Making a Journey

As I directed my car halfway across the USA through six states, just over 1200 miles, I wondered if I was a little bit crazy to be driving home. Normal people take the plane. But last minute planning would mean a $1000 ticket, plus the woes of air travel- not fun these days.  

Connecting with old friends on the phone, contemplating life, feeling my place in the world, comparing Virginia Beach to the rest of the country, making a journey in miles and in my head was exactly what I needed to do. I think sometimes we're in such hurries to get to the next place (whether it's a destination or a stage in life) that we forget about the pleasure and the necessity of the journey.

Synopsis: 

Virginia & West Virginia: trees and hills (they call them mountains, but I call them hills).

Ohio & Indiana: I hate to say this but I could have closed my eyes and not missed anything. 

Illinois & Iowa: Farmland, and greenery, tidiness. Heart pitter-pattering as I neared home.

Charleston, WV Art Museum

 Charleston, WV

 Although I'm not a fast food person, I've reconnected with Mc Donald's since returning to the USA this time. If I was a kid, I would have peed my pants in excitement seeing this. Now I just think it's full of fecal matter/bacteria and I wouldn't even want to go in the room!! Only in America do you see things like this in a restaurant. 

 The Mini & The Arches. 

I see Mc Donald's and I think, "clean bathroom" and "$1.00 side salad". 

The Mc Donald's seem to have improved since I last frequented them, which was about 20 years ago when I was in high school. 

 Every time I see Aldi, it makes me happy, thinking of Germany.

 Arrival in one of the best states in the country... It feels like home.