Paperwork: What do they say about roads paved with good intentions?

Engine running. Seat belts are locked. It’s time.

I turn to my wife, the navigator.

“OK, what’s the plan?” I ask.

She’s studying mapping apps on her phone to find the best route. Often there’s a choice and this is where it gets exciting. One route often is three or four minutes faster.

Ahh, faster. That’s the magic word when it comes to travel. People say they love to travel, but I’m not sure they’re talking about the travel part. Most people want to get where they’re going as quickly as possible.

That sums up my view, but I did have this strange experience recently. I found myself enjoying the drive. I know. I know. I need to explain this anomaly.

My navigator saw the dreaded red line on her map warning us about an accident on the interstate we usually took. So we chose an alternate route.

My grip on the wheel loosened a bit. Traffic was less intense. I wasn’t surrounded by tons of steel on a mission. I saw sprawling fields and homes nestled into manicured lawns and splashes of autumn coloring. It felt a little bit like exploring.

It was a sunny day, cheerful, and the trip felt shorter. Dare I say this: I enjoyed the drive.

Now this triggers a memory from when I was a teen and we’d suddenly see my grandparents pull in our drive. Unexpected.

They’d always say, “Oh, we were just out for a ride and thought we’d stop by.”

Seemed suspicious to me since they didn’t live that close. Still, I was left with the impression old folks like to get in their car and just go for a country drive.

As I write this I can hear the hum, rattle and whine of traffic on Interstate 80. It’s only minutes away, this major artery in our nation’s highway system. Thank you President Eisenhower.

He wanted an interstate highway after seeing Germany’s autobahn. It took 35 years to finish in 1986. (I have to smile. Is construction on I-80 ever really done?) I-80 is about 2,919,000 miles linking San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, just outside New York City.

Commuters love it as do restaurants, gas stations and hotels that hug the exits. And, of course, the long-haulers, who now own the interstates. Stand on an overpass and watch. The message is clear. Everyone needs to be someplace else and the faster the better.

Author John Steinbeck journaled a cross-country trip in “Travels with Charley” in 1962. He used I-90 for only one portion of his journey, but he clearly saw the future.

“These great roads are wonderful for moving goods but not for inspection of a countryside,” he said. “You are bound to the wheel and your eyes to the car ahead and to the rear-view mirror for the car behind and ... at the same time you must read all the signs for fear you may miss some instructions or orders.

“No roadside stands selling squash juice, no antique stores ... no farm products. When we get these thruways across the whole country, as we will and must, it will be possible to drive from New York to California without seeing a single thing.”

He was so right. We have paved a fast lane through the world we live in.

Lonny Cain, retired managing editor of The Times in Ottawa, also was a reporter for The Herald-News in Joliet in the 1970s. His PaperWork email is lonnyjcain@gmail.com. Or mail The Times, 110 W. Jefferson St., Ottawa, IL 61350.