“What is the feeling when you’re driving away from people, and they recede on the plain till you see their flecks dispersing? It’s the too huge world vaulting us, and its good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies.” – Jack Kerouac, author of “On the Road.”
Maggie in her favorite spot on the over the cab bed in my RV. She had an attitude, as you can see from this photo. This photo was taken near the end of our journeys when my canine companion was almost 15 years old. — Photo by Pat Bean
Five-Star Reading
In July I wrote a blog about putting the finishing touches on my book, Travels with Maggie, and mentioned how hard it was going to be to let “my baby” go out for the world to read. But I knew if I kept thinking that it was not perfect, it would never get published.
So, I finally let it go.
It’s now been up on Amazon for a couple of months, and even has garnered a few five-star reviews. But this morning I remembered that July post when I shared the back of the book blurb and list of contents and asked my blog followers if they would read this book.
I know some of those who responded have, but not all. So, I decided to use my blog to blatantly promote my book a second time.
Maggie didn’t like it when a passenger took her co-pilot seat, but when I stepped out of the RV she always got in the driver’s seat. The above photo was taken near the beginning of our journeys when Maggie was not yet seven years old. — Photo by Pat Bean.
Travels with Maggie 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.
I think my writing voice 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. It’s a book about chasing birds across American, and a book about my relationship with Maggie, my on-the-road companion for eight years.
Never an early riser, like me, Maggie preferred to sleep in until about 10 a.m. – Photo by Pat Bean
And this is the table of contents: How it all Began … Letting Go of the World’s Worries … What 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 please buy and read this book? And if you’ve read it, would you please write a review.
Bean Pat: Bo’s Café Life:
https://boscafelife.wordpress.com/2018/01/23/bos-cafe-life-flashback-25/
A daily cartoon about writing.
Pat Bean is a Lonely Planet Community Pathfinder. Her book, Travels with Maggie, is now upon Amazon at http://tinyurl.com/y8z7553y Currently, she is writing a book, tentatively titled Bird Droppings, which is about her late-bloomer birding adventures. You can contact her at patbean@msn.com
Pat Bean's blog 
Yay for self promotion! It’s a fun read.
I downloaded your book on my Kindle but have not read it yet. I’m on The Genius of Birds right now but I will get to yours soon. I seem to not be reading as much lately but I will get to it.
Thanks Candace. I hope you enjoy it.
How very brave of you Pat! Best of luck with the book!!
Thanks Tina
Dear Ms Bean…I am at present reading your book Travels with Maggie..I am enjoying it; however, I am having a hard time getting past the part where you are so disappointed with Big Bend…no, it is certainly nothing like Utah; however, you have to get out and explore Big Bend and recognize it as one of the last actual wilderness areas..it is wild, raw and slightly dangerous..just as it was when people tried to tame it. there are vistas for any in Utah to possible compare to….when you are panting and wondering did I bring enough water, and you view the impossible expanse of sheer beauty from the South Rim, the vertigo and off balance feeling after climbing the trail to the Lost MIne Peak…walking the Window Trail to the pour off into the desert far below, and still shaking a little from the encounter and rare sighting of a mountain lion…the vegetation and birds that are found in The Basin that can be found in very few places in the United State…or, late evening driving through the only tunnel in the park and seeing the sun gradually light up the cliffs of the Sierra del Carmen Range in Mexico..turning them to a color of Mexican Sangria…spending a little time in a cantina in Boquillas, Mexico…, walking into one of the canyons along the Rio Grande, or take a raft down the river,,experiencing the long drive in from Marathon, early morning, and finally getting a glimpse of the Chisos Mountains, riding a layer of fog and mist..and realizing why the are called the Ghost Mountains..no, it isn’t Utah..and you didn’t give it a chance to work it’s magic….but then again,,it is one of my best places and I have seen many around the world…it is best experience by foot, horseback, car or fourwheel drive.
Thanks. I had to share my thoughts on this beautiful place and maybe help you to realize why it is one of the National Parks. There are some beautiful places in our country that the tourist roads just don’t do justice…even so I will enjoy your book.
You are so absolutely right, Carol. Since that time, I have moved to the Sonoran Desert, and am amazed at how beautiful the desert can be if you take the time to look. Now I wish I had more time in Big Bend. I’m sure I would view it differently. Meanwhile thank you for continuing to read my book. And for taking time to comment.
thank you for your reply..should have proof read my comment..my computer drops letters willy nilly and usually I check…if you are ever near there again..give it another try..also Guadalupe National Park is beautiful as is Carlsbad Caverns…I am like you..travel is the best experience ever..so much to see
I call those nasty typos gremlins, who slip in no matter how many times I proofread something. I’ve visited both Guadalupe National Park and Carlsbad Caverns — and did enjoy them. I also did enjoy Big Bend. I guess my thoughts about it were diluted a bit because I had just come from Southern Utah, where truly the color and beauty shouts at you. I hope, if you haven’t already, you do get to visit places like Zion, Bryce, Canyonlands and Arches’ national parks. Every place is different, however, and I should have taken more time in Big Bend, which I do now regret. I truly believe travel is as much about finding ourselves as it is about seeing new things.