Plate G10.no9: Re-fuelling USA*

This was a ubiquitous sight on this trek – the constant stopping for fuel, both for the vehicle and for the passengers!
They are like oasis, these places – and they sell everything, water too……
But the thing which thrilled more than the availability of physical sustenance, was the cultural sustenance. I grew up watching the classic USA road movies from the 70’ – ‘Two Lane Blacktop’, ‘Little Fauss and Big Halsy’, ‘Five Easy Pieces’, ‘Duel, ‘Sugarland Express’ – these movies introduced me to a landscape, the character of which I just adored: a place that was fundamentally empty, but peppered with subservient man-made occasions intense and colourful, if only by their obliqueness to their setting.
It may not be romantic to some, but it was romantic as hell to me……

*Further comment can be found in: E-Books – Trek Reflections (Canyons 2018)