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What readers are saying…

January 1, 2018 by

 “My favorite thing about Asphalt Asylum was the REALNESS. No artificial puffed-up philosophies or lyrical writing for writing’s sake. Every word in this book mattered, and it was fantastic.” – Sherri Holstad

 

“This book helped me look at humanity in a new light. The way the varied experiences influenced his life, and how he let others share with him let me see his travels like I was there. “  Tom Pittson 

 

 

“A great read. “Wild” move over.” – Ron Talney, Poet

 

“Scary, funny, cruel and enormously kind, this story runs the gamut of situations and emotions, staying convincingly real…” – Sheila Deeth

 

“What excites me about a well-written memoir (and this is a very well-written memoir) is when, as I read the writer’s story, I learn as much about myself as I do about the writer.”  – Ann Farley

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Chapter 9, Flying Lessons

January 26, 2013 by

Chp 9 Apollo rocketSaturday, April 1st

By now I’d become a connoisseur of roadside ambiance; interstates leave a burnt rubber aftertaste and roar like a gritty ocean; rural roads smell of grasses and dust blown across forgotten landmarks; city streets offer an urban bouquet of exhaust mixed with cigarette smoke. My asphalt palate reached the height of its refinement while waiting five sweltering hours at the intersection of I-55 and I-20 in Jackson, Mississippi.

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40, From Ashes

January 13, 2013 by

Sunday, May 21th

The car looked like fire.

“My dad gave it to me for my birthday,” he said, standing in front of the Inferno Red 1973 Pontiac Trans Am. A black phoenix lay painted on the hood spreading its wings in a tall flaming arc, each feather outlined with yellow pin stripes—each flicker giving off heat.

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39, Yes

January 13, 2013 by

Saturday afternoon/evening, May 20th

Waiting slows time. Reaching the WSU campus I walked to Mary Sue’s dorm, entered the lobby… and… waited… not… knowing… when… she’d… show… up…. Sitting in a yellow plastic chair I fidgeted while watching students stare, looking at my sleeping bag and worn clothes, hair not washed for who knows how long. So I sat, feeling like a chair-mounted museum oddity.

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38, Death & Porn

January 13, 2013 by

Saturday morning, May 20th

Death Alley stuck as a nickname given to a ten-mile stretch of Highway 8 separating the University of Idaho and Washington State University. The road remained the same on both sides of the state line, but not the drinking age. Until 1987 the drinking age in Idaho stayed steady at nineteen, but in Washington it hovered at twenty-one. That difference created a vacuum, pulling students across the border each night to Moscow. Getting to Idaho presented no problem; the road earned its nickname when they tried to return.

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37, Hillbilly Heaven

January 13, 2013 by

Friday, May 19th

I walked through a green valley where the snowcapped cathedrals of Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains commanded the sky. Once again, the world became mine as every horizon filled with solitude.

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36, Eternally Yours

January 13, 2013 by

Thursday, May 18th

Throughout the trip I’d considered writing letters to tell people how I was, but didn’t. Underneath what I thought might be simple laziness swirled my desire to leave behind that old life, old attitudes, and only make contact once I’d become new, or at least closed the circle of the journey. Now I felt ready.

I’d made my way to Boise, Idaho, and held tentative plans to reach Pullman, Washington. That’s where WSU was, and not much else—except Mary Sue.

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35, Temple Rule

January 13, 2013 by

Wednesday, May 17th

The morning rose empty, not even a breeze to tumble across my valley. Looking west, the blank road struck out to nowhere.

This expanse needed some music. Each time I played produced a unique song. The rhythms, styles, keys and moods—combined with my inability to read a single note—ensured every tune enjoyed free rein to broadcast an original composition. My rhythms weren’t afraid to reach over the hills, announcing a presence. As the coyotes bedded down in those early hours, they heard me howling. The strains echoed me, and in turn, as I heard them, assured me I still existed.

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34, Wide Nights

January 13, 2013 by

Tuesday, May 16th

The day rode on, past the towns of Rifle, Eagle, Antlers and Gypsum. Scenery still looked majestic, but after that stint in the back of the truck, I spent more time just staring into my lap. A dozen miles west of Grand Junction darkness marched across the sky, and I decided to stop looking for rides.

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33, Driving Blind

January 13, 2013 by

Tuesday morning, May 16th

Crisp air, combined with the sun’s special clarity when seen from 10,000 feet in the sky, helped to keep me awake. According to my past forty-eight hours, I should have been feeling exhausted and famished, but life felt comfortable. Everything in my self-contained world belonged. I even knew where I was going.

Around noon I found myself surrounded by the snows of Vail Pass. From where I stood, I could see the marker for the summit—10,662 feet. Everything reflected a dry brightness. The sky’s sharp blue sliced a clean line as it drew a horizon across the crystalline hills. While I stayed in Key West I had abandoned most of my warmer clothes, so I dressed myself with a hodgepodge of shirts, a wool cap and extra socks. These highlands harbored no people, so I decided to take a ramble and bushwhack away from the road.

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