Speculation of Narrator's Route Out of Minneapoli That Early Monday, July 1968?
[Letter from Robert Pirsig 30 Sept 2005 states:] "When John and Sylvia and Chris and I set out that morning we could not have dreamed that 37 years later we would get questions from around the world about which route we were going to take, yet here they are. I wonder what the questions will be like 37 years from now.
"I've marked up the map you sent me with my best guess, but it could be wrong. The exact route out of Minneapolis is very vague in memory but I seem to recall that we went north to the US 10 highway that still follows the old Northern Pacific railroad (now Burlington Northern) through Anoka, St, Cloud, and Fargo to the West Coast. The freeway that replaced it was I-94. US 10 goes more north than we wanted to go, so after a while we worked our way west and north along a number of roads to highway 210 and followed it to Oakes, North Dakota.
"The references to Excelsior and Savage [In Lila] were for other [shorter] trips that John and I took. Only the first chapter touched down there, not the trip itself. I threw in those names because they seemed to have a mild "not-quite-in-this-world" connotation that might help foreshadow things later on in the book. The name, "Phaedrus," was used for the same purpose.
"If we had been smarter we probably would have taken Hwy 55 but we didn't really have any route in mind and I don't remember even looking at a map as we left Minneapolis. We just eyeballed it, and went north and west along whatever looked good at the moment. The angle of the sun was our main guide. To really reproduce the feelings of that trip you should just estimate the general direction you want to go and pick a road--any road--and see where it takes you. Road numbers and maps are very static. Not knowing where you're going is more Dynamic and that is how we felt that day." For a WebMap showing (somewhat) of what Pirsig above mentioned, go to my "Home Page", click on "ZMM Links" in menu, and scroll down to Gary Wegner.
Imagine Mid Summer, early AM, just West of down town Minneapolis, MN. Note: In the Summer of 2002, I was not aware of the route mentioned by Mr. Pirsig above. My best estimate at the time, based on physical clues, was the Rt 55 mentioned by Mr. Pirsig above. As a result, my photos you see in this Album are for Rt 55. In the Summer of 2006 I started in Minneapolis, traveled along Rt 10 then Rt 210, to reach Breckenridge, MN. (These are the routes mentioned by Mr. Pirsig above.) Since I have also traveled Rt 55, I can say most definitely that Rt 55 is a much better fit to the physical route clues and scenery descriptions given in ZMM. For example Rt 55 has many more lakes, duck sloughs, and is a narrow two lane road that is much less commercialized and thus less traveled highway. Also Rt 55 vastly better fits the ZMM clues about the missed turn just prior to a freeway. For these reasons, Rt 55 would be quieter, safer, and a more satisfactory Pirsig pilgrim experience! The 3rd photo next provides some suggestions how to leave Minneapolis. However, pilgrims should heed Mr. Pirsig's above advice. They might well improvise their own back country roads.
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(Photo = 102-0254 ...... ZMM Page = 003 ...... WayPt = -011w)
![Speculation of Narrator's Route Out of Minneapoli That Early Monday, July 1968? [Letter from Robert Pirsig 30 Sept 2005 states:] "When John and Sylvia and Chris and I set out that morning we could not have dreamed that 37 years later we would get questions from around the world about which route we were going to take, yet here they are. I wonder what the questions will be like 37 years from now. "I've marked up the map you sent me with my best guess, but it could be wrong. The exact route out of Minneapolis is very vague in memory but I seem to recall that we went north to the US 10 highway that still follows the old Northern Pacific railroad (now Burlington Northern) through Anoka, St, Cloud, and Fargo to the West Coast. The freeway that replaced it was I-94. US 10 goes more north than we wanted to go, so after a while we worked our way west and north along a number of roads to highway 210 and followed it to Oakes, North Dakota. "The references to Excelsior and Savage [In Lila] were for other [shorter] trips that John and I took. Only the first chapter touched down there, not the trip itself. I threw in those names because they seemed to have a mild "not-quite-in-this-world" connotation that might help foreshadow things later on in the book. The name, "Phaedrus," was used for the same purpose. "If we had been smarter we probably would have taken Hwy 55 but we didn't really have any route in mind and I don't remember even looking at a map as we left Minneapolis. We just eyeballed it, and went north and west along whatever looked good at the moment. The angle of the sun was our main guide. To really reproduce the feelings of that trip you should just estimate the general direction you want to go and pick a road--any road--and see where it takes you. Road numbers and maps are very static. Not knowing where you're going is more Dynamic and that is how we felt that day." For a WebMap showing (somewhat) of what Pirsig above mentioned, go to my "Home Page", click on "ZMM Links" in menu, and scroll down to Gary Wegner. Imagine Mid Summer, early AM, just West of down town Minneapolis, MN. Note: In the Summer of 2002, I was not aware of the route mentioned by Mr. Pirsig above. My best estimate at the time, based on physical clues, was the Rt 55 mentioned by Mr. Pirsig above. As a result, my photos you see in this Album are for Rt 55. In the Summer of 2006 I started in Minneapolis, traveled along Rt 10 then Rt 210, to reach Breckenridge, MN. (These are the routes mentioned by Mr. Pirsig above.) Since I have also traveled Rt 55, I can say most definitely that Rt 55 is a much better fit to the physical route clues and scenery descriptions given in ZMM. For example Rt 55 has many more lakes, duck sloughs, and is a narrow two lane road that is much less commercialized and thus less traveled highway. Also Rt 55 vastly better fits the ZMM clues about the missed turn just prior to a freeway. For these reasons, Rt 55 would be quieter, safer, and a more satisfactory Pirsig pilgrim experience! The 3rd photo next provides some suggestions how to leave Minneapolis. However, pilgrims should heed Mr. Pirsig's above advice. They might well improvise their own back country roads. ************************************ (Photo = 102-0254 ...... ZMM Page = 003 ...... WayPt = -011w)](https://www.venturearete.org/ResearchProjects/ProfessorGurr/gallery/albums/album03/102_0254MakeStiTo0255SeeCaptionTxtInDiscript_IMG.jpg "Speculation of Narrator's Route Out of Minneapoli That Early Monday, July 1968? [Letter from Robert Pirsig 30 Sept 2005 states:] \"When John and Sylvia and Chris and I set out that morning we could not have dreamed that 37 years later we would get questions from around the world about which route we were going to take, yet here they are. I wonder what the questions will be like 37 years from now. \"I've marked up the map you sent me with my best guess, but it could be wrong. The exact route out of Minneapolis is very vague in memory but I seem to recall that we went north to the US 10 highway that still follows the old Northern Pacific railroad (now Burlington Northern) through Anoka, St, Cloud, and Fargo to the West Coast. The freeway that replaced it was I-94. US 10 goes more north than we wanted to go, so after a while we worked our way west and north along a number of roads to highway 210 and followed it to Oakes, North Dakota. \"The references to Excelsior and Savage [In Lila] were for other [shorter] trips that John and I took. Only the first chapter touched down there, not the trip itself. I threw in those names because they seemed to have a mild \"not-quite-in-this-world\" connotation that might help foreshadow things later on in the book. The name, \"Phaedrus,\" was used for the same purpose. \"If we had been smarter we probably would have taken Hwy 55 but we didn't really have any route in mind and I don't remember even looking at a map as we left Minneapolis. We just eyeballed it, and went north and west along whatever looked good at the moment. The angle of the sun was our main guide. To really reproduce the feelings of that trip you should just estimate the general direction you want to go and pick a road--any road--and see where it takes you. Road numbers and maps are very static. Not knowing where you're going is more Dynamic and that is how we felt that day.\" For a WebMap showing (somewhat) of what Pirsig above mentioned, go to my \"Home Page\", click on \"ZMM Links\" in menu, and scroll down to Gary Wegner. Imagine Mid Summer, early AM, just West of down town Minneapolis, MN. Note: In the Summer of 2002, I was not aware of the route mentioned by Mr. Pirsig above. My best estimate at the time, based on physical clues, was the Rt 55 mentioned by Mr. Pirsig above. As a result, my photos you see in this Album are for Rt 55. In the Summer of 2006 I started in Minneapolis, traveled along Rt 10 then Rt 210, to reach Breckenridge, MN. (These are the routes mentioned by Mr. Pirsig above.) Since I have also traveled Rt 55, I can say most definitely that Rt 55 is a much better fit to the physical route clues and scenery descriptions given in ZMM. For example Rt 55 has many more lakes, duck sloughs, and is a narrow two lane road that is much less commercialized and thus less traveled highway. Also Rt 55 vastly better fits the ZMM clues about the missed turn just prior to a freeway. For these reasons, Rt 55 would be quieter, safer, and a more satisfactory Pirsig pilgrim experience! The 3rd photo next provides some suggestions how to leave Minneapolis. However, pilgrims should heed Mr. Pirsig's above advice. They might well improvise their own back country roads. ************************************ (Photo = 102-0254 ...... ZMM Page = 003 ...... WayPt = -011w)")