We would like to thank the following people. Without them our trip would not have been possible:
Dick and Jeanne Davis
Pete and Mary Margaret Sexauer
Wally
The Fitzs
Kevin Walker
Aaron Nesbitt
The Boston Red Sox
The good people at the Residence Inn, Cleveland OH
The Cleveland Indians
Bertha Balthaser
Jesus
Pat Easterling
The Cincinnati Reds
Parrish, the Gino's East waiter
The Chicago White Sox
The good people at the Sheraton Towers, Seattle WA
The Seattle Mariners
Rich and Chris Fisher
In-N-Out Burger
John E and B-Man
Route 66
Sonic Drive In
Steak
Kitsch
Elvis
Interstate Bar-B-Que
The good people at Comfort Suites, Nashville TN
The good people at Comfort Inn, Arlington VA
The following outstanding support staff at Virginia Hospital Center:
Wanda
Dabo
Lamonica
Boston Nurse Lynn
Dr. Leonard
The following KOA franchises:
Kankakee, IL
Sioux Falls, SD
Rapid City, SD
Cody, WY
West Yelllowstone, MT
Spokane, WA
Astoria, OR
Grants Pass, OR
Manchester, CA
Petaluma, CA
Williams, NM
Albuquerque, AZ
Oklahoma City, OK
And finally YOU, our loyal readers.
Thank you.
Sunday, September 2, 2007
In Summary & In Conclusion
After we were discharged from the good services of the Virginia Hospital Center of Arlington, Virginia at around 2:00 in the afternoon, we high-tailed it out of there and made our way home, regardless of what time we would pull in. And during our journey home through familiar territory we had time to reminisce, contemplate and ponder that which our course had taken us through.
In summary:
America; there is alot of it.
A lot of it is flat. A lot of it is bumpy and pointy.
By and large, most Americans are not attractive. Even in California.
"Creature Features" which we hope to see on our trips to Maine, be it a deer or a porcupine or even moose, have now been trumped by anything we've seen in the wild and won't be as impressive. Unless we see a porcupine riding a moose.
Nice people are nice. And alot of Americans are nice. We like nice Americans.
New England does have the worst drivers, followed closely by Arkansas and Tennessee.
In-N-Out is really what a hamburger is all about. White Castle isn't.
Red Sox Nation may be touted as the most obnoxious fans in major league sports in other places, but they make for exciting baseball.
KOA is the place to stay and hit the hay.
Life begs simplicity. You don't really need that much.
All you need is love. Love is all you need.
It's not worth trying to diet on a trip like that. Save it for home.
BY THE NUMBERS
0 - The number of times we ate at McDonald's
1 - Number of Massachusetts license plates we saw between New York state and Arlington, VA
7 - Number of Major Leage Baseball games we took in
9 - Number of different Major Leage ballclubs we saw play (Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago White Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners, San Francisco Giants, Washington Nationals)
27 - Number of different states we traveled through (New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnessota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, (D.C.), Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, & Connecticut).
$2.59 - The cheapest price of gas per gallon we paid on our trip (Front Royal, VA & Jessup, MD)
$3.99 - The highest price of gas per gallon we paid on our trip (Westport, CA)
258.37 - Total number of gallons of gasoline purchased
$749.69 - Total spent on gasoline
9,764 - Total miles traveling
Please click here to see a detailed log of our cross country gasoline intake!
SOUNDTRACK FOR A ROAD TRIP
Many of you may have wondered "What are Matt and Kate listening to on their trip?" Well, we took care of that on a daily basis by nominating a song of the day for each major leg of our trip. Most of these can be found on iTunes if you're at all curious. For your consideration:
Maynard, Massachusetts > Brockport, New York
"Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think)", as recorded by Todd Snider
Brockport, New York > Cleveland, OH
"Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think)", as recorded by Todd Snider
Cleveland, OH > Middleton, OH
"Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think)", as recorded by Todd Snider
Middletown, OH > Chicago, Illinois
"Conservative Christian Right Wing Republican Straight White American Male", Todd Snider
Chicago, Illinois > Sioux Falls, SD
"My Kind of Town", Frank Sinatra
Sioiux Fallls, SD > Rapid City, SD
Theme from "Dances with Wolves", John Barry
Rapid City, SD > Cody, WY
"Rocky Raccoon", The Beatles
Cody, WY > West Yellowstone, MT
"Hoedown", Aaron Copland, as recorded by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
West Yellowstone, MT > Spokane, WA
"Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think)", as recorded by Todd Snider
Spokane, WA > Seattle, WA
"Talking Seattle Grunge Blues", Todd Snider
"The Day I Tried to Live", Soundgarden
"Even Flow", Pearl Jam
"Come As You Are", Nirvana
"Up From the Skies", Jimi Hendrix
Seattle, WA > Astoria, OR
"18 Wheels on a Big Rig", Trout Fishing in America
Astoria, OR > Central Point, OR
"Seaside Rendezvous", Queen
Central Point, OR > Manchester, CA
"Going to California", Led Zeppelin
Manchester, CA > Petaluma, CA
"Lumberjack Song". Monty Python
Petaluma, CA > Riverside, CA
"Surfbound", Wave Invasion
Riverside day trip to Hollywood, CA
"Celluloid Heroes", The Kinks
Riverside, CA > Las Vegas, NV
"Viva Las Vegas", Elvis Presley
Las Vegas, NV> Williams, AZ
"Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think)", as recorded by Todd Snider
Williams, AZ > Albuquerque, NM
"Take It Easy", The Eagles
Albuquerque, NM > Oklahoma City, OK
"I'm So Tired", The Beatles
Oklahoma City, OK > Nashville, TN
"Nashville", Todd Snider
Nashville, TN > Arlington, VA
"Truckin'", Grateful Dead
Arlington, VA > Maynard, MA
"Big Bottom", Spinal Tap
"Home At Last", Soundtrack from the motion picture "Labyrinth"
"Home At Last", Steely Dan
"Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think)", as recorded by Todd Snider
In conclusion:
As I type this we have been home for a week. I have been busy at marching band camp and Kate has been busy recouperating. Every now and then we'll mention to each other "hey remember __________" and our minds will start reeling as to the myriad of things we've seen over the past five weeks. It was truly the trip of a lifetime.
We certainly hope if you ever take a trip across this great nation of ours that you perhaps use this blog as a guide, inspiration or even a warning of things to come along your travels. But there is alot out there and it could easily change your life.
...and that's the view from Maynard, Massachusetts.
In summary:
America; there is alot of it.
A lot of it is flat. A lot of it is bumpy and pointy.
By and large, most Americans are not attractive. Even in California.
"Creature Features" which we hope to see on our trips to Maine, be it a deer or a porcupine or even moose, have now been trumped by anything we've seen in the wild and won't be as impressive. Unless we see a porcupine riding a moose.
Nice people are nice. And alot of Americans are nice. We like nice Americans.
New England does have the worst drivers, followed closely by Arkansas and Tennessee.
In-N-Out is really what a hamburger is all about. White Castle isn't.
Red Sox Nation may be touted as the most obnoxious fans in major league sports in other places, but they make for exciting baseball.
KOA is the place to stay and hit the hay.
Life begs simplicity. You don't really need that much.
All you need is love. Love is all you need.
It's not worth trying to diet on a trip like that. Save it for home.
BY THE NUMBERS
0 - The number of times we ate at McDonald's
1 - Number of Massachusetts license plates we saw between New York state and Arlington, VA
7 - Number of Major Leage Baseball games we took in
9 - Number of different Major Leage ballclubs we saw play (Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago White Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners, San Francisco Giants, Washington Nationals)
27 - Number of different states we traveled through (New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnessota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, (D.C.), Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, & Connecticut).
$2.59 - The cheapest price of gas per gallon we paid on our trip (Front Royal, VA & Jessup, MD)
$3.99 - The highest price of gas per gallon we paid on our trip (Westport, CA)
258.37 - Total number of gallons of gasoline purchased
$749.69 - Total spent on gasoline
9,764 - Total miles traveling
Please click here to see a detailed log of our cross country gasoline intake!
SOUNDTRACK FOR A ROAD TRIP
Many of you may have wondered "What are Matt and Kate listening to on their trip?" Well, we took care of that on a daily basis by nominating a song of the day for each major leg of our trip. Most of these can be found on iTunes if you're at all curious. For your consideration:
Maynard, Massachusetts > Brockport, New York
"Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think)", as recorded by Todd Snider
Brockport, New York > Cleveland, OH
"Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think)", as recorded by Todd Snider
Cleveland, OH > Middleton, OH
"Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think)", as recorded by Todd Snider
Middletown, OH > Chicago, Illinois
"Conservative Christian Right Wing Republican Straight White American Male", Todd Snider
Chicago, Illinois > Sioux Falls, SD
"My Kind of Town", Frank Sinatra
Sioiux Fallls, SD > Rapid City, SD
Theme from "Dances with Wolves", John Barry
Rapid City, SD > Cody, WY
"Rocky Raccoon", The Beatles
Cody, WY > West Yellowstone, MT
"Hoedown", Aaron Copland, as recorded by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
West Yellowstone, MT > Spokane, WA
"Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think)", as recorded by Todd Snider
Spokane, WA > Seattle, WA
"Talking Seattle Grunge Blues", Todd Snider
"The Day I Tried to Live", Soundgarden
"Even Flow", Pearl Jam
"Come As You Are", Nirvana
"Up From the Skies", Jimi Hendrix
Seattle, WA > Astoria, OR
"18 Wheels on a Big Rig", Trout Fishing in America
Astoria, OR > Central Point, OR
"Seaside Rendezvous", Queen
Central Point, OR > Manchester, CA
"Going to California", Led Zeppelin
Manchester, CA > Petaluma, CA
"Lumberjack Song". Monty Python
Petaluma, CA > Riverside, CA
"Surfbound", Wave Invasion
Riverside day trip to Hollywood, CA
"Celluloid Heroes", The Kinks
Riverside, CA > Las Vegas, NV
"Viva Las Vegas", Elvis Presley
Las Vegas, NV> Williams, AZ
"Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think)", as recorded by Todd Snider
Williams, AZ > Albuquerque, NM
"Take It Easy", The Eagles
Albuquerque, NM > Oklahoma City, OK
"I'm So Tired", The Beatles
Oklahoma City, OK > Nashville, TN
"Nashville", Todd Snider
Nashville, TN > Arlington, VA
"Truckin'", Grateful Dead
Arlington, VA > Maynard, MA
"Big Bottom", Spinal Tap
"Home At Last", Soundtrack from the motion picture "Labyrinth"
"Home At Last", Steely Dan
"Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think)", as recorded by Todd Snider
In conclusion:
As I type this we have been home for a week. I have been busy at marching band camp and Kate has been busy recouperating. Every now and then we'll mention to each other "hey remember __________" and our minds will start reeling as to the myriad of things we've seen over the past five weeks. It was truly the trip of a lifetime.
We certainly hope if you ever take a trip across this great nation of ours that you perhaps use this blog as a guide, inspiration or even a warning of things to come along your travels. But there is alot out there and it could easily change your life.
...and that's the view from Maynard, Massachusetts.
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