Author Archives: rob johnston

Advice: Start your day as early as possible. Upside: Hiking is easier in the relatively cool morning, and there are fewer people. Downside: Coffee is next to impossible to find. I was up and showered at 4.30 AM and ”broke camp” by 5 AM (for the uninitiated, that’s camping lingo for ”packed up and went,”Continue reading “Close Encounters at Devils Tower”

Clay Hughes, one of my older friends, college roommate, and someone who knows more stories about my weekends in college than I do. Thanks, Clay, for the Road Trip Playlist. He created it on Spotify (yes, I finally subscribed to the service – just an old Luddite, who still likes to buy music) If youContinue reading “A quick thank you…”

Thanks, TownPlace Suites, you either had no idea you had a vagrant on your property, or you were kind enough to leave me alone. I hit the road at 5 AM, searching for coffee and a place to change out clothes. I found a Kum & Go with a clean restroom. Switching clothes is easyContinue reading “Q: How do you get from MN to SD? A: As fast as you can.”

Day two had a goal of meeting up with an old colleague, Lee Abrams. He is up there as one of my favorite people. We worked together at XM when the company was fun and mission-driven. Perhaps it’s the nature of the music entertainment industry, or it was just the moment in time, but thisContinue reading “Lunch with Lee and Dinner in the Dells”

A 300-mile dash to Salem/Lisbon Ohio ended in a reasonably comfortable first night in the Tesla micro-RV edition. The night was nice and cool. The air mattress was relatively comfortable. Setting things up for the night took about 20 minutes but easy enough. Winding down wasn’t easy, requiring a dose of Jeremiah Weed to chillContinue reading “So how about that first night”

I have the first couple of legs of the trip sorted; overnight at a KOA in Salem, Ohio, to make it in time for lunch with an old friend in Chicago the next day. Planning, mapping, and procuring for this adventure over the last few weeks has reminded me of Boy Scouts and summer camp.Continue reading “T minus 5 days”

Since high school, I’ve wanted to take a road trip cross country. Dead Head friends may have inspired it, or maybe it was Depeche Mode’s 101 Documentary or perhaps Jack Kerouac. In any case, thirty years later, I think this is precisely the right thing to do after months of COVID quarantine. Last week theContinue reading “A bucket list”