Into the Heartland
Julie is taking a virtual walk to Moab, UT, to see her nieces and nephew. John and Ben are tagging along. As they pass Smallwander towns, John has a stream of consciousness. Read the origin story.
It has been three weeks since I posted a dispatch because I have been tied up with moving from North Carolina to Troy, NY. The migration is usually in the other direction, I know. I also know that discussing a physical move on the east coast while simultaneously walking across the US shatters the illusion. Nevertheless, we continue on our virtual trek. All of those steps into and out of the moving van have propelled me to Abiline, KS, the home of the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum. If you are taking a walk through small town America, this is absolutely something you would stop in on (if it wasn’t closed due to the pandemic). You’ll remember that Eisenhower led the Allied forces on D-Day and later warned us against the military-industrial complex. Ben is following me along I-70, landing in the middle of Missouri in Rocheport, which is on the Missouri River. Meanwhile, Julie is making tremendous strides across the upper Midwest, ending up near Chamberlain, SD, which is, coincidentally, also on the Missouri River. Chamberlain is in the midst of four or five Native American Reservations.