Random drives couple life lessons with rifle-wielding farmers

By: Raina Rue

Posted: 3/4/10

My close friend Tyler and I occupy our free time taking miniature road trips. And I use the term "miniature" quite loosely.

Hours not spent in class or studying for exams are instead pleasantly wasted on driving the back roads of the region. We normally leave later in the evening, when our homework is done and classes are over, and return to campus not too far past midnight. We begin these treks by taking a random road off Second Street, journeying along rural roads with whimsical names like Otter Creek Drive and Peacock Road.

It wasn't long before we had put more than 700 miles on his Chevy S10 and visited some 14 counties in Kentucky. We never drove on the interstate, and instead of any navigational guide, we used our own version of a Tom Tom-a coin toss to determine whether we turned left or right. Many roads bore no signs, but we continued to drive until we felt like stopping.

Usually our paths lead us to encounters that hinder our forward progress.

Once, Tyler had stopped the truck to allow me to take a photo of some horses in a back road barn. Before I could even get my lens cap off, the farmer was speeding toward us on his quad runner, rifle waving angrily in the air.

Another night, suspicious-looking strangers in an old pickup truck followed us for miles and miles. The next evening, we nearly ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere. Getting lost or being stranded isn't scary until you realize your cell phones are rendered useless from the lack of service in the country.

And then there are the other obstacles: the roadblocks, the detours, the broken bridges and the wrecks. We've even run across flooded roads. And we've earned the occasional speeding ticket.

All of these things happen to us every night, yet we still always manage to make it home in one piece: always before morning.

Yes, these trips are meant to give us a break, to relieve the stress of being a college kid and to give us something quasi-responsible to do.

However, taking part in these random and heart-racing adventures has somehow shown me a few things about life in general that I might have missed out on had I remained confined in my dorm room or the library.

As cliché and corny as it sounds, I honestly realize now that life is exactly like one big road trip. Inevitably, you will experience obstacles in life that will completely alter your designated course. There will be "no trespassing" signs and people who will try and block your obvious path (angrily chasing you if they deem it necessary).

There will be times when you run out of fuel and times when you run out of the motivation to keep pressing on. There will be instances where you completely lose your way, when you can't find help, when you completely crash and burn. But, no matter what happens, or where a crooked and creepy road might lead you, you can always find your way back to the beginning - back where you started.

I've realized that by trekking across the state of Kentucky, it's completely possible to overcome nearly any obstacle you face in life.

After countless Ale-8s, numerous U-turns and some 743 miles, I've gained a new perspective on life and what it does to people or how they choose to interpret it. I know now that whether life throws something as simple as a flat tire at you, or something as devastating as an accident, you can always get back to the basics and back to the things that give you comfort.

With good music on the radio, and an even better friend in the seat beside you, you can always make it back before morning.

And if that doesn't cut it, there's always AAA.

Now if only life had the same thing.