I am a motorcoach:

I am Two Four Three (Yes, my first, middle, and last names). How do I know I’m a motorcoach? Well, first off, I am Prevost . . . not Peterbuilt, Kenworth, or Freightliner (those are trucks), and not Ford, Chevy, Toyota, or Volks Wagon (those are cars, pickups, SUVs, and vans). I am powered by Detroit Diesel, 8V71—that is: 8 cylinders, 71 cubic inches per cycle (plenty to move my 17+ tons and super-precious cargo throughout the country). And let me make this more specific distinction: I am not a bus. Buses are about basic here-to-there. A motorcoach is destination by comfort.

But above all, I know I’m a motorcoach because Henry told me so. Henry is my trainer and our company’s Safety Manager. Henry’s voice has permanent residence in the mind-center of this motorcoach:
“You’ve gotta know what it is to be this motorcoach! You’ve gotta feel every inch of this motorcoach from front to rear bumpers and from the roof to the tires meeting the pavement. You’ve gotta know how a thirty mile-per-hour gust of wind, acceleration from a stoplight, right and left turns, and lane changes on the highway feel to the person in row 22, or the passenger using the lavatory. You are this motorcoach!”

MEETING THE NEWS on the roadways of America, first-hand, real time, real world news—going out and discovering the news . . .

Hwy 55 between St. Louis and Hwy 80, south of Chicago, on the way to Michigan.

News of the Road: News every mile on the mile; crossing the river-carved border of Missouri and Illinois at St. Louis, mile markers 1 – 5 are lost in a maze of highway interchanges—55 north toward Chicago, 64 east to Louisville, 3 south to Memphis . . . at mile marker 19, news of Springfield, 77 miles ahead, and not yet a rumor of our destination: Silver Lake, Michigan.

News of Industry, Renewable Energy:
Wind farms—white mills, spinning towers 300 feet tall, with blades 160 feet long—filling the landscape, obscuring the horizon with rotating movement. Commodities—combines harvesting corn headed for high heat refining, ethanol . . . A highway sign bears a truck stop logo and an added advertisement: BIODIESEL.

News of Winter: Highway resurfacing (government money to be spent or lost) in preparation of the coming cold—“Uneven Pavement,” “Lanes Closed Next Two miles,” “Bridgework Ahead,” “Work Zone Speed Limit 50.”

Selfies

The Dunes at Silver Lake, Michigan – 1.5 miles wide and 3 miles long, the mountainous dunes made of desert-like sand separate Silver Lake from Lake Michigan. Once a forested phenomenon discovered and written about by early North American pioneers, the need for pine to rebuild Chicago after the great Chicago fire left the dunes naked. Strong winds off of Lake Michigan have ensured they remain that way. Wind constantly moves the sand, ever changing the topography of the dunes, which have become one of the top tourist playgrounds in the United States. They have moved more than 1,200 feet northward since 1940. Here, I am at the northernmost edge of their migration.

Quote Of The Day samples

“It is better to light a candle than to curse the dark.” —Eleanor Roosevelt

“I destroy my enemies by making them my friends.” —Abraham Lincoln

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