Denver, CO: 1,576 miles

Luckily, the two grazing elk I saw along Interstate 25 last night - fleetingly,

they flitted by at about 82 miles per hour - didn't leap out in front

of my car. It might have been a mercy killing though. Of them, not me.

It's hunting season in south Colorado and I couldn't find a motel room

in Raton, New Mexico or Trinidad, CO. All the rooms were filled with

people looking to bag their quota of elk. I… Continue

Merriam, KS - 2,186 miles

It's a good thing that my doctor isn't along for this ride. America's

heartland hasn't confronted me with much traffic on its highways, but

it's clogging my arteries.



Lunch yesterday was at Al's Chickenette in Hays, Kansas. It's famous for its fried chicken. So of

course, that's what I had. The place looks great, old neon, been there

forever, but alas, the chicken was pretty bland. Nicely cooked… Continue

Scottsdale, AZ: 569 miles

Gila Bend, Arizona, where highways 8 and 85 meet, is a place that doesn't

seem to have many surprises in store. There's gas stations, motels,

convenience stores, plenty of fast food chain outlets. Get off the main

street and there's cacti and rattlesnakes, probably some gila monsters

(how else was the town named?), plenty of sand and rocks. The Space Age

Restaurant is impressive - it has a very large… Continue

Bed bugs, that is. A significant infestation of them. Eva is bit to

within an inch of her life. They liked her better than me. Which is

good for me, but I still didn't escape. For however long this lasts - I

keep hearing different stories - I am going to be on tour as the

itchy-scratchy author.



The Gershwin is, by New York standards (which are lower in these matters than standards in the real world), a

very nice inexpensive hotel. A standard room runs a "mere"… Continue

I will never kill a cab driver in one of my books. I promised Preston.

He was my hack yesterday, here in New York City. He was one of those

taxi drivers who really make you feel good about being here: bright,

funny, opinionated, knowledgeable, an excellent conversationalist. So

when he asked what I do and I told him, and then he asked if I'd ever

killed a cabbie in one of my books and I told him I haven't, he asked

me to promise I never would. And I… Continue

Yet another Eric Stone Drive-By Book Tour is getting underway. I've

been warming up with events on home ground and am headed for New York

tomorrow.



My last book tour, the Disoriented Express with Colin Cotterill, we added up the estimated weight of our assembled

crowds. I don't think I'll bother with that this time. For one, I don't

have Colin along to help me with the estimates. And unless something

truly untoward or special occurs along the way, I'm not sure… Continue

I take it back. Alaskans were not simply having fun with outsiders by

claiming that there's such a thing as a moose. Unless this is a guy in

a really good moose suit. Which, considering how remarkable everything

else has been in Alaska, could be the case. Still, I'm willing to

accept that this is some sort of enormous, ungainly, clumsy, hulking

overgrown relation to a… Continue