Category Archives: Main Street

Route 66: Pink Lines & Roads Previously Traveled

Posted on August 2, 2016 by smspangler

Morning dawned gray and wet in Pacific, Missouri. Waiting it out seemed the best option because riding in the moist contrails of the semis barreling down the road unabated by the weather, seemed the best course of action. The Quality … Continue reading →

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Route 66: Following the Pink Line From Chicago to LA

Posted on August 1, 2016 by smspangler

As an aficionado of small towns and the people who live in them, there seemed no better  way to explore those not yet visited than by following the path of the road that once connected them: Route 66. The towns … Continue reading →

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One on One with a Windmill

Posted on June 12, 2015 by smspangler

On my way from Burlington Junction, Missouri, where my great grandpa Spangler died with five others when a tornado in 1903 flattened the Masonic Lodge they’d taken refuge in, and Palmyra, Nebraska, where my grandpa Spangler was born in 1897 … Continue reading →

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Black & White Life and Legacy at Missouri Military Academy

Posted on February 13, 2015 by smspangler

MEXICO, MISSOURI—Missouri Military Academy fills a prominent place in my cranial archive. It was founded in 1889. I was its director of publications and public information from 1982, when I graduated from J-school, until 1989, the school’s centennial year. In … Continue reading →

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Along Interstate 84, US 30 Sustains Oregon Small Towns

Posted on June 28, 2014 by smspangler

PENDLETON, OREGON—Along much of its route through Oregon, US Highway 30, is now co-located with (subsumed by) Interstate 84, which runs from Pocatello, Idaho, to Portland, Oregon. Destined for Pendleton, Oregon, the GPS had a simple command this morning: Drive … Continue reading →

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Rain Suit Riding & Beer-Based Decision-Making

Posted on June 27, 2014 by smspangler

POCATELLO, IDAHO—Laying the weather map’s bolus of bad weather over the road map devoid of small town dots that connect the larger cities called for a long day in the saddle to compress two days of rainy riding into one. … Continue reading →

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Weathering the Storm, Literally and Metaphorically

Posted on June 26, 2014 by smspangler

GERING, NEBRASKA—While forking a ham and cheese omelet with hash browns into my face for dinner tonight, the grating National Weather Service klaxon that announces severe weather echoed in the kitchen of Sheryl’s Log Cabin. I couldn’t hear what the … Continue reading →

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Travel Challenges: Leaving Home & Finding One’s Way

Posted on June 23, 2014 by smspangler

NAUVOO, ILLINOIS—Given the chronic religious persecution that drove the Latter Day Saints from their homes here on the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River, I shouldn’t really complain about my day. The challenges of my day are evanescent giggles compared to … Continue reading →

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Plymouth’s Marvelous Mill Street

Posted on April 15, 2014 by smspangler

PLYMOUTH, WISCONSIN—What other word describes a small town main thoroughfare lined with active storefront businesses including not one, but two bookstores, and a craft brewery. Yes, there were a empty storefronts for rent, and one building, built by Wm. Laack … Continue reading →

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