What a beautiful country is our United States, and traveling by car is just the best way to see it! Today Jan and I traveled from the rolling hills of Hunterdon County through the green fields and sun-dappled mountains of Pennsylvania into the slightly industrial zone of Ohio. The day was clear and bright, the highways were not crowded and Hurricane Irene was safely distant.
We're heading to Minnesota for our annual visit to my family's fishing lake and the awesome Minnesota State Fair. Making the trip by car adds four days to the enterprise, but the chance to take in what is the amazing variety of this country at ground level is worth it. Travel by air is okay when longer distances are involved or time is of the essence, but when I can, I like the car.
Key to the ease of travel is the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System, so named because it was an idea championed by Dwight Eisenhower during his presidency. He had been impressed by the German Autobahn while serving in World War II and saw the creation of a similar network in the US not only as a means of moving troops rapidly in the event of an invasion, but also as an aid to interstate commerce. And it makes our annual trip so much better!
(I wish our present Congress and administration could envision another bold plan such as the interstate highways that would both create jobs and make this country proud of something again.)
Tomorrow we head through Ohio, Indiana and Illinois before stopping for the night in Wisconsin. More time on the Interstates and more beautiful country to see...
