This was probably the toughest day of the whole week. It wasn’t rain, heat, or even a mechanical problem, it was ME! I had drafted the plan on when and where we would go based upon the things we had heard or read about and the distance between points. Everything worked great on paper, but I didn’t account for the most important variable of all – my travel partner! You see, I was under the impression that this was a road trip and we were going to “Drive Route 66”. What didn’t fit the agenda was my free-spirited artistic best friend who thought we were going to “Experience Route 66”. Timm can talk to complete strangers and find something in common with them, which turns into 20 minute discussion on life, love, and how they are somehow connected through someone else Timm had met in a rest stop two years ago named Tina. It happens ALL THE TIME! Yes, I am totally envious of his ability to talk to EVERYONE.
So anyway, this created a problem in my “plan” because in order for us to stick to my well conceived agenda we would have to travel exactly the speed limit on the main roads, take no more than 10 minutes per meal, and don’t get me started with the souvenirs! And to follow my plan would mean I would have to miss the most important part of this trip, hanging out with my best friend and EXPERIENCING LIFE. I’m the mechanical type – the planner and go-getter and he is the creative-emotional-charismatic person. And we both need each-other in order to have a great time.
Now, should I talk about the trip? Ok, we started off with the Cadillac Ranch. People are still allowed to spray-paint on these cars that are half-buried in the dirt on a farm. Of course we had to go one step further than “tagging” the cars (writing your initials or name), we’re B-boys and Timm is an artist. See pictures below:
The rest of the day was spent driving, touring, driving, site-seeing, driving, souvenir-shopping, and driving some more. There was no way I could keep him to the “plan”, because in doing so I would have missed this (see picture below): a section of Route 66 that has eroded and washed away. A 30 foot drop!
Moral of the story: mix two things (personalities) together and you will get something different. Without the mix, things would be stale and boring. Life is to short for dry toast, give me some JAM!
