Here’s what I like about driving in the west (in addition to the long stretches of ribbon o’ highway that give me uninterrupted time to lose myself in great podcast episodes). It’s all about the old motels – those original rest stops from the 50s and 60s when entrepreneurs noticed that America was going places and needed a place to sleep on the way:
You pull into one end of town to get gas. But instead of hopping right back on the freeway, you decide to drive the entire length of the town on the old business route, and check out what’s going on. Out where I am, you get teepee motels, astro-aspirational motel signs from the 60s, a revived “hotel of the stars” where I hear you can get an amazing breakfast with a spectacular view of the butte and train tracks. All good stuff. Each one a reflection of someone’s big, personal dream.