Home at last...

Santa Rosa, NM to Arlington, TX - 517 Miles
Total miles - 1744 miles

I'll ask that you pardon me for not wrapping up the trip the night before night last, but after completing the over 1700 mile drive, I took a couple of nights off. Let's just pretend that I just walked in from the last leg of the drive...

So today was the last leg of the drive. Having lost an hour, I was technically waking up at 5am to be on the road by 6. The drive was starting to take its toll, because today I was feeling the fatigue. But the excitement of making it home helped pep me up a bit.

Santa Rosa was cold this morning. We had a long previous day of driving, but it seemed worth it because we only had about 10 hours left to home. After about 100 miles, I crossed into Texas at around 8am. This was apparent by the widespread truck washes, giant boots on top of buildings, and "Don't mess with Texas" signs. I decided that, since I was in a rural area, that I should heed the warning and not "mess" with Texas at this point.

Also on this day...Rain. Rain in states other than California = RAIN. It comes from out of nowhere, kicks your butt, then, like Keyser Söze, it's gone....blue skies. Luckily we missed te bulk of this nasty little storm, and didn't experience bad weather until we hit Dallas.

Today the iPod did it's job. Steely Dan, Jellyfish, Citizen Cope, Prince, and Stanley Jordan, to name a few, got me through most of Texas. Funny...When I moved from Virginia to California in '88, I was listening to the same Stanley Jordan record, Magic Touch. That was 20 years ago. Of course, back then I was rocking the cassette. It's another one of those clichés where, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

So I'm getting close, coming up on Ft. Worth, about 20 miles outside of Arlington. I decide to check out the local stations. What should I happen upon, but some sports radio. Always a favorite of mine. And lo and behold, they are talking about the Dallas Cowboys! Now don't get me wrong. I have loved listening to Ralph Barbieri and Tom Tolbert in the Bay Area for the past umpteen years...But there's only so much talk I can hear about how the Niners suck again. Now I actually get to listen to people talk about how the Cowboys suck! Though I'd much rather hear about the Niners sucking, than the Cowboys sucking, it's nice to know that I'll be hearing about my team on a regular basis.

When we finally pulled up, Day, Audrey, and my Mom had just gotten home from the grocery store. It was only three days, but seeing them made it seem like a much longer period of time. Needless to say, I was quite happy.

Something my Dad said kinda sums up the drive..."There's a whole lotta country out there that's just holding the rest of it together". It was a beautiful drive (at times). I think I soaked in a little more on this drive than the cross country drive of '88. I guess it's age. I appreciate the fact that there are people out there in this land that don't need a whole lot to get by. There are also people that get by the best they can on almost nothing. Doing this drive was good for my perspective. I'm glad to be home. We'll see what happens here in the Lone Star State. My parents are ecstatic to have us. Day starts her job Monday, and is pretty excited about it. I'm anxious to see what I can get into out here as far as music, audio, etc. And we are all loving watching Audrey grow more and more everyday. I'll keep everyone posted.

Stay tuned....

Peace,
e.


PS Asian count - 1