Interestingly, the first impression I got was that time spent on the road today didn't feel much different than that from years ago. Once the car is packed and you are out of your familiar area, the novelty of new sights kicks in. The thrill of excitement, the wonder at each new vista revealed by the rounding of a curve. It all comes flooding back, bringing that kid in the back seat along for the ride. And once you're out of the house, the preponderance of modern gadgetry is less evident.
Looking out that car window, you still see miles of telephone lines weaving along beside you. And the billboards- although in the cities you see some fancy digital ones, out in the countryside they are the same as we had 'back in the Bronze Age'. Local restaurants, tourist attractions, peeling faded ads for some motel- all are still common today. And they still offer the same enticements: gas, food, and "clean restrooms". The upshot: if you lean back, gaze out the car window at the passing landscape and relax, it might just as well be 1977 as 2017.
Now there certainly were some more specific observations on this trip. You may recall such Bronze Age travel standbys as Stuckeys and Nickerson Farms; purveyors of fuel, souvenirs and pecan logs. Never saw a single one over 1800 miles of driving. Now the big truck stops and travel centers fill those niches. Interestingly, those truck stops often hid numerous Bronze Age relics inside. For instance, a stop in Columbia, Missouri yielded the sight of a whole rack of retro travel games. A Spirograph, cards, and Travel Bingo (you recall- where you slide a little cover on a card to indicate you saw a particular car, or sign, or animal) shared a display with many other such pastimes.Remarkably, that truck stop also hit me with another past blast: cb radios. Yes, right next to tablet computers and GPS systems, you can still find a cb radio for sale. Apparently they still have an appeal not found in a cell phone...
Another taste of the past came in the form of gas stations. Travelling through different states exposed several chains I'd known in years past, but which were long gone from my current environs. Chevron, Phillips 66, and Sinclair (yes, still with the Sinclair dinosaur- I was so excited) were signs that some of the past lived on. And in Albuquerque, New Mexico another old friend reappeared: 7-11 stores. Still with Slurpees, but no Marvel cups in evidence. Sigh.And of course, many of those local stores and tourist stops still feature custom signs, folk art, and/or any number of unusual decorations intended to attract your attention...
So in the final analysis; yes many changes have occurred since our Bronze Age, but a road trip offers a chance to witness a few remnants of that time. Just one more reason to 'hit the road'!
