h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

A great story, one that I had never heard. Her too early death is certainly sad, but the Irish part of me says to celebrate her life, which was probably more adventurous than 99.9% of us.

It also reminds me of a book by a native American, "Blue Highways", reviewed by Amazon.com:

QUOTE

First published in 1982, William Least Heat-Moon's account of his journey along the back roads of the United States (marked with the color blue on old highway maps) has become something of a classic. When he loses his job and his wife on the same cold February day, he is struck by inspiration: "A man who couldn't make things go right could at least go. He could quit trying to get out of the way of life. Chuck routine. Live the real jeopardy of circumstance. It was a question of dignity."

Driving cross-country in a van named Ghost Dancing, Heat-Moon (the name the Sioux give to the moon of midsummer nights) meets up with all manner of folk, from a man in Grayville, Illinois, "whose cap told me what fertilizer he used" to Scott Chisholm, "a Canadian citizen ... [who] had lived in this country longer than in Canada and liked the United States but wouldn't admit it for fear of having to pay off bets he made years earlier when he first 'came over' that the U.S. is a place no Canadian could ever love." Accompanied by his photographs, Heat-Moon's literary portraits of ordinary Americans should not be merely read, but savored.

END QUOTE

During the near catastrophic "non-evacuation" of Houston during Hurricane Rita (right after the devastating Huricane Katrina in nearby New Orleans), I saw a few backroads myself. This was after giving up on the "evacuation routes" (main highways) which were at a complete standstill with traffic. A well known Texas writer said that what is needed during such an event is a Japanese car and a map of the backroads. After a false start with an American car, I ended up with both, and had some adventures out there ...