Wayward Stories

Wayward Stories
It’s been awhile since I’ve done an experiential video for the channel, and what better way to pick back up than on a steam train ride through the Black Hills of South Dakota?! Located with termini in Hill City and Keystone, this excursion railway operates on the oldest continuously operation standard gauge line in the United States. The hour-long ride has a layover in the sister city that gives you time to explore and have lunch, and then catch an hour long ride back to your point of departure. Using vintage rail equipment, this is kinda the best way to take in the best of the black hills…if you ask me anyway. It was also SUPER reasonable, clocking in at just under $40 for a ride… If you’d like to get in touch shoot me an email at mywaywardstory@gmail.com - or - Head on over to: www.waywardstories.com Thanks for watching!
Welcome back to Wayward Stories! Tonight we are, yet again, going to embrace that Nomad Spirit, Sedentary Life energy we harnessed a couple of years back when school had me unable to go pretty much anywhere. As we talked about in the last episode, I’ve recently been working on some itineraries for road trips from our national historic site that would trace the historic trails set by some of the earliest explorers. So tonight, we’re going to explore in the footsteps of one Edward Fitzgerald Beale, the man who “built” the first transcontinental wagon road across the U.S. I promise tonight’s show won’t bore you to tears with my historic predilections, because ol’ Eddie Beale wasn’t just blazing our nation’s first transcontinental highway for horses and buggies…he was building what we become a road trip classic bucket-lister…Route 66. There will be national parks, national monuments, state parks, national historic sites, national battlefields, BLM backcountry byways, national Forests, and more! Also, camels 🐫 Listen in tonight and learn how not just one, but four early southwestern explorers would explore, blaze, engineer, and improve a trail that would eventually become a world-renowned cultural icon. I hope you’ll join me tonight to hear all about it!   If you’d like to get in touch with me, just shoot an email to   mywaywardstory@gmail.com   -or-   Head on over to   www.waywardstories.com
Welcome back to Wayward Stories! Tonight we’re going to get back onto some of that Nomad Spirit, Sedentary Life energy we harnessed a couple of years back when school had me unable to go pretty much anywhere. I’ve recently been working on some itineraries for road trips from our national historic site that would trace the historic trails set by some of the earliest American explorers. So tonight, since I’ve been unable to do anything for quite some time, we’re going to explore one of those itineraries. First traveled by Americans in 1821, the southern route of the Santa Fe Trail would go on to be a legendary legacy travel corridor. Tonight we’re going to visit 26 different destinations on a massive round-trip adventure that will take us from natural wonders to cultural Meccas. From places like the Great Salt Plains and it’s alabaster caverns to cultural centers like Santa Fe and Taos, the American southwest has a road trip tradition 200 years in the making. I hope you’ll join me tonight to hear all about it! If you’d like to get in touch with me, just shoot an email to mywaywardstory@gmail.com -or- Head on over to www.waywardstories.com
Welcome back to Wayward Stories! Tonight we’re going to explore some more blue highways as we take a little day trip to Nebraska. Just because. I awoke at 5 am on my day off a few weeks ago and thought: “what the heck am I gonna do today?” And then realized…I’d never been to Nebraska before. That was all the reason I needed. A six and a half hour drive is child’s play…so off I went. Join me tonight to hear about Atchison, Kansas, the glacial hills scenic byway, the Lewis and Clark Trail, and a little place called Rulo, Nebraska. What’s in Rulo? Not much, as it turns out. But man was it worth the drive! Join me tonight to hear all about it!   If you’d like to get in touch with me, just shoot an email to   mywaywardstory@gmail.com   -or-   Head on over to   www.waywardstories.com
Welcome back to Wayward Stories! Tonight we’re going to explore a concept wholly new to me, ‘cause apparently I live under a rock. Blue Highways. It’s been a philosophical concept of American road-tripping since 1978, but I’m just now hearing about it. The idea is simple: stay off the interstate. Take the back roads, the state highways, the county roads. Meet the people. Visit the small towns. Discover the quirks and idiosyncrasies. Essentially- See the fabric of America, not just the endless seams. Why blue highways? At the time this idea was conceived, blue was the color used by Rand McNally to denote these smaller backroads in their famous atlases and maps. Tonight we’ll talk about that philosophical framework by telling a story of one of my day trips - to Jefferson, Texas, specifically - on one of those blue highways. Jefferson is a historic hotspot, filled with Victorian architecture, steamboat legends, haunted hotels, and folklore galore. It was one of my more memorable one-day jaunts, so I hope you’ll join me tonight to hear all about it!   If you’d like to get in touch with me, just shoot an email to   mywaywardstory@gmail.com   -or-   Head on over to   www.waywardstories.com
I took a little hike on the Ozark Highland Trail from the Ragtown Road trailhead to explore a little mystery (to me, anyway). Been trying to chase down the last few miles of the old Combs, Cass, and Eastern Railway (formerly Black Mountain and Eastern). All of the early maps show the line wrapping around the south side of Black Mountain and entering Cass from the south, but the abutments and RR grade seem to indicate it traced along the north side of Black Mountain and entered Cass from the west. I did confirm it was on the north side, but that doesn’t explain the maps or the current road that follows nearly the exact route indicated on those maps to the south of the mountain. That road has a lot of rock cuts, retaining walls, and other improvements that would also match an abandoned rail grade. The mystery persists. If anyone has any thoughts send me an email at mywaywardstory@gmail.com www.waywardstories.com
Welcome back to Wayward Stories! Tonight we’re going to explore some of the forgotten and abandoned places deep in the mountains of Arkansas. We’re going into the Ozarks to bushwhack our way to the abandoned Shore’s Lake Civilian Conservation Corps camp, look for the vestiges of the Combs, Cass and Eastern Railway, and then head south into the Ouachitas to a superhighway that leads to nowhere. Oh, and an abandoned logging town that once played host to 1,300 residents to boot!   I hope you’ll join me tonight to hear all about it!   If you’d like to get in touch with me, just shoot an email to   mywaywardstory@gmail.com   -or-   Head on over to   www.waywardstories.com
Went on a little adventure today to see if I could find my way to the abandoned CCC camp at Shore’s Lake, nestled deep in an Ozark holler’. It turned into a bushwhack and a foot-soaking creek crossing, but it was totally worth it. If you like my content then you’ll probably enjoy my podcast, “Wayward Stories” - check it out right here on this channel or wherever you find podcasts! If you’d like to get in touch, shoot me an email at: mywaywardstory@gmail.com or head on over to www.waywardstories.com There you can use our contact form, watch or listen to the show, or find any of my social media right from the landing page!
Welcome back to Wayward Stories! Tonight we’re going to explore yet another location significant to America’s Wild, Wild West! We’re going to take a trip to Kansas City and explore the Arabia Steamboat Museum, as well as some of the jumping off locations for the Santa Fe, Oregon, and California trails. There will be steam boats, covered wagons, crappy ghost tours and so much more!   I hope you’ll join me tonight to hear all about it!   If you’d like to get in touch with me, just shoot an email to   mywaywardstory@gmail.com   -or-   Head on over to   www.waywardstories.com
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