By I visited Greensburg today. It’s always nice to be in Greensburg.They’re still rebuilding after the 2007 EF5 tornado. It’s just amazing what’s going on there. The museum reopened in 2012, but this was the first time I had been in it. And it was the first time since I was about 4 or 5 that …
A Flyover Farewell
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: A FLYOVER FAREWELL For more than 11 years now, my dear readers, I have dragged you along with me on the gravel roads of Kansas. Willingly, I trust. Eleven years? Even I find that hard to believe somehow. My first column was published in The …
A Flint Hills Meander
A FLINT HILLS MEANDER A March day without wind? Yes. It actually happened. The last Saturday of March was sunny and the breezes were shallow. One shouldn’t stay indoors on a nice day like that, so Dave and I ventured into the Flint Hills. The lack of wind made it an active day for …
Late Winter Road Trip
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: LATE WINTER ROAD TRIP Just after Dave and I got on I-35 at Merchant Street, I glanced to my right to the ESU parking lot near the highway. What had once been huge mountains of snow were now molehills of black encrusted ice. Snow may …
The Trip
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: THE TRIP In a recent email conversation, my friend Ed Durall described a lengthy move that his father’s family had made in the 1920s. Ed wrote, “In family lore, that was always known as ‘The Trip.’” First, I love the term family lore. And I …
Travelers to Tanzania
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: Lion in the wild, Tanzania – photo by Jim Griggs TRAVELERS TO TANZANIA “We got charged by an elephant, but it was a false charge. A couple guys asked me, ‘How do you know it’s not a real charge?’ And I said, ‘Because the vehicle …
Crossing Missouri
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: CROSSING MISSOURI As we made plans to travel to Dave’s brother’s house for a Saturday version of Thanksgiving dinner, Dave used a mileage calculator to determine how early in the morning we would need to leave Emporia. I was surprised to learn that it’s only …
Travels With Mom
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: In Toronto TRAVELS WITH MOM The pumpkin cheesecake tasted even better than it sounded. When my mother visited recently, she insisted on taking Dave and me to Ad Astra in Strong City. So we had no choice but to go – and to eat …
Southern States
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: Rowan Oak, Oxford, Mississippi SOUTHERN STATES Interstate highways allow you make good time while traveling, but having a good time on those highways is not guaranteed. Those slabs of concrete are like run-on sentences: no periods in sight. If you want to cover miles …
The Accidental Tourist
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia. THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST Waves splashed onto my shins. Two little girls and their father were standing in deeper water and those girls allowed each giggling wave to knock them down. If I’d have known I was going to be at the …
Road Trip to Sedan
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: ROAD TRIP TO SEDAN Spring seemed to be stalled out somewhere, so Dave and I drove south one Saturday to see if we could locate the lost season and drag it north. It was early April and even near the Oklahoma line, we didn’t …