I couldnt leave home without saying bye to my family first, so I drove from Phoenix, Arizona to South Carolina. It was my 6th cross country road trip, my second in the summer with a car without AC. Personally I love long road trips, though I wish I had other people with me as it can get boring driving through certain states. Now every road trip will have hiccups mine ended up being after five hours of driving realizing I left something in storage I needed, and having to drive back. However to add some silver lining to this grey cloud this did allow me time to make a pit stop. I stopped by a nice little restaurant in Tucson to eat lunch with a friend. The restaurant was El Charro the oldest family owned Mexican restaurant in America. The place is famous (or infamous) for their meat that is dried on the roof of the building. Andrew Zimmerman from Bizarre Foods even ate here once. While I ate the dried roof meat, I was happy to spend time with friends one last time. However, I was not overly impressed with the food, but I dont know what I was expecting out of dried roof meat anyways.
Driving through AZ, NM, and TX are the worse. The landscapes roll on and on, and it seems as if it will never end. However once I cross into Louisiana I know I am close to home. The humidity hits you, the smell of vegetation in the air, and the color green so bright even the nigh sky can not darken it out of sight.
This time I stopped in Atlanta to see my old college roommates from Clemson. To me it was like peering into alternative universes. I myself a broke teacher trying to travel the world. My one roommate lives in a single bedroom skyloft apartment driving a Mercedes Benz. My other roommate lives in a large house in a nice suburbian community with his wife and two small kids. While it was great meeting up with them, and to see that our friendship has not died, I wonder if I had taken different routes in life would I have found myself on one of their paths. Would I have been married? Or would I have had the nice car? But that thought quickly vanishes. I love my crazy life. Poor as it may be, I do not regret it.
The next day I arrived in South Carolina. Forest abound. I spend much of my time with my family. As large as it is now, and with all the drama they always seem to have I love them. Each one has taught me valuable lessons, if they meant to or not.This was my time to unplug from society, though a bit more by force than by choice. I had no WiFi, landlines for internet, or even cell phone reception back home. I only wish I could have appreciated this more, but alas I had work to do.
I was also able to catch up with dear friends. Some got married, some have not changed since high school. Some have surpassed any future we thought they would have had. My friend Josh was a country bumpkin like me, but did not focus on school. I remember growing up some people would question my friendship with him, and said he was only using me to get better grades. Ha. He is now a year away from obtaining his masters and is thinking of getting his PhD.
One thing I did do while I could was eat. I had buckets of sweet tea. I remember going into one restaurateur and seeing two tall towers of unlabeled tea. I was wondering which was sweet before realizing they both were, one was expected to go to the cashier and request nonsweet tea. I also enjoyed greens, pinto beans, cornbread, fried green tomatoes, grits, and anything else I thought I may not be able to eat for a while. I gained some weight definitely, but it was worth it.
Sensei Cuso 