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Thursday, September 3, 2009

Lessons from a road trip


Lesson #1

Portable GPS: $200. Maps: free with AAA membership. Mapquest-ed routes: approx. $0.01 per side. My own workable sense of direction: priceless.

Lesson #2

I-5 is a very, very long freeway. It looks much shorter on a map than when driving from one end to the other in real life.

Lesson #3

In Oregon, people will scold you for pumping your own gas. Because if you do, you'll be taking away someone's job. A job which most people are more than willing to do for themselves. But it's a job, and it would be un-American to oppose it.

Lesson #4

Do laugh at the many, many oddly named signs along the way. You might stumble upon such treasures as "Auction Road" with "Hooker Yard Road" posted right underneath or an advertisement of "Dirt for Sale."

Lesson #5

Bring water, snacks, listening material, wet wipes, tissues and a good friend.

Lesson #6

Belongings and trash will pile up. Grasshoppers might want a ride and hop in, especially if you've just walked through a wooded area in the dark barefoot. Said grasshopper might get squished underneath all that junk and won't be discovered until the next day, several hundred miles away from where it got on. Refer to the 4th and 5th items listed in Lesson #5.

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