My good friend, her husband and three kids are flying out to Disneyland in a few weeks and I asked why they didn’t make the trip from Texas in the car so they could make a detour to the Grand Canyon or one of the old western towns in Arizona. She quickly shut me down. No way, no how, the drive was too long. I agree, I told her….but think of all the fun you could have on your way there!
When I was a kid and we took family trips we had to drive EVERYWHERE. It didn’t matter if we were going to an adjoining state or half way across the country, we packed up, and cramped up as we drove to our destination. It wasn’t a case of having limited resources; my dad had a very good job, he was a pilot. So better than anybody, he could appreciate the majesty of flying. Why didn’t he want his wife and kids to share that appreciation I always wondered? Turns out my dad just knew that there were things of value that we could see and learn on those drives, even in the most unexpected places. It is a lesson that has stuck with me and served me well.
To be sure, there is a case to be made for getting where you want to go quickly. Flying is very safe, has become accessible to most all of us and is inherently necessary to go abroad. And yet with the right state of mind driving can be far more rewarding. Let’s face it, when’s the last time you had a great time flying?
One of the most vivid road trip memories I have, was my drive through the Smokey Mountains on a sunny day one November. Fall foliage was on full display, the last time I saw anything that colorful was in a Crayola box. The waves crashing against the rocks down the coastline of Oregon make it one of my favorite drives, while driving back on that same highway in the evening fog makes it the most eerie and treacherous. The Saguaro cactuses on my drive through Arizona made me appreciate just how uniquely alluring an ungodly hot and dry place can truly be. The Sierra Madres in central Mexico, on the other hand, were anything but heavenly because they were so devoid of life, prickly and unwelcoming. As would be expected, traveling I-70 through Colorado was beautiful but it was also fun. Not every state has the Rockies to maneuver through. And I always smile when I think of the sunbaked overalls and dresses, all very similar, all very plain, hanging on laundry lines in Amish country Pennsylvania.
I don’t appreciate only the obvious, the memorable landscapes and picturesque sights. I have just as much appreciation of the mundane. The orange orchards in Florida, the trucks full of onions, lightly leaving a trail of their dry outer skin on my windshield as I drove through California farming communities near Fresno, the oil wells along I-20 in West Texas and the shrimp stands in Louisiana remind me that every place is reliant on something for their economy….which is why it’s easy for me to be empathetic when a catastrophic hurricane or oil spill happens somewhere else. There is always something telling about every place you drive through – you just have to be open to it.
