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Okay,
you're probably thinking this sounds really strange,
but stick with me here, I think this is really cool
stuff!!
I think we are like most travelers, when we hit the road
we want to get to our destination as soon as possible.
Just think about it, no matter what the speed limit is,
drivers go just a bit faster, trying to get
where they're going just that little bit quicker.
Over the years we have made a number of trips from our
home in the Portland, Oregon area to Southern California
to visit relatives. It usually meant jetting down
Interstate 5 with minimal stops! Quick: gas,
potty, fast food and back up the on ramp. Well,
our philosophy has changed. |
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Our first
source of inspiration came from a rather unlikely
source, an animated movie. If you haven't seen the
movie "CARS" you really need to go out and rent it.
Perhaps you were like us, we shied away from it because
it looked like a movie for kids.
Believe me, the message is powerful. Here is
a short synopsis... the character of "Lightning
McQueen" (the red car in the poster) is in a hurry to
get to California for a car race, buts gets lost on the
way and finds himself in the town of "Radiator Springs"
on old Route 66. While there, he meets the folks
and experiences the beauty of this place which got
bypassed when the freeway was built. At one point, two of the
characters are looking at the wonderful scenery while
seeing cars on the nearby freeway zooming past.
"They're driving right by. They don't even know
what they're missing" one says. Referring to the
old highway, the other character says: "Cars didn't
drive on it to make great time, they drove on it to have
a great time." She goes on to say: "The town got
bypassed to save 10 minutes of driving."
Lightning replies: "It's kind of nice to slow down
every once in a while." When finished watching the
movie, we did a lot of reflecting on what we had just
seen. Wow, how much of life have we missed
while we had it set on "cruise control?"
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After you finish watching the movie, you also need to
watch one of the "bonus features" on the DVD. It's
a 16 minute piece called "Inspiration for Cars."
The director tells how they took the creative team from
the movie, and actually took a trip down old Route 66
with a historian of the highway. In fact many of
the character and places in the movie are based on
actual people and places they encountered on that trip!
Be sure and watch the end credits of the movie. It
lists actual people and places from their journey down
the real highway. |
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Our second source of
inspiration also came from an unusual source. Alton Brown has a regular cooking
show on the Food Network called "Good Eats." In
addition to that program, one year he did a four episode
special called "Feasting on Asphalt."
Alton and his crew mounted motorcycles and headed across
the country, Atlantic to Pacific. They
intentionally stayed off the freeways and wound through
the small towns on the old highway routes. Some of
that trip was on the old Route 66. The purpose of
the show was to experience the authentic local cuisine
along the highways of our country. The secondary
message was the same as "Cars," you miss a lot
of amazing things if you
stay on the freeway! The slice of "Americana" was
as good as the slices of pie! |
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In February of 2007 we once again
headed to Southern California. Because of our
schedule, on the way down we did our usual "speed run"
down I-5. However on the way home we took our
new lessons to heart. The freeway trip home from
Michelle's brother's house to our place takes about 14
hours. This time we stayed off the freeway system.
Instead, we took three whole days and traveled on
Highway 1 and 101 all the way up the California and
Oregon Coast. We weren't in a hurry. If we
saw something that looked interesting, we stopped.
We took tons of beautiful pictures! The one to the
left is on Highway 1 in Northern California (click on it
for a larger version). You don't get this kind of
scenery on the freeway! We had an amazing time! |
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We know
that there are occasions where time is important and you
really do need to get to your destination as soon as
possible. We still have to travel that way
sometimes. But there are other times where we are
intentional about slowing down and realizing that: "It's
not the destination, it's the journey!"
Well, you may be wondering what all this has to do with
cycling. For us, it involves loading up all our gear and taking a trip on our bike!
That's really taking this "Route 66 Philosophy" to a
whole different level for sure!! In the cycling
world it's referred to as "touring." (Check out
our pictures, Touring Tips &
Equipment pages.) |
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