meriwether Lewis’ 250th birthday. Clay reflects on the short life of this protégée to President Jefferson and one of the nation’s most well-known explorers.