"I guess there are never enough books." -John Steinbeck

Because I’m spending so many hours a day driving the RV and pulling over to the side of the road with the engine running waiting for Roger to catch up to me on his bicycle, I’ve had the luxury of listening to a lot of audiobooks.  I’ve enjoyed listening to all of the books listed below. If I had thought about it earlier, I would have written short reviews of each book after I read them.  Now, I will try to play catch-up and say a few words about the books I’ve read. 

1 - The Library Book, by Susan Orlean 

The great Los Angeles Library fire of April 29, 1986 was overshadowed by news of another disaster that took place that week: the Chernobyl nuclear reactor explosion.  Four hundred thousand library books were lost, and another seven hundred thousand were damaged.  Orlean’s carefully researched book explains how the fire traveled through the building and also goes through the history of libraries and librarians, arson investigation techniques, and the case of Harry Peak, an actor who was suspected of setting the fire.  Read by the author. 

2 - Little Fires Everywhere, by Celeste Ng 

This novel, which takes place in 1997, involves a wealthy family with four very different teenagers and their interactions with a secretive, transient artist and her teenaged daughter.  The relationships are changed when the residents of Shaker Heights, Ohio, take sides in a white couple’s adoption of an Asian baby left at a fire station by a mother who wants her baby back.

Note: As an adoptive mom myself, I’ve always been fascinated by stories involving adoption.  I’m sensitive to issues involving all parties in the triad, such as birthparents’ rights, and I can see both sides of the issues in this story.

3 - Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens

Two plot lines make up this very interesting story about a young backwoods girl who is forced to grow up on her own as her family members leave the house one by one.  The book alternates between her life and the investigation of a murder in the area.

4 - Whistling Past the Graveyard, by Susan Crandall

A nine-year old girl being raised in Mississippi by her disinterested grandmother in 1963 begins a journey to search for her mother and forges a relationship with a lonely, abused woman along the way.

5 - Educated, by Tara Westover

This fascinating book is the true story of Westover’s upbringing in rural Idaho with no formal schooling in a religious family that was always preparing for the End of Days.  How she showed up in a classroom for the first time at age 17 and ended up with a PhD from Cambridge is mind-boggling.

6 - Peace Like a River, by Leif Enger 

This is the story of a family’s struggle during a bitter winter in 1960’s South Dakota when the 17-year-old son makes a decision that carries consequences.  His two younger siblings are the main characters, and their characters are well developed. I loved the strong image of a young girl’s independent spirit, creative imagination, and writing ability.  Read by Chad Lowe.

7 - Lab Girl, by Hope Jahren

Who knew that a fact-based book filled with descriptions of scientific experiments involving seeds, leaves and trees could be so interesting?  Hope Jahren’s life has included the struggle to be taken seriously as a female scientist in a profession dominated by men.  Her lab partner plays a prominent role in her life, as do (in more recent years) her husband, her son, and the diagnosis/ treatment of of her bi-polar medical condition. Read by the author. 

8 - Becoming, by Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama reads this autobiography herself, which makes it all the more poignant as she describes her life from her childhood and youth in South Central Chicago, her college years at Princeton and law school education at Harvard, her time spent practicing law at a private law firm and later in lower paying jobs that allowed her to help people in under-served communities, through her years as First Lady, where she worked tirelessly on projects to eliminate childhood obesity and increase education opportunities.  Central to her story is her supportive parents, her life with Barack Obama and her favorite role as the mother of her two daughters.

Note: I wrote down several wonderful quotes from this book on a piece of paper that has since disappeared. One of them was from the pivotal conversation she had with Barack when he was deciding whether to run for president, and it was something to the effect of, there is so much that needs to be done to make the world a better place, and we’ve been so fortunate to have had opportunities, how can we not work to help others who are less fortunate?

9 - Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah

I love Trevor Noah. He is a South African comedian who gained fame in the U.S. when he took over the Daily Show from Jon Stewart in September 2015.  The title of the book, read by the author, refers to the fact that at the time he was born (in 1984), it was illegal for a South African woman to have intercourse with a European man, punishable by up to 4 years in prison. His mother was black and his father was Swiss.  (Neither was imprisoned for his conception.) The law was changed a year after he was born. 

The book is mostly tales of his childhood, when he was classified as “coloured” and was not entirely accepted by either the white children or the black children he came in contact with during his school years. There are some hilarious stories of his antics, with his strong, loving mother guiding him through his youth, as well as tales of suffering under the hand of his stepfather and under poverty and racial prejudice in South Africa.  Unfortunately, the book ends during the years when he was just starting to achieve some fame in South Africa, when I would have liked to hear more about his career.

10 - Before We Were Yours, by Lisa Wingate

This is a novel based on the horrible, true history of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society and its founder, Georgia Tann, who stole children from poor people in the south and sold them to wealthy people for adoption (including some celebrities), from the 1920’s to 1950.  

The story takes place in two eras with two different readers taking on the roles of the lead characters.  In 1939, Rill is a ten-year-old girl with three younger sisters and a brother who live with their parents on a river shanty boat in Memphis until they are taken away by the Society while their parents make an emergency trip to a hospital.  Avery is a modern day attorney who learns of an envelope containing her grandmother’s secrets that sparks a search for information on her family’s history.  The two stories are intertwined, but not every loose thread is tied up in the end, just as the real families who were Georgia Tann’s victims did not find all of their answers after the corruption was revealed and the Tennessee Children’s Home Society was finally closed.

11 - Calypso, by David Sedaris

In his book, Sedaris describes various humorous events in his life and interactions with members of his large family. It Is read by the author, and it had me laughing out loud. Sedaris also makes some poignant observations, such as this one between himself and his father as they struggle to communicate:  “We’re like a pair of bad trapeze artists, reaching for each other’s hands and missing every time.”

The Road Less Traveled

I’m still enjoying looking around as I drive each day, mostly on small country roads that Roger has chosen ahead of time for his bicycle route.  There is very little that I find boring about the scenery. 

A homemade train

In the past several days, as we’ve travelled through Illinois and Indiana, I’ve loved seeing agricultural fields with very young corn plants or other newly sprouting crops bordered on two or three sides by woods.  I can’t help but look at the fields and think about what an important job farmers have in growing the food we eat. I especially like seeing the signs indicating that the farm is growing organic produce.

The Jacob Henry Mansion, Joliet, IL - built in 1873

There have been brand new large houses with beautiful landscaping on large lots next to farmland or lined up across the street from farmland, and there have been tiny old houses on small lots right next to the road. In a couple of towns (Sycamore and Joliet, Illinois and Butler, Indiana, for example), I’ve slammed on the brakes to gape at houses that must be over 100 years old and have been lovingly restored.  By contrast, I’ve seen houses that looked as though they once held a family, with all of their hopes and dreams, and now stand deserted and decaying in a field of overgrown grass.  I can’t help but wonder about their stories.

A deserted house

What is the story behind the family that lived here, I wonder?

A couple of the photos I’ve shot have made me sad. When I first saw kennels with calves inside, I thought that it was nice that the rancher provided them with a shady place to rest. I hadn’t noticed the wire fences around each kennel until Roger mentioned it. They were veal calves, being raised in those small pens with no chance to exercise.  Several days later, I took a photo of a veal calf standing in its pen. Another photo I took was of a futuristic-looking piece of farm equipment with long arms that magically extended. I thought it was pretty cool until Roger mentioned that it was for spraying pesticides on the young plants.

A veal calf

A pesticide-spraying machine

I can’t help myself when I see animals along the way. I have to pull out my camera and take pictures, especially when there are baby animals involved.

Finally, I’ve enjoyed finding lovely or interesting backdrops for taking photos of Roger as he rides. This trip is his dream, and I love documenting it.

An Honest Mistake

How was I to know that I inadvertently interrupted a cattle drive? 

On Sunday morning, I was driving a couple of miles ahead of Roger along a road just outside of Rapid City, South Dakota, surrounded by grassland with occasional herds of cattle. I spotted several cattle gathered behind a wire fence by the road, with a calf right next to them that had somehow gotten outside the fence.  I became concerned, because twice before on this trip we had seen young livestock that had been hit by cars. Long story short, I Googled the number for City Hall, pressed the number for after-hours emergency assistance, and was able to speak to someone who said she’d try to find someone who could go help the calf. 

I drove on, and a few miles later, I was surprised to see a whole herd of cattle outside a fence, walking toward a driveway.  I stopped to take a photo through the open window, and the animals turned around and started walking back in the direction from which they had come. It was then that I noticed a guy on a four-wheel ATV behind me on the road. I motioned to him to come over so that I could ask if he knew who owned the cattle back at the mileage marker where the calf was outside the fence. He sped past me without stopping and joined another guy on an ATV, and the two of them herded the cattle back toward the driveway. It was then that I realized they were ranch hands trying to move the cattle across the road, and by stopping the RV at the crossing point, I had startled the animals into changing direction.  I guess that makes me a darned city slicker.

Where the Buffalo Roam, and Other Sights

There have been several times on this trip when I’ve driven over a hill or around a mountain curve and a jaw-dropping vista has greeted me.  I’m seeing terrain and wildlife that just don’t exist in Southern California. On Sunday, as Roger rode 78 miles from Rapid City to Badlands National Park in South Dakota, I saw several such sights. There were rolling green hills with gashes in the sides that looked to be caused by landslides, with a row of spindly trees in front of them.

There were lowlands that were partially flooded from rain and snow melt, and there were flat, rocky mesas topped by grass that were sticking out of the ground and surrounded by sand.

As the road headed into Badlands National Park, jagged rocks began reaching upward, forming into mountains that looked like large stalagmites. (Think of Bryce Canyon, Utah, without the deep clay color.)

The previous day, as Roger’s ride took us from Hot Springs to Rapid City, we found ourselves in Wind Cave National Park, a broad expanse of hilly land with occasional buffalo off in the distance.  Prairie dogs were popping up out of their holes and chirping like birds. When I came upon a family of antelope playing, I couldn’t help but hum “Home on the Range” while snapping a few photos.  As I headed toward the visitors center where Roger and I were going to meet, a buffalo appeared in the middle of the road. He was slowly walking toward me, so I backed up the RV to give him his space.  I’m sure Roger must have been a bit surprised to get a text from me that said, “I’ll be a little late. There’s a buffalo in the road.”  The great, stately beast eventually made his way over to the side of the road, and I was able to pass.

Going back a few more days, as we both drove from Boulder to Hot Springs (where Roger’s ride would be back on schedule), we saw vast, open space with amazing cloud formations that stretched all the way across the blue sky. I was a little worried that my constant pullovers to stop and take pictures was annoying to Roger, but he told me later that he’s happy to see me enjoying the journey.

I’m feeling incredibly fortunate to get to see all of this. 

Restaurant Review of Frasca Food and Wine, Boulder, Colorado

When I put the word out on Facebook that we were visiting Boulder, Colorado, and asked for suggestions for places to eat and things to do, a lot of people offered helpful ideas.  Because it’s been raining and snowing here, we’ve basically been eating our way through Boulder, visiting places recommended by friends. The prize for the best suggestion has to go to my friend Jo-Lynn, who recommended Frasca Food and Wine.

There are those rare times when every single thing about a dining experience in a particular restaurant is outstanding.  This was one of those times.  We didn’t know until we started talking with the staff and did some research afterward that Frasca has such an impressive history.  It was founded in 2004 by owner/Master Sommelier Bobby Stuckey and chef Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson, who had met while working at chef Thomas Keller’s restaurant, The French Laundry in Yountville, California.  Stuckey won a James Beard Foundation award for Outstanding Wine Service in 2000 while at The French Laundry, and Mackinnon-Patterson won the JBF award for Best Chef: Southwest in 2008 while at Frasca, the same year that Stuckey was nominated for Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional.  In addition, Frasca Food and Wine was nominated for Outstanding Wine Service in 2010, 2011 and 2012, winning the award in 2013.  Most recently, Frasca won the JBF award for Outstanding Service earlier this month.

The first thing that Roger noticed when we were seated was that the stemware was Zalto, very expensive wine glasses with thin stems and a unique shape.  We were amazed to see them, because breakage is a common occurrence in restaurants, and these glasses are particularly fragile. Our server, Margaret, was very knowledgeable about wines, which wasn’t surprising after we found out that she is taking her exam to be a Certified Sommelier in two weeks.  Roger (who recently earned a diploma from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust after three years of study) enjoyed discussing wine pairings with her.  He asked me if I knew why there was a candle on the sommelier’s table, and I answered correctly: It was there to light the bottle from underneath when decanting wine, to determine if there is any sediment in the bottle that should not be poured into the decanter. It’s nice to know that a little of Roger’s studying has rubbed off on me.  Sure enough, a short while later, we watched as Matthew, the sommelier, did just that.

We opted for the four-course prix-fixe menu, where we got to choose from among four items for each course.  They also offered a seven-course meal that was tempting.  The first of several assistant waitstaff to appear at our table during the evening delivered an amuse-bouche, three bite-sized appetizers for each of us.  The three items were: smoked salmon puree on a sweet potato chip, a fried agnolotti stuffed with short rib on top of Sicilian pesto, and finely chopped beets on a piave cheese crisp.

Our shared appetizer before the four-course meal started was a warm, cheesy Frico Caldo, which is boiled potatoes and parmesan cheese that have been pressed into a hot, oiled pan, fried on both sides, and cut into quarters for serving. I was delighted to find chef Mackinnon-Patterson’s recipe on Epicurious.com just now.

My antipasto course was a delicately flavored assortment of sautéed wild mushrooms (five different kinds, plus morels) with a soft poached farm egg and chicken skin crumble.  Roger had green asparagus with morels in a sauce that was so tasty, we both dipped our bread in it so that not a drop was wasted. 

For our primi piatti, Roger had small pieces of very tender short ribs with gnuddi, which are large ricotta cheese and semolina dumplings. Also on the plate were English peas, preserved lemon, and shaved rhubarb.  I had gnocchi that was dark green because of the pureed nettle greens in the dough, with bits of pork sausage, smoked ricotta cheese, and a thickened prosciutto/parmesan broth.  The exquisite combination of flavors had me closing my eyes and savoring each bite.

Our secondi piatti consisted of a petite, tender piece of wild king salmon for me, served with ramps, fregola (large-grained Italian couscous) and edible flowers from the green garlic plant.  Roger’s was a perfectly cooked duck breast with cooked, ripe mulberries and morels.  For dessert, Roger had a cheese plate with three cheeses, fig bread, fennel jam and wild honeycomb, and I had a small torta consisting of carrot cake with white chocolate and passion fruit.

Not only was every course of our meal delicious, but we can see why this restaurant won a James Beard Foundation award for its service.  Each course was delivered with a full description of what was on our plates.  Every employee who walked past our table knew the answer to the questions we asked about ingredients and cooking technique.  At one point, I dropped a knife, and as I picked it up and put it on the table, a staff member immediately put a fresh knife by my plate and whisked away the old one.  We noticed several times that when diners were getting up to leave, the hostess was already standing by the door with their coats.  We kept commenting on how every employee we saw was working to ensure that all of the diners had an excellent culinary experience.

Every now and then Roger and I talk about the most memorable meals we’ve shared.  This one will definitely be included in those conversations from now on.

She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain (written 5/16, published 5/17)

I’m loving the different topography and ecosystems we are seeing on this trip. Two days ago, we were in the middle of nowhere in Idaho, surrounded by grass and sagebrush and driving on a flat road that appeared to go on and on into infinity. Yesterday, we were in towns and rolling grasslands. 

Today, we left the grasslands and headed toward the Grand Tetons in Wyoming. I could see snow-capped mountains in the distance, growing closer and closer. At one point, we drove around a bend, and in addition to mountains, we had a view of a steep canyon, with pine and fir trees climbing up the sides, and the Snake River flowing at the bottom. (You can read in Roger’s blog post about why he was in the RV with me.) I wish I could have pulled over and taken some photos. Several hours after leaving Ririe, Idaho, we were in one of our all-time favorite family vacation places: Jackson, Wyoming.

If you don’t know anything about Jackson, you might think I’m talking about a hick town with dude ranches. Its nickname, Jackson Hole (based on geographical features), bolsters that misconception. But Jackson is a bustling town with interesting shops, accommodations both plain and luxurious, and first class restaurants. It has visitors year-round, as it is a major skiing destination in the wintertime and has a lot of activities to offer during the warmer months.

When our sons were younger, we came here on four different summer vacations, sometimes with grandparents in tow. There have always been many fun things to do here. The hiking is magnificent, with beautiful views as a reward when you reach the top of a trail. Our kids enjoyed the alpine slide (a manually controlled toboggan that slides down a concrete luge chute), horseback riding, a rock-climbing wall, mountain biking (which involves going up to the top of a mountain in a chairlift and riding down on a mountain bike), trout fishing, floating in boats down the river, scenic views from the Teton Village gondola that goes pretty far up the mountain, and the nightly shootout in the town square.

This part of Roger’s ride is a planned vacation for us. We’re spending three nights at a nice hotel in nearby Teton Village, having a belated celebration of our 32nd wedding anniversary, which was a week ago. We’re going to spend some time walking, breathing in the crisp, clean air, enjoying some wonderful meals, and looking at the breathtaking mountains that are surrounding us.

Minimalism and Small Comforts

When you are traveling in an RV with limited storage space, you give a lot of thought to what you really want to bring along. I knew that I was going to be wearing sneakers a lot, so I only brought a few pairs of shoes. Since we have the capability of doing hand-washing and will occasionally have easy access to laundromats, I didn’t bring very many clothes. So far, I haven’t missed a single piece of clothing that is sitting in my bedroom closet.

At home, I love to cook and have several drawers of utensils, but here, we have two small propane burners on our cooktop where our one pot and our one pan jostle for space when we cook something that requires using both at the same time. We brought only the basic kitchen utensils. Also, we try to plan our tasks carefully so that we don’t bump into each other as we each attempt to get something done in the tiny kitchen (an effort that we affectionately call the “galley dance”).

I find it so interesting how accustomed we have become to having a lot less stuff around us in our tiny, shared space. We did a pretty good job of planning when we were packing, as there have only been a couple of small things that we forgot to bring or didn’t think of packing, and we’ve been able to stop at pharmacies or grocery stores to pick them up. A shower cap! Claritin-D for allergy relief as we pass through farmland and cattle country! Chap stick with sunscreen for Roger!

Living minimally also causes me to find comfort in some of the things that I take for granted at home. On the occasion when we go through a town that has a Starbucks, I love that I can get a vanilla latte that tastes exactly the way my vanilla lattes taste at home, and I savor every sip. Getting internet access and cell coverage are not things that we can count on as we pass through enormous unpopulated areas and small towns, so seeing a bar or two on our cell phones, instead of the words “No Service,” is a relief, and finding an RV park with a good Internet signal is a source of celebration as we write blogs and then try to post them on our website. Another small comfort: Our RV has a small shower that is very cramped. When we stay at occasional hotels, and I can stand under a cascade of water in a full-sized shower, I appreciate it so much.

What is the best small comfort of the trip, you might ask? Roger may have a different opinion, but for me, it’s this: On every Sunday since we left La Cañada, we have been someplace that has had either HBO or a strong Internet signal for us to stream Game of Thrones. Fingers crossed that we are as lucky next Sunday so that we can watch the series finale.

A Day in the Life . . .

Roger is doing a great job describing the details of his ride each day.  So, what are my days like as the driver of his support vehicle?

Roger likes to say that he’s seeing the country at the speed of a bicycle. I’m seeing the country in ten-mile increments.  A lot of my time is spent pulling over to the side of the road in turnouts and along gravel shoulders to wait for Roger, who may need to peel off a layer of clothing, refill his water bottle, take a bathroom stop, have a snack, or apply sunscreen. Our morning routine is to mark on our cue sheets where I will stop the RV along the way of the day’s ride, based on factors such as the elevation of the climb, temperature and wind conditions, and location of towns.  Roger may then ride ahead while I do something in town, or I may drive ahead to the first checkpoint. When he leaves first and I have to catch up to him, I’m always happy when I look down a long stretch of road and see the red blinking light on the back of his bicycle in the distance.  When I’m ahead of him and waiting for him to catch up, I keep a lookout for the white blinking light on the front of his bicycle. I love that those lights are so bright and make him visible to drivers on the road from a distance. 

I’m seeing the same gorgeous scenery that Roger is seeing, but he has the luxury of being able to stop at any time and shoot a picture with his phone. I will often see a sight that is beautiful or interesting, but there’s no place to pull over in the RV, and the moment is gone.  My brother told me about the concept of zen photos: when you see something that you can’t photograph for one reason or another, you just keep it in your mind. I’m taking a lot of zen photos!

Audiobooks are the best invention ever. I knew that I would be spending a lot of time on the road and would need to do something productive with my time, so listening to books is a great solution. On the way up to Oregon, Roger and I listened to Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens, which I wanted to listen to because it was my book club’s book of the month, even though I would be missing the discussion. When Roger’s ride started, I began listening to The Library Book, by Susan Orlean. I finished it this afternoon and immediately started Little Fires Everywhere, by Celeste Ng.  If you have a favorite audiobook to recommend, let me know!

May 2, 2019

It’s rather intimidating to write a blog entry for the very first time, especially when It has a title that carries such high expectations: “The Journey.” I’ll just dive right in.

Roger isn’t exactly sure when he first thought about riding his bicycle across the country, but he remembers seriously thinking about it in 2009, after he had a very positive experience cycling in an organized ride from Maine to Washington D.C. that took about nine days.

Fast forward to two years ago, when I agreed to accompany him and drive an RV as his support vehicle. Roger began planning the route, which would find us spending some nights in an RV, some in hotels, and some with family or friends. People kept asking us if it was going to be a fundraiser, but we wanted to try something different. We thought, since we’re going to be stopping in so many towns across the country, how about if we talk to people, and learn a little bit about them? Thus, the idea for Conversations Across America was born.

Many hours of planning later (and training, and research, and Amazon purchases of everything from new bicycle shoes to a little $3 fan that circulates the air in the RV fridge), we found ourselves in Florence, Oregon yesterday for the start of the journey.

Over the course of these first two days, I’ve experienced a range of emotions. I’m so proud of Roger for making his number one Bucket List item a reality, and proud that I’m able to help him make it happen. I’ve also been awed by the breathtaking beauty of Oregon in the spring, stressed out by small challenges as I take on tasks that are part of our new routine, and grateful for the many loving and generous things my brother and sister-in-law did to give us a memorable send-off.

Tonight as I was hoping to post this, we discovered that we are truly off the grid, with no internet or cell coverage. That’s going to be the case many times over the course of this trip, so I might as well learn to live with it now and not get so unnerved by it. Everyone will just have to be patient if we don’t answer a phone call, a text or an email, or if we don’t update our blogs every day. So now, as we start to drift off to sleep with the soothing sounds of the McKenzie River just outside our RV window, I will simply plan to post this tomorrow when we’re in a more populated area.