Stories of the Road

the long version

**Stories of the Road** takes the reader along on a good-humored American road trip, interwoven with Native American lore, pioneer history, and environmental tales. When the main characters, Tom Steadman and Kara Portola, set off on a lark to bicycle cross-country during the 1976 Bicentennial Summer, they have no idea what they are getting into. Starting out from the Oregon Coast, Tom and Kara travel through extraordinarily beautiful country -- the Pacific Northwest, Northern Rockies, Great Plains, and Great Lakes Region. Every day brings a new adventure -- drenching rains, steep climbs, mosquito swarms, encounters with bears, harsh desert terrain, the Teton Dam collapse, a mountain snowstorm, stampeding buffalo, plains headwinds, and dangerous criminals. The novel also explores the emotional experience of a long-distance trip, and the effects of the disappointments, fears, exhaustion, jealousies, and elation on the characters' relationship.