Our stated destination was Spring Hope. Mike and Helen were expecting us, but we were so mesmerized by the idea of Rocky Mount that it was all we could do to keep from going there first. But Mike had promised us our own personal Ace Toscano Rocky Mount Kerouac Tour. So we settled down and headed for Spring Hope, with a brief stop in nearby Nashville for lunch. It became clear to us that there was no need to rush things. All roads lead to Rocky Mount.

Mid-afternoon we arrived at stately old Toscano manner in picturesque Spring Hope where Helen was President of the Historical Society and Mike, aka "Ace," wrote a colorful column for the local paper, the Spring Hope Enterprise.

 
That evening we took a walking tour of hysterical old Spring Hope. Here are a couple of pictures of us relaxing along the way.

 

Description: Dharma Bums. One of the best and most popular of Kerouac's autobiographical novels, The Dharma Bums is based on experiences the writer had during the mid-1950s while living in California, after he'd become interested in Buddhism's spiritual mode of understanding. One of the book's main characters, Japhy Ryder, is based on the real poet Gary Snyder, who was a close friend and whose interest in Buddhism influenced Kerouac. This book is a must-read for any serious Kerouac fan.