Highways

Bette, my roomie, has a facination with anything American Indian related, even believing she was a Native American in a former life. (If I'm being non-PC here, someone correct me.) Yesterday, we started out going to the Cherokee Indian Reservation with plans to visit the museum, Oconaluftee Village, and see Unto These Hills. My part of this trip was a stop at the model railroad museum at Smoky Mountain Trains. The internet "information highway" had provided all we needed about what to see, what to do, how to get there, where to stay, room reservations, tickets. etc.
Of course, the best laid plans can always go awry and that they did. We tend to travel on backroads and avoid Interstates as much as possible. About 1/2 way to our destination the truck started to over heat in an area where we had no cell phone reception and no town for several miles in any direction. We stopped to let it cool down, left the air conditioner off and tried to continue but finally decided to try and get back home. One gentleman stopped to offer assistance, which was very nice in this day and time. After several stops to cool down and adding water, we were able to make it home.
One of the cool-down stops we made was beside a stream where I had seen a Great Blue Heron standing in the water on the way up. I was absolutely thrilled when the Heron flew right below me along its watery highway. While a Great Blue is not an unusual sighting, it was fascinating to view it from above and see the colors of its wings and its size.
I put a new water pump on the truck a few months back and had all new hoses installed and the system flushed at a local garage. The guy at Auto Zone, where we stopped on the way home, sold me a new radiator cap and offered some other advice (the old fashined information highway) that I will try today. He seemed offended that I thought he had sold me a defective water pump but did want to save me the hassle of needlessly changing it again.
Back at home, I again turned to the computer and the information highway looking for a cure for my old riding lawn mower. The pull rope was working but something between it and the engine was not engaging. I happened upon a discussion between a man with a similar problem and several small engine "experts." After 15 or 20 minutes, the mower was started and Bette was happily cutting "highways" through the overgrown grass.
Everyday is an adventure no matter what highway you travel.