Cross Country

We live in a big country. Seriously, it's a huge place. I keep forgetting how big it is until I have to drive across half of it, which is just what The Redhead and I did last weekend. We made great time and we lucked out and had good weather, but it was still a long and grueling trip. I think you learn something about yourself and about your nation when you drive for several days. You find out just how little sleep you can survive on and how annoying 55 mph speed limits are. You also find out how many adult superstores there are on I-40 and how many Christian groups have put up billboards decrying said business. Since we took I-40 to avoid the snow, we went through parts of the country that I have never seen before. It was kind of a Bible Belt tour through much of Arkansas and Oklahoma—I never knew there were so many churches—and it was definitely a great example of the so-called "Red State" phenomenon. Then we got to Amarillo, Texas and were welcomed by a series of nude dancing clubs and the smell of cow manure on the outskirts of town. (Actually, you could smell the cows in every part of the town, but it was particularly pungent as we arrived.)

I made several important decisions during our trip. For example, I decided that I don't want to live in New Mexico. It's a pretty place, but there aren't enough people in there to make me feel at home. I expected Albuquerque to be a lot bigger, but it was only about the size of my home town, which is relatively small when compared to the surrounding cities. And Albuquerque does not have any surrounding cities. It doesn't really have much of anything surrounding it, just nothing. And trailer homes, I guess. I also decided that I will be very glad when we settle down somewhere and go more than 4 months
without schlepping our stuff across the country. Fortunately for us, we will only move across the country once more, although it probably will be in 4 months. But that should be the last time for a long time, so I'll be happy. Another thing you realize as you move—you have a lot more stuff then you ever imagined.