Random drives couple life lessons with rifle-wielding farmers
Raina Rue
Issue date: 3/4/10 Section: Perspective
My close friend Tyler and I occupy our free time taking miniature road trips. And I use the term "miniature" quite loosely.
Hours not spent in class or studying for exams are instead pleasantly wasted on driving the back roads of the region. We normally leave later in the evening, when our homework is done and classes are over, and return to campus not too far past midnight. We begin these treks by taking a random road off Second Street, journeying along rural roads with whimsical names like Otter Creek Drive and Peacock Road.
It wasn't long before we had put more than 700 miles on his Chevy S10 and visited some 14 counties in Kentucky. We never drove on the interstate, and instead of any navigational guide, we used our own version of a Tom Tom-a coin toss to determine whether we turned left or right. Many roads bore no signs, but we continued to drive until we felt like stopping.
Usually our paths lead us to encounters that hinder our forward progress.
Once, Tyler had stopped the truck to allow me to take a photo of some horses in a back road barn. Before I could even get my lens cap off, the farmer was speeding toward us on his quad runner, rifle waving angrily in the air.
Another night, suspicious-looking strangers in an old pickup truck followed us for miles and miles. The next evening, we nearly ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere. Getting lost or being stranded isn't scary until you realize your cell phones are rendered useless from the lack of service in the country.
And then there are the other obstacles: the roadblocks, the detours, the broken bridges and the wrecks. We've even run across flooded roads. And we've earned the occasional speeding ticket.
All of these things happen to us every night, yet we still always manage to make it home in one piece: always before morning.
Yes, these trips are meant to give us a break, to relieve the stress of being a college kid and to give us something quasi-responsible to do.
Hours not spent in class or studying for exams are instead pleasantly wasted on driving the back roads of the region. We normally leave later in the evening, when our homework is done and classes are over, and return to campus not too far past midnight. We begin these treks by taking a random road off Second Street, journeying along rural roads with whimsical names like Otter Creek Drive and Peacock Road.
It wasn't long before we had put more than 700 miles on his Chevy S10 and visited some 14 counties in Kentucky. We never drove on the interstate, and instead of any navigational guide, we used our own version of a Tom Tom-a coin toss to determine whether we turned left or right. Many roads bore no signs, but we continued to drive until we felt like stopping.
Usually our paths lead us to encounters that hinder our forward progress.
Once, Tyler had stopped the truck to allow me to take a photo of some horses in a back road barn. Before I could even get my lens cap off, the farmer was speeding toward us on his quad runner, rifle waving angrily in the air.
Another night, suspicious-looking strangers in an old pickup truck followed us for miles and miles. The next evening, we nearly ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere. Getting lost or being stranded isn't scary until you realize your cell phones are rendered useless from the lack of service in the country.
And then there are the other obstacles: the roadblocks, the detours, the broken bridges and the wrecks. We've even run across flooded roads. And we've earned the occasional speeding ticket.
All of these things happen to us every night, yet we still always manage to make it home in one piece: always before morning.
Yes, these trips are meant to give us a break, to relieve the stress of being a college kid and to give us something quasi-responsible to do.
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Christy Whitson
posted 3/13/10 @ 2:31 AM EST
Excellent article, Miss Raina Rue. Just for a bit, I felt I was riding the winding backroads with you. Thanks.
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