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Airstream Country
A Geologic Journey Across the American West
A herd of bison standing in the snow. Layered bluffs of multicolored sandstone. A silver Airstream trailer on a mountain highway. These are familiar sights for Neil Mathison and his wife, Susan. Newly retired, their son in college, they embark upon a great American road trip “uncoupled from the tyranny of calendars or a specific journey.” Airstream Country recounts their travels across the western United States as they move from Montana to Malibu and Seattle to Silverton, winding their way through millions of years of geological history with their Airstream in tow. Along the way they encounter upheavals and depositions, ancient seas and young mountains, and stone towers and striated canyons, which are all illuminated by Mathison’s knowledgeable commentary. Even after thousands of miles and eons of geology, their adventures are never finished, for, as Mathison writes, “We learn by travel where we ought to travel more.”
From the Pacific Coast to the Southwest, up the Rockies and across the Cascades, Airstream Country is a journey of married joy and American history, of geologic time and the serendipity of an unplanned day, of letting each exploration reveal where the next journey needs to take us.’—Adrienne Ross Scanlan, author of Turning Homeward: Restoring Hope and Nature in the Urban Wild
Airstream Country provides a fascinating look into our breathtaking Western landscapes and tells the story of the geology that created them. Mathison’s vivid writing makes this a book that anyone who lives or travels in the West will love.’—Priscilla Long, author of Fire and Stone: Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?
(Mathison) masterfully blends storytelling with discussions of factual scientific and historical information.’—Shari Kelley, senior geophysicist and field geologist at the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources
Neil Mathison is a former naval officer, nuclear engineer, expatriate businessman, and stay-at-home-dad. He has published essays and short stories in the Georgia Review, the Southern Humanities Review,the Kenyon Review, and elsewhere. His collection Volcano: An A to Z and Other Essays about Geology, Geography, and Geo-Travel in the American West won the 2016 Bauhan Publishing Monadnock Essay Collection Prize.
Prologue. Genesis
Chapter 1. Sinews of a Continent
Chapter 2. The Subduction Zone: US Highway 101
Chapter 3. America’s Rooftop: US 550, Colorado SR 89, and the Million-Dollar Highway
Chapter 4. Following the Fault Line: The Pacific Coast Highway, Westport–Union Landing to the Golden Gate
Chapter 5. Yosemite, Mother of California Parks
Chapter 6. Desert Highways, Desert Byways
Chapter 7. The Colorado Plateau: US 89, 89A, and the Carmel Byway
Chapter 8. Volcanic Legacy: US 97, Maryhill to Mount Shasta
Chapter 9. Yellowstone
Chapter 10. Sky-High Wyoming
Chapter 11. Following the Ice: US 2, Coulee City, Washington, to East Glacier, Montana
Chapter 12. California Dreaming: Highway 1, the Golden Gate to Malibu
Epilogue. The West
Acknowledgments
