Heritage 441 - 30th Anniversary Planner

The Heritage 441 Run - 30th Anniversary Edition

The motivation...

When we travel, we like to avoid the 'super slabs' (interstate highways) as they have been nicknamed by some. There are any number of reasons, but a few stand out. By avoiding them, it's more about the journey than the destination. We can enjoy the quaint little towns and visit the shops while there - 'antiquing' if you will - and taking in the Americana. While you can't have a journey without a destination, we often want the journey without the destination... and we usually end up going nowhere. Choosing the destination comes first.

But when I focus on getting to the destination, it seems I'm always in a hurry to get there. The last thing I need to do is get in a hurry to go anywhere. It turns me into a monster... I start yelling at people, as if they can hear me, to get out of my way. I start driving 'aggressively', passing and weaving in and out of traffic in a dangerous manner, as if I own the road. I worry about how long each 'pit stop' takes... calculating how long it will take me to regain the position lost by stopping, to catch up with the people I just passed before pulling into the rest stop or exiting the highway. Don't ask me why, I don't know, I just know I need to get out of that mindset as soon as I can once I realize I'm in it.

Worse yet is getting stuck in rush hour traffic. Anyone who has ever driven on I-75 through Atlanta or I-95 through Jacksonville or I-4 through Orlando knows what I mean. There are times of the day when you don't want to be anywhere near the interstate, when it becomes a very expensive, frustrating, multi-lane parking lot. You have plenty of time to think and you begin to realize that you could have, even should have, taken the back roads. The old highways offer the lower stress levels of moving at your own pace. The added historic value, over and above the reduced stress levels, lends purpose and gives a more memorable journey. What would you rather remember - that moron that wouldn't get out of your way for miles or the excellent barbeque at the Mom and Pop cafe you just stopped at for lunch?

These are probably the most compelling reasons to avoid the interstates. Our favorite 'whistle stop' is Mt. Dora, just down the road a piece from Apopka, off US441 on old 441. I guess you'd call it our home away from home, although lately it's been awhile since we've been there, mainly because the economic down-turn (pronounced disaster) has caused all but a few of our favorite shops to close. What used to be a fun outing has turned into a depressing example of what the greed of a few can do... but that's not what this is about. It's about our 30th Anniversary trip and taking in what's left of that Americana.

Concentrating on the journey rather than the destination helps tremendously. By not obsessing about the destination and not getting into that mindset to begin with really makes the journey enjoyable for me and much more enjoyable for my family. Much less yelling anyway... Since we're in no hurry, we can take the time to take in the beauty, the surroundings, the history, the shops, whatever presents itself. We'll get there when we get there. But if you really stop to think about it, how much time would we have saved by crawling along, bumper to bumper, on that 'super slab' anyway? An hour? Maybe two? Woohoo! Good for us! I remember when it mattered to me. Now the thrill comes from seeing if I can roll up behind someone at the traffic light, just after it has changed to green, and not having to slow down (much).

You've probably heard, or rather read, this much before. I've added this bit after the fact, in an attempt to somewhat clean up and refactor some of this "mess". In doing so, I must add the caveat that some, if not most of this, is purely hindsight and reminiscence after the fact. I was still trying to put a lot of this together after our trip of 2013, in early 2014, when my contract was terminated and things changed rather quickly. All of sudden there was no time for this. Any spare time was dedicated to seeking employment. Working contract allowed me to bankroll enough money so that I had time, but still, I didn't want to squander it. I added a segment on my time at "The Little Grass Shack", as it affectionately became known as, my home away from home at the time. But be aware that part of this "story" is probably missing and lost to my ever failing memory. This is mainly in the Ohio and return home portions, but for the most part, I haven't touched this site in going on five years now. I started the "overhaul" back in January of this year, 2018. I am finally touching up this tale, right at five years later, to the day.

That being said, enjoy the tale of the best 30th Anniversary trip ever...

Trip Pics and Things Remembered

Highlights from our trip...