Pat Bean's blog

Art for front and back cover of Travels with Maggie by Sherry Wachter

            “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page.”– St. Augustine– Saint Augustine

Finishing Up Loose Ends

I put everything in life on hold the past few days to finish up proofing, writing an author bio, writing a back of the book blurb, and putting together a table of contents for my book Travels with Maggie.  And then I let it go.

Natural Falls, which was one of the stopping points in Travels with Maggie. — Photo by Pat Bean

As a newspaper journalist for 37 years, I turned out almost daily copy that was read by thousands of people. I always wrote my stories the best I could, and won quite a few awards over the years as my writing improved. But there was always a deadline, and on reaching it, whatever I had written had to be put out to the world. Since, my book had no deadline, I’ve been piddling with it for years, afraid to let it go because it might not be perfect,

Finally, I told myself, enough is enough.

Back of the Book Blurb

Travels with Maggie by Pat Bean is a book about one woman’s fulfillment of a dream that began when she was 10 years old. It chronicles a 7,000-mile RV journey, mostly on backroads, through 23 states and Canada. The odyssey begins in May of 2006 from a daughter’s home in Arkansas, and ends in time for Thanksgiving at another daughter’s home in Texas. Bean’s writing brings a much-needed feminine voice to the world of such travel writer greats as John Steinbeck, William Least Heat Moon, Paul Theroux, Bill Bryson and Charles Kuralt. Travels with Maggie is also the story of a woman’s relationship with her canine companion, and it’s a story about chasing birds across America by a fledgling birdwatcher. The book is written in such a way that readers can follow the author’s adventures on a map – or in their own vehicle. While a realist who sees the changes that have taken place across America, the author prefers to look for their silver lining. “Change is change, sometimes good and sometimes bad, but mostly a combination.” Calling herself a wondering-wanderer, Bean asks many questions as she travels. Sometimes there are no answers, but always there is enlightenment.

Gypsy Lee — Photo by Pat Bean

Table of Contents

How it all Began … Letting Go of the World’s Worries … W hat Queen Wilhelmina Missed … Yes, Virginia, There is a Silver Lining … Two More Oklahoma Parks – And a Lifer …  Childhood Memories, A Kindred Soul and Marlin Perkins  …  Heart of the Ozarks …  Roy Rogers, A Tragic Past and an Ouch … A Scenic Riverway, a German Town, and a Margarita Night … Saint Louis: Chihuly, a Birdcage, an Arch and Beer … In the Footsteps of Mark Twain … Meandering Through Illinois Where Kickapoos Once Roamed … The Prophet – And Howling with Tristan … Hotter than Hell in Indiana …  Highway 12, Cade Lake, The Brick Dick and Henry Ford … Celebrating a Summer Halloween … Traveling Beside Lake Erie … Niagara Falls and New In-Laws …The Adirondacks … Ticonderoga, Norman Rockwell and Rainy Vermont … The Stone Man … Good-Bye White Mountains, Hello Maine  …  A Week on Desert Island … Strong Women and Paul Bunyan … It’s a Log … Or a Moose …  Scarborough Marsh, Bad Vibes and Boston … Help! My RV’s Lost at the Airport … An Embarrassing Moment and a Hug from a Granddaughter  … Hawk Mountain and the Big Apple … Sitting out a Storm in a Wal-Mart Parking Lot … Lost and Found in Philadelphia …  All Dressed up for Pony Watching … Crossing Chesapeake Bay and a Sick Dog … Dismal Swamp, Roanoke Rapids and Simple Things …  The Carolinas – Books, Tobacco and Art …  Georgia on my Mind …  Alabama: Home of the Bible Belt and a Boll Weevil Monument … Mississippi Bird Encounters and a Historic Trail … Know When to Hold ‘Em and Know When to Fold ‘Em …  Memories of a Dear Friend …   Epilogue

So, would you buy and read this book?

Bean Pat: Rumpy Dog http://tinyurl.com/y8wdudr4 Polls to ponder for the 4^th of July.