Note To Readers: Portions of this book were written prior to, during and after the road trip, so the language and updates will reflect that. With that said, this is the original Facebook post below (and on this link May 19 at 10:48 AM) announcing the trip.
I will be hitting the road this summer for what promises to be another great trip. And YOU are invited to come along for the ride via social media. I plan to go to Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and wherever else the road takes me. As with my other travel books (link here), America The Beautiful (to all 48 states in 2016) and On The Road Again (from AZ to Nova Scotia in 2017), I will be writing, photographing and sharing my experiences in Life Is A Highway as they happen. And at the end of my trip, I will finish this book with some stories and perspectives I gathered along the way. As always, my goal will be to photograph as many Amazing Faces and Amazing Places (link here) as I can along the way, so your recommendations, referrals and comments and shares are always welcome. So check out the maps and details I have posted on Facebook and in this continually updated book. And lastly, since all my travel books have song titles, please join me in spirit as I sing along to this book's theme song, Life Is A Highway by Rascal Flatts (link here)! Les Maness, Stories From The Road Les Traveled Update Sept 1, 2018. I am happy to say that my trip is now completed and with the help of those who virtually and actually joined me on this journey, I was able to accomplish my objectives above. It is now my hope that the pages that follow reflect what a great experience it was and how grateful I am for everyone of you who provided encouragement along the way. Note: Scroll down to read this book. At the bottom of 10 posts, click <<Previous to advance to the next 10 posts, or click Forward>> to go back to the last 10 posts. You can also use the links at the bottom of each text block (as shown below) to navigate my book or website. Cover Contents Books Home Hire Stories This book is dedicated to my Granddaughter, Lucie (AKA my Pallerina).
Lucie, even though you were only minutes old when this photo was taken on February 8th, 2018, you immediately began to positively change my life. Your Mom was smart enough to place you in my arms before I could nervously object, and soon I actually became comfortable holding you. Then you began to smile at me and the whole world became a better place. And just two days ago you fell asleep as I comforted you. Now I suppose that you will change even more in the months that I will be on this road trip, but I want you to know something. I will never stop thinking about you. I will never stop loving you unconditionally. And I will never stop praying for you. Because that's what I do. Just ask your Mom. When you get older, I hope this book helps motivate you to have extraordinary adventures, make incredible friends who you cherish for life, and do something creative that will encourage others. And most of all, I hope it inspires you to author your own amazing stories that you gather on road of life YOU travel. Love, GrandPALes PS. If you are curious about how you got your Pallerina nickname click here. And if you want to laugh at what your Mom said when she dressed you and your brothers up for a perfect Easter family photo, click here. :-) PPS. As you can tell by the photo we took as soon as I got back from my trip, you have sure grown a bunch in 6 months!! Cover Contents Books Home Hire Stories 01. Life Is A Highway. (Live From The Road Les Traveled)
02. Dedication: To Lucie. 03. Table Of Contents (To Be Updated As I Travel) 04. Preface: Navigating This Rocky Road. 05. Acknowledgements: To The Rock Stars Of This Trip. 06. Introduction: Looking At The Road Ahead. 07. Section One: Trip Preparation. 08. Help Me Be A Happy Camper In Colorad-oh!! 09. Help Me Be A Friendly Camper In Oh Canada! 10. Help Me Be A Chill Camper In The Great Northwest. 11. MANESS (Long Lost Cousin) Family Reunion Invite. 12. The Road To Free Memberships. 13. Section Two: Trip Commentary. 14. Standin' On The Corner In Winslow, Arizona. 15. We Will Never Forget. 16. Amazing Places: Wigwam Motel, Holbrook, AZ. 17. Have No Fear. 18. Amazing Places: Pagosa Springs, CO. 19. Excuse Me While I Kiss The Sky. 20. Looking For Love In All The Wrong Places. :-) 21: Amazing Places: Loveland, CO. 22. Amazing Faces: Annalise The Amaranth. 23: Amazing Faces: Robin McIntire. 24. Driving Colorado. 25. Amazing Places: Mishawaka Amphitheatre. 26. Amazing Places: Red Feather Lakes, CO. 27. Amazing Places: Steamboat Springs, CO. 28. Amazing Places: Big Shooter Coffee. 29. Honey, I Bought A Town. 30. Amazing Places: The Train Cars Coffee. 31. Amazing Faces: The Daddis Family. 32. Amazing Faces: The Nachtigal Family. 33. Amazing Places: Hutchinson, KS. 34. Amazing Places: Frankenstein, MO. 35. Honor Thy Father. 36. Amazing Places: De Soto, MO. 37: Amazing Places: Pine Mountain Country Coffee House. 38: MANESS (Long Lost Cousin) Family Reunion Photos. 39: Happy Birthday America!! July 4, 2018. 40. Amazing Places: Popeye's Hometown. 41: Amazing Faces: Yolanda Davis. 42. Amazing Places: Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. 43. Amazing Faces: The Big Chillin' Gang Turns 50. 44. RHS Class Party 2018. 45. Amazing Places: Charlevoix, MI. 46. Amazing Places: Tunnel Of Trees. 47. Amazing Places: Legs Inn. 48. Finding Bliss. 49. A Cold Day In Paradise. 50. Amazing Places: Pure Michigan. 51. Oh Canada! Part 2. The Adventure Continues. 52. Amazing Places: Wawa, ON. 53. Amazing Places: Banff, AB. 54. Amazing Places: Field, BC. 55. Amazing Places: Golden, BC. 56. Amazing Places: Revelstoke, BC. 57. Amazing Faces: Letourneau Family. 58. Amazing Places: See Ya Later. 59. Amazing Places: Peace Arch Park. 60. Amazing Places: Bellingham, WA. 61. Amazing Places: Edison, WA. 62. Big Chillin' In Washington. 63. Amazing Places: Recycled Spirits of Iron. 64. Another Day In Paradise. 65. Sleep, Les. In Seattle. :-) 66. Amazing Places: Cannon Beach, OR. 67. Feeling Like A Big Cheese At Tillamook. 68. Never The Same Old Grind. 69. Go Jump In The River. 70. Amazing Places: Winston, OR. 71. Amazing Places: Bend, OR. 72. Amazing Faces: Linda Mussleman. 73. Amazing Places: The Last Blockbuster. 74. Amazing Places: No Name Saloon. 75. Amazing Places: Helper, UT. 76. Get Your Kicks On Route 66. 77. Section Three: Trip Reflections. 78. The Fear Factor. 79. Life Is A Highway. And What A Great Ride! 80. Postscript: Life Is A "Grand" Highway. :-) © 2018 Les Maness. All rights reserved. Cover Contents Books Home Hire Stories About This Book: Having learned a few things from creating my previous books, I have decided to build "Life Is A Highway" as I travel. So navigating around it might get a little rocky at times. So here's a simple guide to help you. Section One: Trip Preparations is what I posted to help plan for the trip. Section Two: Trip Commentary will be the posts I make along the way. And Section Three: Trip Reflections will be some of the things I took away from the trip.
About Me: When I'm not authoring Encouraging Words or gathering Stories From The Road Les Traveled, I am a Dad, Granddad, writer, photographer, marketer and trainer who calls Arizona home. For more, see my Blog, Books, Gigs and Photos at www.LesManess.com. About The Photos: Unless otherwise indicated, all photographs were taken by and are the exclusive copyrighted property of Les Maness (AKA LesManess.com). To purchase photos or the rights to publish images or content, please contact me at lesmaness at gmail.com. About The Dates: I created this book with Weebly's website builder blogging program, so I had to manually reorder the blog dates so they would read in proper sequence. So please ignore the dates under each header as they do not pertain to the actual start date Jun 4, 2018 and completion date Aug 10, 2018. © 2018 Les Maness. All rights reserved. Cover Contents Books Home Hire Stories I realize there is no way I can mention all the people who made this trip rock. So the best I can do is start by thanking everyone who supported me on this trip on social media. Your suggestions, wisecracks, likes, comments, shares, appreciation and encouragement made this journey so much better. Then I must thank all of my family, lifelong friends and newer friends who made time to meet me somewhere along the road. Seeing you face to face and spending time with you was one of the greatest highlights of this trip. And lastly, I want to express my gratitude to all those below who were gracious enough to invite me into your homes. I am extremely grateful for your warm welcome, good company, cool recommendations, local insights, hot showers and real beds to sleep in.
Together you are all rock stars in my book.
PS. Since I spent a large part of this trip car camping in my Hyundai Tucson, I feel I need to thank my favorite Service Manager, Michael Southern of Earnhardt Hyundai for helping me when I had questions. Thanks to your long distance help I was able to travel long distances comfortably and confidently. Cover Contents Books Home Hire Stories Note: Original Post May 28, 2018. Updates and links added Sept 1, 2018.
As I write this on May 28, 2018, I am just six days from my departure and already this approximately 8,000 mile road trip is promising some interesting twists and turns. And while no one can ever predict exactly what's on the road ahead, here's what I have planned for now - all subject to change of course. For as someone famous once said, "There's your plan and God's plan. And your plan doesn't matter." Section One: Trip Preparation. Planning For The Road Ahead By Asking Directions. You better call The Guinness Book Of Records because I am a man who actually likes asking for directions. :-) And since I am planning to car camp in Colorado, Canada and the Northwest, I have asked people to tell me where to go, what to do, see, eat and experience. You'll see those posts in the pages that follow along with the links to my Facebook posts with people's great suggestions. Planning For Things To Get A Little Trip-py. There are at least three things I am driving to do differently on this trip. First, I plan to go down even more Roads Les(s) Traveled (clumsy play on words for my website and book series). :-) For instance, I will begin by standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona. Then I'll go looking for love in all the wrong places in Loveland, CO. From there I'll make the monster drive to Frankenstein, MO. Then I'll spend a cold day in Paradise, MI. And because I am their GrandPALes, my next two stops are my Grand Pals' names in their birth order, Edison, WA and Winston, OR. Lastly, I want to say I have been through the desert on a course to No Name (Saloon). Why the attraction to all the unique names? Well, let's just say that having spent a lifetime with a rhyming one has given me an odd appreciation for the unusual or personally meaningful names. Second, I am going to reconnect with family I haven't seen in 50 years and some I have never met. Note: See The Maness (Long Lost Cousin) Reunion announcement (and Update) for that wild leap of faith. Third, I will be traveling lots of miles to celebrate some real milestones. One will be my 50 Year Reunion For Roosevelt High School in Wyandotte, MI. And there will be several occasions where I celebrate 50 Years - and more - of lifelong friendships with grade school through college friends. Planning To Photograph More Amazing Faces And Amazing Places. One thing I will repeat from previous trips is to take lots photographs of the interesting people, vistas, towns, art and artists I see along the way. To see those and other Amazing Faces And Amazing Places, click here. Planning To Take You All Along For The Ride. I have had so many people reach out to thank me for including them in my journeys in person and on social media, that it is simply humbling. So I will continue to post my experiences on Facebook and in book format on my website as they happen. It is my hope in doing so that everyone who can't do travel like this right now feels included, welcomed and valued from start to finish. Section Two: Trip Commentary. This is where I will post thoughts, images, observations, puns and comments as they happen - planned and unplanned - along the way. Section Three: Trip Reflections. This is where I will post my musings, feedback, surprises and lessons learned on this journey - and assess just how many of my plans came to pass. Cover Contents Books Home Hire Stories Original Facebook post May 22 at 11:47
As part of my "Life Is A Highway" Road Trip this year, I am going to parts of Colorado that all the locals tell me are "must sees" to add to my Colorado experiences. So far the trip includes Parker, Fort Collins, Mishawaka, Red Feather Lakes, Steamboat Springs, Winter Park, Grand Lake, Estes Park and Morrison. If you know that route, I would be glad to hear any about any Amazing Faces and Amazing Places I should photograph for my blog/future book, wonderful, affordable places to eat or do happy hour, good music and art to take in, etc. Thanks in advance!! Update Sept 1, 2018: Thanks to the advice from many people, I was able to add these things to my growing list of Colorado experiences. 18. Amazing Places: Pagosa Springs, CO. 19. Excuse Me While I Kiss The Sky. 20. Looking For Love In All The Wrong Places. :-) 21: Amazing Places: Loveland, CO. 22. Amazing Faces: Annalise The Amaranth. 23: Amazing Faces: Robin McIntire. 24. Driving Colorado. 25. Amazing Places: Mishawaka Amphitheatre. 26. Amazing Places: Red Feather Lakes, CO. 27. Amazing Places: Steamboat Springs, CO. 28. Amazing Places: Big Shooter Coffee. 29. Honey, I Bought A Town. 30. Amazing Places: The Train Cars Coffee. 31. Amazing Faces: The Daddis Family. Cover Contents Books Home Hire Stories Original Facebook post May 23 at 5:00pm ·
If you read my book On The Road Again (link https://bit.ly/2IL6HB5) or followed my road trip from AZ to Nova Scotia on social media last year, you know my intention was to travel Canada coast to coast. However, because of the terrible fires in the west, I had to postpone the second half of the trek. Well, as promised in Oh Canada!: Ah'll Be Bach! (link https://bit.ly/2GJJr4K), I'm back this summer to explore more of my Canadian heritage. (My amaaaazing Mom was born in Hamilton, ON, so I am half Canadian - which people say is my nicer half). :-) This leg of my "Life Is A Highway" Road Trip will begin around July 17th, 2018 in Sault Ste. Marie (pronounce "Soo Saint Marie"). From there I plan to drive to Thunder Bay, ON, Winnipeg, MB, Regina, SK, Calgary, AB, Mabel Lake, BC, and finish 10 days later in Vancouver, BC on July 26. Since this is my first trip across that great expanse, I welcome any suggestions for places to car camp, get a shower before the animals complain about the smell and have me deported, find great happy hour food and ambiance, and of course, referrals for any Amazing Faces and Amazing Places to photograph for my blog/future book. And lest I forget to say it, please and thank you for your support. (See, my Canadian nice half is already kicking in.) :-) Update Sept 1, 2018: Thanks a lot of very friendly people with great travel tips, I was able to enjoy these Amazing Faces and Places in Canada. 51. Oh Canada! Part 2. The Adventure Continues. 52. Amazing Places: Wawa, ON. 53. Amazing Places: Banff, AB. 54. Amazing Places: Field, BC. 55. Amazing Places: Golden, BC. 56. Amazing Places: Revelstoke, BC. 57. Amazing Faces: Letourneau Family. 58. Amazing Places: See Ya Later. 59. Amazing Places: Peace Arch Park. Cover Contents Books Home Hire Stories Original Facebook post May 28, 2018
The last leg of my "Life Is A Highway" Road Trip will begin around August 3, 2018 heading south from Seattle, WA, through Portland, Eugene and Bend, OR. And call me crazy, but I'm not in a hurry to rush back to Phoenix, AZ where somebody as pale as I am can spontaneously combust in the summer heat. So I'd like suggestions for who or what to see while I chill out in the Great Northwest. As always, I also welcome your referrals for Amazing Faces and Amazing Places to photograph for my blog/future book. Update Sept 1, 2018: Thanks to everyone who contributed ideas about where to go and what to see, I got to add all these to my growing appreciation of the Great Northwest. 60. Amazing Places: Bellingham, WA. 61. Amazing Places: Edison, WA. 62. Big Chillin' In Washington. 63. Amazing Places: Recycled Spirits of Iron. 64. Another Day In Paradise. 65. Sleep, Les. In Seattle. :-) 66. Amazing Places: Cannon Beach, OR. 67. Feeling Like A Big Cheese At Tillamook. 68. Never The Same Old Grind. 69. Go Jump In The River. 70. Amazing Places: Winston, OR. 71. Amazing Places: Bend, OR. 72. Amazing Faces: Linda Mussleman. 73. Amazing Places: The Last Blockbuster. Cover Contents Books Home Hire Stories |
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