As I've mentioned before, we've had a lot of time to plan our adventure - more than 10 months in the making today. And as a result, our original route has transformed into one of a much more ambitious nature. And with all 48 states to visit, there are a few where we won't be using much more than their roads. A couple more will see us get out and stretch our legs, only to continue barreling forth a few hours later. To begin to compensate for these omissions, let's recognize a few of them.
Delaware. The first state, and the home of tax-free shopping, this state offers us about 20 minutes of road between Maryland and Pennsylvania in the northernmost section of the state. When I hear its name, I can't help but feel like Wayne and Garth in Wayne's World, standing motionless and expressionless with nothing more to say than, "Hey. ..........I'm in Delaware."
Poor little guy. It does have one stop that I specifically wanted to visit, the Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton. If you've ever had a Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA before, you'd know exactly why. But alas, it's just too far off course. So I'll just have to bite my lips as we push through the top of this state, on toward Philadelphia.
North Dakota. This state lies directly between a long stay in Detroit Lakes, and a comparatively short visit to Badlands National Park in southwestern South Dakota. It's not the shortest drive form one to the other - eight hours, to be precise - so we'll be in a bit of a hurry to get from Point A to B. We will, however, be driving directly through Fargo. So between now and then I'll be sure to brush up on my Coen Brothers.
New Mexico. This one has me a little bummed out, but probably has Sarah overjoyed at the same time. New Mexico serves as part of our driving grounds between Amarillo, Texas and our next stop in Colorado Springs, and that section which we'll see will in no way an accurate representation of the state and what it's all about. There are some places here that I've heard great things about - Flagstaff comes to mind - but we just don't have time. We know too much about Colorado to avoid spending as much time there as we are (four days). And besides, once we've spent nearly a week baking beneath the wild Texas sun, I can only imagine we'll be speeding northward to the Rockies as fast as the Xterra will carry us.
To these, and a few other states where we're just not spending enough time, I apologize. But for us to spend all this time on the road and still have so much more to see is, I think, a wonderful thing. I have so much more to learn about the world.
-Tom