On the Road with Rand McNally

Just got home from Road Trip 3: the South.  We drove down Interstate 35 to the Texas Coast, and back up through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and then North to home.  We basically made a big circle, and Rand McNally came with us.

We have so many ways to plot our routes.  Many people let Google Maps plan their journey.  And I admit, Google Maps is really helpful for getting from Point A to Point B.  But if the point of your journey is the journey itself, you can't go wrong with a good old fashioned road map.

I have always had a fascination with maps.  My dad had a pre-World War II atlas that I liked to look at.  My older brothers had added pictures, like planes on bombing runs or boats in the ocean.  It was colorful and exotic.  Later on, I had a great fascination with Australia (thank you, Australians series by William Stuart Long and The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough) and I would immerse myself in the unusual names-Canowindra, Parramatta, Wollongong.

As a small child my family took a few camping trips-the Black Hills, Glacier National Park, the Badlands.  But with 5 kids in 1 car, the prospect of a longer trip was probably unappealing to my parents.

My sister moved across the country to California when I was 12.  By this time only my brother and I remained at home, and the idea of a longer car trip was not so daunting.  I remember my dad pulling out the Rand McNally map in the evenings, plotting our route.  He planned it so we could drive through some of the most scenic country.  He and my 16 year old brother took turns driving during the day, and we would stop in some small town by 4:00 to look for a place for the night.  We would drive through town, looking at likely mom-and-pop motels (never a hotel).  Mom and Dad would get out of the car to inquire within, and pretty soon we would see them come out with the proprietor, key in hand, to check out the room.  If it didn't meet with Mom's standards, on to the next one.  This could eat up an hour of the day.

But back to Rand McNally.  The map came with us on the road then, and it still comes with me now. I love the fact that with a road map I can see the whole of a state spread out before me.  And Rand McNally does an awesome job of showing anything and everything along the route. If it weren't for Rand McNally,  how would I have found Music Man Square in Mason City, Iowa? Or the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Oklahoma?  Or the Ave Maria Grotto in Cullman, Alabama?

Ave Maria Grotto

Tallgrass Prairie

Don't get me wrong.  I do use technology.  Not only do I have my road map spread out on the car floor at my feet, but I also have my phone in hand and the GPS screen open on the dash. And I guess the technology has taken some of the romance out of the road trip.  I could choose to stop at any promising looking motel/hotel, or to walk into a random restaurant, but at the end of the day I like knowing that my accomodations are clean and comfortable and that I will have a good meal.  So I guess it's a trade-off, romance for familiarity and comfort.  Like so many things.

We're planning our next road trip for the Spring-California.  It's never to early to pull out the map and start plotting! Planning your own road trip? Love maps?  Check out the display in the library.  Happy trails!

Babs and Chip in "Terror on the Mountain!"

The following is based upon a true story.

They drove the truck up the last few miles of dirt road, the serpentine switchbacks taking them higher and higher until they were finally up above the treeline.  The drive up the mountain had taken them past little rivers and gentle waterfalls.  The sunshine had even peeked out a couple of times.  Now the mist shrouded everything. Earlier in the day Chip and Babs had spoken to an old timer that warned them of snow up on the mountain, but they were doubtful.  Snow in the middle of July?  Rain was much more likely.

Reaching a level spot at the end of the dirt road, they parked their sturdy 4-wheel drive and got out. The trail over the mountains was clearly laid out, a straight line traversing the side of the mountain just down from the top of the ridge until it bent out of sight around some boulders.

"Well, what do you think?  Still want to go on this adventure?" asked Babs, her eyes on the grey clouds looming.

"That's why we came all this way, isn't it?  We have no choice at this point.  If we wanted to back out we should have done it in Superior, or Denver even.  It's too late now.  We're here and we're going to proceed on."

"Proceed on?" she repeated with a smile.  "Those are the words Captain Clark used on the Lewis and Clark Expedition.  'We proceeded on'."

Chip smiled back.  "I knew that would get you motivated."

 Babs donned her foul weather gear-wool sweater, sweat pants, buff and scarf, and over all the thin green raincoat, As they headed down the trail all seemed well.  The wind blowing across the high moor was refreshing.  A family of marmots playing in the boulders drew her attention.  As they came to the bend in the path, they saw that it proceeded on ahead around another bend.  "We'll stop up there and see what there is to see", said Chip.

What there was to see was a steep  downward plunge into a deep chasm.  And more clouds.  Soon the wind began to whip up, the light faded, and the rain came lashing down.  Babs pulled up her hood and wished for warmer shoes.  Stopping to catch her breath she noticed the sky light up with a sharp fork of lightening.  The tremendous crash of thunder startled her so much she lost her footing on the now slippery slope and teetered on the edge of the chasm.  Chip, coming up from behind, grabbed her hand as she slipped over and pulled her back up.  But the rain was coming down so fast and hard that the path beneath their feet was beginning to wash down the mountainside.  If they didn't move fast, they would go with it.  Too late.  Even as the thought occurred, she felt the ground beneath her feet slip and slide.  Her tenners lost their grip.  "Chip!" she screamed, and she felt her hand slipping through his.

Well, that's how I like to tell the story.  It did rain while we were hiking.  Everyone needs a little adventure.

Want some adventure in your life?  A good start would be our display of Adventure books. And remember,

"It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage."