The Trip of a Lifetime...

Putting together "Tales of the Road-Highway 61" truly has been my trip of a lifetime (and I'll talk more about that in later posts) but I'd like you to meet John Sherrell who is also taking Highway 61 for HIS trip of a lifetime. 

John got in touch with me shortly before "Tales" hit the air in March. He was planning a road trip with his 2001 Subaru Outback wagon. In John's case this really IS the "trip of a lifetime" because his life nearly ended in a tragic motorcycle accident five years ago April 1. John has recovered and wanted to honor his struggles and joys in a special way so he's taking that magic ribbon of highway from the Pigeon River border crossing, all the way down to New Orleans and I asked him to check in along the way and send back photos. 

You can see some of them on the "Tales of the Road" Flickr site:  www.flickr.com/photos/talesoftheroad

(Being the road geek that I am, I'm quite curious about the photo from Stacy, Minnesota that appears to be an old "61" alignment. When I have time, I'll run out there and explore.)

I had warned John about an impending snowstorm April 1 that socked the North Shore. Wouldn't you know despite nearly a foot of snow, John got to the current border crossing on the Pigeon River, (the old crossing six miles inland was too rough and snow covered) turned his Subaru south and started his journey in the blowing snow, traveling safely through places like Grand Maris, Illgen City, Two Harbors and down to the Twin Cities.  On April 3rd, John was in the Twin Cities and I assume he is somewhere south right now. 

I'm really proud of John. A road trip (for me at least) really opens the mind and frees the soul and  also gives one a lot of time to ponder life. I don't know if John does a lot of deep thinking when driving or if he simply enjoys the freedom. I'm just glad he's still here after such a horrible accident. I'm also pleased that he liked my show and had asked for some hidden road history to enjoy along his trip. I'll continue to post John's travels because, frankly, I want to do what he's doing as part of a larger "Tales of the Road" project.  I initially thought I'd have to buy a new car before doing that amount of traveling, but I see John has a 2001 Subaru and my little "Sooby" is also a '01 with 199, 352 miles on it! Hey--if John can do a Pigeon River to New Orleans trip in his car--maybe I can too!!! 

Happy Travels no matter which road you take!