On the Road Again, I Can't Wait....
25th of June 2015
I love going on road trips (to those that can't see it too well, the back window says "Honk, and I will show you boobs." The side one says "Do it!"). They're so peaceful, even when it's raining. Especially if it's raining. The only time I don't like road trips is during the winter. Drivers tend to be more reckless during the winter than any other time of the year, which is when they need to be on top of everything. Don't get me wrong. The rain can be just as bad. A rainy day, if not raining too hard can be relaxing.
The invention of the CD player has improved the enjoyment of the road trip as well. Although, it takes practice to master the art of changing a CD and driving at the same time (I wouldn't advise this practice at all). A good CD and a destination to nowhere, or maybe you do have a destination. Either way, the drive is relaxing. Think about it. There isn't the jackwagon that wants to turn left at the busiest intersection at the peak of rush hour. Any stop lights, which most of them are pointless (I'll get to this later), are very minimal. The only real distraction is the law abiding citizen who will not pass the semi doing 63 while the citizen is doing 64 trying to pass the semi.
Now, to the stop lights...most of them are put there because of the businesses on the corner want one there to draw in customers. If a McDonald's goes in, there's going to be a stop light at that intersection. Mainly because they can afford to bribe the politicians to make it happen. Another reason for some of the pointless stop lights is to slow down traffic. The idea is nice, but let's be honest again here. Most people speed through the yellow light.
To get back on the subject, the scenery is what gets me the most about road trips. In Iowa, I know there are a lot of corn fields. However, seeing some of the old school farms is really neat to see. We don't see those any more. Iowa has given more breaks to corporations running farms, which has caused some farms in Iowa to close. When I was younger and my parents drove me and my siblings up to Sioux City, I always liked seeing the farms, whether they had horses or cows or any other animal I didn't see too much of. We would even sometimes moo to the cows. Hey, every kid did that, right? I often stop at some of the sites along the way. If I see that it's not too far from the interstate, I'll get off, and I'll visit the towns along the way just to say hi. I miss the common courtesy being a city-boy (it was hard, but I've come to realize I'm a city-boy). The small towns offer much more than the city, and they don't ask for anything in return. However, I give them something in return anyways. It's what's called common courtesy. As you may have gathered, I travel to Sioux City quite a bit. I have places I will hit along the way, and I have places I will avoid as well. One place I avoid going to Minneapolis is a town called Albert Lea. I compared that to Mos Eisley. I haven't enjoyed drives within the last decade because of gas prices. Now, I don't enjoy them as much because I never have time to plan one. However, aren't the best road trips the ones that aren't planned? One time, when I was in college, I went to check my schedule at work, and my boss called road trip to Omaha. Who was I to say no? Of course, I went. My boss, another coworker and I came back pretty damn drunk. It was one hell of a road trip. I'd give you details, but they're pretty incriminating.
