Looking Westward

In 1978 there were these two people who on the whim threw a penny on a map and decided to drive to where the coin landed. Based on that coin toss this 22 year old male and his 21 year old female companion headed out in a $50 dollar car named Thunder Road for the west coast.

Ill prepared for the road and for each other they drove west. In order to prep for that trip they bought a Coleman stove (which they still use today). They bought a cheap 2 person tent from Woolco. While they still have it they no longer use this tent. Hell I don’t think they would fit in it. There combined weight at the time is less than his is now. They bought a cassette deck which got mounted under the dash of his 1972 Chevrolet Impala. Finally they grabbed the five cassette tapes they had between them and they headed out.

Taking old U.S. 2 as their route they traveled first across the northern tier of the United States. The U.P., Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana and onward they rolled. They made a short side trip into Alberta and another one into Vancouver. Eventually they ended up in Otter Rock, Oregon. It was underwhelming but the seafood at the docks was beyond belief.

Traversing the country they killed two cars. On a side trip to L.A. they saw the Rolling Stones with 103,000 of their closest friends. Then they rode through the desert in the rain. (The trip back involved 3 days non stop on a Greyhound and a case of temporary psychosis.)

One constant marked the trip, the sunsets. Almost every night as they drove that car west as far as they could there were beautiful sunsets. One night the sunset exploded as they pulled into a county fair in North Dakota. Another day the sunset was a wash of color as they wandered about seeking a campsite somewhere near a river in Wyoming. Next morning they woke up and found they had camped right on the edge of a beautiful cold-coursing flow.

Such a journey is a rite of passage for our nations young. It ought to be mandatory. On such a trip you find out who you are and who we are as a people. America to my mind always looks west. We want to see that glorious end of the day as we finish our labors. We want to chase the last remaining light in the hope of greater things. Ours is a painted sky, painted with dreams and hopes of a better future.