Excerpts from postcards sent in August 1988, Dean's World Tour I:
 

Roanoke, VA, USA, 02 August 1988 -- Howdy!

America seems to have its disproportionate share of the world's derelicts, neurotics and character-disordered loonies; and they all travel the country by bus.  I think that "America by Greyhound" ought to be the name of a ride at Disneyland.

It's been great visiting people and touring San Diego and L.A., California, Phoenix, Arizona, El Paso, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, St. Louis, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia.  Washington, DC is just about the only capital city I hadn't visited in the over 50 countries I've toured.  It's next, followed by Philadelphia, New York City, Boston and the workcamp in New Hampshire.

I was amazed to discover how much warmth I felt for a city I used to strongly dislike -- St. Louis, Missouri.  In the eight years since I moved to there from Minnesota, the quality of the city itself has improved by leaps and bounds.  It's changed from dead and gone to alive and kicking.  Aside from that, I was bound to develop some kind of affection for the place after five years of working there.  Except for my former girlfriend, Marilyn, who is married now, I don't feel as if I had developed any close personal relationships there.

Still, dozens of former coworkers came down to the front lobby of my former workplace to greet me.  It usually took a few moments for them to recognize me with my new beard.

It was also fun seeing Dale, Lynn and the kids.  The kids spent a lot of time crawling on top of Uncle Dean.  Dale and I had a lot of time to talk.  Looking back over the more than 50 postcards I sent hime from around the world reminded me of things that I've already forgotten about my trip.

One of the amazing characters I met on the Greyhound bus was a woman who claimed to work in a carnival as a "geek", that is, a person who bites the heads off of live chickens!

Washington, DC, 08 August 1988 -- My fellow Americans,

Washington DC in five days demands a whole lot of energy!  I've accomplished quite a lot:  White House, Capitol, Supreme Court,  Library of Congress, National Archives, three Smithsonian museums including the American History Museum, Natural History Museum and Air and Space Museum, Georgetown, Washington Monument, Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, Vietnam War Memorial, Unknown Soldiar Memorial, Kennedy gravesites, Ford's Theater, Treasury Department, Bureau of Printing and Engraving, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Whew!  I could still use a few more days here to take in a number of other worthwhile tours and sights, but this very large and busy youth hostel limits my stay to five nights, and other cheap places in Washington are fully booked as well.

Few other places in the world have so many things to see and do.  More often these things are meaningful if one is an American, but the city and the youth hostel are packed with foreigners as well.  The Smithsonian Institution alone is so large that if one is interested in a broad range of things and one spends just 10 seconds in front of each museum piece displayed, one might never leave the place!  I spent nearly 11 hours yesterday in the Air and Space Museum rushing around at hight pace.

It's interesting to hear the reaction of foreigners to America now that I can appreciate their perspective a bit better.  I compare Washington to other showcase cities I've seen around the world, and any pride I feel about it is measured and nearly cancelled out by embarrassment.  The litter in the streets, the state of disrepair of the roads and buildings, the warnings given about crime, the people sleeping on the sidewalks, etc. are all in sharp contrast to what observes in most other developed nations of the world.  I'm expecting when I meet Soviets arriving in New York City for our New Hampshire workcamp that what they will see in America will both impress and horrify them.  New York City is frightening to this well-travelled American.  What's it going to do to them?

Moscow is such a squeeky clean, spotless city.  NYC is the height of garbage.  My friend Mary, of Australia, was not amused when her very first experience in America was to stumble into the middle of a knife fight in Manhatten.  Anyway, in spite of America's problems, there are still many people, of course, who would be happy to immigrate to here.  I think there are others, however, especially from places such as Northern and Western Europe and Australia, who realize that their quality of life is better than America's in many respects and are happy not to live here.

As for me, as I've said before, this world tour has taught me that the American spirit in me runs quite deeply.  So many things here in DC are so moving to me ... be it Jefferson's or Kennedy's words, the names of veterans of the Vietnam war carved into a wall, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights on the original parchment paper, Irving Berlin's songs played in the American History Museum or an OmniMax film of the Space Shuttle astronauts working together in space.  Every American should spend a week in this city ... you too!

A large exhibit at the American History Museum talked about the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII and that they hadn't received compensation yet.  Coincidentally, immediately after I left and appropriately enough, in front of the Justice Department, I saw a newspaper headline that said Congress had just voted to compensate them.

Mount Washington, New Hampshire, USA, 16 August 1988 -- Howdy!

The Soviets have seen a little of the best and the worst that New York City has to offer -- from fantastic views of the skyline on a boat tour circling Manhatten and a Central Park New York Philharmonic concert with a fabulous fireworks display among 150,000 people to glimpses of New York's many street people and 42nd Street pornography shops.  I was pleased to discover that one of my Soviet friends, Sasha (Alexander), who I met in the Ukraine two years ago, and a few acquaintances from last year's trip to the USSR, are part of the group of Soviets visiting New York City and will be participating in this year's workcamp in New Hampshire.

(18 August) -- From New York, we headed to Boston, where we spent one afternoon, and then moved up to our workcamp, building trails in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  We've been building bridges, both literally and symbolically.  Today, we completed construction of a 24-foot long cross-country ski trail bridge.  To our amusement and chagrin, when all seventeen of us got on the bridge to pose for a photograph, the bridge cracked!  Luckily, we got off the bridge before serious damage might have occurred.  We're going to cable the bridge now to multiply the strength.  It should then be able to handle much more than for which the bridge has until now been designed.

Symbolically, the bridges we have been building between the U.S. and the Soviet Union are hopefully an indication of constructive things to come.  It's hard to keep up with the changes that have already occurred in the two years since I first went to the Soviet Union.  They are nothing short of miraculous already.  I see it in the Soviets themselves.  They seem to be much more open and candid about themselves and their country.  The Soviet Union seems definitely to be on the road to becoming some form of a democracy, although it'll probably take many years yet.  While it is certainly necessary to maintain vigilance, and our optimisim ought to be cautious, I also see plenty reason for a celebration of what has already occurred.

Peace and love,
Deano

Next Postcard | Postcard List | Dean's Home Page | Travel Summaries | Travel Photos by Continent