Not the Loneliest Highway

After some final prep yesterday, I finally escaped Salt Lake for Moab by mid-afternoon. After missing a few key turns, I finally made it onto I-15 just in time for rush hour traffic. Waiting ten minutes while three lines of cars took turns entering the freeway at 90th south made me itch for the Lonely Road. Although it would add an hour to my trip, I decided that rather than the Spanish Fork exit to Price, I would stay on the freeway for 70 miles and begin my Highway 50 adventure in Scipio. 






Eight cars and two trucks passed me between Spanish Fork and Scipio--I was going as fast as i could. The speed limit is 80 now, plus I hadn't been on that section of road for years and I needed to look around. The sleepy town of Nephi seemed to be stirring with new (to me) commercial (gas, heat-your-own burritos, ten kinds of jerky) activity. The vast open plains beyond Nephi seemed greener than they should this time of year and late June seemed to have arrived early to Mt. Nebo's snowfields. 

Scipio, Utah

I figured it had been 10 years since I'd traveled from SLC to the Escalante-Boulder area via Capital Reef and Torrey. My last time through Scipio had two gas station/convenience stores, but one was defunct. Now, there are those two, plus a new one just west of the Freeway. Scipio  seems to have perked up. Hell, there's even a new building is under construction. I got gas, bought some chocolate milk and started east. Taking into account  a two day detour to Castle Valley, this was the actual beginning of my trip which will end ten days later in Hanover, NH, at Dartmouth College, where I have a fellowship in the Sustainability Office and Terry teaches writing to Environmental Studies students. Although this will be my fourth spring term at Dartmouth, I've never driven. Terry has commitments that won't let her join me--perhaps on the way back in late May. The drive both excites and worries me. I'm excited to see parts of America that will be new to me. I'm worried that all those miles will bore me and I'll end up finding the quickest way to end the misery. Excited to watch my mind expand into all that time and space. Worried that boredom will dull my brain, doing irreparable damage. Excited to see the possible impacts of challenging my 'regionalism', my attitude that there's no place like the west. Worried that I'll age quicker if bored. 

I'm excited to NOT know exactly why I'm taking a week to drive when I could be writing while watching spring spreading across the Castle Valley from my window. The economics look good based on low gas prices and the high cost of flying and two months of a rental car. But I know there's more to this trip that money. I know that there will be a moment when it all makes perfect sense. "That's it," I'll say. "This trip makes sense, now."

Sustainability is a big deal at Dartmouth. The students involved with the project are energetic and completely committed and a well spring of hope for the future. My work involves finding the roots of sustainability as a means to spreading the idea to an ever widening population. Lately this search has led me to place where sustainability meets spirituality and conversations with Dartmouth's Tucker Foundation. I've also discovered the term, "Contemplative Ecology" in a book that has become very important to me. The Blue Sapphire of the Mind: Notes for a Contemplative Ecology, by Douglas E. Christie, has become the text for this subject.

I chose Highway 50 because due to its more southern location and therefore less prone to late-winter storms (although with the unpredictable climate, this makes less sense now). Plus, it's easily accessible from Castle Valley. I also love the idea that Highway 50 is the Loneliest in America, and that it's been referred to as, "America's Backbone". The "time-worn" small towns attract me--I hope to discovery why. 


 My plan is to update this each night. Based on this test run, I'll include specific details of what I experience and how that experience influences how I see the world.

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