Computing Across America

Computing Across America, Chapter 18 by Steven K. Roberts Key West, Florida January 3, 1984 Where are you coming from?— Question heard all down the coast, contrasting sharply with the usual “Where are you going?” It had been a hard day. I was southbound at the 28th parallel, searching for a place to sleep. This was…

Computing Across America, Chapter 17 by Steven K. Roberts Gainesville, Florida December 23, 1983 The wanderer’s danger is to find comfort.— William Least Heat Moon, in Blue Highways Fevers, in a twisted way, are kind of fun. This one was: I lay without responsibility, making irrational comments and easing open an aching eyelid now and…

Computing Across America, Chapter 16 by Steven K. Roberts Gainesville, Florida December 15, 1983 A variety of nothing is superior to a monotony of something.— Jean Paul Richter There it was at last: Florida. I could see the green sign far ahead on the last long stretch of Highway 17 in Georgia, and steeled myself…

Computing Across America, Chapter 14 by Steven K. Roberts Savannah, Georgia November 26, 1983 Birth and death were easy. It was life that was hard. — Tom Robbins, Jitterbug Perfume Ashepoo, South Carolina — the day before Thanksgiving. I stopped to take a much-needed break from the two-lane truck route known as US 17, and…

Computing Across America, Chapter 13 by Steven K. Roberts November 22, 1983 There is no such thing as a pretty good omelet. — French proverb Not surprisingly, the first harbingers of the Atlantic Ocean were not fish smells and sea birds, but billboards — acres of billboards. An hour out of Norfolk and they were…

Computing Across America, Chapter 12 by Steven K. Roberts November 14, 1983 The fickleness of the women I love is only equalled by the infernal constancy of the women who love me. –— George Bernard Shaw <pang> The first one came at Shepherd College, a small place situated about as far east as you can…

Computing Across America, Chapter 10 by Steven K. Roberts October 31, 1983 First Nastassja Kinski’s dog, now this? — Loretta in Uniontown, PA I arrived in Uniontown shaking with exhaustion after a mere thirty-four-mile ride from Washington & Jefferson college. The distance was short, but it had been a tense day of gusty crosswinds on…

Computing Across America, Chapter 9 by Steven K. Roberts October 28, 1983 The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as foreign land. — Gilbert Keith Chesterton I left Columbus, alone, on the eighth dreary day in a row.…