The Vagabond Library
Reach up, reach in, reach beyond, reach out.
Articles Guaranteed to Stretch Your Mind
Sit by the fireplace, have a drink and a good read
with curious people like you.
Killers, Gunfighters and Calamity
Dispatch XVI
You could write volumes about Deadwood and its checkered past; maybe even create a TV series about its wild days as a gold rush boomtown where vice seemed more at ease than virtue. Cyndy and I wandered along Main Street. It had the look of a classic Hollywood movie set, except for the cement sidewalks and parking meters. The wood facades and big glass windows were still there waiting to be shot out by Steve McQueen or John Wayne or maybe Chris Pratt.
The Legend of Crazy Horse
Dispatch XV
In the summer of 1857 a light skinned, 17-year-old Oglala Sioux brave whose mother nicknamed Curly, decided to go on a vision quest so that he could understand the future path his life should take. His father, sometimes known as Worm, was a respected shaman in the tribe. He made arrangements and accompanied his son on his quest so that he did it the proper Sioux way. They rode away, fasted and set up a sweat lodge where they spent time and discussed his future…
The World’s Most Remarkable Journey
Sometimes adventure exacts a steep price.
Is is difficult to imagine a tougher, or luckier, man than British adventurer Apsley Cherry-Garrard. At the tender age of 23 he finagled his way onto Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova expedition hoping to become among the first humans to reach the South Pole. Scott and several members of the team died. But this story is about an even more harrowing expedition — what Cherry-Garrard called the Winter Journey to retrieve the eggs of Emperor Penguins in the dead of the Antarctic Winter. It is one of the most astounding adventure stories I have ever read. I think you’ll agree.
Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills of Dakota
Dispatch XIV
The story behind Mount Rushmore isn’t what you think it is.
In 1924, historian Doane Robinson asked famed sculptor John Gutzon de la Mothe Borgum to create a series of monumental sculptures depicting great heroes of the American West. The project was to represent “not only the wild grandeur of its local geography but also the triumph of western civilization over that geography through its anthropomorphic representation.” The Lakota Sioux held a very different point of view…
Oddballs & Badlands
Dispatch XIII
If you never heard of Wall Drug, a uniquely American place in the middle of nowhere that 2 million people a year visit, read on. And then learn about South Dakota’s Badlands, which look more like the moon than planet earth.
The eerie, terrible beauty of South Dakota’s Badlands. Last stop before we worked our way west to Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota.
Corn Stalks, Wind Gusts & Country Music
Dispatch XII
The curious Corn Palace of South Dakota. We found it as we headed across the American Midwest into the Badlands of South Dakota and Mt. Rushmore.
Traveling Small (Part 1) - The Best Bags and Suitcases in the World
You might not be planning to travel all seven continents, never by jet, like me and Cyndy are, but if you have any kind of travel in your future, you need the right luggage, clothing, gear and occasional gadgets to make life easier. After all, it’s the journey that counts, right, and you can’t enjoy the trip if your gear fails you.
Trekking One Corner of the Flat Earth
Dispatch X
Cyndy Mosites and I journey to one of the four corners of The Flat Earth, the wilds of Bonavista Newfoundland.
Vikings!
Dispatch IX
Most of us think that Christopher Columbus and his crew were the first to stumble across North America in 1492. That turns out to be quite wrong. Five hundred years earlier white men encountered native Americans on the North American continent. We learned where they met, and the story behind how.
New FOUND Land, At Last
Dispatch VIII
The ferry from Nova Scotia to the wilds of Newfoundland. We were not disappointed. (Photo by Chip Walter)
New Scotland
Dispatch VII
The tiny fishing village of Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia, and it’s still operating lighthouse. (Photo by Chip Walter)
Mainers
Dispatch VI
One reason Maine is so calming is because not many people live there. All 39,000 square miles of Maine are home to only 1.3 million souls. The proof is written on Mainers’ license plates. Their numbers and letters are truncated compared to license plates you’d see in New York, Pennsylvania or Massachusetts — 499 XM, for example, or P 99 h, or one we saw that simply read BABE.
Into Maine
Dispatch V
Becky’s Diner, Portland, Maine. Known for its delicious lobster rolls. Is there ever any fresh lobster that does taste good? (Photo-Chip Walter)
New York & Beyond
Dispatch IV
Vermont, in the fall. Enough said. We explored the Green Mountains and it was breathtaking. (Photo by Chip Walter)
On Our Way!
Dispatch III
Day one of our Vagabond Adventure, departing the Pennsylvanian train to New York. We made it right on time, even if it wasn’t part of our original plan. (Photo-Chip Walter)
A World-Sized Curveball
Dispatch II
The mighty Colorado River as it enters Arches National Park. This drive is considered one of the most spectacular in the United States. We were curious to find out, and eventually we made the drive. We agree. (Photo - Chip Walter)
A Vagabond Adventure Around the World
Dispatch I
Dear Good Friends! Ok. We’re overwhelmed. I admit it. But still awfully damned excited. Our planned journey around the world is coming as surely as winter in the Game of Thrones. (Perhaps that’s a poor analogy.) We plan to depart the end of September. Maybe the world will have calmed down a bit by then. We can hope. […]