Wednesday, May 10, 2006
The Open Road
The open road has beckoned people for centuries. Whether it’s a meandering cowpath or a modern superhighway, many are tempted by wanderlust to ride off into – or away from – the sunset. Songs have been written and stories have been told and retold about journeys into the known and unknown.
My family recently had such a journey onto the open road. Our wanderings took us to the American Southwest where we traveled on modern superhighways and local trails. We even drove a bit on the most famous highway in the U.S. – Route 66! For someone who is from eastern climes, the Southwest looked desolate. As we drove mile by barren mile, I realized that the roads we took were following the pathways of old.
First came the trails. In my case, it was the old Santa Fe Trail. These trails were not roads but pathways with well-worn ruts from the wagonwheels. They were originally meant for commerce, but the pioneers of old used these rutted paths to move forever westward. Some decided to settle along the trailways and new communities were born.
The coming of the railroad brought a new and faster way of moving goods and people. The trails were replaced by railroad lines. The Santa Fe Trail was replaced by the Santa Fe Railroad which happened to go further west than just Santa Fe, New Mexico! There was even a song about it called “The Acheson, Topeka and Santa Fe”. For over a hundred years, it was the way to go west to places like Los Angeles. [We saw the old Santa Fe line along our route still being used today carrying modern freight.]
Then came the highways. The advent of the automobile gave people the speed of the train with the autonomy of the horse and wagon. However, for the first couple of decades, the roads traveled were no different than the rutted trails of yore. Then, in the 1920s, new paved highways were built. In the American Southwest, that highway was Route 66.
Just as the Santa Fe Railroad followed the path of the Santa Fe Trail (and then some), the new Route 66 followed the path of the Santa Fe Railroad (and then some). Also, like the rail line, it too had a song written about it (“Get Your Kicks on Route 66”). When most people write about the open road, they invariably invoke this highway in particular. John Steinbeck called it “The Mother Road” in his monumental novel The Grapes of Wrath. This was the road that the Okies drove to escape the Dust Bowl to the Promised Land that they hoped was California. (It was, but for a different reason.)
There was even a TV show called Route 66 loosely based on the novel On the Road by Jack Kerouac. If there ever was a novel that evoked the spirit of the open road, this is it. The story is semi-autobiographical with Kerouac’s character called Sal Paradise driving cross-country with his pal Dean Moriarty (based on Kerouac’s own pal Neal Cassady). The novel tells about their adventures as they drive the nation’s highways while getting high on marijuana, amphetamines and Bebop Jazz.
I can hardly say that I was high on anything, plus I left my Jazz records at home! Nor did my family have many adventures on the road. Yet, the thrill of driving faster than I’m allowed back east made me invoke the spirit of Kerouac’s heroes. I could also picture the Okies chugging along westward to their dear Promised Land. And, as I saw the Santa Fe freight cars go by, I can see the old passenger trains traveling by steam across the desolate landscape heading for Los Angeles or Chicago. That landscape whizzed by for me as I sped across the Interstate. How did the pioneers feel seeing the same buttes and mesas for days mocking them that they still had a long way to go? Afterall, their covered wagons could only go as fast as the horses would let them!
The only drawback I found during my wanderlust was the rising price of petroleum. This one fact can put an end to anyone’s travel plans. As long as our automobiles depend on petroleum to run, we are at the mercy of such price fluctuations. What gets me is that I was still paying high fuel costs even though I was within sight of not a few oil wells! A shill for the oil industry stated that this was because of the vagaries of the marketplace. Whatever!...
If that weren’t enough, we even have our leaders say that we are addicted to oil. I wouldn’t call it an addiction which conveys that we have a choice. An addict has a choice to either do or don’t do. We don’t have that choice. We are not addicted to oil. We are enslaved by it. A slave has no choice but to follow his master. We are not given any alternatives.
Mass transit is non-existent in most communities. Even when it’s there, it takes only some of us to our destination. The rest have to drive. We keep hearing about alternative fuels, but long after the first energy crisis 30 years ago, we have yet to see a real alternative that is not in a semi-permanent experimental stage! Then, we hear from industry shills stating that there’s no market for them. All one has to do is build them, and they will have their market!
Was there a market for home personal computers 25 years ago? Not immediately, but, once they were built - Lo and behold! - a demand appeared! Similarly, the automobile was just a toy for the rich until Henry Ford made it affordable for the masses. The movie proverb “If you build it, they will come” is very true in the realm of cars and alternative energy sources. The demand is there, but the will isn’t. I know I would be first in line when we have a real choice, a real alternative.
Meanwhile, the open road beckons. Kerouac and the Okies drove at a time of cheap gas. We don’t – anymore. Yet, our wanderlust urges us to travel and see new sights and revisit old ones. I don’t know if I can redo my recent trip, but I’m tempted. And, I know that I’m not alone.
My family recently had such a journey onto the open road. Our wanderings took us to the American Southwest where we traveled on modern superhighways and local trails. We even drove a bit on the most famous highway in the U.S. – Route 66! For someone who is from eastern climes, the Southwest looked desolate. As we drove mile by barren mile, I realized that the roads we took were following the pathways of old.
First came the trails. In my case, it was the old Santa Fe Trail. These trails were not roads but pathways with well-worn ruts from the wagonwheels. They were originally meant for commerce, but the pioneers of old used these rutted paths to move forever westward. Some decided to settle along the trailways and new communities were born.
The coming of the railroad brought a new and faster way of moving goods and people. The trails were replaced by railroad lines. The Santa Fe Trail was replaced by the Santa Fe Railroad which happened to go further west than just Santa Fe, New Mexico! There was even a song about it called “The Acheson, Topeka and Santa Fe”. For over a hundred years, it was the way to go west to places like Los Angeles. [We saw the old Santa Fe line along our route still being used today carrying modern freight.]
Then came the highways. The advent of the automobile gave people the speed of the train with the autonomy of the horse and wagon. However, for the first couple of decades, the roads traveled were no different than the rutted trails of yore. Then, in the 1920s, new paved highways were built. In the American Southwest, that highway was Route 66.
Just as the Santa Fe Railroad followed the path of the Santa Fe Trail (and then some), the new Route 66 followed the path of the Santa Fe Railroad (and then some). Also, like the rail line, it too had a song written about it (“Get Your Kicks on Route 66”). When most people write about the open road, they invariably invoke this highway in particular. John Steinbeck called it “The Mother Road” in his monumental novel The Grapes of Wrath. This was the road that the Okies drove to escape the Dust Bowl to the Promised Land that they hoped was California. (It was, but for a different reason.)
There was even a TV show called Route 66 loosely based on the novel On the Road by Jack Kerouac. If there ever was a novel that evoked the spirit of the open road, this is it. The story is semi-autobiographical with Kerouac’s character called Sal Paradise driving cross-country with his pal Dean Moriarty (based on Kerouac’s own pal Neal Cassady). The novel tells about their adventures as they drive the nation’s highways while getting high on marijuana, amphetamines and Bebop Jazz.
I can hardly say that I was high on anything, plus I left my Jazz records at home! Nor did my family have many adventures on the road. Yet, the thrill of driving faster than I’m allowed back east made me invoke the spirit of Kerouac’s heroes. I could also picture the Okies chugging along westward to their dear Promised Land. And, as I saw the Santa Fe freight cars go by, I can see the old passenger trains traveling by steam across the desolate landscape heading for Los Angeles or Chicago. That landscape whizzed by for me as I sped across the Interstate. How did the pioneers feel seeing the same buttes and mesas for days mocking them that they still had a long way to go? Afterall, their covered wagons could only go as fast as the horses would let them!
The only drawback I found during my wanderlust was the rising price of petroleum. This one fact can put an end to anyone’s travel plans. As long as our automobiles depend on petroleum to run, we are at the mercy of such price fluctuations. What gets me is that I was still paying high fuel costs even though I was within sight of not a few oil wells! A shill for the oil industry stated that this was because of the vagaries of the marketplace. Whatever!...
If that weren’t enough, we even have our leaders say that we are addicted to oil. I wouldn’t call it an addiction which conveys that we have a choice. An addict has a choice to either do or don’t do. We don’t have that choice. We are not addicted to oil. We are enslaved by it. A slave has no choice but to follow his master. We are not given any alternatives.
Mass transit is non-existent in most communities. Even when it’s there, it takes only some of us to our destination. The rest have to drive. We keep hearing about alternative fuels, but long after the first energy crisis 30 years ago, we have yet to see a real alternative that is not in a semi-permanent experimental stage! Then, we hear from industry shills stating that there’s no market for them. All one has to do is build them, and they will have their market!
Was there a market for home personal computers 25 years ago? Not immediately, but, once they were built - Lo and behold! - a demand appeared! Similarly, the automobile was just a toy for the rich until Henry Ford made it affordable for the masses. The movie proverb “If you build it, they will come” is very true in the realm of cars and alternative energy sources. The demand is there, but the will isn’t. I know I would be first in line when we have a real choice, a real alternative.
Meanwhile, the open road beckons. Kerouac and the Okies drove at a time of cheap gas. We don’t – anymore. Yet, our wanderlust urges us to travel and see new sights and revisit old ones. I don’t know if I can redo my recent trip, but I’m tempted. And, I know that I’m not alone.
