On long road trips you have a couple of options. The fast one, where you hop on the Interstate, set your cruise control at 5 miles over the speed limit, and fly. Or the meandering one, the one where you head out on State Highway or County Road such and such, the one where you cruise close to the fields, up and down rolling hills, across train tracks, past barns and silos, and within smelling distance of livestock and fertilizer. The one where the speed limit never exceeds 60 mph and every 15 miles or so you need to throttle down to 45 and then 35 as you pass through one small town after another. Most of our trips have been of the fast variety. Get from Point A to Point B as quickly as possible, see the sights, take a hike, move on. This time we’re slowing down, travelling on two lane roads, staying off the Interstates.

We are enjoying it. The roads are surprisingly good, well maintained with decent shoulders. The traffic as sparce as the population, no wrangling with an endless line of 18-wheelers. Whatever there is to see is near at hand. When John is driving and I am free to do whatever I want – read, knit, play games on my phone – what I mostly do is look out the window, watch the world go by, and think about what I’m seeing. What is the land telling me about where I am, about the people and animals that inhabit that place, the terrain and geology, the economy and the ecology? Whenever we stop for fuel or to stretch our legs, it is easy to make a human connection with the people we meet. Ask directions or wonder about a landscape feature and people are welcoming and happy to talk. It is good to be reminded that, red state or blue, most people are just people.

The broad vistas of two-lane travel do not produce many Instagram worthy photos (at least not from this photographer), but to give you a flavor:

In rural South Dakota the silos shone, and the grass was sparkling spring green, bending and waving in the wind.

Montana had big skies, big trains, and big mountains.

Southern Alberta was a perfect lead up to the Canadian Rockies with snowcapped peaks and clear, teal green lakes.

We took time at campgrounds to pursue our travel objectives – drawing every day,and learning to juggle.


Up next, Banff and Jasper National Parks. Sights all human beings should experience.