Drawn the Road Again

Category: Highways and Byways

  • Heckuva hick

    Heckuva hick

    This post is part of an ongoing series called 66 Fridays, which explores the wonders of old Route 66. Click on the preceding “66 Fridays” link to view all posts in the series, or visit the initial overview post here. Unlike Bill Johnson’s in Phoenix or Frank’s in San Antonio, the Missouri Hick is still…

  • The tourist trade

    The tourist trade

    This post is part of an ongoing series called 66 Fridays, which explores the wonders of old Route 66. Click on the preceding “66 Fridays” link to view all posts in the series, or visit the initial overview post here. One of the grandest Route 66 traditions is the souvenir shop—or as it is more…

  • Faux-tem poles

    Faux-tem poles

    This post is part of an ongoing series called 66 Fridays, which explores the wonders of old Route 66. Click on the preceding “66 Fridays” link to view all posts in the series, or visit the initial overview post here. If you travel any length of Route 66, you can expect to see some fake…

  • Wigwam-a-rama

    Wigwam-a-rama

    This post is part of an ongoing series called 66 Fridays, which explores the wonders of old Route 66. Click on the preceding “66 Fridays” link to view all posts in the series, or visit the initial overview post here. Route 66 wouldn’t be Route 66 without its bevy of American-Indian cultural appropriation kitsch. The…

  • The long detour

    The long detour

    I spent nearly all of April breaking in my new car with a 6500-mile road trip up and down the West Coast. I’ve done many similar trips in the past, but this one had a completely different feel to it. And that’s because the severe drought—which for more than seven years had parched California and…

  • Four-wheeled farewell

    Four-wheeled farewell

    If you’ve been reading here for awhile, you’ve seen this picture before—and others like it. My car, Wild Blue, has made many appearances here over the years, because she’s as much a character in my stories as any place I’ve visited. In fact, she’s sometimes the star—though even when she isn’t, she’s never far from…

  • Flour flurry

    Flour flurry

    This post is part of an ongoing series called 66 Fridays, which explores the wonders of old Route 66. Click on the preceding “66 Fridays” link to view all posts in the series, or visit the initial overview post here. It’s not entirely clear to me why the founders of Yukon, OK named their town…

  • Green to gold

    Green to gold

    Earlier this year I received a grant to travel to the Palouse region of southeastern Washington and sketch the changing seasons there. I’m sure I’ll be posting more about this in future, as there’s a lot to say and one post can’t possibly hold it all. But just as my sketching trips were my introduction…

  • Rereading the map

    Rereading the map

    I finished this map before the airwaves were inundated with red and blue election maps—and today it’s a good reminder that America is more than its electoral divisions. That there is good in every state, and that there is so much to love and celebrate in every nook and cranny of our nation. This is…

  • Halfway there

    Halfway there

    This post is part of an ongoing series called 66 Fridays, which explores the wonders of old Route 66. Click on the preceding “66 Fridays” link to view all posts in the series, or visit the initial overview post here. When I started my 66 Fridays series back at the turn of the new year,…