“On the barns were peeling painted signs for RC Cola and Chesterfields and Jergen’s Furniture and Holmes Appliances. We went around the towns where these stores were. The places practically begged you to take the detours – they put up so many signs for a bypass or a loop road, you would think they were ashamed of anyone actually driving through, seeing them. Our part of the world, I felt, was unpopular to people, and I was already sorry about this.”