This is the actual photograph taken on the motorcycle trip described in Side Channels, Chapter 11, First Glimpse of the Upper Mississippi River Valley. The photograph was taken from one of the cliff overlooks at Mississippi Palisades State Park, Illinois. Only nineteen years old at the time, this was the first long solo trip, about four days, that I had ever taken, which added to the excitement. I only packed a few overnight items and maybe one change of clothes, whatever I could strap to the backseat. I made it as far west as Maquoketa Caves State Park, Iowa, before heading back home (described in Chapter 14, From the Misery Index to Havana).
For more information on Side Channels, go to www.side-channels.com.
[Photograph by Thomas V. Lerczak. Illustration in Side Channels by Patti Malmborg Reilly]
