This Land Is Your Land; This Land Is My Land

Well better late then never right? I have arrived in Alabama and have started the C-12 training I have talked about in previous posts. The post below was written on 14 Oct, but due to Internet connectivity issues and computer problems I was unable to post it. So here it is in its entirety. I will make another post soon with more great and wonderful stories (or something like that).

Happy Columbus Day to one and all. Over the last week and a half or so I have traversed this great nation from west to east, north to south, back again twice. And as I sit in my room in lovely Fort Rucker, Al I am reminded of the great orator who said "From the rock bound coast of Maine to the smoggy shores of California; that is a long walk". That great orator was none other than Bugs Bunny, and while it looses something in text, he has a point. I have to admit I have a new respect for truckers. After spending three days driving from San Diego to Washington DC and then another full day just yesterday from DC to Ft Rucker, I am not sure I would want to do that for a living. But anyway, here are a couple stories from on my travels.

First, I've come to the conclusion that as you get further east and south the worse the drivers are. Perhaps it is the open terrain and reduced population in the west (I'm speaking of the open highway, not the city), but they seam to get it out there. Now what I am primarily speaking of is that slower traffic is supposed to stay to the right. The left lane is supposed to be used for passing and that's it, and as I drove through California, Arizona and New Mexico that's what I saw. But as I hit the center of the country there where more and more people just rolling in the left lane, until as I went through South Carolina I pretty much had to pass on the right. Anyway it's just frustrating.

So it's the morning of my second day and I have just gotten on the highway out of Roswell, NM (no I did not see any UFO's although that would be a great story). Now I want to set this story up with a bit of history. I have told this story to some of you before but for those who have not heard it, one time I was driving to school in college when I had a bird commit suicide on me. I was driving along, minding my own business when I happened to look at a bird sitting on a telephone wire. I guess at it was at that time that he decided he just couldn't take it any more, jumped off the wire and swooped directly into the path of my car. His path couldn't have been better (or worse depending on how you look at it) for his head became lodged between my front grill and the hood. So the bird succeeded in ending it's misery with a bit of help from my car. Now this story is kind of sad (the bird did die after all) but it was kind of funny in a shocking "I can't believe that just happened" kind of way.

So what do you think are the chances of having another bird strike with my car? Well what ever they are you would have won if you had made the bet. I'm just getting up to speed on the highway and there is a group of birds (not sure of the species but they were moderately big like crows) of to the side of the road. I guess my car passing spooked them for they all took to the air to avoid this strange beast racing past. Now this is a natural escape mechanism for a bird and normally works as long as he turns away from the incoming predator. This one, however, apparently wasn't the smartest bird in the flock and turned directly into me. He smacked into my windshield leaving an imprint mot unlike the one here (this one was taken from icanhascheezburger.com which if you have not checked out you absolutely must). Unfortunately, my camera was packed and I couldn't get to it to take a picture of my windshield. Anyway I spent the next several hours with "I can't believe that just happened again" feeling.

The other wondrous thing I observed I also unfortunately failed to capture on film. This was the great tumbleweed migration of 2008. I have just passed into Texas and I'm on a two lane US highway and I notice in the distance a redish orange color moving across the road. As I get closer I notice it is a bunch (and I mean hundreds) of 5-6 inch wide tumbleweeds being blown across the road. It felt like a National Geographic moment where the baby turtles are trekking down to the beach. I found it interesting at least.

Well that is all for the moment. As always please feel free to drop me an e-mail or leave a comment on this post. I really enjoy your feed back. I again apologize for failing to take pictures and video as appropriate. I will endeavor to do better next time. But until that time comes remember if you can't be good, be good at it.