koØm
11-01-2013, 11:54 PM
Part Deux
It was a sunny Sunday afternoon and, the return trip from Montgomery, Alabama was so-far, uneventful. My family and I were returning from our daughter’s graduation ceremonies at Alabama State University where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry. There were four car loads of us, the boys were with me.
As we crossed from Tennessee into Kentucky, the computerized road signs warned of a road closure and a 20 mile backup of traffic on Interstate 65 North; there was a multiple truck-car accident with fatalities. I traveled north until I was about 30 miles from the accident and I saw a huge splash of brake lights in the distance as I topped a hill. It was time to detour so; I took the Blue Grass Parkway 25 miles east into Glasgow, Ky. I was as lost as hell; MapQuest was not programmed for this, by now the cars had separated, it was every man for himself.
Let me digress, do you remember the days when, you kept a set of Rand-McNally Road Atlas in your glove box and when road maps were sold at gas stations? Do you have paper maps in your car now? How about a CB radio, it could have helped. Two-meter hand held would have been useless in those hills.
Looks like I have a problem ‘eh? No problem, I have a “Smart Phone” with Google Earth Maps Navigation, I can just punch it up and chart a way out of here. Wait, wait, wait what do you mean, “Searching for signal”? I was so far back the hills in Kentucky, that there was no Cell phone service or GPS signals received by my phone. All I know from the Boy Scouts is that if I want to go north, I have to keep the Sun on the driver’s side of my car as I drove the unfamiliar state route highways.
I eventually come to an interchange and I recognize US Highway 31, I remember as a child riding the Greyhound Bus south from Ohio to visit my grand-parents in theArkansas, the bus traveled through Louisville, Ky. so, I knew that if I stayed on that highway, eventually I would find civilization. As I traveled over hills and through dales, I saw a sign that said, “Birthplace of Abraham Lincoln” with an arrow pointing in the direction that I was going.
We were all taught the stories of the founding fathers and the great Presidents, especially Abe Lincoln, how he studied by candle light in a backwoods cabin in the hills of Kentucky, he authored the Emancipation Proclamation that freed the slaves; he preserved the union of the United States.
I drove for another hour seeing more signs. An act of fate had rerouted me to the highway that lead to the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, and, yes he was from the hills. The rural highway expanded into four lanes as I neared the site of his birth. I pulled in but, it was late Sunday; dusk was falling and the area was closed but, to wander into this historical place that I probably would never have seen but for the situation, it made me think.
A short distance later, I was at the interchange of US 31 and I-65 North in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. I had managed to bypass the accident by some 50 miles by traveling the back roads; for what I lost in time, I gained in experience and knowledge. I plan a day trip to Lincoln’s Birthplace in Hodgenville, Kentucky next spring with Skip my son, Ray and Eric, his nephews.
All in all, it was a “Very Excellent Trip” for Melvin and his “Legacies”.
.
It was a sunny Sunday afternoon and, the return trip from Montgomery, Alabama was so-far, uneventful. My family and I were returning from our daughter’s graduation ceremonies at Alabama State University where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry. There were four car loads of us, the boys were with me.
As we crossed from Tennessee into Kentucky, the computerized road signs warned of a road closure and a 20 mile backup of traffic on Interstate 65 North; there was a multiple truck-car accident with fatalities. I traveled north until I was about 30 miles from the accident and I saw a huge splash of brake lights in the distance as I topped a hill. It was time to detour so; I took the Blue Grass Parkway 25 miles east into Glasgow, Ky. I was as lost as hell; MapQuest was not programmed for this, by now the cars had separated, it was every man for himself.
Let me digress, do you remember the days when, you kept a set of Rand-McNally Road Atlas in your glove box and when road maps were sold at gas stations? Do you have paper maps in your car now? How about a CB radio, it could have helped. Two-meter hand held would have been useless in those hills.
Looks like I have a problem ‘eh? No problem, I have a “Smart Phone” with Google Earth Maps Navigation, I can just punch it up and chart a way out of here. Wait, wait, wait what do you mean, “Searching for signal”? I was so far back the hills in Kentucky, that there was no Cell phone service or GPS signals received by my phone. All I know from the Boy Scouts is that if I want to go north, I have to keep the Sun on the driver’s side of my car as I drove the unfamiliar state route highways.
I eventually come to an interchange and I recognize US Highway 31, I remember as a child riding the Greyhound Bus south from Ohio to visit my grand-parents in theArkansas, the bus traveled through Louisville, Ky. so, I knew that if I stayed on that highway, eventually I would find civilization. As I traveled over hills and through dales, I saw a sign that said, “Birthplace of Abraham Lincoln” with an arrow pointing in the direction that I was going.
We were all taught the stories of the founding fathers and the great Presidents, especially Abe Lincoln, how he studied by candle light in a backwoods cabin in the hills of Kentucky, he authored the Emancipation Proclamation that freed the slaves; he preserved the union of the United States.
I drove for another hour seeing more signs. An act of fate had rerouted me to the highway that lead to the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, and, yes he was from the hills. The rural highway expanded into four lanes as I neared the site of his birth. I pulled in but, it was late Sunday; dusk was falling and the area was closed but, to wander into this historical place that I probably would never have seen but for the situation, it made me think.
A short distance later, I was at the interchange of US 31 and I-65 North in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. I had managed to bypass the accident by some 50 miles by traveling the back roads; for what I lost in time, I gained in experience and knowledge. I plan a day trip to Lincoln’s Birthplace in Hodgenville, Kentucky next spring with Skip my son, Ray and Eric, his nephews.
All in all, it was a “Very Excellent Trip” for Melvin and his “Legacies”.
.