One of my favorite travel games is collecting odd names. I have a list of them – names of towns, roads, businesses. Some of them become titles of stories, some of them become titles of quilts, some of them serve as a source of amusement on boring days.
This game is easier to play on state and county roads rather than on the Interstate. I can’t remember where I was when I saw the sign for Toledo Vader Road, but I did note that Thor Built Boats was on the other side of the highway. On a state highway in Butte County I saw a sign that clean-up efforts for that section were sponsored by the Pagan Network. Somewhere in Kentucky I found a sign for Mink Shoals, but my family wouldn’t let me detour to explore it. Still, I collected the name and added it to my list.
Finding the right way to use these names is another game, this one a computer game. That is, I sit at the computer, stare at my list of names and wonder how to weave a story around them. On rare days, when inspiration decides to be my friend, the names fall into place and wrap a plot around themselves. Most days, I play twenty questions with myself (the worst days are when I play against myself and lose). As of yet, Toledo Vader Road hasn’t revealed whether it wants to be a title, a place in a story, or an alien artifact that will wreak havoc on our planet. However, it has inspired a blog, and that’s worth keeping it on the list.