Take The Back Roads...

I was just listening to the news and they reminded me that 'Labor Day', (national holiday here in the U.S.) is coming up. About how many million people will be driving somewhere, on national highways, going back and forth, to who knows where. Having driven a truck for over forty years, I have seen more than my share of roads, national and otherwise. Maybe it's because I was born a long time ago in a simplier time when everybody's kid did not have a car and the roads were not quite so nice, that I still love to drive the old, sometimes forgotten, back roads across this wide country. One such road, much bypassed, is old highway 30, across the vast state of Wyoming. One of the last bits of the 'Old West'...

The particular stretch of road I am thinking of, runs between Laramie and Rawlins, Wyoming. This old road(US 30) is only a few miles farther than taking the new super highway(I-80), and passes through a couple of smaller towns(almost ghost towns) before bringing the occasional traveler into the town of Medicine Bow.

Maybe, it's because so many people are in a hurry to take a vacation  and want to get there fast, that they totally avoid the old, unfamiliar roads, or the fact that a lot of history has been lost because travelers have no idea that so much even exists. The old road(actually in good shape) through Medicine bow is worth the trip.

Driving into town is quite a sight. Here is a town of mostly one or two story buildings and in the midst of it all stands a crude, somewhat strange looking building, towering over all the rest. The Old Virginian Hotel and Saloon...
The Hotel is so named because of a story of Cowboys and the wild west, written in 1880s
, by Owen Wister. The story because quite famous and was later because the basis of a TV series: 'The Virginian'...
The Hotel has a somewhat colorful history and over the years many famous people came west and stayed at the "Virginian'. President Teddy Roosevelt stayed there on his occasional hunting trips. I haven't been there in many years now, but some years back I stopped and they told me they STILL rent rooms. A real chance to stay where history still resides. Wandering though the halls and rooms and feeling like I was in another time, I had to wonder... how many of the former occupants are still here?

If anyone ever finds themselves crossing Wyoming in the dead of winter, Take my advice and take the old road west. The wind is not so bad and  there are not so many hills, and if conditions get too bad, you might be able to find a room at the 'Virginian' hotel.
 If you need a good nights sleep, you can always go next door to the SALOON...

The Old Road...

I use to spend a lot of time driving around the country and I guess I have always had a THING for history, the past...OLD stuff, in general...I have always thought that if we can't remember where we came from, HOW will we ever figure out...where we are going?

In the some parts of the western US, the land is still pretty much open country. On a stretch of road between Cheyenne, Wyoming , heading south towards Greeley, Colorado, I chanced to see what remained of a very old road,  off to one side of the present, modern day road. Most of the old road had disappeared but I continued watching and a little ways farther along the way, I spied what remained of a bridge.

I have no idea when that road and bridge were last used, but from the width and size of the road , it must have been very early in Automobile history. I would assume it could only have accommodated smaller vehicles, like the Model T, or A Fords. For sure, nothing like what we drive  now, and never the truck I was driving...

It really saddens me to see our history bypassed for the (so-called) sake of progress. It's almost, as if, we don't care anymore, as long as we make money...Maybe it's the younger generations  that haven't aged enough yet to realize, they too, will someday be older and be forced to look back...and wonder...What was it like back then? When their day comes, who knows if this old road and bridge will still be here, or will someone dig it up several hundred years from now...and appreciate it?

In other parts of the country, I have witnessed similar sights. In Illinois, where I am originally from, my Uncle once showed me what remained of what was called...a HALF road. Back in the early days, often the road was only one lane(often made of BRICK), and just wide enough for one vehicle. The idea was: IF you should chance to meet another car, one of you would have to pull to the side and allow the other to pass.

With today's selfish attitudes and traffic I hate to think of even trying o get anyone to be kind enough to do something like that...

End Of The Line...

Everyone has their stories, their memories of days gone by. Times, when life was at such a high pitch, then it all came to an end. That's our existence, but that's just the way it is... unfortunately!  I guess we can say that  for all things. They come and they go. They serve their purpose, then it's over.
 Walking in our local park the other day, I stood looking at the old locomotive; just sitting there; looking so forlorn and lost. It made it last run long ago, but one can only imagine the days and nights it raced back and forth, doing what it was designed for. The hot fires in the boiler, the massive amounts of smoke that billowed from it's stack...

I bet, IF it could talk, it would have lots of tales to tell; of the many people it carried to their destinations; Most ordinary, but maybe some famous,  EVEN some infamous, outlaws. During this train's time, it was still the wild west(as it was called)... Who knows for sure? Now, it's work is done, but still I have to wonder(crazy me) if trains have ghosts? If so, I'm sure somewhere this old giant, fire  roaring in it's boiler, the engineer with his hand on the throttle, is burning up the line. Out across the open desert, it's whistle screaming at every crossing...Going somewhere...

WATCHING THE WEATHER...

I drove a truck for more than forty years and after making more than my share of mistakes, I began to pay more attention to some things...Especially, the weather...

As we all know, the weather is unpredictable(weatherman or not), but after a few winters under my belt I became some what of a weatherman myself.  In most cases, it only requires a bit of common sense to avoid a major catastrophe. After a while I begin to realize it when a situation was developing and get out of the way BEFORE it was too late.

I was just outside of Rock Springs, Wyoming, it was December, and had been raining all day long. No snow so far...just rain. Anyone that knows Wyoming, knows it is usually a very long way to the next town. A long, open stretch of road with almost no places to get in out of the storm if it suddenly hits. The sun was starting to go down and the temperature was dropping fast. That meant only one thing to me...ICE!

I had already made up my mind that there is not a load worth getting injured or killed  for. I learned a long time ago, most of my customers would rather that I arrive late, rather than them losing everything. Now, if only I could find a motel room for the night. A lot of nights I slept in the truck but, somehow, tonight was not going to be one of them...IF I can help it... On stormy nights, the motels have a booming business. I have wondered more once if the motels owners pray for bad weather, knowing it is good for business. I certainly hope not...

Fortunately, I pulled in early enough and managed to get a room, I park the truck and headed for a safe night and maybe a quick beer. As I made my way to the motel I glanced towards the highway, still  packed with traffic, trying to make a few more miles. I wondered if they remembered that it is over a hundred miles east to the next truck stop. I hoped they knew what they were doing. Soon, that road is   going to be a nightmare in ice. Oh Boy!

I spent a comfortable night and had a good sleep and once the sun came up next morning, I had a slow breakfast and waited for the morning sun  to knock the top off the icy night's work. Finally, I warmed the truck up, caught up my log book and headed east. It wasn't long before I saw the results of NOT watching the weather...I always have to wonder if they were just driving too fast, or if maybe, the wind caught them. Many new drivers are too OVER confident. Under such conditions, too much confidence can get you killed. I learned long time ago that no matter how heavy a truck is loaded, IF that wind catches the side of it...Well! It is NEVER heavy enough... Once that trailer gets more than half way around, there is not much chance of saving it. All one can do is hang on...

Call me Paranoid, or maybe just more experienced, but that could have been me that ended up like that. I will be honest and tell you, a few winters ago...That WAS me...Now, you know WHY I watch the weather...

SUDDEN SHOWERS...Huh?

The sun came up again this morning, with another  hot, uncomfortable, day predicted.  I made the decision to have my first cup of the day with the windows open, BEFORE things heat up; Get some fresh air and enjoy the morning while I still can...
About one sip into my coffee I heard a sound...NO! It can't be...I was just outside and not a cloud in the sky but...IT'S RAINING... First a little, then a full bored GULLEYWASHER(as we call it here)...I had to run out and  close the windows on my pickup truck. In the middle of an ARIZONA summer, we can, usually, only dream of rain.

Believe it or not, at such a time as this, I can only look up and say....THANK YOU! At a time like this,  don't ask, just be thankful...Forget the weatherman and enjoy a brief blessing...

JERKWATER TOWN...

I, like a lot of people, grew up in a small town and had often heard it referred to as 'A jerkwater town'...
I really never gave it much thought, till I got older and started questioning life in general. Then, I had to ask...WHY is it called a JERKWATER town? Where did that term ever come from? What did it mean?

As I discovered, the jerkwater part didn't apply to where I was from because the Railroad didn't come near us.  I find out that was an old term for towns, with a JERKWATER tank, where the old steam trains use to stop and fill their tanks...

The trains would make a brief stop, let off or pick up passengers, and drop the JERKWATER spout to refill their tanks for the next leg of the journey across country. I have no idea what sort of mileage they got on one tank, but there was always another 'JERKWATER TOWN' on down the line...

Somehow, over the years, the term got attached to just about ANY small town that wasn't on the map or nobody had ever heard of...EXCEPT the people living there...

TIME AND TRAVEL...

As I get older, I seem to spend more time thinking and remembering things from when I was a kid; I guess we all, eventually, go that way...
We, originally, came from Illinois...a long time ago. Back then, the roads were much narrower, the cars bigger and different from what they are now. Back then, Gas was a LOT cheaper, but of course, people made a lot less money, compared to today's standards. By today's standard, I guess most of us were... what would be called...Poor? We were just kids and we didn't know we were poor. Didn't know what that meant...yet! We were going west and it was so exciting. We loved it; seeing all these new things and up to that point in time we never realized the world was so big.

I remember that we(kids) were disappointed  that we were not attacked by Indians on the way out. We felt better when Dad explained to us that WE were Indian and they wouldn't bother us...NOW, we could relax and see the sights. Thinking now, about the so-called comforts of riding in the back seat of that old car all the way to Nebraska (in the middle of summer), well, it was good thing to be young...

One thing, I DO remember is the water bags(drinking water), that Dad hung on the front bumper of the car. In those days, there were not a lot of fancy coolers and air conditioners. We had the canvas water bags on the bumper and all the windows down for air conditioning...

We were young and didn't know then, what we know now, but the water was in no way cold(like ice) and it tasted like the canvas bag it was in, BUT, it was wet, and that is all that mattered. I remember it seemed to take forever, but at the time we didn't know where we were going, or when we would get there. The Doctor had recommended my Dad leave Illinois and move to a dryer climate and we were moving west to find a new place. Dad had, somehow, developed an allergy to CORN; Can't  be a farmer in Illinois if you're allergic to corn.

We went west; on and on,  and in those days corn wasn't found much in western Nebraska; Wheat was King then...We got to where there was only wheat and Dad felt fine, so we settled into our new life near Sidney, Nebraska. It was wheat harvest time, Dad got a job and for a short time, I remember, we lived in a big tent. For us, it was such an exciting time...

I realize now that it doesn't take a lot to be happy and have good memories. We had a place to sleep and enough to eat, AND we had our family right beside us...What more can one ask for...