Roadways for some reason fascinate me. I am not a fan of GPS, but can ponder over an atlas or map all day long. That being said, historically it is reported that some of our early roadways originated from the migration trails of buffalo, caribou and other herding mammals. Native Americans then used these routes to travel here and there. Traders, wagons and stagecoaches followed. These paths were widened, paved and sometimes rerouted to become our modern roadways and railways of today.
In the early days, these paths and or trails were well known, passed down from generation to generation, such as the quicker, traffic light free backroads were passed down from my father to me when learning the art of driving as a teenager. The people who traveled to here and there knew all the stops, where to hunt, gather,camp, drink, get gas, get rid of gas etc…
Taverns and towns sprung up along these roads to be followed by homes and schools. So not only did animals and people follow these roads but also development. The roads became faster, what took the Native American a whole day to get to their destination, is now accomplished in just 10 minutes on the expressway.(not rush hour though).
Native peoples shared stories of perhaps the great big bad wolf they encountered along the way, pioneers in turn spoke of muddy, rutty roads around the campfire, today we Facebook about our anger over driving and texting or “Why can’t people slow down in a school zone?” Imagine an Indian scout texting as he ran through the woods. Bam! didn’t see that tree coming…..
So where is this post going? No where really, it’s just rambling down the road, trippin along.
Road Trippin 