3000 miles in 12 observations

I've been procrastinating writing a blog about my road trip because there is SO MUCH I could write about. We drove through eight states, slept in six towns, covered over 3000 miles, and watched the landscape change dramatically again and again and again. I am not about to give a blow-by-blow account of 3000 miles, so I thought I'd distill the trip down into a few of the biggest things that stuck with me, accompanied by photos. (The full photographic story is on facebook.) These are listed in the order they occurred to me, not in order of significance.

1. As far as I'm concerned, the Appalachian Mountains are still the most beautiful part of our country. I've been thinking more lately about how I can live closer to them.

2. I can never reclaim my five lost years as a vegetarian, but there is something wonderful about a giant pile/sandwich/bowl of meat.


3. I don't think sunsets will ever stop making me feel like I might explode with the crazy beauty of the world God made. And until I stop feeling that way, I will continue to take far too many photos of them.

4. Memorials with sad little personal memories make me cry. We visited the site of the Oklahoma City bombing. This is an Narcotics Anonymous keychain: "Clean and Serene for Eighteen Months."

5. The Texas panhandle is really flat and really dry and I could never, ever live there.

6. Although I don't know about actually living someplace so dry, I can see the appeal of Santa Fe. There are mountains in the distance, cool art and architecture, and their local brewery makes a fine IPA.

7. The desert seems like a hostile and forbidding place to me, but when it cools down and gets windy it feels a little more exciting and makes you want to just stand in the breeze.

8. The next time I visit the Grand Canyon, I want to hike it.

9. I could never have the patience to be an archaeologist, but Native American rock paintings are totally freaking cool in person and in situ.

10. Several years after an unpleasant falling out, gin and I have settled our differences and decided to be friends again.

11. California beaches look a little bit different than Delaware beaches.

12. Just like I finished my first Appalachian Trail hike wanting to hike more of it, I finished my this trip wishing I could spend another couple months driving across the rest of the country. There's so much out there to see!