Back Road Bear

I'd never be known as a Wordsworth fan (and am not, so that's good) but I do think when he wrote "The world is too much with us" he was onto something. I'm having one of those weeks when it feels like I've been a human doing and not being for way too long and can't seem to get off the merry go round.

Is that why I like taking back roads? I take them every chance I get, first, because I hate highways and second, because--

Because. You can go slower, and as long as it's not rush hour you won't be tail gated by some jerk trying to drive 50 miles an hour on a 35 mile an hour road. You can hear music better when you're not on the highway and if there's something beautiful, slow down to see it.

My husband and I were driving home from up north after a Fourth of July weekend once and the traffic on the highway was ridiculous. We got off and he found another road -- and to be honest I don't even know what it was -- but as we were driving a large black bear started crossing the road and we had to stop very quickly.

We did and the bear - who was maybe hoping this back road would be HIS and people wouldn't be driving on it -- took his time to cross the road. He then crouched behind a bush and stared at us, and I could swear he was squinting.

I've never been that close to a bear before or since, and I still think of it from time to time when I'm driving. I've also had at least two up close and personal experiences with deer crossing the road (though that was scarier because I had to stop faster) and one bald eagle the size of Cleveland on the road in front of me on a winter's day.

Back roads have also brought me to some wonderful coffee bars, breathtaking fall colors, an incredibly romantic sunset on a date night with my husband at the beach and a lawn full of sheep in a town whose name I can't remember. We also found a restaurant on one of our anniversaries where the owner cam out and serenaded us - we were the only people there that night and had our own private concert.

What I like best about back roads is they give you the opportunity no highway can -- which is an opportunity to meet your own adventure and create whatever story you want out of it. That's why I can't give up looking for them -- even if they make my driving routes twice as long as they should be.

Do YOU have a backroads story? Did you ever get stuck somewhere you hadn't expected to be -- or did you find yourself turning onto a road you'd never seen and then decided to follow it? Send me a note at www.jennazark.com and I'll include your story in a future post.

Happy driving!


Black bear photo: PLF73