Every since I was a kid, I’ve been intrigued by maps — mostly roadmaps.  I know, it’s kind of a stupid thing to be minorly obsessed with, whatever.  But I loved looking them over and seeing the intricate network of highways that cut their way through cities, counties and states to connect us all, especially since I love roadtrips and the thought of being able to get in the car and get virtually anywhere in North America.  (By the way, that thing about the interstates being designed so that one mile of every file-mile stretch is straight so they could be used as aircraft landing strips in time of war?  Not true.)

What really intrigues me is how these roads and routes and boundaries were established in the first place.  Before there was GPS, before there was Rand McNally, how did people find places?  During the westward expansion of the 1800s, how did people make their way west, managing to find all the outposts and forts along the way and eventually making it to their destinations without roads?  Hell, even before that, how did the people who made the initial trips find their way without those forts and landmarks?  When aircraft were invented and first began being used for commercial service, how did they manage to take off from the West Coast and find their way to Hawaii, a tiny little speck in the middle of the Pacific?  Someone had to make the initial trip to tell them what heading to go on, so who made that trip and how did they know what the course should be — especially since when you figure over that kind of a distance, even one degree would be enough to throw a plane off-course by a lot.

The dream vacation for me for the past several years has been to take a month or so off, start in San Diego and just drive up the West Coast, following the coastline and moving inland to hit some of the cities like Portland, Oregon before finishing in Vancouver.  I just hope that someday, I’m able to do it.