Here’s to Dwight Eisenhower, the creative force behind today’s interstate. Without his push we may never have known the wonder of the Worlds Biggest Truck Stop which now, in addition to a  barber shop, dentist and movie theater has a bank of Tesla chargers. Walking into the place I overheard a young man say to his friends, “Now this is America!” And I think he might be right although I can’t decide whether or not this is a good thing.

You can drive, like Corey and I did, a thousand miles from home and not quite get to where you want to be. In contrast the entire Ring Road in Iceland, an awesome road trip well worth a couple weeks or your time, is only about 800 miles. There are not many places in all of the UK where a train won’t get you back to London in time for tea. But here, on this continent, you drive hard for two days and are happy to find yourself in Laramie, WY.

Even on the Interstate, where you can legally drive 80 MPH in Wyoming, bits of life from the landscape seep in. There was the mom prepping her son for his coming stay with Dad at the gas station in North Platte, NE. The nineteen year old waiter in Laramie who proudly stated “now that I am an adult” when asked what life is like in his home city. And at the hot tub tonight a man talked about helping his step son settle his biological father’s estate. All of this exists, still exists, while we whip around the country in our magic metal ships. What a country.