joyce on thu 29 may 08
Vicki asked Jim:
"What are the blue highways? And who is William Least Heat Moon?"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wonderful, entertaining book detailing trips along the highways which are
shown on road maps in the color Blue.
I read it when it first was published
and have bought many copies since to give to friends who love, as do I,
tooling along on lightly traveled roads. Unless we were in a major hurry,
we always opted for the Blue Highways even before we read the book.
On many trips we followed the author's descriptive travels exactly... saw
some of the same people in the same cafes and diners. I was surprised
that the book didn't seem to have changed the roads nor the settlements
all that much. The people with whom we spoke said .... at that time within
a year of publication.....that they had a few more customers asking more
questions, but that generally the numbers seemed to be in single digits
on a daily basis. That could have changed by now since the book has
been around a long time.
If Vince hasn't read Blue Highways, I'll bet that he's traveled on many of
the roads, gone swimming in the creeks, hiked the terrain, and nosed
around mine tailings. It's a great way to travel. Most of the time there
were no signs of campgrounds, much less RV parks, so we drove our
old truck with a covered bed and often parked on a local's property....
with their permission, of course. As I type, many memories surface.
If such travel is your thing and you know how not to be an Ugly,
Judgmental American in your own country, go for it.
However, on such a junket, we did (or I did) feel the need to switch
to a Best Western, Holiday Inn etc on the main cross-country
Hurry Up and Get There freeways every few days, if for no other
reason than to soak&soak&soak in a hot bath ....... and have wine
with dinner.
I often wished that I could forget about the above and live full time
like the folks we were enjoying so much. #1 Support Person said
that he was concerned a few times that I was getting into it all maybe
a little too intensely. He felt the same about our trips to Alaska
where his concern was that I'd never be content to leave our cabin on
a lake, a big lake, where the only other people-people were the
occasional Forest Service personnel landing in seaplanes to check
their traps etc.
Clay related? Yes, we saw pottery now and then, and lots of areas
of local clay that I itched to collect for my own kiln. Too, there were
all kinds of blue, turquoise, and ferrous rocks..... tons of quartz, of
course, and basalt, soapstone, garnets also. That would be another
story that perhaps somebody else will tell.
Joyce
In the Mojave desert of California U.S.A.
Kim Hohlmayer on tue 3 jun 08
Hey Folks,
My husband read that book and parts of it to me. He and I have always been Blue Highway users. It isn't OT because we also have found potters as well as funny little museums of Native American pottery all over the United States. I got my parents started in all this years ago too. There is a great local museum in Douglas, AZ and others throughout the state of Mississippi, all with super collections of excellent Native American work.
We've discovered many other wonderful and sometimes weird attractions in our Blue Highway travels but I don"t want to ramble too much and wander off topic. --Kim H.
joyce wrote:
Vicki asked Jim:
"What are the blue highways? And who is William Least Heat Moon?"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wonderful, entertaining book detailing trips along the highways which are
shown on road maps in the color Blue.
I read it when it first was published
and have bought many copies since to give to friends who love, as do I,
tooling along on lightly traveled roads. Unless we were in a major hurry,
we always opted for the Blue Highways even before we read the book.
On many trips we followed the author's descriptive travels exactly... saw
some of the same people in the same cafes and diners. I was surprised
that the book didn't seem to have changed the roads nor the settlements
all that much. The people with whom we spoke said .... at that time within
a year of publication.....that they had a few more customers asking more
questions, but that generally the numbers seemed to be in single digits
on a daily basis. That could have changed by now since the book has
been around a long time.
If Vince hasn't read Blue Highways, I'll bet that he's traveled on many of
the roads, gone swimming in the creeks, hiked the terrain, and nosed
around mine tailings. It's a great way to travel. Most of the time there
were no signs of campgrounds, much less RV parks, so we drove our
old truck with a covered bed and often parked on a local's property....
with their permission, of course. As I type, many memories surface.
If such travel is your thing and you know how not to be an Ugly,
Judgmental American in your own country, go for it.
However, on such a junket, we did (or I did) feel the need to switch
to a Best Western, Holiday Inn etc on the main cross-country
Hurry Up and Get There freeways every few days, if for no other
reason than to soak&soak&soak in a hot bath ....... and have wine
with dinner.
I often wished that I could forget about the above and live full time
like the folks we were enjoying so much. #1 Support Person said
that he was concerned a few times that I was getting into it all maybe
a little too intensely. He felt the same about our trips to Alaska
where his concern was that I'd never be content to leave our cabin on
a lake, a big lake, where the only other people-people were the
occasional Forest Service personnel landing in seaplanes to check
their traps etc.
Clay related? Yes, we saw pottery now and then, and lots of areas
of local clay that I itched to collect for my own kiln. Too, there were
all kinds of blue, turquoise, and ferrous rocks..... tons of quartz, of
course, and basalt, soapstone, garnets also. That would be another
story that perhaps somebody else will tell.
Joyce
In the Mojave desert of California U.S.A.
James and Sherron Bowen on tue 3 jun 08
Check out this place in La Junta, Colorado on Highway 50 not too far from
Bent's Old Fort.
http://kosharehistory.org/koshare/artifacts.html
Jim
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kim Hohlmayer"
To:
Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2008 9:49 AM
Subject: Re: Sabbatical/Blue Highway
> Hey Folks,
> My husband read that book and parts of it to me. He and I have
> always been Blue Highway users. It isn't OT because we also have found
> potters as well as funny little museums of Native American pottery all
> over the United States. I got my parents started in all this years ago
> too. There is a great local museum in Douglas, AZ and others throughout
> the state of Mississippi, all with super collections of excellent Native
> American work.
> We've discovered many other wonderful and sometimes weird
> attractions in our Blue Highway travels but I don"t want to ramble too
> much and wander off topic. --Kim H.
Kim Hohlmayer on wed 11 jun 08
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! That is an awesome site and I really love it. And did I mention, Thank You?! --Kim H.
--- On Tue, 6/3/08, James and Sherron Bowen <jbowen43@PRAIRIENETWORKS.COM> wrote:
From: James and Sherron Bowen <jbowen43@PRAIRIENETWORKS.COM>
Subject: Re: Sabbatical/Blue Highway
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Date: Tuesday, June 3, 2008, 12:22 PM
Check out this place in La Junta, Colorado on Highway 50 not too far from
Bent's Old Fort.
http://kosharehistory.org/koshare/artifacts.html
Jim
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kim Hohlmayer" <beadiepotter@YAHOO.COM>
To: <CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG>
Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2008 9:49 AM
Subject: Re: Sabbatical/Blue Highway
> Hey Folks,
> My husband read that book and parts of it to me. He and I have
> always been Blue Highway users. It isn't OT because we also have
found
> potters as well as funny little museums of Native American pottery all
> over the United States. I got my parents started in all this years ago
> too. There is a great local museum in Douglas, AZ and others throughout
> the state of Mississippi, all with super collections of excellent Native
> American work.
> We've discovered many other wonderful and sometimes weird
> attractions in our Blue Highway travels but I don"t want to ramble
too
> much and wander off topic. --Kim H.
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