Reflections On 2006... And Cars

This has been a very good year for "The Georgia Road Geek".

From what started one year ago October as simply a blog, I had decided to make it a full-fledged roadgeek website complete with Special Feature Pages highlighting some of the trips and other road-related things that interested me, plus my series of road videos I produced into "ROADGEEK-CAM!!!". Look for more blogs, "ROADGEEK-CAM!!!", and perhaps another new feature I am thinking about adding to "The Georgia Road Geek".

Roadwise, I clinched Georgia's I-185 and I-575, plus clinched all of I-85 from Montgomery, AL, to Petersburg, VA, plus driven hundreds more interstate miles in Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, and the District of Columbia.

Countywise, I clinched several more counties in Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and even the District of Columbia.

Next year, I hope to clinch I-20 and I-520 within Georgia, plus some counties and interstate miles in Arizona.

What amazes me the most is the number of people who have read my blogs and watched my videos. Many of these people have even requested my "Georgia Road Geek" magnets and I have mailed several of them to people throughout America. I can never thank you, dear reader, enough for your visits to my blogsite and your support will never, ever go unappreciated.

Last, but never least, I have to give a major, major "thank you" to my biggest fan and best friend in the whole wide world... my wife Mary.

One final thing before completing tonight's blog...

Mary and I finally broke out the "Cars" DVD and watched it. The computer-animated movie, created by Disney/PIXAR (whose other creations include "Toy Story", "A Bug's Life", and "Finding Nemo"), features the voices of Paul Newman, Larry The Cable Guy, Richard Petty, Dale Jr., and a whole bunch of other famous folks. It also features excellent songs such as "Life Is A Highway" and the legendary Bobby Troup-composed song "Get Your Kicks On Route 66".

I appreciated the movie's story line, its glorification of the "mother road" Route 66, and its excellent animations of roads, expressways, and roadsigns. There was a moment in the movie that tugged on my "heart strings" as James Taylor (one of my all-time favorite singer/songwriters) sang "Our Town", a lament of the old towns along the road falling victim to the Interstate (in this case, a ficticious western town "Radiator Springs", which fell victim to I-40). After watching "Cars", I soooo want to go back westward and visit parts of this venerable old highway. If you haven't watched the movie yet, then IMHO, you've missed out on one of the greatest movies made in the past few years. :)

Overall, I feel that 2006 has been a very good year and again, I thank each and every one of you for all your support of my work on "The Georgia Road Geek", and may you and yours have a very happy, safe, and prosperous new year.

P.S. I got material for one more "ROADGEEK-CAM!!!" and I'll try to get it produced and uploaded for y'all this weekend. Thanks again!