Our escape from the Badlands took us into Minnesota (we were tempted to visit Northfield, where the James Gang met its Waterloo) znd then to Iowa, where we spent Wednesday night, then down through Illinois, Indiana and finally back to Lexington, where were spent Thursday night, and then onto Chamberburg PA, where we spent Friday …
Cara fulfilled her great vacation wish and and hiked some of the trails in the Badlands, the strange topographical formation left when the great ocean drained away. Below: Top of the world, Ma!; Cara channels James Franco in 127 Seconds; At long last, buffalo; where NASA faked the moon landing.
We spent forever driving in South Dakota today, and if you’ve ever spent the day driving in South Dakota, you know how long forever is. On the up side, Cara got to pose with four other great Americans at Mount Rushmore. We also saw some wild horses, which we on the mild side of wild. …
After a certain amount of drama, the Jackson Family Reunion took place in Roxii’s bistro in picturesque Laramie: me, Rick, Cara, Brian Jackson, Cathy Jackson (standing); Ginny, Marie and Bill (seated)
My brother-in-law Rick Jackson joined us for lunch; it was great to see him. In the evening, Ginny and Cara and I returned to Frontier Days and saw Lady Antebellum in concert. They put on a great show; to an old timer like me, the highlight was their cover of `Honky Tonk Women.’
Thursday was devoted to a long, punishing drive across Kansas, where we saw the first of many wind turbines that we would all across the great American prairie, up to Fort Collins, Colorado, where we stayed in a room that had a hit tub and shower right next to the bed. Weird. On Friday, we …
On Wednesday we motored across Tennessee to see Graceland, the surprisingly modest home of Elvis Presley. Meh. Banal testosterone-infused sixties styles. The miracle is that he happened; his personal effects are just leftovers. Here is his grave, left, and on the right, the only bit of wit I saw in the place : Afterwards, we …
Walter Hill‘s wonderful 1980 film The Long Riders told the story of the James Gang–the outlaws Frank and Jesse James and the Younger brothers–and their depradations in Missouri, Arkansas, Minnesota, Texas and other locales. Although we’re not going to Texas, we’re hitting all their other stomping grounds, and then some: a 13 day, 17 state …
Congratulations to my friend A.J.Baime, whose new book, The Arsenal of Democracy, has just been published. I finished it last night, in a whoosh of excited reading. A.J. has done a tremendous job of telling story whose great sweep includes the rise of Nazism and the war in Europe; the development of the automobile, the …
I am terribly sad to hear about the death of my friend Jeff Ressner. He was a very good reporter–enterprising, dependable, resourceful, hard-working, smart. A Time editor once compared Jeff to Jerry Rice–“Just throw him the ball, and he runs with it.” He was equally comfortable covering business and entertainment. When I was editing Time‘s …