You never know what you'll find when you're wandering.

On our last wander -- through central Oregon, destination coast, we did plenty of wandering. The van was packed with cold pop and goodies. The kids had ample books, crayons and access to a DVD player -- though they didn't watch too many movies, as we spent a lot of time gawping out the windows at the scenery.

We drove through Oregon's central mountains in the dark, in a thunderstorm. With each flash of lightning, weird, Seuss shapes loomed on the side of the road: Mountains. Enormous trees. Around each bend, more darkness, more rain, more lightning.

Then we rolled into the foothills of the Cascades, after spending a few days playing in Bend. Sisters, we thought. We'll drive through Sisters, on the way to Eugene. Maybe we'll stop there. Maybe not. Got a lot of driving to do.

Sisters was great. Yeah, it's a little tourist town, filled with curio shops and restored old-timey buildings. If you've seen jackson, you've seen Sisters, though it's not as garish as that town in Wyoming.

But serendipity met us in Sisters, this little town on the edge of the mountains. Serendipity in the form of classic cars.

Now I know absolutely nothing about classic cars. I'm like my boys, though: I know what I like. And these were shiny. Chrome grilles and gilt hood ornaments. Big fenders, fish-eye headlights. The works. I ogled for a half hour. Then we ate some ice cream.

So what I preach is this: When you're on the road, don't forget that stopping occasionally is part of the journey. We live in a big world. It's a shame to make it smaller by passing it all by.