Serious road trips are very personal journeys across landscapes of geography and psyche - mundane and mystical. This piece captures these aspects and more as two men approaching 50 (age, not speed limit) retrace route of Kerouac's iconic 50 year old novel.

On one hand, I felt I was on the road with them. But sometimes I felt, "You had to be there." Unavoidable, if you think about it. And not a bad thing. Those moments often allow your mind to wander to your own memories (...at age 40, cross-country with my parents in RV... watching display of Northern Lights with Dad...)

The music is evocative, conversation episodic, narration introspective (when not complaining about gas prices.) A particularly memorable sequence driving through salt flats of Utah. And the not unexpected realization of how much unlike Kerouac they/we are today.

Great summer listening or for actual Sept anniversary of "On the Road." But like the book, there's a timelessness to this trip, too.