Another Trip; New Attitude!

Familiarity Breeds Contempt

1. 1.

   proverb

   extensive knowledge of or close association with someone or something leads to a loss of respect for them or it.

It was sort of a last minute decision, but still, for a week or so I knew it was coming.

Another road trip to Michigan.

Once more driving those 1400 long miles north, then another 1400 more back south again. (Assuming I didn't make any side trips.)

After 35 years of living here so far from the rest of the family, by my interpretation of the definition I am familiar, some (OK, me!) might say overly familiar, with the route there and back. And yes, when I think about the trip there are sections of that route that I am less than excited about. OK, OK, it's fair to say that there are sections of that trip that I really don't look forward to at all! But frankly I'm bored with that attitude so this time I decided to focus on setting aside the contempt and finding the good instead.

To that end:

The good news is, after leaving the highway following a long first day of driving and traveling 9 miles of narrow, twisty road  to get back in to Atlanta SP near Texarkana where I can get an electric site to run the AC, a necessity on this June day in Texas, and get in a little bike riding along the lake before sunset, only to discover that the park is closed due to flood damage, I know of two RV parks within 30 minutes driving  where I can plug in and get a good cool nights sleep. (Of course I could have saved myself this unproductive side trip by simply checking the Texas State Park app on the phone in my pocket and seen the alert! Oops, the good news is, next time I'll probably remember to check the app for alerts!)

The good news is, that the long empty, mind numbing stretches along the Mississippi River bottoms give me plenty of time to finish up my audio lecture series titled Shakespeare: The Word and the Action, and start a new one called Books That Have Made History: Books That Can Change Your Life.

The good news is, with this kind of heat it's unlikely that I'll have to deal with a blizzard along the way!

The good news is, the relentless, gut clenching pounding of that brand new concrete highway in Arkansas ensures that I stay alert and aware. (I swear this state hasn't the first clue on how to build a decent road! And where the hell were the Federal Inspectors at when the clueless crew was pouring miles and miles of slabs that dip in the middle and climb to a suspension slamming, vision shuddering, equipment breaking, mileage sucking peak at each and every expansion joint?! Other than the fresh bright color of the concrete the new road is just a bad as the one they replaced! Oh, erm; the good news is, it isn't any worse than the old road was?!)

The good news is, the heavy storm I ran into near West Memphis gave the wipers a chance to polish the accumulated bugs off the windshield!

The good news is, though the visitor's center/rest area 30 miles north of the border in Illinois on I57, the only decent place to stop in the 65 miles between Charleston Missouri and Marion Illinois, was closed,  I was kind of expecting that since it was closed the last time I came through here too.  (Only a state government would think that closing a key tourist information center in the prettiest part of the state is a good way to cut back on the budget! The good news is, I don't pay taxes in this state!)

Anyway, you get the idea.

New trip, new attitude.

Let's see how that works out.