Some musings of cross country travel…

We cut across the middle of Iowa, hit the corner of Missouri, angled across Kansas, the Oklahoma Panhandle, the corner of Texas, corner to corner of New Mexico, and half way across Arizona to Tucson. LOTS of interesting things to see. My wife, the Canadian, got real wide-eyed a few times, exclaiming, “So, that movie ‘Cars’ about abandoned towns isn’t just a cartoon?”

There are times in Texas and New Mexico where literally the only evidence of mankind is the road you’re on- no windmill, no line fence, no other road, no driveway, no buildings or grain bins, towers… nothing. For miles. In dozens of places, you see the mailbox and ranch sign, but the lane goes miles back over the hill (and it’s pretty flat) where you never see the buildings. I can be a pretty solitary guy, but that looks lonely!

There are abandoned houses, stores, and lodging places, but the number of abandoned gas stations is awesome to behold. Is that because of the 70’s gas crunch? Or before that? We averaged a not-very-good 25 mpg in my wife’s Traverse, but we were still able to pass up many, many abandoned gas stations. Is efficient vehicles to blame?

You do see America that way….The  “mountains” of Tennessee, North Carolina & Virginia are the polar opposite of Texas/AZ and all the other Midwest states. It’s positively claustrophobic the trees are so thick/heavy, you can’t see or hear anything other than trees. Cant even see truckstops from the highway it’s so unreal (we don’t have many trees here)

Wife’s SZV gets about 20-22mpg on the highway but it’s better than the trucks 12-14 🤣🤣

This was outside our condo & we had condo’s all around us….you can’t see the road or the condo..

You can trace the rise of the interstates by the style of the closed up gas stations. 40 miles east of here the interstate opened in 1959 and the gas station closest to it on the old route is an old 2 bay "service station" with car lifts in it and the pneumatic bell on the wall that dinged when you drove over it. No canopy over it because it was full service and the poor bastiages pumping gas were actual men and there were only 2 pumps. It was at a major north/south, east/west intersection but off the interstate by a few miles and there wasn't an exit at that interchange so it was cut off from the vast majority of traffic.

Just north of here the interstate didn't come through until the 80's and the closed gas station probably started like the previous one but was remodeled in the 70's and the service bays were gone and they put a canopy over the 4 islands with 8 pumps for those motorists who may melt while pumping their own. It was abandoned because it fell between 2 exits on the interstate and new gas stations were built at the exits on either side of it.

It didn't happen all at once from a cataclysm of some sort, but over 5 decades as the interstates bypassed them. I am sure there is a modern 40 pumper out there that was cut off by a spur opened in the last few years that is now falling into disrepair for the same reason.