And if I can quote Fats Domino, who could claim to know Kansas City a bit more than a century later, with the 1952 lyrics by Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller
I'm going to Kansas City
Sunday, 23 August 2015
The Rendezvous August 27
It's all set for the afternoon of 27 August. Brother Jim flies in from Connecticut and I fly in from London via Chicago. Time to fold up all those maps that cover the floor in the spare bedroom. It's an early flight from Heathrow, so I'm hitting the road at 4.30 in the morning. Yikes. This is going to be an exploration on more than a few levels. Doing a road trip together as brothers for the first time in about 40 years--are our nerves going to be able to stand it? Then there is the physical exploration of a part of the country about which we
know nothing. Bidwell says that their company's ignorance was almost total about the land that they had to cross--so no change there. My ignorance is virtually as pristine, though I have the advantage of having seen lots of movies featuring horses, cows, corn and gunslingers, which is not reassuring. There is also the discovery of the route as we follow in Joe B's footsteps. The early pioneers like him were embarking on a landscape which was nothing like what they had experienced before. Searing deserts, soaring mountains, narrow defiles for which they had no descriptive word, and had to borrow the word 'canyon' from the Spanish. But that was to come--this part of the trip for the pioneers was all about pushing out on to the rolling prairies and crossing streams, creeks and rivers--some by pulling, some by pushing, some by floating. We'll be saddling up our mid-size rental car at Kansas City airport and heading out on to the wide open spaces of Interstate 435, a prospect that Joe B would surely have found more daunting than meeting up at the big oak tree outside of Independence. But never mind. We're commited to head on out...
It ain't the International House of Pancakes, but it looks kinda fun...
And if I can quote Fats Domino, who could claim to know Kansas City a bit more than a century later, with the 1952 lyrics by Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller
I'm going to Kansas City
But I don't think we will tarry long anywhere near the corner of 12th St. and Vine. The plan is to rest in Topeka tonight, so we're heading west...
And if I can quote Fats Domino, who could claim to know Kansas City a bit more than a century later, with the 1952 lyrics by Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller
I'm going to Kansas City
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This will be much more rewarding to the two of you than if my brother and I mimicked the route of an ancient Mason who went from Maine to what is now called Seattle, didn't think it had any potential, so turned around and went back again. Sounds like a blast. I think I'll wait until we are both retired and trace movements of the Norwegian side from Stavanger to North Dakota then Colorado. I have already been to the site in Carmichael of what was once Wroolie's Corner.
ReplyDeleteI'll look forward to Stavanger to North Dakota route--pack your long johns. There should be more from me on the trail, if I can get the technology to cooperate in the hinterlands.
DeleteLook forward to following your progress Rick!
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