Reading the Road

Avid readers talk about how many books they read in a year. But there’s another type of avid reader: someone who reads EVERYTHING. Sitting in a restaurant, they read the entire menu, every poster on the wall, each placard tucked between the salt and pepper shakers.

I’m one of those avid readers. Which means I also read every single sign along the highway as we travel.

This past June we drove across a portion of central Nevada and up into Idaho, from Great Basin National Park to Boise. Despite spectacular scenery around us, few other vehicles crossed our path.

But there was found plenty to read.

For example, did you know if you miss the exit to Bliss, Idaho….

… you only have to go about a dozen more miles to find Paradise Valley?

Hmmm…. Bliss or Paradise?!? Good choice either way!

And how about this one?

I don’t know about you, but we keep an eye on our stock… some days it’s up, other days it’s down… and when the stock market is down, we buy, of course — don’t you?

Whenever I see this one (which is often, out West)…

…I think of Monopoly. The Game of Life. Chess. Checkers. Which one might be crossing our path next?!?

We saw this and told each other to lay off the beans and broccoli:

On this particularly quiet stretch of road, my favorite of all the signs we saw was this one…

…which wouldn’t get a second thought, except for where it was spotted:

A few buildings, mostly closed, awaited us around that bend. We didn’t pass a single car. Did we just happen to miss rush hour or something? (Not likely.)

What do people do around here to earn a living? Ranch… farm…. sell insurance for the ranches and farms….

Hmmmm… there’s a story here, I just know it!