More States...

As I sit here in my humble (read dilapidated) hotel room, nodding off to the lullaby of a colicky baby next door, and preparing to drive on frozen roads with 30-45 mph winds tomorrow, I reflect fondly on the wonder of the my trip through the south and up the east coast. I am reflecting on that specifically because my drive, even though I went through four states, felt like I ended up in Ohio again. The northern states are vast, and carry with them very similar terrain. I can't imagine what the settlers must have felt. Kindness extends across all of them, from gas station attendants to strangers at small roadside stores. There is no doubt that there they face similar if not, more acute, hardships as the west coast does, but I will say that from the people I have met, they have their priorities straight, and carry an air of content that I do not see at home.

I am off to Cheyenne tomorrow, instead of Denver, to avoid the higher mountain passes. I really want to see a moose. I don't mean a roadkill one like all the other animals I have seen. I mean a real, majestic, smelly, felty-eared moose. I will, however, settle for a bear.