"THE SCAMP ODYSSEY"
is the first in a new series by the author telling of annual trailer trips from 2004 to 2022. The title is inspired by "The Motorcycle Diary." In Part I the author details travel from Vallecito Lake, Colorado, to Backus Minnesota and return, a 4000-mile trip. He details places passed and visited with commentary on the local history - towns of the San Luis Valley in Colorado, Walsenburg, La Junta and Lamar in Colorado, then across Kansas. Syracuse, Johnson and farm country, Ulysses, the Mennonite heritage country in Kansas, and his hometown Abilene, are followed by the Kansas Flint Hills, Marysville and its trails west. Wildlife Refuges in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota follow reflecting the author and his wife's interest in birding. The main character of the book, the Scamp Trailer, follows from its factory in Backus, a test run to Duluth and the north shore of Lake Superior, the Gran Portage, Wolves at Ely, across farmland of South Dakota, Pierre and the Missouri River, and finally Laramie, Rocky Mountain National Park and "home" to Vallecito.
Part II, a return to the plains of Kansas and Nebraska in 2011 follows. Trains, Planes and the Scamp.