The Need To Road Trip

Photo courtesy of Flickr’s Caveman 92223

We’ve all seen those wide, straight roads in the U.S.A, whether that’s been through a film or for real. They always seem to run through glorious countryside with rolling fields of grass and forests, or maybe it’s a desert road running next to some giant canyon or other.

Whatever it is, for me they always conjure up excitement, it stirs the soul and leaves a longing feeling of wanting to hop on a plane over to the States, hire a pick-up truck and just blast down some of those roads and into that sunset you always see in the movies.

I’ve been to America a couple of times before, but never done a ‘proper’ long drive over there. One trip was to Dallas, Texas (never again), and one to Tennessee, a beautiful state that has a lot of English type countryside, only larger, with bigger roads and better weather.

A road trip in the U.S is a dream I’ve always had, and with every year coming and going, it seems the right thing to do is get on with booking that flight. I mean, heck I’ve already got my tunes sorted for it. They’re the sort that conjure up images of those long, straight roads and the ultimate American lifestyle. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, U2 (okay they’re Irish but The Joshua Tree album is 100% American open road music), The Eagles, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Boston and a smattering of Frank Sinatra and Ray Charles.

So okay, some of those may seem a bit cheesy but they are America and all the road milage that go with it. I want to immerse myself into the culture, and having that sort of music on in my hired pick-up is one of the easiest ways to kick that off. Well that and the black cowboy hat I’ll purchase at the nearest general store.

It’s not just me that’ll be going on this trip though, I’ve got a good friend (we went to Tennessee together years ago) who’s just as revved up about it as I am.

Photo courtesy of Flickr’s Dazon Blue

A highlight will be going to a NASCAR race. You may think of it as a bunch of cars going round in a circle for a couple of hours and, well, you’re right. But add to that the fact the cars are all powered by howling V8’s, drive within inches of each other and hit 200 mph, plus an attendance of 150,000 avid NASCAR fans yelling at their favourite drivers, add to that weather topping 35 Celsius and you’ve got yourself a helluva day people.

Back onto the road and it’s just about written that if you’re doing a road trip in the U.S, then Route 66 must be involved at some point. Historic Route 66 is around 2,400 miles long and runs East to West (or the other way around) across the States from Los Angeles to Chicago and cuts across some of the most stunning countryside in the world. It’s the ultimate desert road as it runs through places like California, New Mexico, Arizona, Oklahoma and Missouri. Better make sure we’ve got plenty of water and fuel for that part of the journey then.

America is a ridiculously big place. For example, just to blow your minds a bit, the state of Texas alone is around 266,000 square miles whereas the whole of Britain is around 90,000 square miles!
This puts into perspective just how much room we’ve got to play about in and also how much
fuel we’ll get through in that big V8 pick-up we’ll rent.

Photo courtesy of Flickr’s Irene Shin

To add to the whole ‘genuine America’ feeling, I’ll stop in at least one sleazy motel, and I’ve no doubt that the following scenario will happen, as it does in most movies featuring a cheapo motel.

Night will come. All is quiet when we’re woken by next doors door being kicked in. Lots of shouting ensues of which we pick out “where’s ma damn money boy?” and “I ain’t got it yit darn it”. Then the ‘Bang. Bang’ of a gun and the sound of running, a car starts and floors the accelerator, steaming off into the distance.
All is silent.

If that doesn’t happen in our crappy motel I’ll be writing in to the right person and complaining about the whole thing.

A lot of what I want to do on the road trip in America may be from a film-based imagination; the deep red and yellow sunset at the end of that long, long road surrounded by desert, the whole NASCAR experience, the music, the cowboy hat and most of all, the pick-up truck, but believe me, that really is the U.S.A.
I’d better start saving then.

Here’s a very helpful site if you’re thinking of travelling Route 66. Historic66.com

Photo courtesy of Flickr’s Digammo