The Florida trip so far...
I know it's been a long time. I'm back though. And I hope to have some real Internet access again. For a long time back there I hadn't really had any Internet access so I've been pretty out of the loop. Sorry. Of course, does anyone really read this particular journal anyway? Hmm...
Well, Michael and I are in Florida. We arrived in Jupiter about about three hours ago and Michael and I have been enjoying just not having to drive anymore. The whole thing was about 3,500 miles and we drove pretty much non-stop. Seriously. I mean, of course we stopped frequently for gas and restroom but besides that, it was straight to Florida.
It's truly amazing to drive through the states. I never really realized just how much you can identify where you are just by the countryside. It's really incredible. Each one has a completly different feel from the one before it. And the crazy part is that it all changes right around the state lines too. I mean, you could make the argument that it's all in your head and that it just LOOKS different because you KNOW you're in a different place but really. Here's how I'd break it all down. I'll try not to miss anything.
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Washington - Lots of forests of evergreen trees. -
Oregon - Lots of evergreen trees but on the other side, bare, round and lumpy hills just jetting out of extremely flat ground. -
Idaho - To be honest, I don't remember much of that. I was the one to drive through there and all I remember was sheer boredom. Or maybe the lumpy hills came there... I was tired. -
Utah - Pretty cool, really. There were a lot of very red patches of dirt. The mountains were really cool because they were like, really round and very red. And the evergreens lining each mountain were all very round also. -
Wyoming - We really didn't see much of that but we passed some very dry and sandy areas and they had a lot of very interesting dunes. It reminded me of movies set on the moon... Not that I've really watched any... -
Nebraska - It rained like CRAZY while we were there but apparently it really is overall very dry. At least that's what the people were saying when we stopped at a small town for church last Sunday. -
Iowa - We really only went through a small corner there but we stopped in a gas station. One guy was sitting at a table in the station smoking and another was gambling at another table on an electronic slot machine. it was pretty weird to see. -
Missouri - My favorite. Very green and very alive. Humid but not in an unpleasant way. And the towns seemed to be much more spread apart. It's hard to explain but it really, truly felt like Peter Jackson's Shire. -
Illinois - Eh. I don't really recall... Again, we only went through a corner. -
Kentucky - Kinda neat. We stopped at a rest stop and the grass there really, actually had a blue tint to it. Still green but it still arguably felt blue. -
Tennessee - We spent the most time here. We stopped at a gas station in Northern Tennessee and I gotta say, I've never been around so much HICK!!! Southern Tennessee, however, people were very intelligent and pleasant. Nashville was neat too. :) -
Georgia - Lots of billboards beside the Interstate. Very green and lots of nice-looking farms. We saw a lot of cows and horses compared to other states. - Florida - The most different of all. I saw my first palm tree. We had to pay tolls (none of that anywhere else), we saw swamps, cows standing beside palm trees (funny sight), and a bit more of an interesting Interstate... It's really not that unpleasantly hot and humid down here on the peninsula... At least what we've felt so far.
I just made that list from memory so something may be messed up or in the wrong place or missing altogether but I think it's pretty accurate as my impressions of the states. I'd really be suprised if anyone actually reads that but for my own benefit, I've written it down. Anyway, we're here. I suppose I'll probably be posting videos and stuff on Myspace but we'll see... I'll keep things posted. Whether people read this or not... :)
Now I'm gonna take a shower. Ooh... a shower....
-Brian