We have reached the ocean! I was excited to begin the historic documentation of our discovery of America’s west coast, and perhaps begin plans for the construction of a city here with a thriving entertainment industry. I guess I missed the issue of National Geographic that covered someone beating me to it. Apparently I have friends here, too!
Last night, we ate Italian food at a western-themed restaurant run by Asians. This can only happen in America. Early this morning, Wayne’s stomach revealed itself to be decidedly anti-American. His freedom-hating innards kept us from getting back on the road until well into the afternoon, but we prevailed in their crusade against our schedule, arriving in Las Vegas shortly after seven o’clock.
It is Mother’s Day, and I am far away from my mother. She and my godmother, my Aunt Pat, are celebrating with the family today just outside Philadelphia, PA. I, of course, am at the Grand Canyon, and according to Google Maps, the distance between the two is about 2,020 miles as the crow flies. I’d love to spend the day with them and be back here in time to get to Las Vegas tonight, but it’s quite a distance. Still, the boundlessness of human ingenuity and imagination inspired me to find a way to spend the day with them.
In AC/DC’s 1976 classic “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap,” the late Bon Scott gleefully lists a handful of his favorite methods for ridding his clients of their enemies, including concrete shoes, cyanide, and TNT. He makes no mention of the Grand Canyon, probably because its Arizona location is geographically inconvenient for an Australian like him. But boy was he missing an opportunity.
Despite the Philadelphia International Airport’s best efforts to the contrary, my traveling companion and longtime friend Wayne Kobylinski arrived to meet me in Albuquerque today, only about three and a half hours late. This meant our drive up to Flagstaff was much darker than it was originally intended to be, which gave us a chance to learn not only that one of my headlights is out, but that Arizona is less beautiful when you can’t see it.
Rob Weychert is circumnavigating the United States of America in his luxurious 1994 Toyota Corolla throughout the month of May, 2008. His adventures are chronicled here. Keep track of Rob by subscribing to the RSS feed.
Copyright © 2008 Rob Weychert