Warrick's Final Word

There is something you get in addition to new sights, rest and large expense when you take off 40 days and 40 nights to drive through America. That little extra something that you get which comes unplanned and without choice on a road trip is real unadulterated time to think. I certainly hadn’t realized prior to heading off from Vegas on the 5th of December that I would have over 130 hours to get into myself over the coming 40 days. You see, when on a typical holiday, relaxing and experiencing something new, what your really doing is Sunning your buns on the beach, wondering if you bought the right sun screen. Or shooting down a ski slope wondering if the tree that’s getting bigger and bigger in your peripheral vision has your name on it. Either way, what ever it is that you do on holiday, your not sitting on your butt watching miles and miles of black tarmac disappear under your wheals while you day dream, fantasize or solve the worlds problems telepathically... What I loved about this road trip more than any other aspect of the vacation was the huge value it gave me in terms of quality time with myself. I don’t think there are many opportunities that one gets just to zone into longwinded and detailed thought processes. Despite having Annmarie right next to me the whole way and the two dogs in the back seat, when your driving for 130 hours, you most defiantly have a lot of time to yourself.
Before I get into the mental portion of the trip, I must say that I would recommend a road trip to anyone looking for a somewhat different vacation. There are a lot of ways to do it well and many ways to do it very wrong. For starters I would suggest that there are at least two items that are an absolute must when your going by road. The first and most amazing little gadget is a GPS system, the one I bought for the trip was around $600 and I can only say that I am a total believer in my magic little LED screen… where ever it tells me to go… I’m there. Trust me, with 8500 miles under its belt and not a single missed turn its incredibly cheap at 600 bucks. The other little gadget is a police radar detector. The unit cost me $160 and saved me well over $1000 easily. I’m not sure if its legal to use these little miracles, but since I wasn’t stopped by a single cop on the way to NY and none on the way back, I never got the opportunity to ask any of the boys in blue if they minded me beating their system. One thing I can say with racing certainty is that every state is different when it comes to the amount of police presence on the roads. When the radar detector picks up a signal it emit’s a low or high “cheep” sound depending on the strength of the signal. For example if a cop were checking for speed along a curving highway, from about a mile away I would hear a quiet “pip” like a baby bird looking for food… but as I get closer to the radar, my little detector would get louder and louder until it sounded like a fully grown eagle screaming in for the kill on an unsuspecting field mouse. In some states like New Mexico and parts of Arizona my detector was almost dead silent. I could drive for miles and miles without any interruption. In contrast, Texas and Oklahoma was like being caught in an Avery during mating season. I’m guessing that either the cops in those states are very keen on busting motorists or because their states offer absolutely nothing of interest they try to bring in lots of money from speed traps to buy themselves “entertainment”. Having said that however… since the only things that come out of Texas are Steers and Queers…. Owning a radar detector when traveling through can be a life saver, from what I’ve heard - no one wants to spend the night in a Texas jail - the prison guards aren’t Steers !
Another good thing to consider when planning a road trip is the time of the year that your going to be going. One of the best things for us on this trip was that we didn’t have to wait for anything or book in advance or get turned away or wait in line or come back later or check down the road or….. Well you get the idea. There is something kinda special about having a hotel to yourself. Sure its nice to be on holiday when everyone else in the country is on holiday with you… there is a lot to be said for public and anonymous frottery. But given the choice I have to go with a little space between me and the next holiday maker. I think if your going to spend much of your time on the road… go when the roads are going to be the least busy, and if your going to be traveling with dogs, go when hotels actually need buts in beds, not when they are in big demand. During this trip we experienced temperatures as low as 6 deg. F or -14 Celsius and we also enjoyed some days where I swam to keep cool. This is a big country so its not like your going to miss out on the beach just because it’s the middle of winter. Despite its size however there are some constants that amazed us in their reliability. We know from doing real estate in Las Vegas that there are some places where you simply do not show homes when its getting dark. In Vegas the area too dangerous to be come sundown is Martin Luther King Boulevard or MLK as we “affectionately” call it. We noted with some interest that without fail every town that we went through on our trip had an “MLK” street, Boulevard , road etc…. and I swear… every single MLK was exactly the same as the MLK in Las Vegas. They were so consistent in fact that we obeyed one simple rule throughout the trip… avoid all Hotels within a couple of miles of an MLK street. Although we only covered 22 of the 50 states, I would say from a safety first stand point, if you like breathing as a part of your daily routine, just avoid any and all roadways with the words “Martin Luther King” in the title. Another thing we found to be very interesting on this trip was just how different each of the states were - from a geographic stand point. We went from hilly and forested surrounds in Arizona Eastern border to plateaus in New Mexico just within 20 or so miles of the border. Then from New Mexico to flat grassy Prairies in Texas, then within 20 miles of that border there were soft undulating hills, streams and tall trees in Oklahoma… it was genuinely interesting to see states change as if mother nature intended them to be separate.
Of course each place we visited was met with a variety of positive and or negative reactions. It goes without saying that amongst my worst three states was Texas (a resounding worst) it stood alongside Oklahoma and a surprising Maryland (though DC was probably the real culprit). My three worst towns were Amarillo (in Texas), Memphis (Tennessee) and of course Washington DC.
Getting my top honors is Virginia, it really sails into the top slot by a long way…. I can’t pin point what Virginia has that other states don’t, save to say that Virginia is special just because it is. Falling into my second and third possession are the Carolinas… lets go with North Carolina in second place and South Carolina in the third slot. Although we didn’t see the full length of Connecticut, it was definitely pretty enough to secure my vote for forth possession. I have limited myself to only five top choices so as difficult as it is to pick the fifth place spot I’ll have to settle on a combination of New Mexico and Arkansas. As far as the top cities go…. Its easy to pick them in order of preference…. (1) New York City, New York (2) Virginia Beach, Virginia (3) Hilton Head Island, South Carolina (4) Stamford, Connecticut (5) St Augustine, Florida. Of course sometimes cities are not enough by themselves so the top five destinations and by definition places that I would like to visit again are: (1) The Grand Canyon in Arizona (2) New York City in New York State (3) Virginia Beach in Virginia Beach (4) The Outer Banks in North Carolina (5) Albuquerque in New Mexico… I would like to visit Albuquerque again because besides looking like a fun town… there is plenty to fill an action packed week with outdoor activities.
Now, as far as what the trip and the value of time, travel and temperament goes. I need to put in my little disclaimer by saying that I had rolled out of the drive way in Henderson looking for a little piece of heaven (perhaps like John Denver suggests, I should have gone to west Virginia) Unfortunately from that perspective the trip was disappointing. I didn’t get my sock’s knocked off, there was no promised land and I’m sad to say that the WOW factor I experienced almost immediately in Australia wasn’t repeated even marginally in comparison. Unfortunately in my eyes there wasn’t a great surprise from West coast to East and back again. I remember times in my life, when standing by a river in Wales I almost had to steady myself I was so flawed by the beauty. There have been places in England where I honestly felt I could put down roots there and then and never want to leave. I remember standing on the headland over looking Warriewood Beach in Australia thinking that I was within sight of heaven. There are places in South Africa like Kysna, Cape Town, Hilton, Nottingham Road and Golden Gate that make every single place that we saw look quite simply second rate… well with the exception of the Grand Canyon perhaps… but lets face it, who would want to live 24/7 and 365 on the Northern Rim of Americas greatest vista… not me ! I am then sorry to report that in at least one set of eyes America does not have it all.
Now having said that I’ll go into what I personally discovered on this trip in the mentally stimulated portion of the trip. I think I can probably be pretty sure that at least half of the people who have followed this Blog till now may well chose to skip reading from hear on out.
I believe that America and its citizens are in big trouble ! I’ve had the opportunity to see first hand what at the very least is a portion of how the other half live… and its not great ! Mediocrity definitely exists on a different plain in the USA when compared to the commonwealth countries that I have had the pleasure of visiting and living in. Residing in Las Vegas for such a long time has skewed my view of America on the whole. What I have learned and then in turn had the opportunity to glimpse at from afar is that the gap between the rich and the poor is akin to the gap from South Rim to North in the Grand Canyon. The have’s have a lot (almost everything), and the have not’s would be better off living in some of the poor nations of the world. This by its self is not a seal on the coffin of a once great superpower. I think the real problem facing America today is the terrible lack of leadership exhibited on the ground floor where the basic principles of right and wrong on which this country was founded have all but left the building. The freedoms that so many American’s shout about are almost non existent. Instead a puritanical dictatorship seems to have taken hold. But the dictatorship is not the standard accepted type of dictatorship abhorred by American history. Instead of having one man standing up telling everyone what to do, the propaganda machine that is US politics actually gets American citizens to vote away their own rights thus empowering the powers that be to uphold restrictive new standards on their already overly controlled lives. The cost of living in comparison to standards of living are very disappointing. Of course because most American don’t have a yard stick to measure life here against other countries, the continued message that “this is the best place to live” is all they hear and all they will ever hear. Unfortunately what they are missing out on is the fact that their lives are only as good as they believe it is as per the American propaganda dream machine. The same machine that tells them to work 360 days a year, pay incredibly high taxes and get just about nothing in return. The medical system is a disgusting embarrassment, but the governments ability to hospitalize people is just shy of spectacular. The freedom’s shouted about are only enjoyed by the very rich or very well connected, the Governments involvement in the average citizens income is historically, currently and destined to continue on a path riddled with incompetence and waist. I would say that the only real certainty left in America today is that it will fall much further before it shows signs of real improvement. The once strong mansion that was America is now showing signs of wear and tear. While the foundation was once strong and secure, the damp has seeped in and its crumbling the concrete to dust. Its walls are weak and the windows broken. With a roof that is full of hole’s and the inhabitants inside are forced to group closer together to avoid the rain dripping in. The closer the group, the harder it is for them to see outside and throwing stones out of the already broken windows won’t keep the wolves away for long. The competition in the form of China, the European Community and India are all doing the things that Americans once did, and soon enough the privilege of having the biggest buying power along with the deepest pockets won’t be Americas anymore.
Ouch…. and all that for just 40 days on the road ! I guess we look through the eyes that we chose to open. I was on the look out when I started off on this little adventure and I saw the things I chose to see. It is with sincere interest and hope that the next trip I embark on will give be a better view of things to come.