“Not all those who wander are lost.” J.R.R. Tolkien
A Page From My Journal
It was my 22nd day on the road in a slow meandering adventure from Idaho, where I had spent the summer, to Nashville, Indiana, where I had stopped for two days while Mother Nature weeped her blessings.
It was still drizzling when I began the day’s journey to North Bend Ohio, about 100 miles away. This was my preferred daily mileage as it allowed me start my day leisurely with cream-laced coffee, do some writing, and then take my dog, Pepper, for a long walk before we got on the road in our RV, Gypsy Lee.
The first town we passed was a tiny one called Gnaw Bone. Why, I wondered, would somebody name a town Gnaw Bone?
Perhaps they didn’t. It was originally a French settlement called Narbonne, which we Americans might have mistranslated as Gnaw Bone.
But the question filled my head with nonsense for a while as I traveled down several Indiana backroads. Usually I have these to myself, but not today.
The narrow tree-lined roads I had chosen were not untraveled roads. I had plenty of vehicular company, including a lavender semi that passed me in a swirl of blowing autumn leaves. Now I’ve seen purple semis but never a lavender one before.
Was a man or woman driving? I hadn’t been able to look because the large truck passed me on a curve, and I had wisely kept my eyes on the road.
And then I found myself quoting out loud to Pepper: “I never saw a purple cow. I never hope to see one. But I would rather see, than be one.”
It was just that kind of day.
Then a few miles farther down the road, there was a green farm truck with a rear sticker asking: “Who is John Galt?”
It started my brain thinking about Ayn Rand’s book, Atlas Shrugged, and from there to how we seem to live our lives at either end of a pendulum swing.
And so. this wandering-wondering day went, with my brain circuits traveling ever so much faster than Gypsy Lee.
Pat Bean is a retired journalist who lives in Tucson with her canine companion, Scamp. She is a wondering-wanderer, avid reader, enthusiastic birder, Lonely Planet Community Pathfinder, Story Circle Network board member, author of Travels with Maggie available on Amazon, and is always searching for life’s silver lining.
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Pat Bean's blog 
Currently, we’re thinking about taking up RV-ing, because we think that might be a better way of travelling in these days of Covid than staying at motels or AirBnBs. We have rented an RV for the first days of December for a 4-day trip to the coast, just to give it a try. If that turns out fine, we’ll rent one again for a somewhat longer trip to different destinations, and if that again turns out fine, we might go ahead an buy one.
As to Ayn Rad and “Atlas Shrugged”: that is one of the novels I’ve started more than once but never was able to finish. The others are “The Citadelle” by Antoine du St. Exupery and “Ulysses” by James Joyce.
Have a great weekend, and take good care of yourself,
Pit
I wish I still had my RV.. I read Atlas Shrugged at a changing time in my life in the 1970s, and loved it. I don’t think I would as much today. Re Ulysses by James Joyce, ditto on starting it and not finishing, Another book I’ve started three times and not finished is Jack Kerouac’s ” On the Road.” He and I traveled different roads. Good luck with your RVing. I totally lived in mine for almost nine years, parking in my kid’s yards during the winters but still living in it.
If we hadn’t had 2 dogs and 5 kitties when we moved to Fredericksburg we might not have moved at all but bought an RV and kept the old place just as a base camp.
Enjoyed it sister
I enjoyed this post, was attracted by the title. Glad to have found your blog. Keep on truckin’!