Day 3 Starting Point: Omaha, NE Destination: Bernalillo, NM Miles Driven: 952 I had set my alarm for 5:30, but the day truly began at 3 AM, and not in a fun way. I awoke to the sound of coarse obscenities shouted at full volume. In the room across from mine a couple was engaged …
Continue reading GOTH 2023 Part IV: What Makes for a Truly Rough Ride?
Day 2 Starting & Ending Point: Omaha, NE Miles Driven: 34 From the Omaha Zoo. Today I decided to start out with some of the more understated, peripheral attractions of Omaha. Using the trusted oddities app Atlas Obscura I mapped out two cute little destinations I thought would be interesting, or at least yield some …
Continue reading GOTH 2023 Part III: The World’s Largest Stamp Ball is a Catholic Trap
Day 1 Starting point: Madison, WI End point: Omaha, NE Distance traveled: 442 miles Riverfront Park in Omaha I left at 6 AM sharp, tired and under-slept. Still I resisted the urge to drink coffee right away, knowing full well that the longer one can hold off that first cup, the better the overall result …
Continue reading GOTH 2023 PART II: Why Thrift Stores are Better Than Collectibles Stores
Greetings ghosting, friends and strangers. It's been almost five years since the last iteration of this project. Don't get me wrong, my passion for road travel has not waned since then. In the intervening years I've embarked on a few long, region-spanning auto adventures, most of which were quite eventful and endearing (I'm thinking particularly …
Continue reading GOTH 2023 Part I: I’m Doing This Shit Again
Good evening, ghostlings! As I type this it is roughly 8:30 PM Wisconsin time. Today is July 20, which would have been my mother's 61st birthday. I try not to attach too much significance to such milestones, but it's hard not to think about them. You may have noticed that I wrote, "Wisconsin time." That …
Continue reading GOTH Part IX: Closing a House Sale in a Remote Wyoming Cafe
Before we dive into today's adventures, let me say a few words about an important but often neglected aspect of travel: diet. When I began this sojourn of vagabondage, I did a pretty decent job of sticking to the healthy rations of nuts, tuna, and grain-free granola that I'd brought along for the ride. After …
Continue reading GOTH 2018 Part VIII: Mountains, Mormons, and Munchies
"Can you keep an eye out for cars up the road?" he said, "I really gotta avoid these potholes." I dutifully obliged and fixed my eyes down the narrow, dusty trail, shaded by a canopy of Douglas Firs and beset by a steep, imposing bluffs on one side and an even steeper dropoff on the …
Continue reading GOTH 2018 Part VII: Scaling the Mountain in a Sports Car
I had peculiar moment the other day. It was my second full day in Rosburg, WA; I had gotten in late (around 1:30 in the AM) after spending the previous day visiting friends in Seattle. The drive from Seattle to Rosburg is about 3 and a half hours, and after a long day of driving …
Continue reading GOTH 2018 Part VI: This is a Long Drive for Someone with Too Much To Think About
Longtime readers of this blog may have noticed that when it comes to cities I'm attracted to a particular aesthetic. Whereas most of the world seems to prefer their surroundings to be sleek, polished, and new; I like things that are older, more weathered, more gritty. I like things to be rough. Not rough to …
Continue reading GOTH 2018 Part V: The Beastly Beauty of Butte
After spending the night in the back of my rental car at a Montana rest area, I awoke to this... I sauntered over to the rest area Men's room and gave myself a quick shower of baby wipes and Mitchum deodorant. I have some incentive to minimize the offensiveness of my aroma as later tonight …
Ghost on the Highway 