The End, Part 2

So after a month on the road, I am home again. It feels weird to be here, like I should be packing up to leave to go somewhere else soon. Fortunately, the reception at home did not encourage this, so I'm here to stay.

For the remainder of the trip, I was hellbent to just get home, so I can summarize as follows:

Tennessee: Humid, Southern, friendly. As I predicted, the traffic did not let up from Little Rock through Fairfax County, and it was pretty stinking heavy through TN.

North Carolina: Beautiful mountains to drive through. Need to visit Asheville again; on first glance, it seems like a Boulder with more humidity and Mr. The King on the telly all the time. Also: a Ferrari-Maserati dealership in Greensboro. Really? How is that possible? I have questions.

Virginia: Home, but wasn't for another day. Traveled I-85 to 58 to Norfolk to home, all familiar territory, and backwater as hell. Sorry, but it is.

THEMES
I would be remiss without some reflection here. I was gone a long time and logged 7,254 miles total, after all. Here are some things that stood out.

1. Drink some goddamned water. We spent most of our time in the arid West, so as they tell you, one can get dehydrated pretty quickly. I did get sick at least twice, even with Greg supplying all 3 of us labeled water bottles (still have them! used them the whole time!). Of course this stopped when we hit Memphis. There is enough water in the air already. Which brings us to...

2. Altitude. Jesus, breathing even a mile up in the air is hard for me. Hothouse flower, or out of shape, I'm not sure. But it took me at least 5 days to adjust. I really take for granted the abundance of oxygen here. HOWEVER, I had no sinus headaches, so score 1 for Altitude.

3. Shade. As I said before, you need shade out West. Find some or bring it yourself. 'Cause you'll want it everywhere.

4. Wisdom of Italian ladies: When horseback riding in Bryce, Lily and John talked to an Italian lady and her daughter who were visiting the whole country. Their impressions sum up what we found as well: the food generally sucks - that is, it's difficult to find healthy food, and the country is BIG. Indeed, it was hard to find anything remotely healthy on the road - anything close to the highway was all fast food, and even Subways are few and far between. We ate well in cities/towns, once we got down to the local level, but picnics might be the way to go. Speaking of healthy food...

5. Kale. Now, I realize kale is trendy, but being Southern, kale is considered something to eat when you can't afford anything else or you're being punished. I do appreciate everyone's efforts but... no.

6. Trains. In every town. Saw HUGE trains carrying double-decker cargo, and heard whistles everywhere. Reminded me of home, which is a good thing.* Speaking of transportation...

7. Turns on a dime. The engineering marvel of the '08 Honda Odyssey should not be underestimated. This tank took us everywhere, over speed, through all sorts of climates, without any issue. Held all our gear, lots of storage, and absorbed spills without complaint. Those 15 cupholders were employed. And, due to its short wheel base, it does indeed turn on a dime - useful when the fine folk of California need to know how DC drivers take left turns in the middle of a wide street. Which brings us to...

8. People on the coasts are pretentious assholes. Really, once you got inland, and except for Chicago, people were very nice and considerate. We had an easy time of it until we hit California, then the usual dickishness in the form of crazy driving became apparent. I mean, just as we crossed the state line from Nevada. In the desert. With no difference but a border crossing. Jerks.

9. Gas. It was a little weird how many gas stations were recently closed. We got to the point where we didn't pull off for gas unless we saw at least 3 stations - because 1 or 2 of them would surely be shuttered.

10. WPA. Part of my goal for this trip was to collect WPA posters from each park we visited, and I did that in spades. We had rolls shoved everywhere in the car. I think I got 12.

And finally, the biggest theme...

11. This is a big goddamned country. You don't get that from flying over it, or studying a map. You just have to drive it. And, say, want to be home while in Oklahoma BUT YOU CAN'T BECAUSE YOU HAVE 3 MORE DAYS OF DRIVING TO DO. It's that kind of big.

Seriously, there is space for everyone; no need to crowd in cities. It's amazingly diverse both in landscape and in people, and it's fascinating to see how this country evolved and where people landed and why. For example, there were so many old people in Santa Monica - I'm guessing Dust Bowl refugees or people escaping to sunny California after WWII. There were big and small migrations here and there that explain why a lot of people live where they do.

We also went through the country really really fast. We didn't spend enough time in a few places; we want to go back to San Diego, the Black Hills, Asheville, Albuquerque, Memphis, and of course LA and Vegas.

On the way home, I stopped by my parents' house. My mother asked me, "so, in all this traveling, you didn't see a better place to live, did you, than Virginia?"

Oh HELL yes. Va is just one place to be amongst many. I guess that's a good takeaway and place to end this blog. Thanks for coming along.   : >

* "home" - interchangeable between Norfolk and Oakton, depending on context.