Rich on the Road--Part II

Part Two begins with a break for a couple weeks at my sister's house in the Kansas City suburbs. I hadn't planned on being this far south when I headed out on the road--nor had I thought I would be out as long--but found myself running low on film and needed to be somewhere I could get deliveries, and I wanted to see sis, her SO and my nieces. Seeing family was great, but the KC suburbs are little different than suburbs everywhere--too much traffic and too much dull sameness. When passing through places on the road I sometimes feel, justifiably, that I'm only scratching the surface of whatever is there, and then I land in suburbia and feel there's nothing there but surface. No depth, just facades, on buildings, lifestyles and the people themselves. I think I like things functional, rather than cosmetic.

I was glad then to head out again, with a new perspective and appreciation for the lesser seen and visited places. Small towns. Back roads. Out of the way destinations.

Rather than the Interstate highway system, it was back to the Blue Highways. Or, on more modern maps, they're more likely to be the red or black highways. In Colorado some of the roads were, quite literally, red.

For those who haven't tried heading out on the open road with no particular itinerary, I must tell you how freeing and enlighening it is. There's nothing like waking up in the morning and having little or no idea where you will wake up the next day, or what you will experience in the day ahead when there is no routine. For me in the beginning it was of some concern, but as I went along it became easier every day. Now I wonder if I can ever live a normal life again.

I've learned how little I need to get along when there is so much wonder in the world. So many fascinating places, often where you least expect them to be.

So, join me as I continue the journey. I tried to clean up the nevigation here in the second part by eliminating frames and having pages open in new windows. Simplicity, I hope.