Road Trip USA

I think you could call it an itch: I need to get moving. Last night I was only nominally present at our last dinner with Bruce and Celia. Layne made barbecued jackfruit with a can of the tropical fruit from Trader Joe’s that traveled through Mexico with us. I was surprised she still had it as I really like the not-pork pulled pork sandwiches she makes with the jack fruit. I thought we had eaten it all but she kept the last can for a special occasion. 

There is much literature on the subject of taking to the road and Hollywood created a whole genre of road movies which are supposed to be enjoyed while sitting still. Last night while we were sitting I was not writing this post but I was pondering options. Layne and our hosts were talking about important stuff, nostalgia families and receipts, as you do while I was searching iOverlander and Google maps for possibilities.

Roughly speaking we are going to Clarkdale to visit a friend who moved from the Florida Keys and made a retirement life in the foothills of northern Arizona. To get there I took the “avoid highways” routing which I hope will yield some back roads worthy of some pauses to enjoy. After Clarkdale I see a fair bit of stuff worth seeing to the north. Tony Hillerman country.

Bruce introduced me to Hillerman’s Navajo novels which took the detective genre into the world of Navajo myth and custom apparently much praised by the Navajo themselves. So I thought that as it’s been forty years since I was wandering northern Arizona this might be the time to go back with my eyes wide open. 

It’s been a good transition back to the familiar of the US,  staying in the park with Bruce and Celia who also have a very efficient laundry set up…Even though my dog has enjoyed lounging around in the Arizona sun I feel no compunction about sweeping him up and hitting the open road. 

Thelma and Louise, Toad of Toad Hall, Around the World in Eighty Days, it’s all been done before. But reading about it it or chasing You Tube influencers can’t replace the feel of the road unspooling in front of you as though you were the first to figure it out. Lewis and Clark reborn. 

Mexico was fabulous and I look forward to being back in the Fall starting out for Argentina. But all that is later. Right now we’ve got a full tank of water an empty porta potty and trash can and half a tank of cheap Pemex to fuel us. All systems are go for our own version of the great American road trip. Time to see if we can get this right.