Editor’s Note: Mark Pendl is traveling across America’s back roads and byways, and will be sharing his adventures with us as his journey goes on. We look forward to hearing about his travels and his tales.
Howdy! My name is Mark Pendl. I am an American, a cowboy, an artist at heart, a freelance writer, and a “Heinz 57†by trade.
I enjoy the openness of land found in North America. The spaces found in our country are astonishing: open ranges, grain and grass fields, lakes, rivers, ponds, and streams; and too, the rolling foothills that lead us to and over snow capped mountains. I am proud of our land. It is my home!
I love to travel and have done so most of my life. I have traveled as a “leatherneck†(one who travels by foot) and I have traveled as a “rubberneck†(one who travels by driving an automobile).
The “Blue Highways†(America’s rural back-roads) intrigue me the most. It is these single lane roads that you will find me traveling on. The roads have been paved with “chuckholes,†gravel, dust, sand, sagebrush, rain, snow, ice and mud. I am traveling the “Blue Highways†of America and Canada on a three- year excursion in search of a cowpony.
I am writing a book entitled: Tread On The Road, Horseshoe In My Coffee: In Search Of A Cowpony. This book will share with the reader the stories of what the Blue Highways and people encountered along the way have taught me about the true meanings found within an adventure, embracing the discoveries of finding a new friend–my cowpony.
For the records this is no “picnic in the park.†I live off the grid. Home is a horse trailer and a canvas walled tent. I invite you to follow the journey with me. I will be writing a regular article for Lehman’s that will appear in this space.
In closing, I’d like to leave you with a road travelers thought: May neither drought nor rain nor blizzard disturb the joy juice in your gizzard. And may you camp where wind won’t hit you, where snakes won’t bite and bears won’t get you.
God’s blessings to you and remember to always cowboy/cowgirl up!
