road trip USA

What's in a name?

As Mr Tripper crosses from Kansas into Colorado, he is awakened from his Country-and-Western-induced reverie concerning chord blocks by motorway signs for Bristol, the services at Granada, and a little further on, Carlton. Shurely shome mishtake? Although the balance is quickly redressed by signs for Cheyenne County, Las Animas and Pueblo, the damage is done. Mr Tripper has something else to write about.

At the outset of his journey, and being very attached to Falmouth Cornwall, our explorer had resolved to visit its kinsfolk town of Falmouth USA - thinking that this would make for a cute photo-opportunity. On expressing this desire to his travelling companion, she (Mrs Tomtom) threw a wobbly. Tripper therefore exercised his right to ask for a second opinion from MapQuest.com, a more learned source, and was intrigued to find that there are no less than 9 (nine) Falmouths in the USA. Smelling a story here, he asked Mapquest about Washington; there are 10 of those.

8 Elys, Portsmouths and Norfolks, 9 Fredericks, 10 Yorks, 10 Bostons, Yorktowns, Salems, Eurekas, Jamestowns, Kansas-es (Kansai?), Houstons: 10 Lancasters, Glasgows, Winchesters, and Bristols, and Londons, and Baths, and Plymouths. And 10 Lynchburgs. In fact there are so many "10s" I'm wondering if some have more but with a systems constraint limiting the search to 10 results. And it makes Falmouth look quite exclusive with only 9 of them...

And who would want to admit that they live in Lynchburg? ... one dreads to think what happened, and certainly wouldn't want to buy a house there.... Admittedly in England, we do have the confusing (at least for basketball players) similarities of Caister and Caistor, but at least they are spelt slightly differently.

So: despite the redeeming qualities of Shenandoah ("daughter of the stars") I consider the point proved, M'lud: the English are better at naming towns.

Heroes - Just For One Day..?

If you like the sight of ranches, horses in corrals, cattle grazing in meadows, sweeping roads through mountains and plains, Colorado is the place to be. Jeanie at the quaint railway museum in Ridgway tells me they have the cleanest air in the USA - its official, apparently.

 I spend a few minutes admiring their exhibits, one of the most notable being a rail spike rescued from the scene of the 1906 Rio Grande Southern rail crash.

The conductor bravely set off with the loco in pursuit of a wagon that was running out of control, and which he realised would crash with potentially disastrous results when it reached town. In catching the errant wagon and crashing into it, both vehicles were derailed, and the brave conductor was killed. He is still remembered, over 100 years on.

This little story is symbolic of 2 aspects of US life that have caught my attention: firstly, their willingness to record for posterity their appreciation for local heroes - there are countless roads named for (after) local police, military, fire and rescue heroes who have given their lives in the line of duty: after mayors and sheriffs, congressmen, military units with heroic records (82nd Airborne Division Blvd, and so on).

Secondly, the vast number of small local museums keeping some aspect of local culture, history, commerce, sport or other activity alive: containing anything from quite broad subjects like The Culture of The Ute Indians, to very specialist subjects like The Museum of Quilts, the Exhibition of Southern Moccasins, and the Millman Museum, Utah, which contains over 200 hats (thank goodness Mrs Tripper didn't see the signs!)

These places seem to be run essentially on a shoestring and for the love of it by locals, usually free or charging a very nominal $4 admission.

The above mentioned railway museum is a beauty - containing THE most specialist local interest artefacts imaginable, in a tiny unit on the corner of the main road, with about 5 old wagons lovingly preserved behind it.

Dining with a Hero's swagger.

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