The Value of the Road Trip

Day 3 of the drive to Alaska dawned in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. After rain last evening--not much, just enough to wash the dust off the car--the morning sun, which was up long before I awoke at 5:00, streams in the window from the northeast. Early morning is the best time of day!

The thought of a seven-day drive to get to someplace you could fly to in five hours boggles many minds. Not mine. Will I get tired each day? Will I wish for the incessant line of approaching semi's to end? Of course. But the benefits to my soul outweigh the petty annoyances. So. These benefits?

Road trips require that you be smart. The driver must pay attention to her vehicle, to what odd noises may mean, what needs attention, what is simply a car-on-the-highway thrum, how and when to pass on two-lane roads. Smart means looking at the temperature gauge, and gauging when next to stop for gas. It's not always available when you want it to be.

But most wonderfully, road trips require that you observe. In fifth grade, you learn that the plains are flat. As you cross North Dakota, and then Saskatchewan, and then Alberta--two-and-a-half nine-hour drive days, you begin to understand what 'flat' means. My brother once said that when building the Rocky Mountains, God lowered the 'dozer blade at the Mississippi River. Flat means the horizon is an inch or two above the dashboard. The sky reveals clouds in abundance and variety not seen in cities. The road bisects mile after mile, acre after acre of land plowed, harrowed, and planted with another season's crops.

When you stop for gas, or for lunch, or at the end of the day, you rediscover that people share a love of meeting strangers. In Fargo, they direct you to a grocery store (because you forgot the mustard for sandwiches). In Carpio, at the gas station--hidden down a side street across the tracks and behind the grain elevator--the owner smiles that you actually found him, then tells you the Cafe across the street closed down last week. The manager quit. And you realize what a blow that is to this small community. Where do they go to gather now to share their news and their concerns?

So what I think about on each long day driving, is how life is different for each of the people I meet and talk with. These details yield a lesson, another step in my education of how to live, what to savor. Each lesson learned prepares me for a new day and makes me wonder, with a smile, what will there be to see, who I'll meet and chat with, how my life will become richer.