Terra Firma

Another hellish drive yesterday. It didn't start out that way.

I woke up in Jessop, Maryland. Couldn't find an overnight parking spot in DC, so I decided to hit the road and stop when it seemed necessary. Once the fog started rolling in 45 minutes outside of DC I pulled off and checked into a Red Roof Inn.

I was cruising through Maryland and New Jersey. Caught my first glimpse of Baltimore. Smooth sailing until Newark. The rain was coming down hard. From Newark into New York and Connecticut, the traffic never let up. As I filled with rage and irritation, I realized I had been in the car for 4 and a half hours straight. After the day before, it felt like no time. I pulled off in Noronton, CT for gas. It was $3.78/gallon, by far the highest price on the trip. I felt ready to carry on, but there was little pleasure on the way. Traffic stayed snarled and there were plenty of maniacs on the road, in particular an Atlantic Express bus driver who thought it was cool to weave in and out of lanes as if he were driving a Miata. After he cut me off, I laid on the horn for the only time on the entire trip.

Finally, at 4:39pm, I reached my final destination. Warmth, love, and home-cooked food were waiting. I stepped out of the shower and saw snow falling outside of the window. Beautiful.

I slept for almost 12 hours last night. I've unloaded a fair amount, but the car is still packed. Time for me to cook tonight, and I picked up some local oysters along with ahi tuna and Atlantic scallops. Very excited for that. I had great food all throughout the trip, but there is nothing like cooking your own meals. That's why the definite culinary highlight of the trip was my cousin's food out in Nashville, and the meal last night which also provided today's lunch.

I'll have more updates and a further breakdown of the trip in the coming days. For now, I saw the final mileage at the end of the journey was 128, 875. Started last Saturday at 125, 617. I travelled 3,258 miles. I saw a number of places I'd never seen. My favorite image came in Yuma, AZ on Sunday morning. I looked at the window of the restaurant and saw of a man riding a bike dragging an American Flyer racer with his dog in it and a huge American flag perch waving off the back. Wish I could've caught a photo of that but the image was striking. I definitely feel closer to this huge land and very proud to be American, moreso than I have in the past. This country is in major decline but politics aside it is a wonderful place filled with great people and a number of lovely micro-cultures. My home for now is Connecticut. I will always be a New Englander. But as I travelled this past week I had a strong sense of coming from California and received the benefits that cache brings with it. That will continue. Even today in the grocery store I had people staring at me yet I felt more at home with myself than I ever did a year ago.

There's snow in the forecast for tomorrow. I've just built a fire. I look forward to the next few chapters of the journey.