Memorial

As we drove on the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend, Cait reported that a ’09 West Point graduate had been killed.  Shawn asked his name.  The expanse of the Yakima Valley spread out in all directions in front of us; the sun shone a white light against mountains of cumulonimbus clouds expanding straight up and dropping their gray veils to the ground south and east of us. 

We read Travels with Charley aloud while we drove and it was my turn when we got to the passage in which Steinbeck describes his love affair with Montana.  I got through his description of Montana and his love, but struggled to read of Chief Joseph.  Steinbeck mentions that he met a very old Charles Erskine Scott Wood who, “as a young lieutenant just out of military academy” was “assigned to General Miles . . . in the Chief Joseph campaign” (122).  I see again the photographs of the frozen corpses of the men, women, and children killed in that winter “campaign.”  Steinbeck remembers Wood’s admiration of the Nez Perces’s skill.  “Real men,” he declared the warriors of the Nez Perces (122).  In this memorial I remember all those who have died fighting for their way of life and the families they love.

 ~ Margaret Downs-Gamble

Homecoming

Earlier in the trip the group discussed roots and hometowns. Being a military brat I have never had a real hometown due to the frequent moves but I have a certain connection with each place I use to live in still. I told the group that I had a certain feeling of a homecoming whenever I had the chance to revisit a location I use to live in. After this discussion I constantly thought if I would get that homecoming feeling when we approached California as California was my home during my high school years. The good, the bad, and the awkward all happened to me during California. It was truly a defining location in my life as I believe that the school I attended and the area that I lived in helped shape me into the person I am today. I worried that living on the East Coast for a few years would make me lose the comfortable feeling of home in California as it was not my home state anymore. My worries and anxieties were put to rest when we traveled down US 101 and I saw the beautiful Pacific. Feelings of nostalgia and joy electrified my mind as the beautiful coast brought me back to some of the happiest moments of my life. I believe my joy will continue to grow as we continue along the coast as we have just entered the very north of California. As we make our way to San Francisco and Salinas/Monterey the only thought that enters my mind is I am coming home. 

Coming Home by Diddy

-Clay Sohn

Cadets in a Redwood

Montana!

Much the same as John Steinbeck, I am in love with Montana.  It’s rolling green slopes, towering mountain peaks, and frightening valley depths are a far cry from the clay red and rocky desolateness of the badlands.  But my love for this land does not spring from the shape of its beauty, but rather the uniqueness of its character, and there is not another place we have visited on our travels, or indeed in the remaining part of the world, that was arranged with such careful complexity and genuine imagination as the heart of Montana’s beauty: Yellowstone. 

                I was not surprised at the landscape Yellowstone had to offer us by any degree; I expected to find great beauty and found precisely that.  But I will be the first to admit that I was not altogether prepared for the vastness of its majesty.   As we made our way to our campsite by way of a meandering mountainous road I could just piece together the true grandeur of the landscape in the brief moments the mountains would open up to reveal it to me. 

               Never before in my life have I seen such magnificence, and never again can I hope to be as content. 

D Faust

A Post Deferred

After an entire week of steady driving and putting out logistical fires, I finally have a chance to post. We have already driven close to 4,000 miles in our faithful 12-passenger van so graciously donated by DCA. Steinbeck begins his travelogue by dubbing his three-quarter-ton pick-up truck “Rocinante” after Don Quixote’s horse, so searching for a name that would accurately describe our vehicle seemed appropriate, but quickly became problematic. The van is definitely the work horse for our trip, providing both a mode of transportation as well as a means to carry all our luggage. It has been well “loved” by the corps of cadets that came before us, so prior to leaving last Sunday, our band of travelers set about industriously cleaning the interior to make it habitable for the trip. What the cadets found inside ranged from loose change to a petrified frog that immediately spawned several legends in its own right, thus establishing a uniquely odd character for our trusty steed that would be difficult to capture. Our initial thoughts were to think along the lines of Steinbeck and discover a literary connection that would capture the essence of our mount, but after exploring several names from Melville’s Pequod to various mythological horses, the van sloughed off the suggestions with a disinterested shrug until it dawned on us that a van from West Point laden with cadets and baggage could carry no other name more appropriate than “The Mule.” It seems to fit rather well, and the van has hummed along contentedly ever since.

It’s about time to load the Mule and hit the road again on our way to the Redwood Forest. The first week has been amazing, and I will post more about our travels and travails at the earliest opportunity.

~ Shawn Neely

Thoughts on FERMILAB, long overdue

Our day began with a short drive into what must surely seem to most observers as little more than a beautiful prairieland completely unscarred by the hand of man. The early settler’s mass exodus into the west had peacefully passed through the greater part of Illinois, leaving the majority of the state’s population to pool in a number of large cities; however, where the concrete ends, the fertile farmland and ranch lifestyles begin.  It is in the rural outskirts of Chicago that we discovered the heart of America’s knowledge and understanding of the cosmos: FERMILAB.  The stereotypes of the physicists and mathematicians, theorists and engineers as being wild-haired, hunched-backed, out of style, and unsociable hermits are quickly dissolved upon entering the beautifully designed Wilson tower.  Smiling faces, friendly voices, and an eager-to-teach demeanor greet you immediately at the door.  With such a vast wealth of knowledge, experience, and understanding in the FERMILAB community, it is easy to see how a curious visitor such as myself can be easily overwhelmed.  Although I can hardly reproduce on paper, let alone correctly articulate any of the information I took in during my time at the FERMILAB, I can say with confidence that these brilliant young men and women have devoted their lives to something grand.  I have come to realize that what exactly this grand thing is, without a lifetimes devotion on my own part, may be far beyond my ability to understand.  The honest enthusiasm shown by the devoted FERMILAB team gives clear testimony to its importance regardless of my humble ignorance.  But if you whittle away at the complexity of their speech, you will discover a core that unites their devotion; a unique bond held tight by a common thirst for knowledge for the sake of knowledge, and it is indeed a remarkable thing. 

D Faust

"Nature"

Yellowstone National Park. I have to admit that Yellowstone is one of the most beautiful parks I have ever seen. However, the natural beauty of the park is so limited and restricted that I feel as if I am looking at a fake park and not nature. The animals were there, the geysers were there, the trails were there but they weren’t there. I could literally see what I wanted to go see, but couldn’t see it without restrictions. It is like getting hit with the fine print of a credit card or something. I know it sounds confusing but that is exactly how I was feeling about the park, confused. I didn’t truly get to enjoy the park until I took a walk with Sherman who equally shared my confused and restricted feelings of the park. We hiked up a few hills near the lodge in attempts to get away from this man made attempt of nature. As we realized how out of shape we were as we reached the top of the hill breathing heavily, our breaths were taken away again by the real beauty of the area. Finally, there weren’t any paths that you had to stay on, there were no signs that jolted out of the ground that signaled parking or restrooms, and there were no cars driving around disturbing one’s imagination of the area. It was a shame that we didn’t bring a camera to capture our hike, but it was also a good thing. We didn’t have any technology to ruin the moment of being secluded from what society was trying to make the national park. It was a lone moment that allowed me to view the park for what it is. I didn’t need a famous geyser or a famous spring to make the trip for me. Just that one moment.

-Clay Sohn

Meeting at Old Faithful

     Once we beat the snow and passed the bison jam, we finally arrived at Old Faithful. By chance, we stood next to an English family while we all waited for the big moment. The man’s name was Nigel, young with a welcoming, jubilant smile. His wife’s laugh matched his smile and their two small daughters were more interested in getting some peanuts than anything else. Nigel explained that his wife’s cousin lives in San Franciscois and another is getting married in Chicago, so they decided to make their seven week vacation an adventure and see what America has to offer. Nigel’s grandfather is an American from the East coast, so Nigel had an appreciation for the states, however his wife vowed to never visit; he talked her into it. They said they would talk to locals and ask what there is to see. The response would always be “Just Oregon” or “Just Idaho.” They appreciated the fact that the States are worth visiting simply for the land, not large cities or famous monuments. While Old Faithful was erupting, Nigel commented that he half expected U2 to come out on a platform. Least to say, U2 did not appear and the hype surrounding Old Faithful proved as empty as some of the geysers around the park. However, it was amazing to see one of America's natural beauties.

-Al Rodgers

Gentle Giants

Yesterday was our first day we got to sleep in…all the way till seven am. It was glorious. And then after a hearty breakfast, we began our journey up to Old Faithful. MAJ Neely was definitely more at ease this morning compared to last night, as most of the snow had melted by 10am. I am so glad we were able to get a hotel room; the campsite we were supposed to be at ended up getting eight inches that night! EIGHT!! The sun was shining and the landscape was vibrant with all of the greenery and wildlife. Sometime along the road, we saw a line of cars in front of us. I never thought I’d be stuck in a traffic jam in the middle of a national park. We were confused as to what was happening when we saw a huge pack of buffalo moseying down the middle of the road. There were around 40 all together, to include 7 red babies running along the inside of the pack. The first ten minutes kept us pretty entertained as we took tons of pictures and couldn’t believe how close we were getting to them. However, a good hour into this excursion was when it got quite annoying. It made me wonder if the buffalo conspired with one another on a way to get back at the humans for invading their territory.

            “Yeah, let’s just walk right down the middle of the highway. We haven’t done that since last Tuesday right?”

            “Yeah something like that. And besides, they put down this trail for us right?”

What made it even better was how the buffalo would take turns going in front of a car, stopping, and leaving a present before they continued their way down the road.

            Being so close to the “might mighty buffaroh”, as we called them, made me realize how we take advantage of the scenery America provides us. These creatures were huge and majestic. They seemed to be walking down the road, amongst all of the cars without a care in the world. They were huge too! And we read somewhere that they could run up to 30mph! This made me question the people who got out of their cars on the road to photograph the “gentle” giants up close…

I love this song. And I love how country music is so popular in this part of the states! I thought I was only going to get that in the south :]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oouFE51HcqM


-Cait G.

Rush Hour, Yellowstone

Old Faithful Inn, Yellowstone

Trying to cope with the weather

Hey everyone,
     Yesterday we had an eight hour drive and stopped at Fuddruckers on the way.  Didn't take too much to convince everyone that this was the best burger restaurant in the world.  As we were going through Montana I was shocked to see how many places were flooded due to the Missouri River overflowing.  The weather hasn't been agreeing with our trip much and was actually the reason why we had to choose a different route to get to Yellowstone National Park.  We were supposed to camp out in the park, but unfortunately we encountered a blizzard and decided to be safe by staying in a hotel. When we were reserving our hotel rooms there was a man playing the piano near the lobby.  One of the songs that he was playing was "Mad World" by Gary Jules and this song went perfectly with the weather we have encountered so far on our trip.  We found out today that there was eight inches of snow on the campsite that we were supposed to stay at, so I'm glad we didn't camp in that weather.
     Today we went to Old Faithful to watch the eruption.  On the way we ran into 40 Bison that decided to come out of the woods and travel on the street.  We had to follow behind these bison for at least half an hour, but it was an experience.  I was surprised to see how many tourists would get out of the car and stand about ten feet away just to get a picture.  Once we got to Old Faithful I was disappointed because I expected the eruption to be loud and powerful.  We toured the park around Old Faithful and saw all of the geysers.  Many of the geysers had dark blue water, which meant that these geysers were extremely hot.  When we got back to the hotel there was more bison hanging out by the parking.  One tourist just happened to stand to close and one of the bison jumped at her.  Personally, I thought it was funny, but it wouldn't have been a great sight if the lady was attacked.
     Just finished eating dinner and about to go do some P90X with Clay.  Thanks for following us and have a great night.

- Sherman Pruitt II

"Mad World"- Piano Version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iW5u0CUNSKA

    
   

Bison in Snow

Cadets in Snow

Snowing in Yellowstone!

We have arrived in Yellowstone NP and it is snowing!

The Best Laid Plans . . .

More beautiful farm land.  Looking closer I begin to see signs advertising acreage for sale.  Have I been ignoring the reality so I can believe the pastoral? Have I been promoting a nineteenth, even a twentieth-century, notion of American power and abundance on the backs of failing farmers on failing farms?  I like to think not.  The neatly painted farmhouses and barns, the neatly plowed row on row of planted fields clicking past reveal a pale green of future abundance.  Should we be noticing more?  How much less farm land exists now than existed in 1960?  Is there more?  How much of what is right in front of us do we not see?   Dark Matter, indeed.

We are in the Great Plains.  Even before we officially arrived, the wind seemed to stand in our peripheral vision.  Now it is a character, a constant presence:  a giant hand pushing, pushing, pushing against the van.  Sometimes as we pass a truck, or it passes us, we are given a slap, just to make sure we are paying  attention.

A child of the West, I am happiest when untrammeled by . . . trees.  The sky here dominates.  The cosmos is closer.  I am reminded of the sky in the high desert at night, even as I look out upon this expanse of blue, marked by a few brush-stroke clouds.  In Valley City, North Dakota, we begin to climb.  The first rise we’ve seen in hundreds, maybe even a thousand miles.  The vista remains, but we climb.  We pass the Continental Divide at 419 feet.  Not the impressive altitude we expect.  Seeing standing water along the road, the arid West Steinbeck described seems a lie.  As we talk with people born and raised here, we hear again and again that no one has ever seen anything like it.  They, too, have known an arid West.  For them this is the lie.

When we arrive in Bismarck, North Dakota, we hear that the Missouri River is flooding homes.  Responding to a call for volunteers to load sandbags, we join others at Horizon Middle school and help fill two long, flatbed trailers with sandbags.  At the end of the day in Medora, North Dakota, we find the Little Missouri River has closed the bridge across the river from Medora headed west.  At dinner a chatty summer worker reports that Crow Agency, Montana—including Little Big Horn National Park-- is under water and I-90 closed due to flooding.  Hard to discuss the arid West when it refuses to be arid.  It appears that the trip has indeed begun to “take us,” to reveal its personality in defiance of our planning.

~ Margaret Downs-Gamble 

Quick overview of our 2nd and 3rd day

Hey everyone,

                A lot has happened since the last time I posted a blog.  I was almost given a cavity search on our second day by the security guard in the morning while trying to leave the Air Force Base that we stayed at. We had met some interesting people, two of which we met at Starving Rock, Illinois.  While Clay, David, and I were on a jog around 8pm at night, we came across two girls that were making a fire.  One of the girls named Brooke said that they were on a trip around the U.S., but they have two months for their adventure instead of the three weeks that we have.  Come to find out, Brooke majored in Mathematics and wanted to be an Engineer.

                At the Fermi Lab our host Ms. Felicia said that there were only 10% of women overall that work in the engineering field, so I thought it was interesting when I met Brooke the night before because she aspired to be an Engineer.  It was amazing understanding the four mile Tevatron, because this was a machine that created a collision between atoms to create antimatter.  Listening to our speaker Mr. Elvin Harms was amazing because he explained how dark matter and dark energy make up 95% of the universe.  This means that we can only see 5% of the universe and the rest of the universe is a theory. 

                That is all for now, have a great day.

-Sherman Pruitt II

Help in Face of Disaster

     With extra time comes extra adventure. Since our traveling time was relatively short, we collectively decided to check out the Bismark visitor’s center to get some information on the area. The weather we had feared would slow down our journey was the same weather which was now flooding the Missouri River- flooding the homes of Bismark, North Dakota. So far we have had the fortune of personally missing bad weather, but also talking to people preparing for or recovering from the bazaar weather that has wrecked the whole of the United States.

     We found one such person staring bemoaningly at the murky Missouri. On a faux ship platform, his enormous oil rid mechanic hands fitting his scruffy, sturdy build. He had been up until 0200 helping his sister sandbag in preparation for the additional four feet of water predicted to arrive within two days. The houses across the way were burmed up, but other houses we saw were already flooded, or the burms that were there would soon disappear under the muddy water.

     We were pointed to the local middle school to contribute to sandbagging. What we found at the middle school was not friendly people filling orange sandbags, but angry and wreckless drivers either leaving or getting picked up from school. After the unusually rude Bismarkean driving, we were eventually pointed to the water tower close by. Jumping right in, we helped a group of people fill their trailer bed with sandbags. I became the master bag tier listening to two older men gossip about family and a younger group of men gossiping about family. There is not much to do but gossip about family when the whole of the state capital lives on one hilltop.

     Soon the water invading Bismark will be flowing into the Mississippi River. Follow us as we see the effects of not-so-important North Dakota spill into the livelihood of historic New Orleans. Our trip continues, but flooding remains an obstacle for the near and far future of our trip. To all of those affected by the flooding and tornadoes that are decimating homes, keep hope, and lean on neighbors for support. Our nation has the uncanny ability to unite under disaster. The American identity thrives on camaraderie when all is dismal: when there is a call for help, it is our duty to answer.

-Al Rodgers

Loading Sandbags

Stopping in Bismarck, ND, for lunch we heard that the Missouri River was flooding homes in town, so detoured from our trip to respond to the call for volunteers to load sandbags at Horizon Middle School.

Chance Meetings

We just met the Iron Warriors while stopping at a gas station in Minnesota. Although some of my fellow travelers thought it would be a bad idea to approach a biker gang, Sherman and I did it anyways as we can’t let fear limit who we interview on our trip through America. It ended up being a great decision as I found out that the Iron Warriors were actually a nationwide biker group that gathered policemen and firemen together to enjoy the thrill of cross country biking. I felt foolish for having a bit of doubt of approaching these men who volunteered to protect the people like me. I also found out from one of the bikers that his uncle was a POW during the Korean War as I noticed he wore a Second ID patch on his jacket. The chance meeting with the Iron Warriors just goes to show us that the American spirit of adventure is still alive and well as they travel our country for the thrill of the ride, view, and camaraderie with one another. Heading into North Dakota now. Don’t know much about the state, but my friends joked with me that it will be one of the flattest drives I’ll ever do. While in North Dakota we will be staying in the Bad Lands, I wonder why it is called that. I’ll let you know once I see it for myself to give everyone my interpretation of this foreign land.

-Clay Sohn

The Midwest and accents.

Accents are a peculiar thing I think. We categorize different regions by the way people talk: you have the New Yorkers and their tough guy persona, the Southerners and all of them down yonder, and even the typical Boston folks and their paawked caawr.

            Minnesota: I was not prepared for what I was about to encounter. We got to the hotel around 11:00 PM and for some reason, I was determined to go in the hot tub if they had one. I guess the long car ride had finally taken a toll on me and I was sure that a hot tub would cure my sore knees and cramped body. I was exploring the area, to get a sense of the pool but also to look for a gym for Al, when I heard it. I was about to go back up the stairs to get to the room and change into my bathing suit when I heard the women at the front desk. I felt like I was in a movie, like “Drop Dead Gorgeous”, where the characters spoke in that stereotypical Minnesotan voice.

            “Did you see the Mary Kay women that checked in? They were mean as ever, dooohn’t you knooohw?”

            “Oh yaah. I heard them all talking. Mean as ever. Doooohn’t you knoohw?”

            I believe it was the movie “New in Town” with Renee Zellwegger where the town she moves in to in Minnesota, the local women always gossip. As I was walking back to my room I was reminded of both movies. The gossip amongst the people in a town, mostly of the local women, which is a big part in any small town anywhere in America I think. But also the line from “Drop Dead Gorgeous”…“I’m Amber Atkins from Mount Rooohse, Minnesooohta.”

            I think I was intrigued by their accent because I don’t have one at all. I grew up an Armybrat and lived in a lot of different places so an accent never stuck with me. Or rather various parts stuck with me, but not a specific one that any person can place. I think accents definitely define a group of people. It’s what helps make them who they are. I spent the last six years, before West Point, growing up in Germany. Visiting different countries, even all of the English-speaking countries, I was fascinated by the different accents. You know where a person is from based on the way they present themselves: from their accents to their hand gestures. Accents may be stereotypical every now and then but I think people just don’t embrace them as much as they should. Your accent is a part of where you came from; it helps remind you where your roots are from.

Here's a clip from "Drop Dead Gorgeous" in case anyone needs a refresher!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKLSfnb-FMk

-Cait A. Gamble

The Heartland, Dark Matter, and the Breeze Beneath the Door

I have been in cities too long--and do not live in a city. As we have traveled and read and talked about Steinbeck and the fifty-year anniversary of his trip, I have listened to Sherman and Cait and Clay and Al and David work through their thoughts on "rootedness" and "home" and "family" and their visions of where we have gone wrong as a nation and a people.  We have talked and I have watched Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and now Minnesota unfold outside the windows.  I had forgotten how rich the farmland is in the midwest.  The dirt seems saturated and dark with life.  Farms here appear prosperous.  I am surprised at both quantity and prosperity.  Perhaps from this distance it is imagined.

Fermi National Accelerator Lab rose as naturally as anything else planted in the heartland.  We were greeted on the steps of Wilson Hall by our docent, Felicia Svoboda, who led us through a tour of the facility that ended with a full hour Q and A with Dr. Elvin Harms that began with what appeared to be the mildest and simplest introductory remark:  "At Fermi we make knowledge."  Other facilities in other places develop commercial applications--and MANY of Fermi's discoveries are used daily to improve the quality of our lives--but at Fermi Lab they focus on what we might think of as the pursuit of intrinsic knowledge.  Knowledge for knowledge's sake.  I do not mean to suggest that they are not conscious that their work improves the nation and the world, but when your focus examines the smallest particles of the cosmos to understand the biggest of all pictures-- the universe-- the extent of our ignorance is vast.  I like to know that we do not know.  If 95% of the universe is still unknown to us, if beyond the room of our knowledge, we barely perceive the breeze beneath the door, how much more we have to do.  What will inspire the next generation to innovations we have as yet not even dreamed?

Every scientists I have spoken with in planning for this trip has mentioned, and Dr. Harms was in this regard no different, that "green energy" should be the focus of our future--and might, like the "Space Race" be the thing that inspires our nation and jerks us up out of our complacency.  After our day at Fermi, after visions of the cosmos and the smallest particles that make it up, during Q and A we return to our little spot on the planet, in our little place on that planet, and wonder about our own responsibilities for the future.

As we later drove through miles of pastoral farmland, Dark Matter surrounded me and the Tau Neutrino
(along with several others) passed through me.  These problems will not be mine.  These problems of global collaboration and future resources, of inspiring the future generations of great minds to do that good work is not my work.  The young men and women traveling in this van and their friends and colleagues have worlds on worlds to discover and hard, good work to do.  I am blessed to have been here today, with my nose pressed to the crack beneath the door, to feel that breeze of a future I will not see.  It does not frightened me to know that I will never know.  Listening to my fellow travelers, I am content to leave it in their hands.

~ Margaret Downs-Gamble

From left to right: David Faust, Alexandria Rodgers, Cait Gamble, Sherman Pruitt, Clay Sohn

Our Journey So Far

Greetings!

  Thanks for following us on our trip across America. We have a great team put together, each person with a very unique character to constantly make the trip exciting. Though we have had a rough start even before the actual road trip began we are now officially on the second day of the trip! Having put out the fires of administrational problems and cleaning out our "trusty" van from the trash and dead frog found in it, our journey has begun. It was amazing to see the sheer power of Niagara Falls and learn about how we are harnessing the Falls' natural power to energize the local cities around it.

  Heading to Starving Rock now where we will be camping out for the night, if the weather doesn't get us. Well, we survived the random thunderstorms in Indiana so I think we should be good. Wish us luck and thanks again for following!

-Clay Sohn

Trip to Niagara Falls

Yesterday was the first day of our trip across the country.  I quickly learned that communicating and working together was going to be essential for our navigation.  Thankfully we have a navigation system  on our cell phones because our hand held gps was not helping at all.  Once we arrived in Niagara Falls I was surprised to find tourists from all around the world and the view was amazing on the American side of the Niagara Falls.  Major Neely asked me how I was going to describe the Niagara Falls and I couldn't give him an answer.  At that moment I couldn't really find the right words to say that would describe it.  All I could say was, "You just have to be here."  Also, eating at the Hard Rock Cafe' for the first time was an experience because the waiter wanted to give us free dessert, so he insisted that it was my birthday.  Yesterday was a great start to our trip.

-Sherman Pruitt II

Headed to Niagara Falls

Headed north on I-81 to Syracuse, where we will turn left and head dead west until we get to Bend, OR, when we will take our second left.  On our way!

Thanks

Like Steinbeck, we believe that, “In long-range planning for a trip, . . . there is a private conviction that it won’t happen” (17).  At far too many points in the planning for this trip, we have been convinced that it would not happen.  It almost did not.  We have many people to thank for the fact that it has. COL John Graham saw the potential for what we have come to think of as the hybrid-disciplinarity of our quest and secured us funding from Army Research and Development Command (RDECOM) that added the important element of visits with scientists to assist us to understand where we are headed in the next fifty years.  We owe a debt of gratitude to Academy Professors, LTC Peter Molin and LTC John Nelson, who told COL Graham our story; we thank them for the power of their narrative.  LTC Brian Imiola reached out to his community at West Point to secure us a van for our trip; for our “Rocinate” we are most grateful.  Many, many more people assisted us in a variety of ways, and we will continue to acknowledge them as we make our way, but we will end for now with our thanks to the Department of English and Philosophy at the United States Military Academy, our intellectual “home,” chaired by COL James “Rick” Kerin, that has supported us throughout the vision and planning for this trip.

~ Margaret Downs-Gamble and MAJ Shawn Neely

In Spirit We Travel and Diverge

In the beginning of Travels with Charley: In Search of America, Steinbeck asserts that “A trip, a safari, an exploration, is an entity, different from all other journeys. . . . A journey is a person in itself: no two are alike.  And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless.  We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us” (3).  As we prepare to head out of West Point, toward our first stop, Niagara Falls, NY, we are excited and optimistic about the trip we have planned.  I find myself even more compelled by the character of the trip that lies beyond our plan.

Because of the constraints of time—we have three weeks to Steinbeck’s three months—we have lopped corners off our journey.  Because the United States Military Academy lies in the Hudson Valley, about an hour outside of New York City, we rationalized that our students had a better chance of visiting locations in New England and the Northeast generally than the Badlands or the Southwest.  We leave West Point in the spirit of Steinbeck.  And to those interested in the recent brouhaha that Steinbeck stayed in four-star hotels when he later wrote that he had been camping, I would remind our readers that his writing and ours falls under the generic heading of “creative nonfiction.”  I do not care where Steinbeck slept.  I do care that he brought an analytical lens to the America of 1960.  In that spirit we follow him.

If, however, Steinbeck’s definition of manhood kept him from admitting that, instead of the iconic, Western quest of the lone hero, he actually traveled with his wife Elaine as often as with his dog Charley, we are presented again with a false version of heroism that ignores the community and familial support on which human beings rely and through which great nations are made.  Steinbeck’s definition of manhood posits a brittle, inflexible, isolated figure who, having lived “violently, drunk hugely, eaten too much,” etc., stubbornly continues to equate masculine “fierceness” with self-destruction (17).  Maybe the first historical divergence we want to note on our anniversary tour is that powerful men and women in 2011—especially the ones I have met here at West Point—acknowledge the essential role of the community and family to the success of their lives.  We travel as a community, asking individually and collectively how our country has changed in these last fifty years, while actively inquiring how our country will be transformed in the next fifty. To be absolutely clear: we do not travel alone. 

~ Margaret Downs-Gamble

Trip Itinerary

Sunday 22 May 2011: USMA, West Point, NY, to Niagara Falls, NY

Monday 23 May 2011: Niagara Falls to Starved Rock State Park, IL

Tuesday 24 May 2011: Starved Rock State Park, IL to Fermi National Accelerator Lab,

Prairie Restoration, Bison Herd to Alexandria, MN

Wednesday 25 May 2011: Alexandria, MN to Roosevelt National Park (Badlands), ND

Thursday 26 May 2011: Roosevelt National Park (Badlands), ND to Little Big Horn National

 Park, Crow Agency, MT to Yellowstone National Park, WY

Friday 27 May 2011: Yellowstone National Park, WY

Saturday 28 May 2011: Yellowstone National Park, WY to Bend, OR

Sunday 29 May 2011: Bend, OR to Redwood National Park, Arcata, CA

Monday 30 May 2011: Redwood National Park to San Francisco, CA

Tuesday 31 May 2011: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab a.m., National Steinbeck

Center p.m. to Los Angeles, CA

Wednesday 1 June 2011: Los Angeles, CA

Thursday 2 June 2011: Los Angeles, CA to Grand Canyon, AZ

Friday 3 June 2011: Grand Canyon, AZ to Los Alamos National Lab to Old Town

 Albuquerque, NM

Saturday 4 June 2011: Albuquerque, NM to Austin, TX

Sunday 5 June 2011: Austin, TX to New Orleans, LA

Monday 6 June 2011: New Orleans, LA

Tuesday 7 June 2011: New Orleans, LA to Atlanta, GA

Wednesday 8 June 2011: Atlanta, GA to Savannah River National Lab to Williamsburg, VA

Thursday 9 June 2011: Williamsburg, VA to Washington D.C.

Friday 10 June 2011: Washington D.C.

Saturday 11 June 2011: Washington D.C. to USMA, West Point, NY

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"In Search of America USMA AIAD."

“We Are America”

Every May, close to a thousand cadets at West Point graduate as commissioned officers, raising their right hands to swear an oath that they will “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic,” and that they will “bear true faith and allegiance” to the same. These young men and women knowingly volunteer to enter a profession where they are required to fight, defend, and potentially die for their country—but most of them have never closely considered this “America” that they have sworn to defend with their lives.

In response to the 50th Anniversary of John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley: In Search of America (1962), we have organized a trip for cadets that attempts to retrace the spirit of his quest.  Our journey, like his, is a search, even an odyssey, to discover what “home” is to an engaged citizen. The locus of our trip presents an occasion for our students to develop a deep understanding of what it means to be a nation. This is a chance for cadets to look at America through Steinbeck’s lens, but then to ask, “What is my America?”  Their written answers to that question will serve as the substance for a book we plan to make available fifty years from the publication of Steinbeck’s own, which will simultaneously engage in a dialogue with Steinbeck while constructing the cadets’ own truths.

In Travels with Charley, Steinbeck wondered what the U.S. would look like in fifty years, but never could have imagined the globalization or the technological complexity that Americans negotiate today.  He observed that people are generally opposed to change, but also recognized that resisting progress leads to bitterness; thus concluding that our energies are better spent on the joys of advancement.  Army Research and Development Command (RDECOM) has graciously funded this trip, and by adding national research labs to the itinerary, we can now offer cadets the opportunity to contemplate a future beyond Steinbeck’s wildest imagination. As one of the participants, CDT Sherman Pruitt, Class of 2014, observed, “Steinbeck was right when he said that people are generally opposed to change, but he couldn't have predicted how quickly our generation would adapt to new advances in technology.”  As CDT Pruitt continued, “I am excited to participate in a trip that allows us to visit with scientists and philosophers of today so that we can contemplate what the future holds.”  Visits at several national laboratories around the United States will provide our students with a firsthand look into just how our national science labs envision the future.  

Although we lack the time to retrace Steinbeck’s three month trip in the three weeks of our own, we are thematically recreating a significant portion to offer cadets the opportunity, like Steinbeck, to understand their country and determine their own place within it.  Young, but independent thinkers, cadets are trained to analyze and reflect upon the world around them. Through reading and discussing Travels with Charley, and then capturing their responses, interpretations, and conversations with the Americans they meet in 2011, we offer them a trip of deep contemplation as well as discovery, where they will collect a lifetime of memories.  However, in the end, this trip not only offers cadets an opportunity to discover America, it provides an opportunity for America to discover our cadets.

~ by Margaret Downs-Gamble & Shawn Neely