As a result of my study trips with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, I spoke about the Lewis and Clark Trail to the Model A Club of the Greater Kansas City area. At the time of my talk, it was suggested that my new friends with the old cars take a caravan down to Four Corners during 2006, the one-hundredth anniversary of Mesa Verde National Park. Thinking that journey may not happen, I created an imaginary one from Kansas to the Pueblo dwellings.

Having made the road trip through Colorado and Kansas many times, I am familiar with the scenery along Interstate 70. But some of my favorite places are off the beaten path. One is the Kansas Flint Hills. I enjoy sitting on a tram among the herds of bison in the prairie grasslands. I love the rhythm of the adults’ boisterous breathing as they eat hay pellets. I love the muffled grunts of the young calves calling their mothers. Being in wildness and in touch with the land is good for me. I sort out things and clear my mind. Then I get ideas for writing.