Category: Travels

Spent the last 10 days at Upaya Zen Center, first as a working resident and after the residents went on a mountain retreat, I stayed and did a personal retreat. Hiking, some work and resting. Perfect reset after weeks of driving almost every day. My room Bamboo Hall where I stayed The meditation hall The … Continue reading Skipping updates on Oklahoma for now.

I'm so glad I went. People had told me it was an excellent museum, so figured it was worth the trip. Little did I know what I showed up on the opening weekend of it's expansion that more than doubled the size. I was blown away by the art: the diversity of different kinds of … Continue reading Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

With St Louis as a starting point Missouri kept showing me the many ways Rt 66 had impacted the state. The old road runs right next to Interstate 44 but in areas finds some distance and the sense of being in a different world would return. I began by visiting the Shaw Nature Reserve, a … Continue reading Missouri: the Show Me State

Southern Illinois becomes soft rolling hills. Nice after all the flatlands north of there. Stopped by the grave/memorial to Mother Jones -- at a United Mine Workers cemetery -- the only one run by & for union workers. Obviously well cared for. Remember I said there would be more service station nostalgia, here's another. I … Continue reading Southern Illinois & St Louis