Travels with...?

I have been rereading John Steinbeck's TRAVELS WITH CHARLEY and I have decided that I, too, would like to go off an find out where the real America is.

In 1960, John Steinbeck was having some health problems (which later killed him), and was a bit depressed. Urged by some friends, including Adlai Stevenson, he decided to go off to "look for America" as Simon and Garfunkel would say. He bought a pickup truck and had a camper made to go on the the back of it. He called it Rocinante, after the horse of Don Quixote. He took his French poodle, Charley, and he took off from his home in Sag Harbor, NY in September of 1960 . He met his wife, Elaine, and her relatives in Amarillo, Texas for Thanksgiving that year, and he returned to New York by New Years of 1961. The Steinbeck Center in California currently has Rocinante on display. Click here for the story of Rocinante! http://www.steinbeck.org/Rocinante.html

Steinbeck stayed off of the interstate system as much as he possibly could. An interesting concept, as in 1960 the interstate system was nothing as compared to today. He went to little places, such as Aroostook, Maine which at that time was considered one of the two biggest areas of potato production.

I think I would try and follow Steinbeck's trail across the northern part of the United States. I would want to end up in California where he, Steinbeck, was born and where he did most of his writing. This would take me through North Dakota and the upper midwestern states of Wisconsin and Michigan. I would go to Seattle, as he did, and then down the Oregon coast to California.

Obviously, to do this I would need money. There is a local teachers award given here call the R.E.B. award. Teachers are nominated for it, and if selected, they receive money to pursue some sort of academic/educational dream. Since I teach Steinbeck each year, this certainly would play into what I teach and would enhance my teaching of THE PEARL, THE GRAPES OF WRATH, and OF MICE AND MEN.

It would not be inexpensive. I would need a small RV, such as the one he had, and I would need a laptop computer. I would keep a blog like this one of my adventures, and I would need a digital camera. I don't have any of these things, so whatever money I would get would go to financing this adventure. Of course, I would have to be nominated first for the awards, and that in and of itself is the first hurdle.

Nonetheless, it is fun to dream.

Instead of a dog, it could be Travels with...ellen, or austin, or whomever would like to join me on this leg of the trip. I hope I get a chance to do this someday.