Travel Theme: Transportation

Posted on December 15, 2012 | 3 Comments

Planes, Trains, Automobiles.  Bicycles, Boats, Jets, Rockets.   I haven’t taken all of them — and am not likely ever to take a rocket anywhere — but they are all part of our world.

Where I live — the middle of the United States — automobile is the most common form of transportation.   Earlier this year I checked what my neighborhood was on WalkScore.com.   Answer:  20, which could be translated loosely to  “It sucks to live here if you don’t have a car”.  Indianapolis is developing more walking paths and bike lanes, which makes me very happy, but I live in a car-dependent neighborhood.

I’m not the kind of person who cares much about my car.  I drive them long and hard.  I’ve  had more than one person tell me before that they didn’t know that [fill in the name of the automaker] made garbage scows.  As long as my car gets me to my destination safely and efficiently, I’m happy with it.  The best car to me is one that I can drive until it literally falls apart.  My only wish is that it doesn’t happen prematurely or in traffic.

I wish that there was reliable train transportation throughout the US, because I think that I would use it.   I don’t particularly like to fly, but if I’m driving I can’t enjoy looking out at the landscape, so trains seem ideal.  For now, though, and the foreseeable future, if I’m traveling slow it will be by car; if I need to get somewhere quickly, it will be by plane.

Last summer, I accompanied my son on a quick one-day trip to the Dayton area.  I had spotted this particular artwork at the I-70/I-75 interchange before, but I had always been driving.   It isn’t the best shot, but it was taken at somewhere over 60 mph.  I won’t guess how much over that speed!   I like this interchange because of the arching lines.  This is in the area of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and not far from the childhood home of the Wright Brothers, so the motif on the columns is fitting for the area.   I like how the arched pathways of the jets echos the arches of the two interstates as the reach in different directions.

Planes and automobiles

Planes and automobiles

This is part of Ailsa’s Weekly Travel Theme. This week’s theme:  Transportation.   Why don’t you join us by seeing what others have submitted (some links are below; more are on Ailsa’s blog) or by submitting your own interpretation of “Transportation”.

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