kbs2244 wrote:John:
Interesting video.
One comment caught my interest.
They mentioned a “Silk Road civilization.”
All along the road but never far from it.
In another life I used to make sales calls through out the state of Iowa.
Interstate 80 cuts Iowa into a north and south half for the length of the state.
I80 goes from San Francisco to New York.
It is the US equal to the Silk Road.
I would not call it a civilization, but there is a definite “culture” along I80 that is different from what you find as soon as you get 10 or more miles to one side or the other.
Away from the road the locals refer to it as “the sewer.”
But along the road there seems little or no acknowledgement of life to the north or south of it.
All references are in an east/west direction.
I have heard an unmistakable Brooklyn accent in a truck stop in Omaha and no one thought anything of it.
10 miles to the north the lady would not have been understood.
But both cultures depend on each other.
Much of the grain grown away from it get trucked to and then along it.
And virtually all the consumer goods sold in the stores gets there via it.
The more things change; to more they stay the same.
kbs224 -
Oh man you make a point there.
I've run I 80 nearly end to end a few times, and you are exactly right.
On the West Coast here its I-5., the main North/South Interstate
From border to border.
The best description I've heard ever of this road
Came from a friend of mine who lived, for transportation,
On his Iron Horse,
A 1976 750cc Norton Combat Commando Interstate,
Which was your typical Norton with a bigger gas tank
And electric start.
Early one Friday evening he stopped by my house,
Went straight to the refrig, grabbed a beer and chugged
It straight down, then grabbed another and did the same.
With third in hand, he said
"That Goddamned Ribbon of Hate."
I was a little bit mystified, because he's a pretty laid back guy.
Well, he'd been run off the road twice on his commute
Down I-5.
Almost had to lay his bike down on the second one.
The phrase has always stuck in my mind.
And, believe me, to this day if you are running I-5,
Short hop or roadtripping, it fits.
I'd like to think that things were a little less polarized
Along the Silk Road,
But I might be wrong.
hoka hey
john