Coast To Coast

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All of a sudden the road opened out in front of me. I was no longer confined by the 5 kilometer loop that slowly mapped its way around the island. Instead, the road now stretched out into unimaginable distances, diverging into innumerable highways, interstates, streets and dusty dirt roads. I felt free, relieved and slightly intimidated.

America is a massive place. Its size is almost so great that it is unimaginable. And the idea of crossing its breath from shore to shore is no task to be taken lightheartedly. It’s a job and commitment that takes a lot of energy and concentration. But the lucky few who decide to shun the ease of airlines to pack their car and undertake the journey with a special someone, will be rightly awarded. The classic American road trip is a journey unlike any other. The diversity of people, landscape and cuisine that change at every corner and turn, and make this country the great hodgepodge of cultures that it is, promises adventure and undiscovered beauty to all.

After spending some quality time with the family on the East and saying another tearful goodbye, Sarah and I rolled off in our fully loaded car, beginning the first of many inches across the thin blue line leading us from Boston to San Francisco. The trip had begun.

Unfortunately, things are rarely perfect and you have to change plans to conform with reality. With the constraints of an upcoming job, a vast amount of territory to cover and limited funds to fuel the car, we set ourselves with a specific timeframe, 6 days. Although, I was initially not to enthusiastic about rushing this 3,000 mile journey into this short amount of time I was and still am amazed at how incredible it was.

Being a boy of the coast, I have never really ventured into the belly of the beast, mid-America. I’ve somehow managed to travel through every state on both coasts and traveled to over 25 countries but I’ve never taken the time to see the heart of my own land. I’ve always held to the belief that I wouldn’t be able understand or have anything in common with the people in these regions. Election time always seems to reassure me of this belief, as I stare in bewilderment at the solid red hue of America’s center. I am blue, through and through, and I truly wonder how America’s heartland could have consecutively voted for Bush and Cheney and then continued to support a McCain and Palin ticket. It truly baffles me, while also amazing me how differently coastal American and landlocked America think. And here Sarah and I were, driving straight through this mass of red on a thin line of blue. Interested times promised to be ahead.

With a few highlight spots to visit we merged onto our lifeline for most of the 3000 mile journey, the I-80. Stretching from New Jersey to San Francisco this stretch of concrete covers some serious distance. It was simple, just stay on the road, hit cruise control and go from state to state until the end.

We cruised through tunnels of fall foliage in Massachusetts, stood in awe at the power of Niagra Falls in New York and called it a night on the foggy banks of Lake Erie in Pennsylvania. Then it was through the somewhat un-noteworthy states of Ohio, Indiana, and a somewhat scary and unintentional detour through the heart of the Chicago ghetto in Illinois before pitching our tent on the banks of the Mississippi. Next came field upon field of beans and corn in Iowa and Nebraska before reaching the spectacular Colorado Rockies. From this point on, the beauty began. I had never really seen landscape like it before. The vivid yellow-gold aspens in Colorado, the deep red hue of the sandstone desert in Utah, the open expanses of the Great Salt Lake Flats in Nevada and the vistas of granite and redwoods in the California Sierras.

It was undeniable, we were finally in the west and we were home.

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Comments

[Islandboy]

Nice blog yellow head, makes me want to visit that far off land....chaz

[johnny ship]

Ethan!!
Whats up hommie you seem like you are livin it up. Super jealous. You have got to start rock climbin those rocks are sick!! Trust me you will love it. I love getin your emails. Hit me up dude. See ya if you ever come back.