Many year ago, my brother and I drove across country. He had just finished at the Air Force Academy in Colorado and needed to quickly relocate with his car to an east coast post and I had a few days off before starting my summer job. We jumped on the highway in his little 2 seat sports car and made a quick job of it, stopping briefly at a few sights. I could now brag that I had ‘driven cross country, right?
Boy was I wrong.
Traveling on the highway did not give me a true sense of the areas I had traveled across. I did not see the subtle changes every area had to offer.
Traveling slowly on the backroads in the Rover with the windows open (our version of ac) has given me a whole new appreciation for the land we have crossed. It is definitely not flat, although if you look across the horizon at times it certainly seemed so. And the tornado warnings made it seem like we were quite exposed.
The trip from Florida to South Dakota has included rolling hills, sharp winding gorges, rollercoasters (see previous post) and long slow ups and ups and ups with very few actual flat areas.
The countryside has included corn fields, soybean fields, other fields growing I know not what, large open spaces fenced for cattle, and large expanses of horse country. We constantly remark on how the landscape can change in 150 miles (our chosen daily limit in our putt, putt vehicle).
While at times the trip has been challenging, the heat, the long days, the many miles, learning to live on the road (that is a whole other post or two!) I feel very lucky to have travelled the backroads and had the chance to experience all that we have, so far.
Did we see it all? No way. We could spend months or even years in each area and still have much to learn. I at least feel that I have a flavor of the many landscapes and what they have to offer and a new appreciation for their unflatness. Perhaps on our return trip in a few years, we will see or experience even more or find a state that really is flat!
