Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Twelve Mile Circle

  • Finishing West Virginia, Day 2 (pm)

    Further adventures awaited us after our successful morning in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. We still had an entire afternoon remaining. Fewer people lived along the next stretch of our itinerary though. I had to dig a little deeper to find a way to break up the drive. Beautiful scenery surrounded us at every turn although…

  • Finishing West Virginia, Day 2 (am)

    Parkersburg to Point Pleasant I woke up early as I always do, so I let my son sleep in for awhile. After running a few miles on the hotel treadmill, after cleaning up and dressing, and after finishing breakfast, I still had some time to kill. Maybe I could take an early-morning stroll through Parkersburg,…

  • Finishing West Virginia, Day 1

    We finally began our trip to West Virginia after a two week delay. It made all of the difference. Springtime arrived and the weather approached perfection. My older son — the bird watcher, map aficionado, self-taught student of the Norwegian language — joined me on my inexplicable county counting odyssey. I did capture the remaining…

  • Finishing West Virginia, the Premise

    Sometimes events don’t unfold as one might hope. This weekend I planned to capture six remaining West Virginia counties that I’d not visited before. I figured April would be a safe time of year with beautiful springtime weather and minimal traffic. That dream will need to be deferred for a little while longer. The route…

  • Revisiting the Most County Borders

    I searched for and featured the United States county with the most neighboring counties during the very early days of Twelve Mile Circle. That article appeared in May 2008, almost ten years ago, reminding me once again how quickly time flies. Then in the waning days of the old blog, a loyal reader contacted me…

  • 12MC Coming to New Zealand and Australia

    A funny thing happened on the way to Oklahoma City, where I hoped to spend our summer 2018 holiday chasing new counties. The family overruled me. My wife pointed out that our older son will be on his own soon. He’ll be off to college in a couple of years. Opportunities for family vacations will…

  • Tom’s Day

    I remembered the day well although I couldn’t recall the exact date. It came to be known as “Tom’s Day,” within my close circle of friends, a day so perfectly aligned with my interests that it must have occurred through divine intervention. No day will likely improve upon it. Many readers will probably consider it…

  • Before and After

    I’ve returned, in a sense. The decompression lasted a little over two months and I’m ready to start posting occasional articles again. However, the old Twelve Mile Circle remains firmly in the past where it belongs. I don’t want to go back in time although I do miss interacting with the wonderful readers of 12MC.…

  • Ten Years of 12MC

    Ten years is a long time to do anything. I knew this day would finally come and I’ve watched it looming on the horizon for the last several months, with decidedly mixed feelings. The very first article on Twelve Mile Circle appeared on November 6, 2007. I never suspected this site would last another decade.…

  • Last Chance

    Speaking of odd town names (we were just speaking of those, weren’t we?), what about Last Chance? Every place deserved a last chance, I supposed. The U.S. Geographic Names Information System listed more than three hundred of them. Many — no surprise — aligned with mining claims. Also they frequently referenced ditches, streams and gulches,…

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