Travels Across America

How the Solution to a Stalled, Overheated Bus is the Secret to Many Other Things in Life

by Shawn May 18, 2012
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Nevada contains inconceivable stretches of wilderness. Salt flats and brush and distant, crumbling mountains feel endless, like some kind of blue funk you can’t quite shake. But there is also something serene about mile after empty mile – a peaceful longing that makes me want to pull the bus over, buy 1000 acres for $6,000 [...]

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Roam Far

by Shawn May 17, 2012
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Sam is troubled in his sleep. He rolls from one side to the other on the couch in the bus’s back bedroom. The dim light we leave on for him lights up only one side of his face, the way the sun lights up one side of the moon. Always one side. He looks like [...]

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Ask Me Anything

by Shawn May 16, 2012

Three questions for you today – leave your responses to any or all of them in the comments section: 1) What is your worst road trip experience? 2) Ask a question, anything related to our trip, and I’ll answer it later in the week. 3) What’s your favorite brand and flavor of ice cream? (We’re [...]

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For the First Time: Heading East

by Shawn May 14, 2012
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I’m writing this on Sunday night in the bed at the back of the bus. It’s peaceful in here: the three oldest kids are in their bunks with the occasional complaint about an early bedtime; Maile is writing at the front of the bus; and Sam just crawled into bed beside me, sucking his thumb [...]

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The Redwoods Asked Me, “What If Your ‘Today’ Must Die?”

by Shawn May 9, 2012
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The Redwood trees stood massive and solemn, some close to 300 feet tall, some over 500 years old. I felt small and insignificant under their kind shadows. Like an ant. Or a long-forgotten worry. They once stood silently while the first Europeans docked their ships and slid small boats up on to the sand of [...]

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Pictures of Our Pacific Sunset

by Shawn May 6, 2012

We made a last minute decision to park Willie at a truck stop and take the minivan on a mini-adventure on a short stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway (the minivan feels like a sports car after driving the bus – it shall henceforth be referred to as The Silver Bullet). Being in Salinas, we [...]

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The Life of Faith: Less Sense, Added Meaning

by Shawn May 4, 2012
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I have made some very expensive transactions on this trip. Nearly everywhere we’ve gone, I’ve gained something, and I’ve left something behind. In Virginia, we gained a kind friend who treated my kids like they were his grandchildren. He built a small fire under that southern night sky for marshmallow roasting. And I left a [...]

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