The Route...

The Route of Kathryn and Clyde, the wonder truck.

Leaving Happy Creek in Manassas, Virginia , get on north VA 234, then west to US 66 to VA 522.  VA 522 is the first in several not so smart moves. The highways won't kill you. The backroads might. 

Driving through small Virginia towns and  familiar Virginia  scenery when you could be making time on US 81 is not necessary. You will also miss the bypass and drive through the heart of old, quaint Winchester with its narrow streets and tight turns. Breathe.

Get gas at Sheets. Trust me, Clyde, that's a very high overhand.  You won't bump your head.

North on VA 522 through Virginia apple orchards. Too early for blossoms. bummer.

Go through a lovely, quiet stretch of  a Piedmont valley to Berkley Springs, West Virginia. Also quaint but a straight shot, no turns.

Reluctantly join the real world and head west on US 69 to Morgantown, WVa.  and north on US 79 , bumping up into Pennsylvania, catching US 70 at Washington, PS;  dipping back  into West Virginia and exiting at Wheeling into Ohio. 

Here the trip begins to gain real character.  Miss the immediate exit for OH 250, a wide red road with the added appeal of green dots- indicating a scenic route.  The same route 250 that leads directly to your destination. 

Sail along until you realize your mistake, compound your mistake by exiting at St.Clairsville, misread the map, head west on OH 331, a small red road without the benefit of green dots or scenery. Correct your course at Piedmont and head EAST to find OH 250. Drive the aforementioned scenic highway and realize that you have actually driven this road before thus violating your personal principal of never traveling the same back road twice in the same decade. 

Realize you are low on fuel and there are no stations, no bathrooms, no nothing. Stop for relief at Uhrichsville - liquid in, liquid out. Regain cell coverage.  Talk to anxious realtor. Talk to calm son. Talk firmly to realtor. Be willing to walk away from deal on house. You actually gain backbone on back roads of Ohio. It must be the death defying meetings with the UPS trucks.  Call  Ohio friend  for directions.  

Home for tonight is downtown Canton, Ohio. But friend, who has a bold vision to reclaim downtown Canton, Ohio, also has a heart for his Amish past and a church in the countryside between Mount Eaton and Apple Valley. Countryside which is just as lovely as it sounds.  Listen to a teaching on stubbornness vs perseverance. Question backbone. 

Follow friend through the back country farm roads to Canton. Dear friend has left behind his horse and buggy days and has clearly never driven back country roads in the dark in a one ton truck and camper. Breathe. 

From Canton, ignore small demon voice calling you to drive back county roads. You did that within the decade, within the year. Make time on US 77 south to US 70.   Join the truckers and boogie west, skirting Columbus, Dayton and skip into Indiana.  Pause and reflect on number one son's years in Indiana at Taylor University. He really was a long way from home.  

Consider calling friend in Indianapolis and staying the night. Decide to make time and distance. Misunderstand directions from dear daughter, miss turn from US 70 onto US 65 NORTH. Head south on US 65to stay on US 70. Ignore signs for road construction. Hit road construction.  Defy death or at least plowing into double jersey walls. Which are much closer to Clyde than to a small Prius. Again, miss US 465/ 74 NORTH.  Head EAST. Hit massive traffic.  Miss first exit. Cross White River, poke behind trucks, get cut off by cheeky little cars, take the same congested exit as everyone else.  Find gas. Remember to use diesel. Dance with the big trucks in the congested intersection of IN 37 and US 475/ 74. Turn around.  Head WEST on same US 74.  Ignore US 70 west. Pass familiar intersections with more double jersey walls.  Reconsider calling friend.  Push on.

Take US 74 WEST to Danville, Illinois. Why? Because it's over the border and it's all about conquering at least one, preferably two states a day. This is not a pleasure trip.  This is a mission. And then find out the next day that another old friend lives an hour south of Danville and would have loved to host me. Check address book before departing on mission. Danville does have a very nice Marriott Fairfield Inn. Marriott takes my military ID without asking for my orders. Good thing. No orders. 

Drive west on US 74 through rain and drizzle. Fix flapping hatch on camper. Freeze. Spring time in the Midwest. Pass through Bloomington, Illinois and think of son-in-law's sister. Maybe someday I will feel comfortable inviting myself for a visit. Press on the Quad cities of Moline, Rock Island, and Davenport. OK- I've heard it called the Quad cities but I've never heard of bettendorf, Indiana. 

If you have to drive through Indiana, Illinois, AND Iowa in one trip, I  highly recommend a book on tape. I enjoyed Anne Lamott's Imperfect Birds. Perfect melancholy book for a perfectly melancholy day. But I did cross  two full states and made it into a third.  At Souix City, Iowa, head north on US 29.  You are now in South Dakota. South Dakota at night looks very much like Iowa at night. 

Lose mind in Vermillion, SD. Head west on SD 50. Pass last fuel station for thirty miles.  Give up in Yankton, SD. Find very nice Comfort Inn. The only nice Comfort Inn in Yankton, South Dakota. And clearly, the hot spot for Saturday night revelry in Yankton, South Dakota. Sleep four hours.  Revelers in Yankton, South Dakota are hardy stock.  Up at the crack of dawn. 

Ignore voice of reason and continue west on SD 50.  Make wrong turn at Wagner, drive to Delmont, retrace steps ( another travel violation but I am giving myself some slack- sleep deprivation). Find route to Fort Randall Dam that late father-in-law helped build with the Conservation Corps. Realize too late that we drove this way WITH him and I've been over the Fort Randal dam but it was more than two decades ago so I'm safe. 

Meander SD 18/ 183 through the border towns of South Dakota and Nebraska.  Wonder about the meth use in these grim little hamlets. Wonder at abandoned houses and barns.  Wonder at my choice of scenic routes. 

Decide I've had my fill of scenic roads and skip the Rosebud Indian Reservation,  head north at SD 83 to US 90 WEST. Call mother at Vivian, SD. Assure her I'm within two hours or so. She goes to a concert.  I have a relapse and head south on SD 377 to SD 44 through the heart of the Badlands. Which are eerie in the flat afternoon light.  But my madness is vindicated when the clouds part and the rolling hills of the Buffalo Gap grasslands light up like spun gold and the massive cottonwood along the creek bottoms stretch in supplication to a wild western sky.  Back roads are great.  Especially ones so empty you can do three point turnarounds.  My goal is to spend a day in the grasslands and watch the light change and take photos until my memory is full. 

After SD 44 connects to US 90, follow mother's advice and take southern roads to avoid Rapid City traffic.  Remind mother of massive construction on southern roads, including removing most of the road and the guard rail. Ignore another fuel stop since the gauge assures you of a thirty mile range.  Remember too late that you have no idea where diesel fuel is sold in Rapid City, SD.  Park truck on a slope at mother's home. Run out of fuel. 

You have arrived.