Pickles by Brian Crane for November 03, 2023

Yeah, actually walking across the Kansas/Nebraska/Oklahoma/Dakota/Texas part is quite the long, boring jaunt.

I’ve driven coast-to-coast a couple of times and driven from California to Austin a couple of times. It was never fun.

bet you can’t back it out of the driveway

Driving a motor home makes a lot more sense than taking a long hike. But be sure to bring the ukulele…

Been walking 2 miles a day for the last 13 years … Yep I made it across the USA distance wise ;-)

He literally figures that a figurative walk across America would better than a literal walk across America.

@Doug K Dr. Spaetzle from the comic Frazz did that over a month ago. It’s like Jim Stafford once sang, “take a trip without leaving the farm”.

Now he’s talking

Drove across country to Grand Canyon and back. Very good trip, saw a lot of interesting places and roadside attractions like Flintstone Land.

Or an airplane, Earl. Walk across America in an airplane.

The only problem is that you would have to take Opal along…

You couldn’t pay me enough to drive a big motorhome on America’s highways. But a rail pass for unlimited travel on Amtrak might interest me, as long as it included a private room, which currently is not available.

Wal-Mart parking lot to Wal-Mart parking lot, JOY!

About 15 years ago my brother tried to ride his motorcycle around the borders of the US starting in PA. He said the absolute worst was crossing Texas, it seemed like infinite miles of absolute nothing! He headed home after Texas. It took him a number of weeks anyway but he saw a lot of wonderful sights and he got lots of great pictures.

He could catch a ride with Justice Thomas!

In the early ‘80’s a hippie couple I knew decided to do this. My friends and I gathered at Big Sur, CA for the send off. They made it over the coast range to King City, hitched a ride to Fresno where I picked them up.

Earl, that’s very popular these days based on some of the YouTube channels I watch.

Split the difference, Earl. You can avoid the walk and still not be shut off from everything you’re trying to see; get a motorcycle (get one with a sidecar & Roscoe can come, too).

THERE we go……………

In 65 we went tent camping in eastern Canada. Began with a tent just long enough for two in sleeping bags as long as our heights were exactly 6’. No A/C, no electricity. Just coolers, grocery bags, water jugs, groceries, camp stove, gas lanterns, sleeping bags and cookware. Then in 66 we hitched our old Pontiac to a Nimrod pop-up tent trailer and loaded all our old camping duff. Was a great little tag-a-long.

Hauled it to Montreal Expo in ‘67. Camped in it until 69, when we regretfully sold it and went back to tent camping. During those same years, state campgrounds, which used to be truly natural, followed franchises and added paved sites, water and electricity to sites. To us, that kinda killed the purpose of having natural parks. After a couple of summers the old enjoyment failed. Just couldn’t tolerate the sounds of trailer a/cs and tvs and radios, barking dogs, or the the big sausage shaped homes on wheels.

Have missed those early days a lot recently. Memory does that.

If he needs a motor home, he should talk to Anthony Welters who can arrange a loan with interest-only payments that is forgiven after nine years.

Haven`t you heard? Joe has cancelled all air conditioners.

I wonder why they swapped places on the bench from yesterday’s strip. Or does this happen all the time and I just noticed today?

Bikecentennial trail 1982 West to East. Ride across Canada 1990 Vancouver to Halifax and back to Montreal.

I notice they’ve swapped seats on the bench. Earl’s on the other side now. :-)

…now you’re talkin’!

Sounds like a splendid idea! There are so many places I have yet to visit in our awesome country! :)

Earl probably drove to the bench. He’s not walking more than around the block.

In the 80’s I had a VW bus and a girlfriend who knew all the out-of-the-way places to go camping. Northern CA best place to hike and camp in the USA! Best summer of my life.

Until you get in a car and start traveling you have no idea how big this country is. It took me two days to get from SF to Billings!

Ha! There’s Meals on Wheels, why not dreams on wheels?

Not easy getting the thing down in the Grand Canyon.

“….but it is essentially the same thing.”

It would be a nice trip for You ….. Earl, with Roscoe …….. :)

Wanting to see all the details. Few people can handle the overload.

With the price of gas, you might want to rethink that, too.

I vote for option B.

Maybe he can fall asleep in front of a documentary about some people who have walked across the country, some more than once. I recently read about a family taking their third hike going up and down the country. It’s apparently a “thing” to do that on certain routes. I would like to do it, but I don’t think my knees would anymore. I only knew about the Appalachian Trail before.

we did that two summers ago. epic road trip around the country (OK we skipped North Dakota and California) now we need to work on more interior states!

An air conditioned motor home ride over the concrete and asphalt of this amazing country.

I’m sure you can find that walk in YouTube. At 100, my late father-in-law strolled the streets of Paris for hours on a daily basis from his couch, beer in hand.