LA/XC-4 DAYS FIVE, SIX, AND SEVEN:  POSTING FROM SONORA, TX Three-day mileage:  1,079 Total LA/XC-4 mileage:  2,344 Road Music:  Sirius cycle; all my Carrie Underwood, in honor of passing through Checotah; all my Trish Murphy, in honor of my visit to Austin Weather leaving Memphis, TN:  70 degr…

Every morning I eat something I’m not supposed to.  Back in Waynesboro, VA, the desk clerk slipped a piece of paper under the door.  Beagle Man’s busy at his desk — so what am I supposed to do?  I inhale it.  He tells me the paper was directions to the dog park — and thanks a lot!  The next day I…

LA/XC-4 DAYS THREE AND FOUR:  POSTING FROM MEMPHIS, TN Two-day mileage:  767 Total LA/XC-4 mileage:  1,265 Road Music:  One-with-nature quiet time on the Blue Ridge Parkway; then March Madness Elite 8 action; Sirius cycle, and  the rest of my “Runaway Country” playlist Weather leaving Waynesbor…

LA/XC-4 DAY TWO:  POSTING FROM WAYNESBORO, VA Today’s mileage:  139 Total LA/XC-4 mileage:  498 Road Music:  Shhh . . . quiet.  One with nature today Weather leaving Stephens City:  a very cold, crisp 32, bright sunshine Weather arriving Waynesboro:  30 degrees, still sunny Today’s state tally…

LA/XC-4 DAY ONE:  POSTING FROM STEPHENS CITY, VA Today’s mileage:  359.3 Total LA/XC-4 mileage:  359.3 Road Music:  ESPN New York; Sirius Radio:  CNN, ESPN, The Highway — new country (going forward, these 3 stations, my on-the-road staples, will be known simply as the “Sirius Cycle” — just a li…

* * * COUNTDOWN: 2 DAYS TO LA/XC-4 * * *

* * *COUNTDOWN: 8 DAYS TO LA/XC-4 * * * You start recognizing the things on your to-do list that you really can’t afford to not get done when you’re up against a hard deadline.  And I’m there — with a cross-country road trip that really needs to start early Friday morning, March 27.  My internal t…

* * *  COUNTDOWN:  18 DAYS TO LA/XC-4  * * * Beagle Man has been pushing the narrative of Kemba as this wonderful, happy-go-lucky, up-for-anything super-puppy — maybe not perfectly behaved, but at least understanding the word “no.”  Hey, that’s cool, if that’s the story he likes to tell.  I just wa…

* * *  COUNTDOWN:  24 DAYS TO LA/XC-4  * * * Most of you know the deal.  LA/XC, the series of Beagle Man cross-country road trips, originated back in 2011.  It started as a joke, turned into a promise, became a journey, and evolved into a ritual.  When Robby, back then still a senior at Staples HS…

The other night we’re watching the Westminster Dog Show, and I know exactly what the Beagle Man’s thinking:  First, the Beagle’s gonna win the Hound group, he figures.  Then the Duck Toller’s gonna win in the Sporting group.  Dilemma:  Who do I root for to take Best in Show???  I swear this is the…