Don’t Go Back the Way You Came

Almost every workday I visit our warehouse, which is 0.7 miles from our workshop. Depending on the weather, I either walk or drive. But there is one thing about the trip that never changes: I never go back the way I came.

I take this to extremes. Last week, Megan and I drove to Tennessee to pick up about 30 blanks for chair seats. I planned a drive that took us through parts of Eastern Kentucky I hadn’t been to in a few years. I’ll do anything to stay away from our country’s interstate system. Yes, interstates are fast. But they are so generic that the drive looks the same in Georgia as it does in Indiana. This is not an exaggeration.

When you get off the interstate system, the drive becomes as stimulating as a visit to a museum. You’ll see vernacular architecture, local wonders and…well…real America. I never get tired of it, no matter what state I’m in.

Megan and I had an incredible trip through the mountains and small towns of Eastern Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee. There was no way to get bored or fall asleep. How could you when you drive by a store called “Preppers Mart?”

The rural route added only 15 minutes to the trip compared to driving on the interstate.

After we picked up the wood in Eastern Tennessee, we started back toward Covington. After only seven minutes of driving, one tire of our rented trailer blew to bits. We had to wait for hours to get help from U-Haul. And when the trailer finally got its new tire, we faced a decision.

The daylight was failing. Do we take the interstate, or do we take the local roads and go through the Cumberland Gap (aka the Butthole of the South)?