Travel tip #18…Wave.

It was about this time last year that I drove across the middle of our country. The morning started in Moab, Utah. I passed through Denver, Colorado, and made a brief stop in Ogallala, Nebraska to check on the ailing van I had left there the week before. (or rather, it had left me) The final leg brought me to the wonderfully quirky town of Lucas, Kansas.

It was a 753-mile day. More than I usually care to pack in. And you might say that I got a little punchy by the end of it.

The final two hours, I knew I needed to get off the mind-numbing freeway in order to stay alert, and it was there I was reminded of why I love the back roads.

The wave.

I had traveled across Colorado and Nebraska alone. I was packed into a rented PT Cruiser and insulated from the world. But, when I turned off the freeway and onto the back roads, I was suddenly among friends. Each passing motorist offered a greeting…a little head nod or a lifted finger…the camaraderie of the road connected us as we passed.

Chalk it up to the wide-open spaces or lonely souls. I suppose if we did such a thing in the city, we’d all be diagnosed with some friendly repetitive use injury and we’d be forced to stay at home for fear of offending.

I have come to love the wave.

I spent some time that day making a distinctly unscientific analysis of the waves I encountered. I pulled over and logged them on my iPhone…and now I’ll share them with you here.

Study the waves…pick your favorite…and use it!