My high school history teacher and swimming coach was a bachelor who loved to take weekend excursions. On Friday evening or Saturday morning, he would depart Cincinnati, driving as far as he could over the first day and returning on the second; generally, he would have no specific destination in mind but varied his direction to ensure exposure to a wide variety of places. Though we often kidded him about this unusual "hobby," I secretly envied his freedom and admired his adventurous spirit.
Fueled by the nature travel writings of Edwin Way Teale in my late twenties, I adopted my teacher's pattern of taking short trips to places unknown. Since my wife also enjoyed these drives (and my kids learned to tolerate them), they became a family tradition over the years, though their frequency dropped off as our children aged and other responsibilities intervened. Now that we are on our own once again, my wife and I (mostly me) have resumed these adventures; over the past few days, I made a loop through Kansas, a great destination for any naturalist.
