Two Gents' Worth
February 28, 2025
Yes, the time has finally come to leave this Heart of the Great American Heartland and motor our way back West. We’ve had a great, extended summer here in Ames. Five months that included plenty of walks through Old Town, with its lovely old Victorians fronted by giant trees that canopy streets; numerous visits to…
Read More about So Long, Ames
Autumn has arrived here in the Midwest, on schedule — both on the calendar and in real life. The signs are everywhere. We’re experiencing lovely crystal-clear, blue-sky days and sparkling, chilly nights. If you’re a star-gazer — and I am — it’s delightful these evenings, being able to see — without a filter of smog…
Read More about Autumn in the Heartland
We hit the road about a week ago — yes, once again interrupting our summer-long stay in Ames to make a side trip — this time, to the West. We rented a car and took off toward South Dakota. We’d never been there, and we knew there were a few things we needed to see…
Read More about Our Bucket List Trip
Fourth of July celebrations came back to Ames this weekend, and they were greeted the same way you greet a long-lost, beloved friend. Last year on the Fourth, Ames virtually was shut down. No fireworks. No parade. Yes, the coronavirus pandemic had done its nasty work all too well. Ames was a ghost town a…
Read More about Our Festive Fourth
We interrupted our summer-long stay in Ames to take a whirlwind trip to Washington, DC, this week. We wanted to see Brad and Nicole after nearly two years of coronavirus-mandated distancing. We wanted to re-visit some of our favorite Smithsonians. And we wanted to see the Nats play baseball. We did all that, and we…
Read More about Our Side Trip to the Capital
We’ve been here in Ames — aka, the Heart of the Great American Heartland — for a couple of weeks now, and I’m delighted to say everything is back to normal. I could not say that last summer — when, as you’ll recall, the coronavirus had disrupted everything near and dear to all of us….
Read More about That Heartland NormalcyYes, we’re back in Ames after another arduous trip that stretched over 2,000 miles and took us through such spots as Bakersfield, Tehachapi, Mohave, Barstow, Kingman, Flagstaff, Gallup, Albuquerque, Amarillo, Oklahoma City, Wichita and Kansas City. We saw some quite-exquisite scenery, stayed in some mostly nice motels and paid outrageously high prices for gas in…
Read More about Iowa, Oh, IowaFour months have come and gone, like a flash, since Sharon and I sold our place in Paso and moved to our temporary Airbnb here in Clovis. And now the time has almost arrived for another departure — when we head to the great Heart of the American Heartland to spend one more summer in…
Read More about That Midwest Feeling, Again
We headed to the hills, again, on this gorgeous Sunday in April. This time, our plan was to drive back into my past — way, way back. We were going to North Fork. But getting out of Clovis took a bit of time. After all, we had to stop at Target to buy some chips…
Read More about Into the Mountains, Again
Sharon and I drove up to Shaver Lake for lunch this Thursday afternoon. We hadn’t been there in at least 20 years, and because our Airbnb is east of Clovis and a mere 35 miles from the lake, we decided — what the heck — let’s make the trip. We took home-made chicken sandwiches, sliced…
Read More about Thursday in the Fire Zone