On the Road: Kansas 2.1

Sunday morning dawns in Louisiana, Missouri

I really didn’t mean to drive all the way from Kalamazoo to Louisiana, Missouri, in a single day. I intended to stop for the night in Illinois, but having missed my exit, and with so much light still left in the sky as evening came on, I too went on. And while fatigue claimed me for its own that night, seeing dawn over the Mississippi River in the morning made the long drive seem worthwhile – and, of course, I was also much closer to my next travel goal: Winfield, Kansas. 

 

Those of you who accompanied me virtually last spring may recall that, despite a little tire trouble (entirely my own fault), Winfield was very good to me. Friendly motel, friendly tow truck driver, friendly and helpful tire shop guy, plus a Chinese restaurant and a terrific dog park. This time I also spotted a bookstore in downtown Winfield, but it was closed when I arrived on Sunday and would not open until Tuesday morning, so I’ll just have to plan my spring return to Michigan with Moonshadow’s schedule in mind. 

 

On the other hand, there was no problem getting to and into the dog park. Sunny would have liked a playmate, but she managed to run around and explore on her own. She is not a puppy to waste an opportunity to play! We did try one playmate, but he was too rough for my young tomboy, so we went back to the separate adjacent area for “large dogs,” leaving the bigger boy in the “small dog” park.

 

Big dogs to the left, small dogs to the right. Which is Sunny?

She jumped through the lowest and the middle ring! But the sun was setting....

We were awake ridiculously early on Monday, waiting only for dawn to grind the darkness off the morning so we could continue our westward trek (I speak for myself, of course, not for Sunny), and so as soon as it was light enough to see, eagerly and confidently I set my sights on Santa Rosa, New Mexico. It would be a long day, but we were starting out at 7 a.m., so what problem could there be? 

What was the sky trying to tell me?

 

I highly recommend the road west of Medicine Lodge. It is stunning. I stayed on U.S. 160 and did not take the scenic drive (partly over dirt back roads), but many of the Gypsum Hills’ red mesas are visible from the highway, and the ribbon of highway itself feels at times like a roller coaster for its many long ups and downs. Frustratingly for someone itching to employ a camera, there is virtually no shoulder to the road whatsoever, so if you want to see the scenery, you’ll have to follow this link. Just think, though, how much gorgeous American scenery has been provided for us by processes of erosion!

 

Now usually, when the sky grows lighter rather than darker that’s a good sign. Today, however, while angling southwest from Meade toward Liberal, Kansas, the lighter sky I saw ahead meant something else – that I was not outrunning the bad weather by going south but running right into it! So not fair! But you know when truckers have slowed down to 30 mph, driving conditions are pretty bad.

No more photos after this! Tight grip on the wheel!

 

I really wanted to reach Santa Rosa tonight, but after a white-knuckled drive from Meade to Liberal over snow both packed and swirling, slushy and in places downright icy roads, I thought of all the truck traffic always converging upon Dalhart, Texas, and had no heart for unnecessarily braving a vehicular holiday on ice. 

 

The Artist and I once spent three nights instead of the anticipated one in Hastings, Michigan, because of blizzards raging through Barry County, but I’ve never bailed out on a trip at noon and checked into a motel at 2 p.m., planning to stay the rest of the day and the night. Television (Sunny is fascinated by a program about ravens), warm socks, books, snacks. This is survivable. And I am deeply grateful that Sunny Juliet and I don’t have to live in our car!

  

Some of my things

One of hers

Report From the Field #2: Book Stop, Tucson

I'm calling this report #2 only because it never occurred to me before to label my visits to other people’s bookstores as field reports. How many posts have I written on indie bookstores, not only in Michigan but between Michigan and Florida and then from Michigan to Arizona and back, in the 12-1/2 years of Books in Northport? I’m not going to go back and count, but it’s one of the things I do during my months of “seasonal retirement” when I’m away from my own bookstore in Northport, Michigan. 

When the Artist and I go to Tucson, venturing 100 miles west on expressway from our winter rental cabin, because we do it so rarely we always have an agenda; however, we never accomplish much of the items on our list, and the most recent day trip was no exception. New exhibit at the art museum, a couple of bookstores, a new Chinese restaurant, and maybe the camera shop, if time permitted: Those were our goals. Result: We got to one bookstore. But the bookstore was all I hoped it would be, as you will see if you bear with me until we get to that part of the story. First, though, I’m very sorry not to have more photographs of the early part of the day, because after deciding to circle around more of the city and take the Speedway exit, we were seduced by one that came before, as it sounded like it would take us more quickly to 4th Avenue. It did not. We found 4th Avenue easily and enjoyed cruising north on it through South Tucson, where brightly painted buildings, murals, and colorful tiles reminded me of my trip a couple years ago to the Yucatan. So beautiful and exciting! Another time I’ll employ my camera, but sometimes it just feels more important to be in the moment, not worrying about capturing the present for future rumination. And I was loving 4th Avenue!

Just as it seemed we must be nearing our goal, however, we were unceremoniously dumped off 4th Avenue and hurried onto the new and “improved” Broadway, a wide, swooping road that will no doubt be great for high-speed traffic (for those who want that) when it’s finished. At present, however, it is not finished, so we were not only routed way off our desired path but stuck for what seemed ages in stop-and-go-and-stop traffic, which is never any fun at all.

Finally getting off the nightmare road and into what felt like a reasonable grid of streets, we somehow found ourselves caught up in the University of Arizona campus — which, in case you are not familiar with it, is an enormous campus — so that finally coming out on Speedway Boulevard, a long, busy street often avoided by locals but one that serves very well to orient us country mice, was a huge relief. From there we found the end of 4th Avenue we wanted and persevered until arriving, at long last, at the 100N block. 

At last!

Tip to other visitors to Tucson: If you’re looking for the Book Stop on 4th Avenue, or for Antigone Books (which we will visit on another field trip), take the Speedway exit. From Speedway you’ll turn south (right) and have an easy time locating the bookstores. 

[Speedway Boulevard: 1st degree of relief…  

4th Avenue North: 2nd degree of relief…  

Parking space around the corner from Book Stop: complete relief!]

My camera work inside the bookstore was hurried, at best. I wanted to look at books! But you can probably see from these quick shots that the Book Stop was exactly the kind of bookstore I had been hoping to find.

Tina, the proprietor, was quietly welcoming, friendly and helpful without being in the least overbearing or hovering. Like her bookstore, she was just right. I found five books to buy that day, took a few pictures, shared with Tina my own bookstore connection, and received information from her about the store’s buying and trade policies. I also told her how much effort had gone into our getting to her store, and it was she who recommended the Speedway exit (so you have it from a local and don’t have to take my word alone for it).

Thank you, Tina!

In its own way, 4th Avenue North is as colorful as the stretch south of Broadway, but in a different way. It has no dominant ethnic tone but more of a 1960s hippie dream quality, as perhaps you can see from these photos I snapped from the car window. 

We will be returning to Tucson next week, when I will attend the mammoth Festival of Books on the UA campus with a friend. The plan is that her husband will drop us off for the day. Hooray! We won’t have to drive or park -- or dodge around bicycles and streetcars! 

Streetcars, really, on 4th Avenue!

So that will be another travel adventure and field report from the world of books, Southwest style, coming up soon.