Julie is taking a virtual walk to Moab, UT, to see her nieces and nephew. John and Ben are tagging along. As they pass Smallwander towns, John has a stream of consciousness. Read the origin story.

Julie crossed the Mississippi and arrived at Decorah, Iowa, this week. This town was named after the leader of the Ho Chunk Native American tribe, who was an ally of the US in the war against the Black Hawks in 1832. Future President Abe Lincoln served in that war, but he did not see combat. This area became a major destination for Norwegian immigrants. It has a Norwegian-American museum, which is the largest museum in the US devoted to a single immigrant group. Decorah also hosts Nordic Fest, which is scheduled to happen this July 22. John and Ben converged this week in Nashville, Indiana.

Julie is taking a virtual walk to Moab, UT, to see her nieces and nephew. John and Ben are tagging along. As they pass Smallwander towns, John has a stream of consciousness. Read the origin story.

Julie began this week taking a rather quick shortcut across Lake Michigan with the Lake Express Ferry. She has many friends in Michigan and Wisconsin, but, because of her firmness of mind, she moved too quickly to give them a shout-out while she raced to Mt. Horeb, WI, this week. Mt. Horeb is an enclave of Norwegian immigrants. One of their attractions is a trail of carved trolls. Meanwhile, neither Ben nor I know anyone in this part of the country, so, we are making haste even more so. Ben has been complaining of calf pain, in both calves, with his strenuous walking schedule. His quickened pace has brought him to Tipp City, OH, this week, which I passed through a couple weeks ago. I told Ben to seek medical attention about his calves, but he says the pain subsided and was only in one calf in the latter part of the week. We have no sag wagon for this trip. I settled in Jeffersonville, IN, this week.

Julie is taking a virtual walk to Moab, UT, to see her nieces and nephew. John and Ben are tagging along. As they pass Smallwander towns, John has a stream of consciousness. Read the origin story.

Although we are visiting Smallwander towns wherever possible on this jaunt across the States, Ben insisted on passing through Pittsburgh. I bent the rules to allow this because I spent four years growing up in a Pittsburgh suburb. We moved there when I was 6, from Philadelphia. Our hilly Brentwood neighborhood improved our skills for sports. Bike riding was a very aerobic activity. Playing catch in the road demanded accuracy because if you missed the ball, it rolled down the street and down one of the storm drains. Pittsburgh is now a happening place, but back in the mid-70s, we had to boil the water, which did not taste so great. I should say that living there in the era of the Steeler’s first Super Bowl championships was quite exhilarating as a 7- and 8-year-old, which was a major pillar for my self-esteem when I later moved to Albany.

This week, Julie is about to cross Lake Michigan in Muskegon, John and Ben almost made it to the Smallwander Ohio towns of Oxford, and Cambridge.