Mono Lake is a saline soda lake in Mono County. Formed at least 750,000 years ago it is a closed basin with no river outlet which causes salt levels to accumulate over time. It is possibly a remnant from a larger, older lake which once covered large parts of Utah and Nevada. In recent history […]

Harley-Davidson recently unleashed its bold take on adventure touring with the all-new Pan America™ 1250 and Pan America™ 1250 Special motorcycles. The spirt of adventure touring is one of endless possibilities and unrestrained freedom. Riders will soon be able to experience that freedom first-hand as Harley-Davidson the Harley-Davidson Pan America Motorcycle Demo Tour. The tour […]

The Great Flood of 1913 wreaked havoc on many Ohio River towns. The death and destruction, while momentous at the time, have been largely forgotten in the 21st century. The concrete floodwalls in towns along the Ohio River, however, were blank canvases just begging for artists’ depictions of important historical events dating as far back […]

Although Coffeyville, KS, was the hometown of famous Major League Baseball pitcher Walter Johnson, it is more famous for being where the Dalton Gang attempted a double bank robbery. On the quiet Wednesday morning of Oct. 5, 1892, the three disguised Dalton Brothers and other gang members rode into town intending to do what no […]

Riding cross-country in rural America, you may have happened upon round barns with conical roofs and wondered, “Why?” Several scientific theories suggest that round shapes are more calming and pleasing to the observer’s eyes than shapes with corners, which may explain why you noticed and remembered those barns in the first place. But farmers are […]

A motorist who asks for directions from a Zanesville, Ohio, resident might hear something like, “Go to the middle of the Y-Bridge and turn left.” After a visibly confused motorist leaves, the local resident might be sporting a big grin because after all, turning left in the middle of a bridge isn’t something you do […]

When the open road beckons and the urge to explore stirs, there’s no better route to explore than the Natchez Trace Parkway … and there’s no better rest stop along the Trace than Ridgeland, Mississippi. Home to more than 150 restaurants, exceptional shopping, historic Parkway stops, the 33,000-acre Barnett Reservoir and its abundance of outdoor […]

The rain is hard and relentless. The gas station ahead, a few miles from Window Rock, AZ, offers shelter. In seconds, the parking area is flooded, but my motorcycle is safe and dry. “Do not go out further just yet,” the old Navajo man says. “The roads will be full of mud, and it will […]

Once upon a time, Manzanar National Historic Site was called Manzanar War Relocation Center. It was one of 10 camps where Japanese American citizens were incarcerated during World War II. I had never been there, and I knew little about this site, though I knew that it is managed by the National Park Service, for […]

What Is It? The nation’s path to the American Civil War was accelerated when abolitionist John Brown led his famous raid on the federal arsenal and armory at Harpers Ferry, VA (West Virginia today) in October 1859. Some 20 miles north of Harpers Ferry, and almost three years later, the single bloodiest day of the […]

While on tour for a forthcoming RoadRUNNER magazine article, I stopped for lunch in Bemus Point, NY, a charming village on the shores of Lake Chautauqua in western New York. While walking around town, Hotel Lenhart came into view. It looked like a filming location for a movie set in the 19th century. With its […]

A giant lurks near West Mineral, Kansas. Not far from town riders can catch first sight of him, towering above the surrounding tree line. His dimensions are massive: 16 stories tall, a boom that’s 150 feet long, and weighing in at 11 million pounds. He’s known simply as Big Brutus and you wouldn’t want to […]