Ain't That America?

Twelve years ago today I flew from Pittsburgh to Paris to start a new life.  Now that particular chapter has ended, and a new one is beginning. 

Rather than get all deep on you, I thought I'd share some observations I made while driving yesterday (I'm at a friend's house; I had a 7-hour drive through parts of West Virginia and Ohio).  Perhaps these won't seem funny to you.  They made me laugh as a relative outsider.  I'm American, but I no longer live in the U.S., so certain things strike me in a different way, I guess.

Billboards I saw:

• In West Virginia:  Gumby's Cigarette World and 50,000 Hubcaps!
• In Ohio, a two-part billboard:  If you died today, do you know where you would spend eternity?  Further along:  Hell is REAL. 

My dad's car has good speakers, but no CD player, just a cassette player.  I borrowed some old tapes from each of my brothers, because I figured I'd be driving across a radio wasteland.  And we all know that corporate radio sucks. 

Well, I listened to the radio the whole way, and it was a pretty good means for me to chart my progess.  When the signal faded, I knew I was getting closer to my destination.  Now, corporate radio still sucks, but I learned a few things. 

• Classic rock sounds just like it did 15 years ago.
• I still know all the words to "Tom Sawyer".
• Pat Benatar RAWKS!

When I was eleven years old, my favorite aunt and uncle took me on a cross-country camping trip.  One of the ways my cousins and I passed the time was to write down all the states we saw on license plates.
Yesterday I kept a mental log of all the different states I saw represented.  There were many: Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Illinois, Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, Kentucky, Indiana, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Utah! (their license plate exclaims its origin), New York, Texas...and I saw some Canadian travelers from Ontario. 
I think that's cool.   But maybe that's just my geeky self. 

There's more, but I can't remember it.  I need a dictaphone. 

Anyway, one of the songs I heard during my trip was John Mellencamp's "Pink Houses". 

"Ain't that America," he sings.

Yeah.  Yeah, it is. 

Comments

[newwavegurly]

Hope your trip is bringing everything you hoped it would... and more.

:hug:

[coldbear]

J'ai adoré ton pays.

Quand j'étais jeune je trouvais tous les pretextes professionnels ou loisirs pour aller aux US. J'ai roulé de milliers de miles en voiture, souvent hypnotisé par les paysages.

NY, Boston, Cape Cod, Le Maine, Canada, Vermont and back..

California (dreaming), Big sur coast, Nevada, Gran Canyon, Death Valley, Lake Tahoe,

Gran Rapids, Chicago, Toledo, Indianapolis,

Miami, San Antonio, Tulsa, Oklhaoma City.

J'y ai même cherché du boulot, mais là je n'avais pas assez envie...

Il y a plus de dix ans que je n'y suis pas allé, et cela me manque.

Merci de me faire voyager par procuration

[Donna]

Ever notice the Utah! state slogan?

Utah! A pretty, great state!

Ugh.

[Geoffrey]

Seems long distance road travel is the same anywhere you go................

Maybe not the li'l pink houses, tho........