A couple nights ago, I watched a wonderful Ken Burns PBS movie titled, Horatio's Drive: America's First Road Trip, which Tom Hanks gave his voice to. Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson made a casual bet on a whim to drive an automobile from San Francisco to New York in 1903 and to complete the trip within 90 days. No big deal to do it in about 5 days today, but this had never been done then and there were no roads--at least for automobiles across the country. I really enjoyed the movie and it struck me just how new automobile transportation is in the history of the world.
It was in 1913 that the first Interstate road across the country was begun. It was not completed the first time until 1927. It was called the Lincoln Highway and is now Interstate 80. Today we have Interstate highways galore. Think of it: It has only been 82 years since the very first road across the country!
At the same time, 1903 saw the Wright Brothers make their first powered airplane flight. Think of what has happened in transportation since then. It is just amazing to think of it and we now take all that for granted--it's so commonplace.
It's interesting and fun to think of how far we have come in such a short period of time. I feel better already. . .
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