…..has the unique ability to cleanse the memory of all the painful moments during an otherwise memorably fun event.

Point in question. I’ve been on the road for three days now, although today was really the test of my fortitude when it comes to long drives on the Interstates, my memories of the trips out west during the last decade or so are fond ones – places visited, good times, lovely weather, epic landscapes… All the above.

So it wasn’t long before all those other memories came crashing back, switchback roads in the mountains, 9% grades with a trailer urging me to go faster, then dragging itself back up the next hill – all in a torrential downpour. All back in an instant – and I was still in Maryland.

I’ve driven I-70 out west more than a dozen times in the last ten years and the road east of Indianapolis has never been anything other than a construction zone. Still is.

Encased in a phalanx of 18 wheelers, nose to tail at 70 miles an hour, I was just along for the ride, a sign flashed through my peripheral vision:

CAUTION – MAJOR ROADWORKS FOR NEXT 26 MILES – EXPECT LENGTHY DELAYS

Then the pièce de résistance:

SEEK ALTERNATE ROUTE

What..? Now you tell me..? What Alternate Route..? Give me a clue perhaps..? Too late – The Phalanx and I were in the midst of it all, narrow lanes of massive Jersey Barriers a full six inches wider than the trucks and seven inches wider than the teardrop bouncing alone behind me, the road a mass of potholes, patchwork concrete and asphalt, seemingly laid by a drunken navvy, paid by the cubic yard and determined to pound it into a hole of considerably less volume… Slow down..? Not a chance, the rear view camera was filled with the shiny grill of a Peterbuilt – no messing with that bad boy. The ride was rougher than a stucco bathtub.

Finally the Phalanx spat me out and I found myself alone on a quiet peaceful road… The off ramp to a gas station. Bad coffee and two sugar donuts. Road food.

I’m sitting here in a quiet little campground, nicely kept, fresh gravel in the pull-throughs, thoughtfully landscaped, beautiful trees, Just the gentle roar of traffic on I-70 in the distance to lull me to sleep… and promises of another fun day tomorrow.