Road Trip -- A Gary Day

People travel differently. I tend to be a "get there" type. But I am open to change, especially since I altered my driving plan and once again was traversing I-80 across the flat middle of the country.

My friend Gary has always traveled by car, he actually likes to drive. As opposed to me, I drive because I have a wide variety of places to stop and flying to all of them is just not feasible. But I'm not a fan of motoring.

Last night I stopped in North Platte, Nebraska. First thing I did, which is what Gary would have done, I passed all the Days Inn, Holiday, Rodeway, Motel 6, 7 and 8 out there on the big interstate. Instead, I drove the mile into town and stayed at a local "car at your room door" motel.

Then I google-mapped around a bit and discovered I had stopped right at the verge of a different way to get to my next destination. So this morning, again Gary-like, I did not get back on the tarmac thread of I-80 but instead headed North out of North Platte on the two-lane Blue Star Memorial Highway 83. I was going to meander North for all of the morning and a bit of the afternoon until I crossed I-90 up in South Dakota.

The distance was the same and I could skip all of central, flat, farm-silo-farm-silo Nebraska. Yes, I am back on a big Interstate this evening. I'm in Mitchell, South Dakota. But it's new country for me and today wasn't just more of the same.

If you look back to last Friday, you will see some similar wandering in Eastern Oregon, also Gary inspired.

Why the Canada Geese up top you ask?

On my way out of North Platte there is a large park, which early this morning was the feeding ground for about two dozen honkers. I pulled over, another Gary-like move, and dispensed the remaining Yreka granola to the noisy avians. They're too big to be afraid of one man and just slightly moved away until I tossed the first handful of oats and raisins. Then they were all my buddies, even the one who kept trying to untie my shoe.