Day 47 of 63

Notes filed from the road appear under the stop where they were written.

• Minneapolis, Minnesota✓ been

  Jun 11 – Jun 12 · Minnesota · home

  Packing the truck and leaving home.

• South Dakota✓ been

  Jun 13 – Jun 14 · Sioux Falls

  Changed the plan and pointed west.

• Omaha & Council Bluffs✓ been

  Jun 15 – Jun 16 · Nebraska · Iowa

  Casinos on the Iowa–Nebraska line.

• Savannah, Missouri✓ been

  Jun 17 – Jun 18 · Missouri

  Small-town Missouri, water tower on the horizon.

• Kansas City✓ been

  Jun 19 – Jun 22 · Missouri

  Kansas City for the World Cup.

• Ohio & Pennsylvania✓ been

  Jun 24 – Jun 27 · Amish country

  East through Amish country (approx).

• Watkins Glen / Finger Lakes✓ been

  Jun 28 – Jul 1 · New York

  Watkins Glen State Park and a week of Finger Lakes water.

• Lake George✓ been

  Jul 2 – Jul 5 · New York · Adirondacks

  The 250th Fourth of July, spent lakeside with seventeen and a half Kenyans. There is an essay about it.

• Grayson Highlands✓ been

  Jul 6 – Jul 8 · Virginia · Blue Ridge

  Wild ponies at five thousand feet. Camp at the Scales.

• Unaka Mountain & Johnson City✓ been

  Jul 9 – Jul 10 · Tennessee

  A night in the fog at 4,500 feet, then a library day in town.

• Crossville✓ been

  Jul 10 – Jul 11 · Tennessee · Cumberland Plateau

  Westbound on I-40, sleeping at 2,000 feet. Out of the fog.

• Memphis & Tunica✓ been

  Jul 11 – Jul 12 · Tennessee · Mississippi

  The National Civil Rights Museum, Beale Street in daylight, a casino lot across the state line.

• Buffalo National River✓ been

  Jul 12 – Jul 13 · Arkansas · the Ozarks

  Steel Creek. Swimming under the bluffs; elk in Boxley Valley at dawn.

• Fort Worth✓ been

  Jul 13 – Jul 14 · Texas

  The four o'clock cattle drive, brisket after, and a solar panel install in the dry dusk.

• The Panhandle✓ been

  Jul 14 – Jul 15 · Texas

  Cadillac Ranch with a spray can, then Lake Meredith at 3,000 feet.

• Palo Duro → Taos✓ been

  Jul 15 – Jul 16 · Texas · New Mexico

  The canyon at the 7 a.m. gate; the Rio Grande Gorge at sunset; camp at 8,500 feet.

• Los Alamos → the San Juans✓ been

  Jul 16 – Jul 17 · New Mexico · Colorado

  The Bradbury Science Museum, home of the nuclear rocket program. Then Wolf Creek Pass into Colorado.

• Silverton & Ouray✓ been

  Jul 17 – Jul 19 · Colorado · San Juans

  Million Dollar Highway, Yankee Boy Basin in wildflower season, hot springs, camp at 9,800 feet.

• Grand Mesa✓ been

  Jul 19 – Jul 23 · Colorado

  Three hundred lakes on a flat-top mountain. Writing days at 10,500 feet.

• Utah Highway 12✓ been

  Jul 23 – Jul 25 · Capitol Reef → Bryce

  A friend flies in for the week. Orchards, Boulder Mountain, the Hogback, hoodoos at sunset.

• Cedar Breaks → Mt. Charleston✓ been

  Jul 25 – Jul 26 · Utah · Nevada

  Ten thousand feet before lunch, the desert crossing after. Las Vegas from twenty-five degrees above it.

• Las Vegas & Jackass FlatsCurrent stop

  Jul 26 – Jul 27 · Nevada

  The National Atomic Testing Museum, one air-conditioned hour on the Strip, and the gate of the old nuclear-rocket test site.

• The Eastern Sierra

  Jul 27 – Jul 31 · California

  Alabama Hills at golden hour, Whitney Portal, Manzanar, June Lake, Mono Lake at dawn, Bodie.

• Reno → Ruby Mountains

  Jul 31 – Aug 1 · Nevada

  Airport drop-off, then the long I-80 day east to Lamoille Canyon.

• Salt Lake City & the Uintas

  Aug 1 – Aug 3 · Utah

  Resupply, laundry, a truck deep-clean, then rest at 10,000 feet on the Mirror Lake Highway.

• Grand Teton

  Aug 3 – Aug 5 · Wyoming

  Theresa flies in. Jenny Lake at dawn, Mormon Row, camp facing the Grand.

• Yellowstone → Cody

  Aug 5 – Aug 6 · Wyoming

  The lower loop, out the East Gate along the North Fork. Buffalo Bill Center in the morning.

• The Bighorns & Devils Tower

  Aug 6 – Aug 8 · Wyoming

  Medicine Wheel at 9,600 feet, then the tower at sunset.

• Black Hills & Badlands

  Aug 8 – Aug 10 · South Dakota

  Spearfish Canyon with the rally in town, Needles Highway, the Pinnacles rim at dusk.

• Valentine & Merritt Reservoir

  Aug 10 – Aug 11 · Nebraska · Sandhills

  Smith Falls, a float on the Niobrara, and a dune sunset under one of the darkest skies in the country.

• Palisades State Park

  Aug 11 – Aug 12 · South Dakota

  One last slow day.

• Home: Minneapolis

  Aug 12 · Minnesota

  Sixty-three days, one wide circle. Back by noon.