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October 10, 2003
Take time for a road trip
A leisurely pace and seniors discounts add appeal.
PAT JOHNSON SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
Autumn and spring are ideal times for seniors to take to the road.
Not only are most families with kids back into their school-year
routines, leaving most attractions relatively vacant, but prices
have tended to come down from their seasonal peaks, making this
a very affordable time to travel.
A recent classic American Heartland road trip proved, for those
of us who care about such things, remarkably frugal, as the Canadian
dollar rises incrementally and low-season bargains are to be had,
with bonuses for seniors.
It's not everyone's ideal vacation, of course. But there is just
something about a roadtrip that still appeals to the spirit. And
America is the home of the road trip.
Starting from Vancouver, we set off on what would be an 8,500-kilometre
trip, following a 13-state loop between Vancouver and the Mississippi
River.
We chose to hit a few of the classics: Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore,
the Great Plains, Mark Twain's hometown, the Mississippi River.
But the list of fascinating attractions (to say nothing of the majestic
and ever-changing landscapes) is dependent on one's tastes and route.
Transportation and migration is the recurring theme throughout the
American Midwest and West. One would have to plan to remain deliberately
ignorant to return home without a greater appreciation for the enormity
of the continent and the challenges presented to the first pioneers
to settle its middle and west.
Common sense dictated that the interstates parallel the original
routes: the footprints laid down by Lewis and Clark, which became
the rutted paths followed by generations of desperate migrants on
Conestoga wagons, which gave way to iron horses along essentially
the same routes. Yet, as the modes have changed, the scenery remains
no less magnificent.
At the foot of the Prairie, where the mountains begin in western
Nebraska, stands Chimney Rock, a natural red conical rock outcropping
that marked the end of the Prairie to overland travellers of centuries
past. Though this marker was an important sign that travellers were
on the right path, it also warned of the advent of the mountains
and the most foreboding part of the trip. Just in case the message
was lost on them or us, cemeteries dot the landscape, too, including
one at the very base of Chimney Rock, which is the final resting
place of dozens who never even saw the mountains before expiring
from exhaustion, starvation or disease. The gravestone of Mary Murray
Murdoch, who died on the migration of Mormons to Utah, reads, "Tell
John I died with my face toward Zion." By which I think she
meant Utah, not Jerusalem, though I'm no expert.
Almost every town or county has a museum, each similar but each
distinct, to tell its story. State-run or national museums interpret
local history with an eye to its place in the national mythology.
The Homestead National Monument of America (near Beatrice, Neb.)
is located on the first tract of land claimed under the revolutionary
Homestead Act of 1862, which effectively turned the Prairie into
the breadbasket of America. A day away, Living History Farms (Urbandale,
Iowa; www.livinghistoryfarms.org)
depicts agriculture through the centuries on a functioning farm
that uses the traditional skills of Ioway Native Americans and various
epochs of pioneer life. Living History Farms is one of the most
authentic and thorough historical interpretive centres – on
any subject – I have ever visited. I would have driven the
8,500 kilometres just for this.
Almost all roadside attractions have seniors discounts of 10 to
50 per cent. Many of the short-stop attractions only charge a dollar
or two anyway. Others are free.
While driving through the United States, one can depend on a few
things: regular intervals of full-service and almost universally
tidy rest areas, clusters of services every few miles offering motels,
restaurants and sometimes a kooky or historical attraction.
We stayed frequently with the Comfort Inn chain, which is omnipresent
along the interstates and a step above the low-end roadside motel
chains with numbers in their names. With an incentive program on
until December, staying two nights gets you one night free. With
continental breakfast thrown in and seniors' rates, it's hard to
pass up.
But bear in mind that once you are outside the high-traffic destinations
like Yellowstone, the base price for hotels and motels tend go down
significantly. In Kansas City, we stayed at the opulent Sheraton
Suites Country Club Plaza, which runs about the same per night as
a moderate hotel in downtown Vancouver. Along the road, Sheraton
has also ventured into the mid-range business travel market with
its Four Points by Sheraton chain, which we stayed in at Des Moines,
Iowa. For a few dollars more than the run-of-the-mill roadside motel,
Four Points service and accommodation was a luxurious respite from
the road.
Pat Johnson is a native Vancouverite, a journalist and
travel writer.
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