I learned long ago that the best way to think of a trip is to accept that it is more than just dead time between here and there. I have a friend who has recently driven to to the East coast a couple of times, and all he saw (or wanted to see) on the way was the Interstate and its Rest Areas. When I was a child, I also just wanted the trip to be over: “Are we there, yet?” Now, I find that the walk, the ride, the drive, even the flight can be a primary object of interest in a trip.
Anyone who has seen my travel page [1] can tell that the destination is just a nominal goal during my vacations. Sure, I have accumulated plenty of air miles on business trips. But even there, I meet interesting cross sections of our country when I sit with congenial strangers. I have looked down to see the 100 yard strips of forest along the highways that conceal the vast tracts of clear-cut deadlands and strip mines (called our National Forests) from public view. I once got to see my own neighborhood from a few thousand feet at night. Could you spot your own? I got to ride in the co-pilot seat of a Cessna flying up to Minnesota during the flood of ’93, and saw the flood over the entire upper Mississippi valley, when the nominal goal was to meet with a customer. On that trip I got to practice my radio triangulation skills that I’d only before used in Microsoft Flight Simulator. Let me tell you, taking off from a wet, grassy field is a different kind of excitement.
Anyway, I bring this up now because I’m planning a weekend trip to Cincinnati for a dance [2], one that I’ve been to over a dozen times. The destination is primarily the thing. However, this time the plan is to break loose from the two comparable interstate routes that we know too well, and take the bisecting route along Federal Highway 50. According to AAA, this will add over 2 hours to the 5:35 Interstate drive time to cover the same number of road miles.
The point isn’t to get from here to there as fast as possible, but rather to see what there is to see. I don’t expect to find anything spectacular, but one never knows.
Shall I attempt to justify this post as a social or political commentary? Anything can be twisted that way. I telecommute, so I save significantly more in fuel and automotive amortization there than these trips consume each year. I drive a 1998 car that still gets over 35mpg highway after 140,000 miles (yes, we record the mileage and gallons for every tank). Sure, we put on as many miles as a bedroom community commuter, but our miles produce stories and pictures worth sharing. I have heard few interesting rush-hour stories.
One could argue whether my daily vacation travel postings and pictures have artistic merit. But if one argues, the text or images have evoked a response, therefore the artistic merit is implied. The only way to truly destroy art is to ignore it.
What about energy conservation? Well, this route will involve more slowing down for towns, and so be more costly in acceleration. But the overall top speed and average speed will be lower and more efficient. The round trip including in-town running around usually takes a bit over 2 full tanks. We’ll see.
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