America Summarized

Some simple observations are in order to summarize my month long exploration of our United States of America. As mentioned before in one of my segments, I didn't quite know what I was looking for when I set out in early May. Secretly I wanted to test my mind as to how the images in my memory compared to as they really are or were, albeit any changes or total demolition of fifty two year old childhood memories tucked away in my brain never updated or corrected. I relied only on my thoughts and intuition when I was 9 years old.

I could easily say my 20 minutes of conversation and stories in the garden with farmer Bill Thompson was worth the 30 days, 324 gallons of fuel and 6000 miles of driving in itself.  The stories were tangible to me because they were based on my people, my kin. The feeling I had driving away seeing those smiles reflecting from my rear view mirror were too sweet to properly describe, especially since our meeting was pure happenstance. It just doesn't get any better in life.

All the time I was gone I never got into a fight, didn't lose anything, never felt like anyone cheated me, no road rage, never saw a gun (except stickers of rifles in shape of a cross on the back of a pickup in Texas) and no one yelled at me except Minnie, my GPS.  I experienced more rain in three weeks than I have in 30 years in Arizona but stayed comfortably dry. I did endure quite a bit of mediocre or sub standard food and coffee. People were more than accommodating, friendly, and kind. Only once did I hear a discouraging word at a truck stop in Indiana but it wasn't directed at me. The nasty old fart was just a grumpy sot looking for a reason to yell at someone other than his obese discourteous wife blocking the hallway to the restrooms.

Experiencing such a variation in flora, fauna, and geological formations along my trail, I can confirm our country is flat out beautiful and worth exploring. I say this because for decades I've traveled to remote areas of the world looking for exoticism yet here in America we really do have it all. If our citizens would just turn off their electronics and walk about this country they too would appreciate it's natural beauty and just maybe become more active in making certain it's resources are saved for future generations.

I have a few other spots outside of the US to check out but I certainly have many more within our borders to see and experience. Where and when do I go next?...Not really sure, I've never been much for advanced planning.

Play for Peace,
Curt