Sound Off! Interview (Part 1)
The first half of NewsTalk WJRW 1340 AM’s interview with Josh deLacy (during the journey). Read...
Walking for the Fallen
I first heard about the veteran walking across America when I was still a full state behind him. “We saw him last week,” a family told me. “He’s carrying a flag all the way across the country.” And from another driver: “He’s walking from Washington to...
You Can’t Plan For Virtue
I rarely wait more than an hour for a ride. The average, actually, is somewhere closer to half that. Sometimes I get out of one car, wave goodbye, and before I can even walk across the parking lot and pull out my sign, someone else pulls up and offers me a lift. Those...
Oil!
California had the forty-niners, Alaska had the Klondike. And now, North Dakota has the Bakken. It’s a gold rush without the gold, and it has turned North Dakota on its head.
Snares, Seizures, and Freaks
One of my best rides took me nowhere. I was picked up in Ponderay, Idaho, near the Big R grocery store, and–three hours later–was dropped off in the same spot. Kathy and Sharon, a mother and nine-months-pregnant daughter-in-law, saw me on their way to get...
Who Picks Up a Hitchhiker?
In eleven rides, I made it through Washington state, and in eleven rides, I learned who will pick up a hitchhiker. My trip officially began on June 20th, during a rainy afternoon in Mount Vernon. I had bussed down from Bellingham, and, finding myself in the middle of...
Rule Change: Money
When the hotel manager was young, he used to walk–multi-day or multi-week treks across country. It gave him time to think and see the land. He’s no longer in shape for a hundred-mile expedition, nor is he a young man anymore, but he still dayhikes when he...
The Cement City
In 1938, people knew about Concrete, Washington, if only for a few days. On Halloween Eve, 1938, listeners throughout the town tuned in to hear Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds radio broadcast. Like more than a million others, Concrete’s listeners fell for...