Across the Country Day 1

Silly to think that I wouldn't be able to blog, of course my Dad brought his computer. So I packed up all my assorted crap into my car, and headed off on our journey. The sky was an overcast gray as we set off west. We crossed the old brick towns and spired chapels along the route through the rugged mountains of Western Maryland and West Virginia under a silver and salmon pink sky with hints of peach hue and punctuated by an occasional downpour.

We stopped for lunch in Morgantown, West Virginia, home of West Virginia University. We grabbed a bite on the main street, which felt like college town USA. We had subs at Jimmy John's, home of freakin fast subs and cute aphorisms on the wall (if someone is nice to you, but mean to the waiter, they are not a nice person). After lunch, we had a nice little stroll down main street, then we were off.

The landscape changed as we passed through Pennsylvania's rolling hills, and veered within 30 miles of Pittsburgh before swinging back through a sliver of West Virginia. On past Wheeling's spired churches and into Ohio. The thing I find so sad is the endless homogeneousness of America- the same fast food outlets, same stores, same crap.

Along the way, we began two books on tape and cd, respectively. The first was a Stephen King novel about people going stark raving mad from cellphones- I couldn't agree more. The second was Paris 1919 by Margaret MacMillen (Author's note: I'm at Panera using their wifi, and apparently Amazon is blocked content- I didn't realize I was in China). The fascinating thing about listening to Paris 1919 was the profile of Woodrow Wilson, and some of the striking similarities of Wilson to our current President Bush. Their idealism, stubborn obtuseness and sheer certainty of their convictions. Also their inability to work with the other side of the political divide leading to the foiling of their bold ambitions.

As we passed into Ohio, the terrain changed again. We were now driving through the Midwest's fields of farmland. Flatness and corn now filled the horizons where their had once been hills and mountains. We took a break in Columbus and wandered into the State House. Their was literally no security as we passed through the building and into the Legislature Hall. After walking around the State House, we wandered our way into the opening of an art exhibition at the Riffe Museum. The museum was holding an exhibition of "Midwestern Impressionism." It was an interesting collection of impressionist artists painting the landscapes of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. The works showed a wonderful Midwestern gothic through an impressionist lens. After, we drove over to The Ohio State University, where we wandered around campus and are now about to get back on the road. Off to Indianapolis.