Trip Preparation - The Inspiration and the Destination

Continuing a series about a recent trip...

I anticipated that something special was possible with an extended time on the road. At a business meeting a few years ago I met an elderly pastor who had written a book about an earlier adventure in his life. He and a friend canoed the Mississippi River from northern Minnesota down to the Gulf of Mexico. His wife met them at landings along the way. Viewing the world from a river or trail or back roads can give you perspectives unavailable on the main roads. And he wrote about some of the small towns and cities along the way. A trip like that sounded fun to me.

Last fall I had the opportunity to see some Christian artists I had hoped to see and hear for decades. Mike Roe was from the Seventy-Sevens. Terry Taylor was formerly with Daniel Amos, Swirling Eddies, and for this occasion he was with The Lost Dogs. The Lost Dogs were putting on a cheap concert locally in Stillwater, Minnesota.

The latest album by The Lost Dogs was based on a trip on old Route 66. They had written songs about their journey along the way. Some of the songs compared the journey of the Israelites to the Promised Land, the Okies traveling to California, their land of promise and hope, during the depression and the Christian journey towards the heavenly Promised Land. Many of the songs are about specific people and places along their journey. It is a fun album celebrating life off the interstate freeways. It sounded like a fun journey I might want to take some time.

Learn more about the band and their trip at http://www.thelostdogs.com/.

The Destination and Journey

With the possibility of going somewhere for over a week, the next decision was destination. Where should I go? Since I was born in 1961, U.S. highway 61 was a possibility. At least historically, that goes from Canada, through Minnesota, following the Mississippi most of the time down to New Orleans, Louisiana. I have been to some parts of the eastern United States in the past 20 years, including living out there. But I hadn’t been out west to see the Rockies in over 25 years. And even then I only drove through on trips to California. I had never seen most of the west.

As I looked on the map, I saw that U.S. 50 went through some of the areas of interest. And I wanted to mostly stay off the freeways anyway. So highway 50 was a good candidate for my 50^th year.

As I researched possibilities, I wasn’t too surprised to learn that many activities stop and places close after Labor Day. But I found a few interesting events in Nevada. Those became the only places with fairly specific dates attached. Otherwise it appeared the rest of the trip was flexible. I didn’t decide until a day or so before leaving what route I would attempt the first few days. In most respects, several routes were equal. And almost everywhere would be a new experience and discovery.

Heading west became the destination. The primary destination became the national parks in southern Utah. But the route there was not going to be very direct.

This was all new for me. I had never gone for over ten days. Some of this was an experiment. Hopefully most things will turn out all right. An adventure awaits.