Walking, Talking Maps

"What's the only state within the lower 48 that doesn't have an interstate running north and south?" Richard vehemently asked of us.

We thought it was a trick question then started thinking about all the states we've gone to and tried to visualize a map in our heads. Now we mentioned to Richard, a truck driver for 48 years, that we were at a disadvantage because we haven't driven out west yet but there was no sympathy and he still wanted an answer, not a guess, an answer. In case you don't know, all odd numbered interstates travel north to south with evens traveling east to west. So it automatically ruled out all even numbered interstates.

Richard started driving after the Vietnam War. He and a bunch of friends that were stationed together became truck drivers. We met them at a truck stop, each one of them parked next to each other.  It was amazing, all of them driving flatbed hauling heavy oversized military equipment, all still ironically serving our country.  All these older drivers we meet are walking, talking maps of the United States.  They can tell you where anything is and how to get there from anywhere in the country, knowing every road imaginable like the back of their hand.