I'm 30 years old. I grew up in the 80s and 90s, and all I can remember is the hustle and bustle of life. How's that famous Aerosmith line go? "Life's a Journey, Not a Destination"? All I ever really seen in my life were fast paced chain store corporate businesses. Only people you meet are one that don't seem to care about life and just want to get from point A to Point B as fast as they can and get things done as fast as they can.
It really saddens me how this world is so fast paced, and there's no wonder why so many people are in search of nostalgic America. Things were so slow paced back in the days of my parents and grand parents. They didn't have no freeway system, no corporation America, and they sure didn't have any internet. nor did they worry or feel they needed something faster. in a way, they were more creative and smarter for that because they were able to sit and figure things out.
Today I traveled along Route 66 from Rolla, Missouri to Springfield, Missouri and even though we really didn't see many Route 66 attractions the old road we travelled on runs along I44, and we'd be on this slow paced road and you would look to your left or right and you'd see the fast paced I44. A lot of places along the old mother road are now out of business because of losing business after 66 was decomissioned in the 1980s before historians developed route 66 associatians to help preserve the old road and it's landmarks. that is why today a lot of the original road is hard to find. a lot of what we saw today said it's the old route, which it is but it's been so updated due to progress that it was very hard in some areas to get that whole route 66/nostalgia feel.
What amazes me about the old road is it's so windy and so curvy that you don't know what's going to await you in the next turn. Making the drive an adventure. You don't know what or who you will run into. Back than people didn't care about corporations and politics to make a living, they opened up small mom-and-pop shops and motels and treated customers friendly and with respect and that's how you treated people. they also didn't make you feel rushed!
I miss the days of yesteryear. The days I never got to experience but would do anything in the world to just experience it for a day! how slow paced things were, the architecture from back than. how enjoyable life just seemed to be.
Today we saw some cars in an old junk yard, and normally since they are in a junk yard i wouldn't have enjoyed them but today was different. I saw those cars and the first thing I could think of was the stories they could tell. We also came across an old gas station along the old road, apparently it went out of business in the 1970s because it was at 29 cents a gallon! and the building was all falling down, but the stories that place could tell.
What an amazing adventure! Next time we go along route 66 we plan on starting in Springfield and working our way to Tulsa. that would be really really amazing!
