Adventures

Wouldn't it be fun to get into the car and just drive to the center of somewhere and see something? In the good old days there were fewer somewheres to see, but by gollie, everyone saw what ever it was. You drove to one of those big stars on the map, stopped your car and said "Yep, there it is. What is it?" No matter what the answer was you could at least say you had been somewhere and seen something.

Today so few people take the open road. The take the silver sausage over the clouds where the only thing you see is clouds, the hair follicles of the passenger in front of you and the stain on the fabric on the seat back in front of you. And let us not even talk about the smell, or the noise, or the cramped quarters. Good times!

We would hop into our ginormous Mercury with room for 100 in the backseat, drive cross the country and look at the land. We have seen a lot of land too. But there was fresh air, Stuckeys pecan rolls and the Pennsylvania Dutch pancake houses. On the plane all you get is,...no wait, you don't "get" anything now. But you can bu a fast food meal for 3X's it ground based cost. Yum!

It is true you can get places faster, BUT, you can not get there without a cramp in your leg and a cold. And now the prices are up as well as your luggage is now considered a passenger. Give it a name and they will charge it for that happy meal:)

So what do we need to consider when taking some great adventure: is there really a rush? Can you take one extra travel day to take the trip on land and see some of the wonder that is America? Can you take a road less traveled and see things that, well, are unique, like the worlds deepest hand dug well in Greensburg KS or Dorothy's home in.....do you know? Hmmmm time to get out that map and start a road adventure of your own.

Look for things like the geographic center of the contigous United States or the geographic center of North America. Plan from there, then you can say we went somewhere and saw something. When others ask you will know the answer and have a trinket or photo to revive a memory of License Plate BINGO or other lame but entertaining travel games. Oh, and leave those nasty tv's and headphones at home. Make it a real family adventure, you know, everyone taking the same trip.

Enjoy the road less traveled!!