What Pleasant Discoveries Have You Made On The Road

I think it's really in the "eye of the beholder" and one's personal experiences. If someone lives in a city, and has pretty much been a city dweller all their lives, a trip to Amish Country would be mind blowing!

On the other hand, someone from the North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains, whose lived there all their lives, would be equally as blown away visiting New York City the first time, or San Francisco, or Chicago.

I've never seen the Grand Canyon. I hope to some day. People who live right there probably do not appreciate the wonder that's right in front of them, because they seen it all their lives. But someone from the Boston, Mass (or even me) would be blown away.

Even the things that are right in our own back yards can be breath taking. Coming into work one day, a couple years ago, (I live in the country), the fog was settled over the new sown fields, so visibility was endless. But the fog was only about 15 feet high. So when driving over a higher spot in the road, you could look down over the fields. This was within 1/2 mile of my home and I was breathless that morning! I couldn't believe how beautiful and awesome that was!

Then, there was the first time I heard coyotes howling, about 2 months after we moved into this same house. I'd never heard that before, even though I'd lived in this area pretty much all my life. Shivers went through me, and it was really eery. But awesome at the same time.

So you see, it's not so much looking for the "big" things that's all "awe inspiring", it's the things that really grab us, and speak to us, and motivate us, and move our emotions. And that, my fried, is all around us. Just open you're eyes and mind and be "inspired!" We live in a great country!

Our pleasant discoveries were most often about the people we encountered during our trips. The South has some of the most helpful and gracious people I have met in my entire life. Complete strangers treated us kindly at every turn, for no particular reason.

We enjoyed a similar experience during our trip through the National Parks in Utah. Kind, helpful people who genuinely seem to care.


Enjoy your trip!

the country boy in me says to stay away from big cities, they have too many people and the traffic is bad, let alone the bad drivers. sorry to sound negative about this but I hate big cities. We have to go to Portland Oregon every few months for DW Dr app and getting to the other side of town is just the pits. takes an hour or more in traffic to go just miles.

I like to travel the side roads when possible, it's more interesting and enjoyable.

Check Road Side America, maybe you'll find something interesting along your route.

If you get to the Cincinnati OH area, check out Jungle Jim's International Market.

Enjoy your travels.

My favorite unexpected lesson was my encounter with a couple of really down-on-their luck folks camped out way up along Icicle Creek. They weren't "squatters" or anything like that- just stopped for a few days on a trip back home.

I was lost up there and approached their spot looking for directions. While there, I discovered that one of my trailer brake wires had gotten torn off- the fella got out his tools, jacked up the trailer, and fixed it for me. Wouldn't take a penny for it, either. They did accept my offer to make dinner by way of saying thanks, though.

The only reason I even deduced their circumstances was little bits and pieces in our conversation....never a word of complaint, just plain facts here and there.

Sure taught me something about the right way to deal with the misfortunes that life sometimes dishes out!

Buffalo Bill State Park 6miles out of Cody, WY. Stopped there because we had to wait for a spot to open in Yellowstone. Talked hubby into staying a couple extra days. Gorgeous scenery, easy to run into town for shopping, lunch at Irma's, a tourist spot or two. Then,collect free firewood from the lake shore for an evening campfire. Generous pull thru sites that feel private. Pet friendly. Can't wait to go back.

Heading to Yellowstone, we came through Cody Wy. All the sudden DH said we were not going on to Yellowstone that day, we were spending the night. I don't remember the campground but the reason for stopping was to go to a Rodeo. We had never done that and we had a great time.

Remember that every single mile you roll down the road you are discovering America. It's not just the highlights. In fact given the choice of being able to skip from highlight to highlight without the miles in between I suspect not too many of us would sign up for that. More than a few perhaps consider the Journey to be the real "highlight."

My wife and I both love the Shenandoah National Park. One experience that really stands out in my mind was the time we drove off the mountain and there was a rain storm in Stanley, Va. on the western side of the mountains. Once we were back on the mountain, we stopped at an overlook and were able to look down on the rain, the clouds were below us. Only time I've ever seen this amazing sight- blue sky and sunshine above us and clouds and rain below.

Today I discovered the people flailing their arms about were trying to tell me that my antenna was still up. The pleasant part came when I realized I hadnt snagged a tree limb with it yet.

Then a little while after that I smelled a terrible smell from the car next to me at the stoplight. About the same time my brake buddy told me to pull over because the toads brakes were always engaged. "Oh, thats my car cooking it's brake."

Not quite sure how the brake buddy could tell the parking brake was engaged but pleasantly enough it could.