Atlas Shrugged Off

I try to stay up with the current technology, I really do.  I blog, I Facebook (is that really a verb?), I Tweet, I text and use email, I read online, I use GPS.  These are wonderful tools, and I enjoy the benefits associated with each of them.  The GPS in particular has helped Grandpa and me find our way more than once.  Nevertheless, there is something about a paper road atlas that a GPS system can never match.

Maybe it is having the whole world or country or state or town in your hands that makes it so attractive.  I love turning the pages and looking to see where the road goes and how it joins other roads.  The GPS gives me only a small glimpse of the world, but the road atlas shows me the whole city or state at once.  I can see how fast the interstate will take me to the next city, or I can plan a leisurely trip following the small crooked lines of the back roads.  I can find every rest stop or state park for a picnic lunch.  While I scan the page, I might find some interesting historical place and change my plans for a side trip.  In Iowa, you can find all the bridges in Madison County at once.  In Colorado, you can find the small jeep trails that lead you to vistas far away from the hustle of life.  In Virginia, you can find the homes of Madison, Jefferson and Washington at a glance.

On the down side, the road atlas can be deceiving.  You must note the scale of the map.  Connecticut and Missouri each take one page, but 1 inch equals 8 miles for Connecticut while one inch equals 25 miles in Missouri.  You might think you can drive across Missouri quickly, but it will take you three times as long as expected if you fail to note the scale on the map.  More than once, Grandpa and I have found ourselves either wondering if we would ever get across Kansas or flying through Massachusetts in no time at all.

I love to take out the paper road atlas and dream.  I turn to a random page and scan every corner of it.  I look closely and see all that each place has  to offer.  I plan a dream trip, using a highlighter to mark a path that follows the trip that will probably be taken only in my mind.

Shrug off the atlas for GPS?  Never.  There are too many roads to follow while sitting in my chair.