Makes Me Wanna Take the Backroad

Makes me wanna take the back road...

My job takes me west on I-10 for about a 40 minute commute each day.  Almost entirely all Interstate travel with the cruise control set at 74 mph.  It is uneventful, almost automatic.  So routine, I think the car could drive itself.  Except they recently launched a multi-year construction project that has sent my easy commute into somewhat of a tailspin.

That 40 minute commute turned into an hour and 15 minute commute on the very best day and a 2 hour and 45 minute commute on the worst!  I tried many different routes, but it seems other people had figured out those 'supposed' short cuts and traffic was backed up there too.  So the other day, I had nothing to lose and I decided to take some back roads to get home.  Rather than idling in bumper to bumper traffic, I determined I would drive way out of the way to get home.

I headed north for 18 miles and then 37 miles east and then 21 miles south and then 25 miles east.  That is 101 miles, whereas my normal commute is 49 miles.  On the positive side, I got off the beaten path and saw some country at a slower rate of speed.  I took time to observe things around me.  On a stretch of back road between Kinder and Welsh, I was awestruck by the beauty of a shady canopy of oak trees that enveloped the country road.  The trees had fresh green leaves on them.  I had to stop the car and get out and take a photo.  That's something I'd never ever do on I-10!

It reminded me of a country song I like by Rodney Atkins whose chorus goes like this:

And it makes me wanna take a back road

Makes me wanna take the long way home

Put a little gravel in my travel

Unwind, unravel all night long

Truth be told, I'd like to take the back road, the long way home and put some gravel in my travel on a more routine basis, but there is a lot of planting in the garden that needs to be done.  I've learned that those seeds don't plant themselves!