Taming The Beast of Familiarity

Let’s face it. We often feel compelled to make a “Bucket List” of desirable places we wish to visit in the future. It follows then that  our upcoming car journey  beginning in two weeks throughout the American West region would seem to be similarly composed of preconceived destination points we wish to arrive at within roughly one day drive distances apart. Notice the title photo of this blog covering nineteen separate stopover places as evidence of this more traditional road trip plan.

Yet given such map structured clarity, how might I allot more time and effort to find those “out of the way” places of surprise discovery that also might capture my curiosity? For what good does it do to my more adventurous spirit by just sticking larger city visitation pins on my map so to speak? Clearly, I need to supplement this time efficient travel system with strategies to embrace more spontaneous discoveries along the way as well. Thus with no particular order in mind, I brainstorm below several ideas to embrace my quest to find more unplanned destinations.     

“GETTING OFF THE BEATEN TRACK” IN 2024

1.Disregard GPS directional signals more.                                 

2. Get off the interstate highways when it’s desirable.

4. Look for local tourist sites lying outside my city base destination region more.      

5. Focus on an excursion subject or two of personal interest to pinpoint more “sidetrack” places. 

6. Anticipate more any road stress ahead in deciding where and when to get off the main highway.      

7. Turn a negative travel experience that I can’t control along the main highway into a more positive opportunity to look in small towns to find something new.
                       
Now let’s set up a realistic scenario in which I might proceed with a more spontaneous destination outlook as we travel in our Honda CRV along interstate expressways during March through early April. It’s very likely then that for several days, I will obediently follow “Siri” as she gives me her detailed GPS directional suggestions to proceed directly across these heavily congested highways in order to reach some larger base destinations like Oklahoma City, Albuquerque, and Flagstaff.    

 Yet there would arise several occasions on this leg of our journey where I’d alternatively feel tempted to disregard her GPS directives and veer off the Interstate to find sites of personal historic interest along the parallel route following Route 66. In the photos that follow then, notice several places of secondary interest that would enable me to improvise in this fashion our vacation plans along the so called “Main Street of America” corridor particularly through Oklahoma and Arizona on this vacation. 

Let’s further illustrate how I might proceed with more innovative travel thinking. Picture a snowstorm, forecast to heavily impact Flagstaff, lying at over 6800 feet above sea level, as we pass through  the city on I-40 from the east during the morning commute at around 8:30 am.Various options would exist to deal with this impending weather crisis.(1) We stop in Flagstaff and “batten down” in a motel for one night. (2) We “chain up” our tires or not and risk driving through slippery icy conditions on I-40 to stay on our planned schedule. (3) We proceed more slowly west  instead on the alternate road of Route 66 to “kill time” and likely discover a warm indoor museum, store, hotel or cafe to visit around town.(4) We head southwest toward a safer location where the storm’s road effects might be less extreme as we merge onto State Road 89A towards Central Arizona to reach the lower elevation conditions of a town like Prescott, Cottonwood, or Sedona. In the latter two decision options,, it’s more likely we would plot a freshly new path west on backroads toward California off of I-40.     

Given the photo depictions above representing the physical terrain and available roads flowing in this Arizona region, I’d like to go with the more daring options of # 3 or #4. How about you? Which decision would you make under these weather extreme circumstances?  I will talk to you “down the road” soon on JetPack. USFMAN