Made it to my home in North Carolina. The sale on my house in California closed; I got my money. I am free of California!
The trek across the USA was quite delightful. I had never been on the I-40 and must consider it a major piece of engineering. Superb highway. I found the countryside exceptionally beautiful, especially in Oklahoma and Tennessee, not to mention the Appalachians in North Carolina. Everywhere I went the people were great: kind, polite, humorous. We have got ourselves a magnificent country, no doubt about it.
We can't, we just can't let the progs ruin it.
And God knows they're trying.
As soon as I get myself straightened out, I want to write about the unbelievable assault now underway by the progs on our nation, its history, culture, and institutions.
Give me a couple of days to build up the steam.
Just curious: Did you feel a sense of freedom when you crossed the California/AZ border? Did that sense of freedom increase as you drove further into red states? Did it lessen as you approached blue areas, such as St.Louis? Maybe it is just me, but I sometimes have such types of inchoate feelings of freedom when I cross certain geographic borders. It very well be merely in my head. I'm just curious as to whether you experienced the same. If so, to what do you attribute it to? Is it merely an emotional response to your knowledge that you are entering or leaving certain geographic areas whose majority population has certain political beliefs, or may it be something else? If it is something else, what do you hypothesize it to be?
ReplyDeleteDiplomad, welcome home!
ReplyDeletethe descriptions of the people you encounter... we just don't get those types here in SF! people will be "nice", but only if they approve of your progressive values first. Must be caution... thought police are on patrol!
ReplyDelete- reader #1482
Congratulations! I've driven I-40 several times, both ways, from southern CA to get between there and Northeast Kansas, going back to 1970 when I-40 was still under construction. Went through Flagstaff several times but never spent a night there. Usually spent a night in Needles, CA. My destination in CA was always the San Francisco area. Spent my last year in the army stationed out of Fort Ord and later spent a couple of years in Marin County and then a couple north of Santa Rosa when my company moved. I enjoyed my time there but that was in the 1970's.
ReplyDeleteForgive the Progs ... they know not what they are doing ...
ReplyDeleteOh, I think some of them know...
Delete-Doctor Weasel
Welcome to North Carolina!!!!
ReplyDeleteYou're out but not quite finished with ca until you settle with ftb come April 15th but just knowing that it'll be for the last time is enough. I've made the trip across the US on I10 and 80 mostly heading west. They were exciting at the time, back when it was the Golden State for opportunity and adventure but all the glow has worn off after years of sinking into the liberal pit. The trip heading east on 40 last year was special, escaping ca and the tax/liberal hell it has become was great but the best part was we knew we were heading HOME.
ReplyDeleteI used to drive across the country back when I was in college and a couple of times since. The last time was 1995 so maybe next June, when Tucson is hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk, we'll take a drive.
ReplyDeleteD'Mad,
ReplyDeleteCongrats on completing the move. But California isn't done with you yet ... there's still an April 15 deadline that is involved, with its associated pain.
Green Bear
Exactly my thought! The tax tentacles stretch out still.
DeleteIn 2009 I drove from my home in Alaska through BC and down into the "lower 48" and felt like I was entering Mordor. I'll never forget it. Pray we can liberate our beloved country from the Progs....
ReplyDeleteWhen I was at a formative age (a million years ago) I spent three months in the US. I found many people hospitable and generous. This is probably part of the reason why I was so pro-American for years.
ReplyDeleteAt that time California was remarkably attractive. I visited an aunt in LA who lived in a neighbourhood of pretty art deco houses with their palms and pools and lots of sunshine. I visited San Francisco, enjoying Chinese food, a jazz bar, trips on the cable cars, and a jolly jaunt to Sausilito. And so forth. No wonder people moved in rather than moving out.
Since the end of the Cold War, though, I have become increasingly suspicious of your federal government. We now have the absurd spectacle of a Republic containing so many kind people being a rogue nation, cheerfully killing large numbers of people in many parts of the world without good reason.
In so far as I can remember, my suspicions started with Waco and with the Serbian War. They were amplified by the evident barbarism implicit in this sort of thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM0uvgHKZe8
Then after the vile Slick Willie, rapist and racketeer, came the dismal W. And then the empty suit - or empty set - 0, presumably doing his masters' bidding throughout, though I have little idea who these masters might be.
And so, in desperation, had I been American I would have voted for the absurd oaf Trump.
Woe, woe, and thrice woe.
Anyway, may you and yours enjoy your years to come in NC, Mr Mad.
https://youtu.be/w0n1JEICqlk
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the move!
ReplyDeleteBut since you’ve come East, you must stop referring to roads a la California. It’s I-40, not THE I-40.
Like ^^^!
DeleteWelcome to the Old North State. If you are in the Wilmington area and need anything just ask.
ReplyDeleteWelcome East Dip. Now that you've left behind Left Coast insanity you will need to break some of those quirky Cali habits. Like naming highways. Us Deplorables outside Cali don't insert "the" before highways. I-40, not "the I-40." Breathe free, friend.
ReplyDeleteI did the same drive as you, at the beginning of October. Other than my roomate having difficulty with the altitude between Flagstaff and Albuquerque, it was a beautiful drive and i noted a distinct improvement in people's attitudes and prices of everything as soon as we got out of CA. Everyone was so nice compared with the attitude i'd been dealing with since '99... oh, and I have my carry permit for my new state of residence,already, too
ReplyDelete