Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Category: Borders

  • Exploring the Mitten, Part 1 (Pivot)

    My county counting hadn’t gone so well this year thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. I did manage to make that one brief trip to Pennsylvania to complete the state. There I picked up a dozen new counties. Not bad. However, that hardly moved the needle overall. I knew one more opportunity loomed as the summer…

  • As Far as Vancouver

    Bellingham, Washington to Vancouver, British Columbia to Everett, Washington (May 15, 1998) Bellingham offered an easy shot into British Columbia, Canada. It also provided an opportunity to visit one of the strangest geographical anomalies in the United States — Point Roberts! In this vicinity the two countries set their border along the 49th parallel to…

  • Green Mountain Railroad – White River Flyer

    White River Junction to Thetford, Vermont (October 2010) A beautiful early fall day is a perfect time for a ride on the Green Mountain Railroad. They offer three routes for tourist excursions: Burlington to Charlotte (“Champlain Valley Flyer”); Bellows Falls to Chester Depot (“Green Mountain Flyer”) and White River Junction to Thetford (“White River Flyer”).…

  • Rendezvous Beach

    Bear Lake State Park; Garden City, Utah, USA (July 2011) We drove east out of Logan, Utah on Highway 89, the Logan Canyon Scenic Byway through the Bear River Mountains, a branch of the Wasatch Range. We meandered for nearly forty miles along the winding road until we crested the summit and stopped at a…

  • Finishing Pennsylvania, Part 4 (Western Loop)

    Only five of Pennsylvania’s sixty seven counties remained to be visited. They all aligned neatly to the west of our base in Clearfield. I felt pretty excited that morning. I knew I’d finish the statewide quest within the next few hours. Once again my older son decided to come along on the journey while the…

  • Finishing Pennsylvania, Part 3 (Northern Loop)

    The initial push to capture a dozen remaining unvisited counties in Pennsylvania took a decidedly northern turn. This loop led nearly to the New York border. It also reduced my punch list by half while taking only 4 ½ driving hours. New counties encountered: Elk; Cameron; Potter; McKean; Warren; and Forest. Roadside Aliens My older…

  • Finishing Pennsylvania, Part 1 (Planning)

    I wanted to go to Idaho this summer. Then COVID-19 happened and threw those plans into disarray. Airplanes seemed unsafe and I couldn’t tell when I might fly again. My last real trip happened in February when I went to Bermuda. Back then the pandemic seemed a million miles away, something taking place on the…

  • Big Bend National Park

    Terlingua, Brewster Co., Texas, USA (May 1992) We left San Antonio, passed Uvalde, passed Del Rio, driving through ever smaller and less frequent towns, moving into one of the most remote locations imaginable. We were heading towards that place where the Rio Grande River flows southeast and then takes a sudden jog to the north.…

  • South of the (Carolina) Border

    Dillon, South Carolina (July 2006) We rode through hundreds of miles along Interstate 95 with a constant barrage of “Pedro Says” this and “Pedro Says” that signs. Finally, a giant sombrero beckoned us to an offramp (map). Roadside advertising beat us so badly that we felt compelled to stop. Our older son still recites Pedro’s…

  • The Final State

    Fargo, North Dakota, August 14, 2002 We had to visit Fargo, North Dakota but not to go anywhere in particular. I’ve traveled often, seen lots of unusual places, gone through many interesting adventures, but somehow managed to fall short of one personal goal for many years: I had not visited all fifty States. North Dakota…