Get Outta Town

     "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.  Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."
                                                                        Mark Twain

     That quote should be considered an absolute truth, a recipe for peace, a simple way to change the world.

     Many years ago, I read that the majority of people never travel more than 600 miles from their place of birth.....for their entire lives.  I will agree that a 600 mile day trip can make one feel they just ran the gauntlet, but in reality, it really is not that far.  It can be achieved easily in two days and even if it took three days to go 600 miles in one direction, the scenery alone would be worth the trip.

     If we start from home base, in good ole Pike County, and head east, 600 miles later we will be in the Appalachian Mountains and if you have never seen a mountain, put that on your bucket list. 600
miles south will put us in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  Just a few miles more and we will be standing on the Gulf of Mexico.  If you have not planted your feet on a sandy beach and looked out over water that is so vast you cannot see where it ends, you should try it.  Next, we head west and our 600 mile journey gets us almost to the border of Colorado and just a few miles more and we are looking at the Rocky Mountains.  A definite on my bucket list.  Now, if we head north, 600 miles will put us in another country!  Think of that, our northern neighbor, Canada, is not that far away.   

     A person does not have to get 600 miles from home base to realize that not everyone lives, talks or thinks the same way and to not understand this, is to live in an unreal world.  It is also a great way to see the lay of the land and how it unfolds, sometimes instantly, from one scenic view to another.

     One thing we are sure to discover is, that even though people come from a totally different set of ideas than what we are accustomed to, they are still people.  They are people with families, dreams and struggles and if we take the time to stop and chat, they will share a bit of their life with you.  That will be the best souvenir of the trip.  

     Here's to hoping you can get outta town soon!