Great to be Home Again

I’m about over the flurry of activity that follows a road trip – emptying the car, replenishing groceries, and doing laundry. Shedding the few pounds of weight and heighted anxiety accumulated while traveling is still a work in progress.

Going to our local farmers market was something I missed while I was away; it felt good to go to the market and come back with fresh produce to fill my refrigerator crispers: onions, collard greens, spaghetti squash and tomatoes.

I’m also thinking about the trip in retrospect at this point.

• What do I remember most about each state?

  • Texas – I spent the most time away in the state – enjoying seeing family in person. It was hot and very sunny. The speed limits are high and the drivers are usually going at least 10 miles above – sometimes a bit scary. The employees at the Walmart closest to my parents started wearing masks on the last few days (a new mandate from corporate) and a lot of the customers were wearing masks as well. Lots of mosquito bites. Hazy skies (maybe from the fires or maybe just the way Dallas is in summer). Josey Ranch Lake and the Pocket Prairie nearby were pleasant in the early morning…always some plants or wildlife to see there.

  • Missouri – No one was wearing masks even though the state was in the national news for their Delta variant outbreak. People seemed friendly but I got the impression that they didn’t like that I was wearing a mask when I went indoors at rest stops. The rest stops along I44 are not as frequent as in other states and traffic is heavy with lots of trucks (and they sometimes seemed to be playing games passing each other and slowing down car traffic). I had a near accident on I44 when a pickup with a camper on the back must have forgotten how long the combination was - pulling over too soon after he passed me (almost forcing me off the road to avoid being swiped by the camper). A few mosquito bites from sitting out on my daughter’s patio at dusk. I enjoyed the Springfield Botanical Garden.

  • Kentucky – The one overnight in a hotel on my road trips to Texas/Missouri. The highway is scenic, and the rest stops well placed. I recalled the road trip I did with my daughter in 2005 when she was learning to drive; there was a segment in Kentucky that I remembered being scenic; when I got home I looked back in my notes and it was the interstate between Louisville and Cincinnati rather than the route I take now. Signs that feature horses and bourbon seem to be everywhere.

  • Oklahoma – Just passing through. It’s a little harder drive since most is not interstate – no formal rest stops. The toll roads are a hassle. It’s not as pretty as I remember growing up – not as many big trees. Maybe it’s the way the highways have been developed; in the 1960s we were driving a lot of the way on two lane roads.

  • Illinois and Indiana – Just passing through. Rural. There are rest stops frequently enough and they are well tended. The traffic is a lot less than in Texas and Missouri. Plants along the roads are not mowed --- lots of blooms and seeds. I wondered if they are intended to provide food for migrating birds and butterflies.

  • West Virginia – My favorite segment of the trip. Even though I’m seeing it at highways speeds – the forests and mountains are gorgeous. The state does a good job with rest stops along the highway as well. I want to find out more about new national park in the state – New River Gorge National Park and Preserve.

• I also noticed plants along the way as I drove and at the rest stops. Many of rest stop areas are transitioning to native plants; some even have pollinator gardens. The plantings are something to savor for the few minutes at the place…as the traffic on the interstate continues to roar past.

  • Wild/wood hydrangeas

  • Chicory

  • Sunflowers

  • Oaks

  • Red buds

  • Sweet gum

  • Maples

  • Cone flowers

  • Butterfly bush

I am very glad to be home!