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We finally made it! 3,537 miles, 14 states, 7 days, 2 national parks, a national monument, 2 and a half borderline schizophrenic episodes and 1 a/c compressor later we arrive in the Bay Area to (blech!) hit traffic at the Bay Bridge. We made it home, however. Just about.
That six-digit number up there is the final mileage for the car, incidentally.
Nevada
Before I start the philosophizing and the reminiscing, I said I would take a pic of every state that we drove through, so here’s a token one of Reno, NV, where we stopped to fill gas. Not very pretty, I know, but hey, I just tell ‘em as I see ‘em.
Now, The Philosophizing
I guess the only thing I can say about it is that it’s been a long, strange trip! Learning the different states, the subtle changes in terrain, income-levels, culture and geography has been quite an eye-opener. It’s almost like an information overload and it will take some time for the whole thing to sink in, I guess. There’s so much to say, that I’m completely overwhelmed for once in my life.
It pretty much took me around 24 hours to start to feel some sense of normalcy. Yesterday I woke up, had my coffee and started to mime the gestures of starting the ignition, changing the gears, etc. The RXGeek had to forcibly restrain me for a few seconds before I realized that we were not on the road any more.
The Chariot of Fire: Afterthought
Yesterday, we walked everywhere! Ha! No need for the junk-mobile. Well, I don’t want to hurt it’s feelings. The bugger has seen the vast expanses of the midwest, then driven all over NYC, then driven all across the country, and is now going to see the west coast. That’s more than can be said for a large chunk of the world’s population. And, even though it’s an old geezer [or you could even call it a geyser, judging from that one time it over-heated and water shot out of the radiator mouth like Old Faithful, but I digress] it’s still going strong. A little dirty, a little scarred and a little beat-up, but then again, aren’t we all?
End of an Era
And it is the end of an era. I am, alas, no longer a grad student nor am I living the single life any more. No, I have neither graduated, nor am I married. But those are just technicalities that will come within a short period of time. The road trip was a rite of passage of sorts. My bar mitzvah, my janoi ceremony, my navjot. Call it what you will. Enough gray hairs have accumulated that I can no longer live the life of my foolish youth. I can, in fact, look back at my youth and call it foolish. To paraphrase Michael Stipe: It’s the end of the world as I know it. At the same time, it’s also a new beginning. To quote Bob Marley, “When one door is close/Many more is open!”.
More to come as I settle in here in SF and the consequences of the trip sink in. But in the meantime, I have only one thing to say to you east-coasters: 62 degrees farenheit, baby!
[I said I was alll grown-up, I didn't say that I had to act that way!]
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2 responses so far ↓
1 J // Oct 6, 2006 at 8:17 pm
Ah so you are in SF. Well, you will love it here, just like I do. And yeah the 62 degrees is great. Never too cold and never too hot. Always perfect. You never see the seasons like you would in the east coast, but its beautiful here. To me the view of the bay (with the pretty sailboats) and the golden gate bridge from the Legion of Honor is amazing. I was with a friend who turned to me and said “can you believe it, we live here!!” SF rocks!!
2 The Great Ganesha // Oct 9, 2006 at 4:49 pm
like all places, this too has its pros and cons. the sf vs. nyc debate has been playing in my head for some time now. it’s going to go into a post, but sufficeth to say, i aqree, it’s not all that bad of a place to live. nice views, nice people and nice weather.
of course, all of these do not necessarily work in favor of the city. but you’re going to have to wait for the post for details on that…
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