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| All my books are available at http://www.bookswelove.com/baldwin-barbara/ |
And
we’re off. Whether everyone’s piled in the car or in a mobile RV; whether it’s
just you, or you and a friend riding bikes or motorcycles, taking a road trip
is one of the greatest adventures you can have. If you mapped out your trip
beforehand, did you leave time for unexpected stops? Did you plan to
specifically stop at tourist attractions along the way to your destination?
Whatever you plan, DO NOT get in the car, buckle up and not stop until you get to
your destination.
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| Lavender fields in Ontario, Canada |
The
very best road trips are those times you find unexpected treasures along the
way. Sure, there are a whole lot of “The World’s Largest”…whatever. There are
even towns that have very creatively turned themselves into a travel/tourist
stop.
Yet
the very best “finds” are sometimes “hidden in plain view”. Have you ever seen
barn quilts while driving through the Midwest? What about a long, long row of
fence with old cowboy boots upside-down on each of the fence posts? When we
were kids traveling to grandma’s house in the summer, there were no interstates
and we could find all sorts of things as we drove two lane highways. (Remember
travel bingo?) Finding Burma Shave signs was always a great treat.
One
of the most intriguing finds recently was during a drive from Niagara Falls,
Canada to Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. The highway was cut through rocky hills and
suddenly we began seeing rock statues high along the tops of rock outcroppings.
These weren’t carved out of rock, but were rather what looked like statues of
people made out of rocks. We were seeing them from the ground and they
were anywhere from a foot to more than eighteen inches tall.
Once upon a time I took a trip across Missouri into
Kentucky to eventually end up in Tennessee. I loved the estates I saw in
Kentucky, given romantic names such as “Misty Farms”. Large brick homes with
tall white columns across the front were surrounded by white wooden fence, and many
had green pastures full of thoroughbred horses. On the interstate, I drove by a uniquely built barn; so
unique I pulled off the interstate at the next exit, turned across the overpass
and returned the opposite way to get another look at the structure. Going the
proper speed, I missed it again. The second time I exited the interstate, I
took a back road and found a piece of history – an old tobacco barn with open
slats on the sides and a totally unique interior. At that moment, I decided the
rest of my trip would be made on back roads and two lane highways. As a writer,
road trips such as this are invaluable for everything from collecting strange
and unique names to use in my writing, to imagining scenes as real life slides
by the windows.
I’ve posted covers
from two books this month – “Love in Disguise” and “Hold on to the Past”
because both of these are about traveling. The first takes place along and
aboard the first transcontinental railroad, and the second is about a trip on
the Missouri River aboard the Steamboat Arabia. Both are great “road trip”
stories of a different sort, full of mystery and romance and can easily be
ordered at http://www.bookswelove.com/baldwin-barbara/.
Taking a road trip is something we can begin to do
as we emerge from the pandemic because it doesn’t involve large groups of
people in very public places. Fill up the car with gas, pack a lunch and head
out along the back roads. Perhaps you’ll come across the fire-breathing dragon
we did!
And whatever you do, don't just read the billboard about the Drive-Through Safari. Take that exit!
Barb Baldwin
