“On th’ road Again”
By the time I was 16, I had a terrible travel bug. We never had gone any great distance from Clay County at that time. Maybe a trip to Tippah County, Mississippi, when I was 10, or perhaps to St. Louis to visit my Aunt Jean. So, in 1959, when my new bride and I decided to move to San Diego, California, I was ready. We left St. Louis and came to my parent’s house near Corning. From there we headed down US 67, then somewhere near Little Rock we headed west, stopping in SE Oklahoma to visit some of my wife’s relatives. From there on it was open highway - Wichita Falls, Texas, Lubbock, Texas, Roswell, New Mexico, Alamogordo, New Mexico, Las Cruces, New Mexico, Lordsburg, New Mexico, Wilcox, Benson, Tucson, Yuma, Arizona and finally up over the mountains and down into San Diego. I loved it! I am not sure either of us ever slept. I wanted to see more, and in 1962, I got to see SE Asia. Not the same though. But in about 1966 or ‘67 I became an OTR trucker, and I was home. Those were the good years… the open road, little traffic for the most part. Most people were courteous, a few people would speed but it was not much of a problem. I drove for about 20+ years, logging slightly over 2,000,000 miles. I enjoyed it greatly for the most part. I saw every state in the Continental USA except for Vermont. It was a great 20 years, and I retired from it in 1987. Since then I have traveled quite a lot. I don’t like flying, so I had rather drive. We have traveled all over the country doing art shows and it has been fun. But something has happened, especially since COVID. In the early days of the outbreak the roads were almost empty, not only from traffic, but from law enforcement as well. That was understandable, based on the conditions of the times. But the thing I noticed was the speed increased.. greatly increased. 75 mph was ignored, and people were driving 85+. Yeah, I know, cars are safer and tires are better. But not at 85mph. The average public is just not that good.
