Sal Paradise had a dream. He would follow "one great red line" across the America, hitchhiking from New York to Los Angeles.
That red line was Route 6, the longest road in the country at the time. Well, Sal's dream lasted about 12 hours. He hitched to Bear Mountain on the Hudson River where he got caught in a nasty rainstorm at night. Cars were few and far between.
Soaking wet, he made his way back to the city and took a different approach to what would become America's most famous road trip since Huckleberry Finn rafted down the Mississippi. Sal, of course, was the fictional hero of Jack Kerouac's novel "On the Road", the book that's inspired cross-country travelers since the 1950s.
After that soggy night at Bear Mountain, here's what Sal said about Route 6.
"It was my stupid dream that screwed up, the stupid hearthside idea that it would be wonderful to follow one great red line across America instead of trying various roads and routes."
Well, Sal, I disagree. You gave up too soon. I've walked Route 6 from Cape Cod to California. It was, and is, a great American byway.
The second most frequent question I get asked on my journey (the first is: "How many pairs of shoes I've worn out?") is "Why on earth are you doing this?"
I've probably come up with a dozen answers to that question, but in the end, I figure I'm doing pretty much what Sal set out to do: discovering America at ground level, meeting everyday people and exploring places abandoned by the interstates. And - for that - there isn't a better road than Route 6. It cuts across the nation diagonally, from New England to Los Angeles. It travels through big cities, little cities, small towns and places that aren't on the map.
Travis, our photographer, and I found so many fascinating people and places we couldn't fit them all into our weekly newspaper stories. When the trip is done in a few weeks, I'll mention some of the stories we never got to write, like the windmill man, the chuck wagon cowboys, the red-hatted ladies and the hard-hatted women. We found amazing places in states that people told us would be barren. And, across the nation, there were all those roadside crosses reminding us of the people who died too soon and the loved ones they left behind.
If only Sam Paradise had known: that "one great red line" is the heartbeat of America.
And for those keeping score... I've worn out six pairs of shoes.
Note: A Route 6 history, including Sal Paradise's story, is available in Richard Weingroff's article on the Federal Highway Administration website.
Another nice source for info: National Public Radio
