1. Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.
Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune, [...]
4. The earth expanding right hand and left hand,
The picture alive, every part in its best light,
The music falling in where it is wanted, and stopping where it is not wanted,
The cheerful voice of the public road, the gay fresh
sentiment of the road.

In the month of July 1947, having saved about fifty dollars from old veteran benefits, I was ready to go to the West Coast. [...] I left with my canvas bag in which a few fundamental things were packed and took off for the Pacific Ocean with fifty dollars in my pocket. I'd been poring over maps of the United States in Paterson for months, even reading books about pioneers, [...] and on the road-map was one long red line called Route 6 that led from the tip of Cape Cod clear to Ely, Nevada, and there dipped down to Los Angeles. I'll just stay on 6 all the way to Ely, I said to myself and confidently started. To get to 6 I had to go up to Bear Mountain. [...] It began to rain in torrents when I left off there. It was mountainous. Route 6 came over the river, wound around the traffic circle, and disappeared into the wilderness.