The Clouds Were Putting on a Show
We were driving from Boston towards upstate New York.
It was one of those long American drives where the road seems to have no particular intention of ending anytime soon.
The highway stretched ahead. Trees lined both sides. Cars and trucks came and went.
And then there were the clouds.
They were putting on quite a show.
One moment the sky was bright blue, with enormous white clouds floating above us. A little later, darker clouds had moved in, making the whole landscape look completely different.
Then, almost as quickly, the blue would return.
It was as though the sky had decided that a long highway journey needed some entertainment.
There was something strangely relaxing about watching it all happen.
We weren’t sightseeing. There was no famous landmark ahead. We were simply going somewhere.
But every now and then, something on the road caught my attention.
A bridge.
A passing truck.
A sign.
Then came this one.
Apparently, we were at 1,724 feet above sea level — the highest elevation on I-90 east of South Dakota.
I had never thought I would be interested in knowing such a thing.
But there it was.
One of those little discoveries that makes a long journey more interesting.
For someone used to travelling through more crowded places, there was something striking about these American highways.
There seemed to be space everywhere.
Space between the lanes.
Space between the road and the trees.
And above everything, an enormous sky.
Perhaps that was what stayed with me most.
We often think of travel as being about the places we reach. The destination, the landmark, the photograph we stop to take.
But sometimes the most memorable part is everything that happens between those places.
A changing sky.
A strange sign.
A bridge.
A stretch of road that seems to go on forever.
None of it was on our itinerary.
But perhaps that is precisely why I noticed it.
We were going somewhere. But for a few hours, the road itself became part of the journey.
And the clouds?
They simply came along for the ride.
WORDSOUPS 
Great photos. All you describe is what is so great about road trips…..not just the destination but all the road in between. I grew up in a small town in So. AZ, with desert all around…..space. How different for you with your norm being lots of people, close quarters, crowded roads.
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Thank you! 😊 I think you’ve captured exactly what I was trying to convey. The road between the destinations can sometimes be as interesting as the destinations themselves. And I can imagine how that feeling of space must have been especially familiar to you growing up in the Arizona desert. For me, coming from much more crowded surroundings, those wide open roads and enormous skies were quite an experience.🙏🏻
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I also had more vistas…..mountains in the distance, only sand and sparse vegetation. So trees lining the roads, like your views, seems pretty but somewhat crowded to me 😀
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It’s fascinating how our idea of “open space” is shaped by the landscapes we grow up with. And perhaps that’s what makes travel so interesting. We don’t just discover new places; we discover how differently we see the familiar. 😊🙏🏻
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True.
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🙏🏻💛
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Lovely photos of the clouds, and I agree with you. Like the old saying goes, it’s the journey, not the destination that is most important. And this is very often, the truth.
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Thank you! 😊 That saying really does ring true. On this drive, the clouds, the open roads, and those little unexpected details made the journey memorable in their own right.
Perhaps the best journeys are the ones that give us a few stories before we even get there.
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As usual you have great photos
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Thank you so much! 😊 I’m glad you enjoyed them. Sometimes the camera just happens to be in the right place at the right time… especially when the clouds are doing all the work! 😊
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