The End of a Journey

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Today was the last day of our journey around the country. We left Arlington at 7:45 am in order to account for traffic through DC and Baltimore. Strangely enough, however, we encountered no traffic. Very few cars were in downtown, on Memorial Bridge, on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, in the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel, or even the New Jersey Turnpike. It was an extremely weird situation.

We arrived back in New Jersey just after noon. Amazing timing. So now for my final thoughts:

(1) I don't know what is holding this country together. Idaho and Wyoming are so different than Virginia and North Carolina. Utah operates in a different sphere than the Republic of Texas (which believes that it is a separate country). I understand that the United States is a country that gives considerable amounts of states rights, but I'm still confused about how it works. Or, for example, what gives someone in Eastern Oregon the reason to abide by the rules set about in Washington? These are some of the things that puzzle me.

(2) I don't like several towns: Shoshone, Idaho; Flagstaff, Arizona; and San Antonio, Texas.

(3) I can see myself living in one of 5 towns in the future: New York City, New York; Washington, DC; Atlanta, Georgia; Albuquerque, New Mexico; or Boise, Idaho. I really like the last 2 the most. I hope to go back to them one day to really visit them for extended periods of time.

(4) I only wish I could have seen the few states I've now never been too - Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

I am looking forward to my next great adventure. I don't know where it will be yet, but I can't wait. I will let everyone know when it comes around!

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