Follow the Red Brick Road

I live on Grand Avenue on the west side of Des Moines. I work on Grand Avenue on the east side of the city. So everyday I drive Grand the entire 15 miles (yeah I'm spoiled) that it takes me to cross the city and get from home to office. Des Moines is a small city, in both population and size.

Grand Avenue though is picturesque. It's one of the prettier streets in the city, passing by some fantastic historical mansions, gorgeous churches, a college, and even the Governor's mansion. I pass some beautiful architecture on my commute.

The street is being resurfaced right now though. For about fifteen to twenty blocks it is what the city calls "rough road". That means that all the smooth asphalt has been stripped away and the road has been graded. It's a bouncy couple of blocks. But when I was driving in this morning I noticed something that I hadn't before. Under all the asphalt is brick. Grand was once a brick road.

I'm not sure why that surprises me. It's one of the oldest streets in the city. And brick paving was the only paving for nearly a century. But I'd never seen the bricks. I never thought about how beautiful the street would have looked paved with those even square red bricks. The masonry work is very good, very even (at least of what I can see). All this got me thinking though about all the history that is buried right under my feet. Not just on Grand but in general. I'm standing on centuries of history every moment. Each piece of land has a story to tell. I'm not sure why I never noticed.

All these years of driving down Grand, twice a day, and I never thought about how it had been paved before. I wish I had seen it totally brick paved. It would have been stunning. But I'm glad I got to see those bits of bricks. They made the rough road worth it.

Take the Long Way Home

Robert Frost famously wrote, "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." And I've finally realized how true this statement is when it comes to traveling. I'm a huge fan of the back roads. The blue highways if you prefer. I'm a fan of any road where I don't have people flying past me at 90 and where I can actually see some sights that aren't billboards. In the last year Jeff and I have started traveling where we never take the interstate if we can avoid it. And that one move has completely changed road trips for me.

I love to travel but I'm not always happy with long car trips. They tend to be more stressful than they are worth. Or if nothing else, they are boring. We would arrive at our destination cranky and tired. And the miles seemed to drag on. That is until we started taking the back roads. When Jeff and I went to Iowa City a couple of months ago, we started out on Interstate 80. It was a crowded Saturday and we were both tense. The traffic was going 85 or faster and we were struggling to stay with the pack. We were also exhausted after a late night. About Newton I suggested getting off the interstate. We'd take Highway 6 over. The moment we drove off the interstate we went from tired and tense to relaxed and happy. We passed farms and towns, little produce stands, and plenty of wildlife. Suddenly the journey didn't seem quite so long. Or so terrible. We added a half hour to the trek, but it was well worth the happiness.

So our recent trip down to St. Louis was a bit longer than normal. We took Interstate 35 down to Kansas City since Jeff had to be there at 2 and we didn't get on the road until 10:30. Too close for a back roads trip. After the stop, we headed onto Highway 50 rather than Interstate 70. Highway 50 runs through Warrensburg, Sedalia, Jefferson City, and the unfortunately named Knob Noster. We stopped along the way for dinner but most of the drive was uninterrupted. After Sedalia, it was rare to see another car and even more surprising to see a billboard. We saw a ton of cows, many small towns, the state capitol, and enough trees and creatures to keep me constantly pointing out the window. It added an hour to the drive, particularly with the winding road after Jeff City. But we were happy and still smiling when we arrived in St. Louis.

The city of St. Louis is built around a great interstate system. We took the highways and interstates everywhere in the city. So when it came time to drive back, Jeff and I were looking for something even smaller than our typical drive up Highway 61. I found it with Highway 79, or the Great River Road. Listed as one of the prettiest drives in the Midwest, the highway lived up to its name. It was filled with scenic overlooks of the Mississippi, beautiful towns like Clarksville and Louisiana, and lots of hills. Even better, there was no traffic and no real rush. After reaching Hannibal, we took Highway 6, a mostly flat road across the middle of Missouri. But flat was short lived. Highway 149 has to be one of the most winding roads in Missouri. We drove up and down hills and were constantly turning. About halfway up through the drive I could no longer tell which direction we were going. By the time the road ended, both Jeff and I were feeling a little sick from all the twists and turns but I'd taken plenty of pictures of the beautiful fall colors and the rolling hills.

We could have taken 61 to Interstate 80 and most people would have thought that was varied enough. We could have taken Interstate 70 to 35, a route we have taken on bad winter days. But we would not have had near as much fun. The drive ran 7 and a half hours (about an hour and a half longer than normal) but I arrived at home relaxed and refreshed. I wasn't stressed at all. "I took the one less traveled," has become my mantra. You never know where the blue highways lead. But they are well worth the trip.

On the Road Again

Thank god for free wireless at Panera!!!

I'm sitting in Panera in Kansas City waiting for Jeff to get done with the networking event that brought us down here. I accidentally left my book in the car along with my knitting. The only thing I grabbed in the rush to get him there on time was his computer. So here I sit, happily typing while watching the people go by. I have an hour and a half before he's done and I couldn't be happier. I have a coffee and a cookie, and life is good.

After this we're heading east, to St. Louis to see family for the weekend. We were last there in May and we both decided that it would be good to get into town sometime before the winter. Once winter hits, I get a lot more leery of traveling. And I've been missing my in-laws. It's time for a road trip.

Jeff and I used to travel a lot in the winter. In fact it seemed that the moment the snow started flying we started getting cabin fever and would head out of town. I've driven through blizzards and freezing rain. We've slid off roads and almost gotten stranded a couple of times. One trip back from Minneapolis, sent us back up to the Cities after they closed the Interstate. We even had one horrific five hour drive back from Iowa City where we had to use the rumble strips just to get some traction. We've traveled in the winter and sometimes paid the price.

But as I've gotten older, I've become a bit more cautious. I'm less likely to throw my bag in the car and head out of town when there is threat of snow. I'm not my old college self who would travel in anything. I check weather reports (some would say obsessively) and prepare for the worst. So this year I think we'll stay home this winter. After last year I'm still a bit gun shy of even walking on ice. Driving will be nerve-wracking. So we'll stay home and deal with cabin fever in other ways. Of course I say this now. We'll see what happens when the snow flies. Most likely we'll be back on the road again.

Jack Frost

They're predicting snow this evening for down here in Des Moines. This would be our first for the season. Traditionally I would say that I'm not even remotely excited about this. I've never been much of a snow fan. Of course it is pretty. Of course it can be fun (love snowmen and snowball fights). But then you have to leave the house. And that's not so fun. 

I have to admit the mere suggestion of snow makes me want to pull on my slippers and sweaters. I want to break out the hot chocolate and curl up on the couch with a book. In winter I become a homebody. I have tended to hibernate as much as possible in the winter. It's not the cold that gets me. I can handle the cold. I just hate to drive in the snow. 

I come home from work after having driven home slow enough to anger the people behind me. And once home I don't normally leave the house unless Jeff is driving. I hate to drive in snow. Hate it and am scared of it. I would go to work and back but that was normally the limit. 

But this last year really tested that fear. We had over 70 inches of snow in Des Moines. Normally we get just a little over 30. I started the winter with this terrible fear of driving. I would lose sleep over the mere suggestion of snow. I was scared of sliding, I was scared of being stranded, and I was scared of getting into an accident. It's strange that as you do something day after day, suddenly it doesn't look so scary anymore. The difference is that last year I didn't offer myself any options. I went to work every day, except one.  

This year I'm actually okay with the idea of snow. Tomorrow will be pretty. I'm sure there will be big white flakes floating lightly from the sky. It won't stick to the roads and it will actually make me start to think that winter is coming. The 70 degree temps the last week, had made me start to doubt. But winter is coming. And for the first time, this year, I don't need to hibernate. I'm sure I will a little. I have a lot of writing I want to get done, I have books waiting to be read, and a subscription to Blockbuster that often goes to waste. I'll easily fill my time. Tomorrow I'll try to post pictures of the snow. And I'm actually hopeful we get some.