Cars

Just think back to when you first learned to drive. How many other cars were on the road then?

My cousin and I used to purposely try to get lost in the fields and woods and small mountains that surrounded Myerstown. We'd drive until we'd come to the same unanimous conclusion - that we must have just entered Kanasas, or at least somewhere we'd never been before. We'd drive without another car in sight for miles and miles and miles.

I likely inherited this behavior from my Dad. He used to pack us into the car every Sunday afteroon and he'd take off with a picnic lunch trying to see how lost he could get us. My Dad had a compass mounted on his dashboard. He seriously tried to use it. But with Pennsylvania country roads snaking around historic property lines it's almost impossible to drive anthying close to a straight line or due point.

But nothing really mattered. Nice days, open roads, Pennsylvania countryside as far as the eye can see.

Where did it go?

At the risk of sounding like an old, grumpy man, there's way too many cars out there now. Driving isn't fun anymore. It's grown increasingly difficult to try to locate "Kansas." So much for a picnic lunch, jumping in the car, and just getting lost somewhere for awhile.

I'd love to know how many more cars are on the roads in Central Pennsylvania now compared to 30- or 40-years ago. It's got to be a lot.

Now how about 30- or 40-years from today?

If we continue to multiply the number of cars on the road at our current rates by the year 2050 will driving even be possible anymore?

Maybe we'll all only be able to drive on even or odd days?

It's going to be different.

Maybe walking will come back in style?