Driving

After we packed our gear in the truck and took a second look at our check-list, Nate and I were on the road, eager to get out of the city. We wanted to get to Tuscaloosa, AL by mid-afternoon to visit one of my best friends from high school at the University of Alabama. Alabama's scenery was very relaxed with long, rounded hills and mountains. We decided to stop at the University of Alabama to see one of my best friends from high school.

As we left Tuscaloosa I noticed another change in the landscape as it began to flatten out and disperse. We were deciding between continuing on I-20 west to Dallas or going north-west up to Oklahoma City and getting on I-40/66... we decided on going through Dallas. We both wanted to see as much of Texas as possible “to see what all the talk is about”. From here until we began to near Texas it was pretty much cruise control and music. When we entered Mississippi I was extremely excited to cross the Mississippi River and started going through scenes of Huckleberry Finn in my mind, using the landscape around me to help tell the story. When we got to Louisiana I found myself listening to old blues and jazz musicians and drummers in ways I hadn't known before. It was a unique and personal experience to be so close to the history of all the music I love. I had just finished a class about the history of jazz and yet somehow, I felt like I was learning more by just being here and listening to the music from where it came from. Seeing and experiencing the land and nature of the area that inspired those rhythms gave me a new understanding that couldn't be experienced or described in a textbook or documentary.

As it began to get later and darker, I knew I should be trying to sleep for my upcoming shift at the wheel but I couldn’t close my eyes. Everything I was seeing was new, even if it was just another huge field along the side of the highway, I didn’t want to miss it. As we drove past different signs and landmarks I couldn’t help but image all the history that had taken place there. I could remember learning about certain places we were passing in history classes. It was amazing how just being there felt like a whole new lesson, like there was still so much more to learn. There are just certain things that you need to see or experience to understand, things that can’t be contained in a book, or this blog.

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