Don't stop believin' (Nashville to Los Angeles, The End) (9/22/2012)

So that's it. The next morning, we finished things off by eating brunch at Cracker Barrel, basically the most southern restaurant of all time, which features items like ham, sausage, grits (look this up), eggs, biscuits, etc. We thanked my aunt Cathy, made it to the airport, and parted ways. Franc flew American and I flew Southwest (the superior airline). The plane ride was excellent, to say the least; read Charlotte's Web and sat behind some college grad bragging about all the guys she's screwed over.

Like I said before, I can't believe Franc and I actually pulled this off--and it feels oh-so-good. We camped in the Smokies, drove the Blue Ridge Parkway; we walked on Gettysburg, witnessed a little fall color; we saw the White Mountains of New Hampshire, made it to the coast of Maine; we explored the old city of Boston, walked through Mark Twain's house; we raged at Yale, introduced ourselves to New York, Philadelphia, and D.C. We drove over 3,000 miles in less than three weeks.

And despite all this, it was the little things that made this trip worth it. Just that feeling of "lighting out for the territory"--that freedom, that's what we loved. I recall a moment a few days ago when Franc and I were leaving Kobe's high school in Philly and were suddenly caught in a heavy, windy downpour. We were driving on a stormy highway, listening to the Eagles, when our surroundings opened as we crossed a bridge over the majestic Susquehanna River. That moment was reason enough for me to have taken this trip.

I wrote in the first post of this blog that we hoped to discover our country, and I think we did that--to an extent. The reality is that there is so much, so, so much, that this country has to offer, and my thirst for experiencing it is unquenchable. Between this road trip and the one I took last summer, I feel I have only barely cracked the surface of that discovery. Now before this starts sounding too cheesy, I want to say thanks for following us and hopefully you got a little piece of what we experienced. And if you ever find the chance, I strongly recommend trying to see this place we call home. Take a road trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco, or from L.A. to Chicago, or, better yet, just go around the whole damn country. Because quite honestly, these highways are made for us.