Blue Highways

My neighbor Tom back in Indiana told me I travelled the Blue Highways. At first I didn’t know what he meant, but when he explained it was the backroads of America I knew he had me pegged.

It was author William Least Heat-Moon who first coined the term Blue Highways to refer to small, forgotten, out-of-the-way roads connecting rural America (which were drawn in blue on the old style Rand McNally road atlas). He is the author of the book “Blue Highways: A Journey into America”.

Back in 1978 William Least Heat-Moon outfitted his van with a bunk, a camping stove, a portable toilet and a copy of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass and John Neihardt's Black Elk Speaks. Referring to the Native American resurrection ritual, he named the van "Ghost Dancing", and embarked on a three-month soul-searching tour of the United States, wandering from small town to small town, stopping often at towns with interesting names. The book chronicles the 13,000-mile journey and the people he meets along the way, as he steers clear of cities and interstates, avoiding fast food and exploring local American culture. (Source: Wikipedia)

That’s my kind of journey. Blue Highways throw you beautiful curves and lead you to places you’d never hear about otherwise in a lifetime. With the help of friend Tom (who’s a bit of a map hound - he also graciously gifted me the book Blue Highways) I’ve recently come upon Halfway, Humanville, Yukon, Bucyrus and Success. My two favorites from last year’s trip: Muleshoe and Earth (no kidding, I can honestly say I’ve been to the ends of the Earth)!

While I’m not personally soul searching on my journey, I have come to surprisingly find the forgotten and neglected soul of the country on these beautiful roads.

P.S. In his book, Least Heat-Moon makes up a rule for judging the quality of the food being served in roadside cafés by counting the number of calendars affixed behind the counter. The number of calendars registered the number of traveling salesmen who frequented the establishment. An establishment with at least four calendars meant good, but not great food.