Welcome to my Journey

Welcome to my journey Along the way to Indy.

Some think this is part of my midlife crises - mid-fifties, without a job for the first time since the first time I ever held a job, being asked to leave a job for the first time ever not on my own accord, wanting to get out of town and wander for a little while - I've never known what I wanted to do anyway, haven't liked the job in years and hated the last change to become AT&T - it was time to go. So with a year's severance, enough retirement pay to only need to find a way to pay the rent, a convertible, a new tent, some great help packing, enough clean clothes not to have to do laundry between family stops - in the immortal words of Ralph Kramden - "and away we go".

If all the windshield time does not kill me, I hope to post about the wonder sites, sounds and people I meet Along the way to Indy. My itinerary includes Salt Lake City, Glacier National Park Montana, Little Big Horn, Deadwood South Dakota, Mount Rushmore, Minneapolis, Indy, Springfield, Grand Rapids, Nashville, Graceland, St. Louis, Lawrence Kansas, Garden City Kansas, Colorado Springs, Colorado City, Albuquerque, Gallop, Moab Utah, Phoenix, Glendale Utah, with the final night stay in Death Valley (which may be a most appropriate place to finish than first thought) and many sights in between.

This will be an educational tour as well as entertaining. The plan is to stop at as many State Capitols as possible as well as many National Parks and National Monuments as I can fit in. The plan is to have fun and see some off the beaten track sights as well. There are a myriad of water towers painted as Smiley Faces and farm silos painted as soda cans and the world's largest Ball of Hair as well as the World's largest Hair Ball. Along with the World's largest Painted Ball, Ball of String (not twine), Ball of Twine, Purple Spoons, Aliens, criminal hide-outs and some amazing things still to be uncovered. Just as in packing there were many items originally packed which are being left behind, there are way too many sights that will not be seen - not enough time, not enough daylight, short sighted "Open" hours, or just plain exhaustion. But I expect that there will be plenty to see and do Along the way to Indy.

While researching the highways and byways by which to travel Along the way to Indy, I came across some marvelous web sites. One of the funnest just to look through is RoadsideAmerica.com. This site lists the weird and wonderful roadside attractions in every state in the USA. From Alabama to Wyoming, each state has some wonderful sights to see (and some not so wonderful from the descriptions). If you ever find yourself bored, just take a look at this amusing website and find the closest attraction to where you are and you will not be bored for too long. The site also promotes adding to its list, so I will be on the lookout for various roadside attractions that I can add to the list.

I am interested in your thoughts, comments and any sights that you may know of Along the way to Indy. Fasten your seat belts, bring your seat backs and tray tables to their up-right and locked position. The journey officially begins way too early on June 1st and it returns late on July 9th.

Put on the sun screen, put the top down and lets roll, we're burning daylight...