I guess now that I have settled down somewhere, my summer roadtrip can be considered complete - in both eventful terms and successful terms! That's right, boys and girls, I made it through thirteen different states in a little less that a month, picked up a hitchhiker, had my car overheat, and got questioned by police and lived to tell about it. More about my current situation later, but for now, here is a list of things I learned:
Things I learned
-How to change my own oil. It’s actually rather easy.
-Arkansas is littered with armadillos. This is because (a) they are slow, and (b) when startled by a car they jump straight up in the air.
-You are never too old for animal crackers.
-There still are towns in the US that practically close down on Sunday.
-Playing Guitar Hero is much harder when you have no strap.
-TED videos are super informative.
-Minneapolis is a fantastic city for bicycling. Memphis is not.
-Oklahoma City is a really cheap place to live.
-Police in rural Arkansas will notice a shadily-parked van rather quickly, no matter how late at
night it is.
-I indeed own one of the largest non-commercial vehicles money can buy.
-Watching a video of sprint cars wrecking is entertaining.
-Marijuana can and indeed does grow in closets.
-I really enjoy hearing the phrase, “Would you like your balance in large bills, sir?”
-Nerdfighters are awesome and awkward.
-The Jesse James Farm Homestead is 4 (out of the advertised 3) miles off the highway, closes
gates at 4PM, and was not worth seeing anyway.
-Gas in the US doesn’t get much cheaper than $3.43/gallon.
-LOLcats are awesome.
-Trackstanding on a fixie is a lot of fun, especially when you can do it for twenty seconds at a
stoplight.
-I have a secret affection for cast-iron skillets.
-The Bean in Chicago is possibly the best public sculpture in the USA.
-Nacho cheese flavored sunflower seeds are tasty.
-Joe Satriani really is a brilliant guitarist.
-The best used CD/record store in the world (so far) is in downtown Normal, Illinois.
-The Memphis Public Library sucks.
-Though Route 61 and Route 96 both go south through Kansas, they are different kinds of
south.
-McEwans, 1554, Two-Hearted Ale, and 2XX are all quite good beers.
-Prolonged exposure to chlorine bleach gives me a headache.
-Navigating the American highway system is not as hard as I thought.
Hooray! Now, off to get my new life organized!
