I first moved to New York City in 1969, college diploma in hand and a job already waiting. I left in 1989 with a 20-year career under my belt and eager for something new. Now I’m returning to “the city” to make it my home once more and am observing the things that have changed in the intervening years and the things that have stayed the same. Or, ( Read more... )

I arrived at my friends' home in Madison, New Jersey at 7:30pm last night. 11,198 miles driven since July 1. This week I will move to a friend's apartment in the city to begin the search for my next living space and gainful employment ( Read more... )

Crossing from Missouri into Kentucky requires a momentary pass through Illinois on the eastern end of the bridge that spans the Mississippi River. Cairo, Illinois sits in the middle of the narrow spit of land where the two mighty waterways, the Mississippi and the Ohio Rivers, meet. Once a thriving river town, prosperous merchants built homes ( Read more... )

I finally found time to edit some of the photos that I've been taking along the way. Check them out here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joycemcclure/6060441483/in/set-72157627349247655/

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I'm jumping in and out of the running chronology of the trip to respond to the question that I'm asked every day by one person or another: "Where are you now ( Read more... )

Gold Country. The name conjures up visions of men panning for gold and dreaming of instant fortunes. For some the dream came true. For many others it vanished like the veins of gold. A fascinating history of the Gold Rush can be found HERE. Route 49, while not named for the gold miners who arrived in the Sierra Nevadas in 1849 in response to the ( Read more... )

For those who are more interested in the chronology of this journey, I am going to pick up where I left off some time ago when Fae and I overnighted in Susanville, California. The following morning, we retraced our steps west on Route 44, taking a left fork onto Route 36 and joining Route 89 past Chester. The tall Ponderosa Pines of Lassen National ( Read more... )

·         A murder of ravens abruptly flushed from the tall grass beside the two-lane country road as my car approached. Each crouched and then sprang skyward, its strong wings extending and then pushing to get airborne. The highly intelligent raven has come to mean many things to people all over the world from the macabre harbinger of death ( ( Read more... )

·         Golfers get golfer tans that end at the edge of their sleeves and necklines. Tennis players’ tans end at the edges of their socks, shorts or skirts and shirts. I’ve got a driver’s tan despite the liberal application of sunblock every morning and throughout the day. The left side of my face and neck and my left hand are reddened by the ( Read more... )

More favorite stops -- Oregon and California:

Crater Lake National Park. Leaving Sunriver Resort, we continued south on Route 97 along the volcanic corridor of central Oregon. All around us was evidence of active and ancient volcanic activity. We entered Crater Lake from the east side, climbing the steep slope and twisting road to the vast, snow- ( Read more... )