Random Thoughts While Driving Across the Country

Western Kansas is flat and boring.

Eastern Kansas and further east is flat, but not boring. Trees make all the difference.
Colorado and Arizona and New Mexico are very dry. Most of the lakes are man-made reservoirs. Further east, there is a lot more water. There are small, natural lakes and ponds everywhere.

When the country is flat, rivers sometimes are smooth as glass. They look like calm lakes.

Campgrounds in the west are different than those to the east. There aren’t many people in the west and they often drive long distances to a campground. They don’t return every weekend to the same spot. We don’t see seasonal campsite rentals. People who go the same place every time in the West tend to own a cabin and spend their time there, not in a campground. Campgrounds in the Midwest tend to be seasonal communities. People may rent a spot and leave their RV there all summer. And the campgrounds have lots of activities for both adults and children. It looks like campers live close by. Unless the campground is right off the Interstate, out-of-state campers are unusual.

When you drive all day on the interstate, you jockey back and forth with the same vehicles. You pass them, they pass you. One day, we saw the same people in 2 or 3 of rest areas we stopped in. We recognized each other and said “Hi.”

We would never be successful over-the-road truckers. Driving every day gets really tiring. Even if the drive is only 150 to 250 miles, it becomes the focus of the whole day. There is nothing else but hook up, drive, set up camp, go get fuel, cook dinner, sleep. Get up, pack lunch, start all over again. We went 1400 miles, driving 5 out of 6 days, to get to Indiana to see our new trailer. It was a grind, we felt pressured every day. We made the return trip while staying 2 to 4 or more days at each campground. A much better way to travel.

We stayed in a Corps of Engineers park on Carlyle Lake in Illinois. It was full for the weekend. Many campers had strings of lights outlining their site, others had them hanging from the awning. One tree trunk was actually wrapped with flashing lights! You can’t stay there more than 14 days. And I don’t understand it, even if you are in a spot for months. Doesn’t anyone appreciate a dark sky where you can see the stars?

Where are all those trucks going? And what are they carrying. As we whiz down the road, there are so many questions. What is growing in that field? Corn, we recognize. Wheat we would know. And sorghum, at least when it is near harvest, we know. But so many other things are grown and we have no idea. Every field should be labeled, just light streets have signs