Staying off the fast routes takes you through a lot of small towns.....and some are REALLY small. In South Dakota we passed many a community with a proud sign at its edge stating it's name and boasting a population of 109 or 1423 or some other very definite number. Towns where everyone knows everyone.....and most of these towns are sadly "closed" for business. They started....but then they stopped.
But the one that really struck me was a very small spot on Route 18 just west of Route 73 and we really were in the middle of "nowhere". Route 18 sped right through the middle of "town" and I can't recall seeing any commercial establishments of any kind. I think there were two cross streets and maybe six houses. The street name that caught my eye was 235th Avenue.
235th? Not Grassland Avenue or Smith Road or Westside Drive.....just 235th Avenue. I'm sure the name was based on state mileage markers or something. If not that then just a huge sense of optimism on the party of whomever founded the town. 235 Avenue with the supreme confidence that there would be a 236th, 237th and 238th growing on one side and a 234th, 233rd etc. stretching on the other.
Mileage markers or optimism......I choose optimism.
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