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Road trips aren’t all Tombstone and saguaro vistas and ghostly Indian Wars forts. A lot of road trips are deadly dull. Exhibit A, from a trip in Idaho. Note that I actually like Idaho. But this part made me go insane with boredom and eat the driver, which caused problems later on. (I recommend garlic and . . . → Read More: From Everyday to Epic; or, How to Transform a Road Trip   4 comments  Cowboy Moments, Reach for the Skies!, Reel Life vs. Real Life, The Good the Bad the Fugly, WestWays: Traveling in the American West  american west, borng road trip, Cowboy Moments, cowboylands, ennio morricone, frankie laine, guns don't argue, idaho, idaho road trip, reach for the skies, self-help, self-transformation, silver-screen western hero, wanted man, wild west Writing a novel can be a bloody business. ‘Course I would rather do it any day than spill real blood, but rarely a writing day goes by when I’m not “licking my wounds,” “battered,” or just plain depressed at my paltry efforts to put letter after letter and have them say something meaningful to more than me . . . → Read More: Of Blood, Shadows, and Fort Bowie, AZ; or, A Novelist’s Own Roadtrip Wyatt Earp brought himself from pragmatic businessman/lawman/gambler/loyal brother to epic gunfighter of the high plains. A straight-talking, straight-shooting saint to pray to when life needs dividing into black and white.
How’d he DO that? How can we do that too, before our ending credits? 1. Accept your averageness . . . → Read More: Roadtrip Sidebar #4; or, A How-To Wyatt Earp Makeover 2 comments Cowboy Mythos, Cowboys Gone Wrong, Men Were Men and Women Were Women, Origins and Originals, Reach for the Skies!, Reel Life vs. Real Life, The Good the Bad the Fugly, Uncategorized, WestWays: Traveling in the American West american west, Cowboy Mythos, cowboylands, extreme makeover, frontier marshall, my darling clementine, myth, reach for the skies, silver-screen western hero, stuart lake, tombstone, westerns, wild west, Wyatt Earp It was a messy fight–short, bloody, and confusing, the way most fights are that aren’t guided by judges, rules and regulations, and a boxing ring. Cue Frankie Laine, please… Thanks. It’s also the epic that caused Tombstone, Arizona, to revamp itself from fading mining town to THE Wild West town, and the draw that sucks tourists from . . . → Read More: Roadtrip Sidebar #3; or, Tombstone’s Wyatt Earp, Pre-Makeover Leave a comment Cowboy Mythos, Cowboys Gone Wrong, Origins and Originals, Reel Life vs. Real Life, The Good the Bad the Fugly, WestWays: Traveling in the American West american west, Cowboy Mythos, cowboylands, gunfight at OK Corral, makeovers, OK Corral, silver-screen western hero, tombstone, western movies, wild west, Wyatt Earp The rental car rocked and shook on the narrow trail–I mean, road. Tucson and its spangly lights and hard-hearted soiled doves had been left far behind. My urban cowboy and I were heading south toward the frontier, toward adventure, toward a date with destiny and hopefully some great souvenirs. I had high expectations of Tombstone. OK Corral. . . . → Read More: Classic Western Setting 2; or, Tombstone, Boots, and Val Kilmer Souvenirs This do-it-yourself landscape is for the times when you aren’t near endless skies, rugged land, and enigmatic vistas (cue that tu-wheee hawk screech from every movie that shows a stark, red southwestern landscape). Monument Valley (and a 1964 Chevrolet), “in a class of its own, stands on its own”! Happiness is visiting Monument Valley to get a . . . → Read More: Roadtrip Sidebar #2; Finding Happiness; or, Your Own Do-It-Yourself Monument Valley On a roadtrip, when you have a plan but something else seems more fun, and you go do what seems more fun, that’s called being flexible and “in the moment.” In the rest of life, say while making sure hyphens in a guide book are in the right place, or that a romance manuscript’s heroine’s eye color . . . → Read More: Be in the Moment; or, Roadtrips and Real Life “I’ve been here before,” you say, and you have–in the movies.
Visiting Monument Valley, a space of mind-blowing proportion, 30,000 acres on the Utah-Arizona border, is best seen on foot, as part of a tour, or on horseback, or even in a rental car to drive through the fine red dust of the . . . → Read More: Classic Western Setting 1; or, Tsé Bii’ Ndzisgaii, Of Course 2 comments Cowboy Mythos, Origins and Originals, Reach for the Skies!, The Good the Bad the Fugly, WestWays: Traveling in the American West american west, Cowboy Mythos, cowboylands, harry goulding, john ford, john ford monument valley, krazy kat, mike goulding, monument valley, travel in american west, westerns, wild west Roadtrip! Adventure! Bring on the horses! The high, winding trails amidst fragrant pines! The sultry desert winds at night, with a full moon rising! And your sweet lips and thunder thighs, my love interest!
Bring the lead-soldered tin canteens and leaky leather flasks! Bring the buffalo jerky, baked beans, and coffee beans! Bring on mosquitos and biting flies, . . . → Read More: Grab that Saddle, Bug Spray, and Whiskey; or, A Roadtrip through Classic Settings of Westerns The camera pans across a rugged landscape—sparkling white mountain tops far off, sage stirring close up, and a trail winding through pines. A rider on a horse appears, seemingly from the very earth itself: the hero, at one with the wilderness yet separate. And watching this on a crisp, high-def flat screen, we are one with . . . → Read More: Man vs. Nature Quiz Answers; or, Humans in Need of Rescue |
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