Gadling

Haunting, thought provoking and gorgeous are some of the adjectives that come to mind when looking through the photographs of Ed Alior at CNNTravel. Alior has retraced the route that William Least Heat-Moon made famous when he traveled along the back roads of the U.S. and wrote about it in his book "Blue Highways." Alior's photographs attest to how things can change over the years and what has remained the same.

Along with presenting ten of Alior's lush photographs of back-road scenery, CNN's feature, "Back-road adventurer on America's 'Blue Highways'" includes an interview with Heat-Moon.

In the interview, Heat-Moon talks about how he has seen the U.S. back-roads' landscape change over the years, both for the good and the bad. There's a tone of melancholy for what has changed--most noticeably the Mom and Pop establishments that have given way to hard times or the competition of chain restaurants.

Heat-Moon has also noticed the sprawl of cities into suburbia and on out into rural areas. As he puts it, a "'quarter of a century ago, towns that still had limits -- discernible edges -- now can look like they're getting swallowed by an inoperable cancer. . .'"

The repercussions, he feels, have altered the genuineness of place and that we haven't done much as a country to see what all this sprawl has cost us. On the other hand, he does point out positive change. It's change that is heart-warming.

As Heat-Moon traveled in the last ten years, he's noticed that there's more racial harmony and the racial slurs he used to hear pepper conversations are not being said.

Read the rest of the interview here. I was particularly interested in his take on how travel has been altered. One thing Heat-Moon has found, if you're looking for a cheap place to stay off the beaten path these days, lots of luck.

Thanks to Jaunted for pointing me in the direction of this read.

Here's an unusual piece of American history that illustrates the power of philanthropy and what happens when money is used for the purpose it was intended. Imagine what James Smithson must think if he can view Smithsonian Castle and all the other buildings that line the Mall in Washington D.C.? Possibly, he's pleased as punch.

Smithson, an illegitimate Englishman who died in 1829, left between $50 to $100 million dollars to the United States, a country he had never visited. His desire was for his money to be used "'for the increase and diffusion of knowledge.'"

If the slew of buildings that includes the Air and Space Museum, the American History Museum, and the African Art Museum isn't an indication of what can happen when one person's generosity is put to good use, I don't know what is. Of course, Smithson's money wasn't enough to create all of the Smithsonian's building, but still, consider what what can happen when there's a mighty good idea that has a healthy start.

In this article that first appeared in the Washington Post, Moira E. McLaughlin covers a bit of the history of Smithson's gift that consisted of 105 bags of gold. She also points out the significance of Smithsonian Castle, the Smithsonian's first building that is now used for the Smithsonian's administrative offices and information center. According to McLaughlin, the information center is a perfect place to begin a visit to the Smithsonian. It can help you orient the rest of your time there.

I've been to the Smithsonian several times and have never visited The Castle. Next time I'm in D.C., this is my first stop. In case no one has thanked you properly James Smithson,THANKS a million times over. Your gift was truly splendid.

If the style of the building looks familiar, it's because its architect, James Renwick, Jr. also designed St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City.

When the five people who ranged from an R& B singer moving to NYC to seek her fortune-- to a young man trying to get to Hartford, Connecticut and his sick grandmother as quickly as possible, sidled up to the Greyhound ticket counter in Port Authority bus terminal in Manhattan, they weren't itching for a fight. What they wanted was some compensation for their Greyhound induced travel woes.

See, the bus they had taken from Cleveland had arrived two hours late. It's not unusual for a bus to be late. Traffic, weather and a bus breakdown can occur. Their bus's lateness was due to driver error. The driver, after a scheduled rest stop, had headed the bus back towards Cleveland for more than 70 miles.

What made this snafu feel worse is that they would have arrived earlier than the scheduled arrival time if it wasn't for the driver's mistake. If you've ever been on a road trip that has been lengthened by the wrong way, perhaps you'll recall that jumpy nervous twitch that ensues--the kind of feeling where any moment you could LOSE YOUR MIND.

As written in the previous post, Gadling knows these details because Gadling was there. Here's the rest of the story. What happens when a passenger does complain? Airlines take notice.

If you've ever seen a lava flow, you know that once the stuff cools and hardens, it's hard to move. In the Congo, this has created a big problem at the airport in Goma. Back in 2002, when the Nyiragongo Volcano erupted, lava flowed onto the runway, thus shortening it. A shorter runway does not sound good. It's not.

Today, this was proved true once more when an airplane flying from Kinshasa to Goma overshot the runway and landed on the lava instead. Ouch! According to the report, 20 people out of the 117 on board were injured.

This is not the first time that lava has created issues at the Goma airport. The last time was in 2007 when a cargo plane caught on fire after it hit the lava. This incidence caused 7 deaths.

As unusual as it is to hit lava on a runway, it's probably more unusual for a plane to hit a bush pig. The plane hits a bush pig incident happened a week ago on in Zimbabwe. When this pig made it's last oink, high drama ensued which included a couple of injuries that were caused when passengers fell into a ditch at the side of the runway.

As for the lava on the runway woes, hopefully this latest incident in Goma will help provide incentive to remove the rest of it.

When it comes to bush pigs on runways, pilots in Zimbabwe--and I guess elsewhere where bush pigs roam--are probably keeping their eyes on the lookout.

The photo taken by Julien Harneis from a helicopter shows the lava flow around Goma.

In northwestern Ohio where the land is flat, flat, flat and family farms dot the landscape in a scene of bucolic sedateness, the Midwest turns wild west on Saturday nights from October through May. Off State Rte 29, between the Indiana border and Celina, a town with a population of 10,000, is Mack Arena, a non-descriptive rectangular building that one might blow right pass without noticing. Only the white corral-style fencing around one end of the building says animals. Looks can be deceiving. Inside, excitement and a dose of danger crackles. Who knew?

The clues to the wildness inside the industrial corrugate structure start at the dirt parking lot where a pungent odor of animals and leather waft over the assortment of pickup trucks, trailers and cars that gather here every Saturday evening. The announcer's voice can be heard over the crowd's din of shouts of encouragement and awe.

The yellow sign near the door touting, "Beware of Bull" is more of a welcome mat than a warning, however.

That's what Gadling found out a few weeks ago when we came upon the bull riding as an unexpected pleasure of Saturday night's entertainment--just two hours from Columbus. The allure of the wild west in the Midwest pulled our station wagon into the mix of vehicles.

This juxtaposition of images in Andrey Dorokhov's shot taken in Glasgow, Scotland is one that attests to the importance of having a terrific eye--and being at the right angle at the right moment. The interplay between light and shadow also adds interest and texture. The woman's gaze may stay steady forever--just like the statue will hold its stance. But how long will the bird be a willing subject?

If you've captured a juxtaposition of images or any other subject of interest, send your image our way at Gadling's Flickr photo pool. It might be chosen as a Photo of the Day.

Earlier this week, a pig on an airport runway in Zimbabwe wrecked a plane and panicked passengers as the plane was taking off. On Wednesday, it wasn't a pig that created a travel brouhaha. It was a low flying pelican--plus a cell phone.

Evidently, as the pelican made a low flying move in front of a million dollar sports car--a Bugatti Veyron, the man driving this expensive beauty became startled and dropped his cell phone.

Quick quiz:

What shouldn't you do if you drop your cell phone in your car?

Answer:

Don't do what this guy did. He bent down to pick up the phone.

Bad move.

If you've ever bent down to pick up anything when you drive, you know how easy it is for the car to swerve.

That's just what happened in this case. The man swerved the car right off the frontage road of Interstate 45 near Galveston, Texas and into a salt marsh. Luckily, the salt marsh wasn't so deep that the car disappeared entirely.

When the police showed up, it was easy to spot the car's silver grey shine where it waited for rescue 20 feet from shore---at least the part that wasn't under the briny water.

After the incident, along with gaining notoriety for being the owner of a salted, wet million dollar car, the man did get a call from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. [msnbc]

Happy Friday the 13th! Tributed to being an unlucky day thanks to wives tales, religion and mythology, this is a day when people might think about altering their travel plans. The thought is, why push your luck? Franklin D. Roosevelt was one such person. He never traveled on the 13th. He even died on April 12, 1945. That, my friends, was on a Thursday. That is kind of strange, no?

In honor of a day that's associated with strangeness, here is Gadling's list of 13 top stranger than strange sites from around the world. They are not in any order of strangeness. You decide which one ought to be number one. All of them are places we've either been to, written about or both.

Even though this is photo is of a Friday the 13th in February, it fits the theme.

On the other end of the badass animal spectrum that Annie described on Monday for is the cow. The happy guy in this bucolic scene was snapped by Bernard-SD in Big Sur, California. If cows in Ohio, where I live, could see where this one munches, they'd be jealous. What a view!

If you have a shot to share, send it our way at Gadling's Flickr photo pool. It might be picked as a Photo of the Day.

Jason Barger already knew a fair amount about people before he headed off his 7-day, 7-airport travel spree to do nothing but watch them interact. He'd spent many a spring break leading adolescents and adults on house-building ventures in Mexico, a trip that took him through various airports with a band of travelers of all ages, for example.

Wanting more fodder to further develop his ideas about airport behavior and what it says about humanity, he decided to airport hop logging thousands of miles and observations as he zig zagged across the U.S. While he watched people either shine with behavior that would make Mom proud --or in such a way that if they were a piece of luggage no one would claim them, Barger honed his ideas about how the airport is a perfect metaphor for modern day life.

The result was Step Back from the Baggage Claim, a book that Barger hopes people will leave on a bench somewhere for someone else to pick up once they're done reading it. The result of passing the book along will be that people will think about how they interact as they move through their day.

Ever since I read Barger's book, I've made my own observations about airport interactions. It does seem he's onto something. Over the past months since his book came out, gaining steam through venues like the Washington Post and ABC News, I've kept up with Barger's efforts. Yesterday, there was a post on his new video.

Today is a Talking Travel interview with questions Barger answered through e-mail in between a trip to the Dominican Republic to help with a house-building effort there. If you are looking for a tasty bite to eat that's not expensive while passing through an airport, Barger has a suggestion.

With Thanksgiving travel rapidly approaching, listening to Barger's advice to step back from the baggage claim is not a bad idea.