The Listening to America Book Club is coming soon.
On his recent visit to the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Clay visited the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers on campus. Dedicated in 2021, the memorial commemorates the estimated 4,000 enslaved people who worked on the University between 1817 and 1865.
Thomas Jefferson conceived and designed the University of Virginia as a unique “Academic Village” where students and professors would live and learn together.
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.
One of America’s truly grand rivers, The Ohio ranks eighth in length in the United States but second in volume.
As a kickoff for his 2025 Lewis and Clark trek, Clay visited and toured Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s primary home and plantation in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Attending a magic show by my friend Joshua Jay in Pittsburgh got me pondering the “magic” of the Lewis and Clark expedition.
Animatronic depiction of York at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Sioux City, Iowa
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.
Clay at Poplar Forest
Kicking off his 2025 transcontinental Lewis and Clark trek, Clay spends the day at Poplar Forest, the beloved personal retreat of Thomas Jefferson, the mastermind behind the famous Corps of Discovery.
LTA truck and Airstream at Poplar Forest
Clay begins his 2025 Lewis and Clark transcontinental journey in the land of Thomas Jefferson, the patron saint of the famous 1804-1806 expedition.
airstream

Leaving Home

Spring is here. It’s time to pack the bags, load the truck, and get on the trail of Lewis and Clark.