I picked up a hitch-hiker. Seemed like a nice guy.

The Palladian Traveler joins the masses around the Tidal Basin as Washington, DC rolls out the pink carpet during the National Cherry Blossom Festival.

I awoke the next morning, Wednesday, August 2nd, to find the campground socked in with fog. No matter, I thought, as I had quite a day planned. I headed out to the office that would arrange to take me about 130 kilometers further north, to the native fishing village of Tuktoyaktuk, or “Tuk,” situated right on the shores of the …

I’ve visited many of the famous and yes, infamous, battle sites and related military places in Europe but, until a few years ago, I’d never had time to see – up close and VERY personal – the Mohne Dam in Germany. Before YOU read any further, do YOU know why it fits into either of the above categories?

Ron Howard certainly falls into the category of a national treasure beginning with his role as America’s favorite kid, Opie, on “The Andy Griffith Show.” Since that time, that little kid from Duncan, Oklahoma, co-starred in a variety of episodic television shows as well as directing Emmy-award winning programs.

Though it was just a segment along the way, Arizona loomed long and strong in my memory. Its striking, forbidding landscapes, so different from the lush agricultural land of eastern Kansas, were imprinted on my young mind. The Grand Canyon, the Painted Desert, the Petrified Forest, each rolled into memory as we rolled through them.

Benjamin listened intently as Rabbi Greenbaum read from the Bible. "May I ask a question?" Ben asked.

Wales loves its artists. That’s easy to say with the likes of actors Richard Burton, Anthony Hopkins and Michael Sheehan all hailing from the South West Coast of Wales, near Swansea. No artist, however, commands a deeper place in a Walesian’s heart than poet and writer, Dylan Thomas.

The Palladian Traveler files his eighth and final dispatch from his 24-day stay Down Under by having a “Captain Cook” along the picturesque Coastal Pathway.

The Skeleton Coast is one of the most appropriately named stretches of land in the world, a place where many hapless sailors of centuries past have mingled their bones with whale ribs and shipwrecks.