Contemplating where I have been.

I am grateful to have a blog where I can write down my trip memories. For years I wrote three pages in a note book daily. It was my morning ritual, so I called it my morning pages. I stopped writing about two years ago. I felt I had written enough. But, now that tradition has transformed itself  into my travelogue. After my trip to India, I didn't write in my blog, I felt I had nothing to say. Now that I have had time to process the trip partially, I feel my observations of the trip can be deeper. Also, I want to write about the epic journey I took last summer to Alaska. Yes, I drove from Oklahoma to Anchorage Alaska. I did this while gasoline was five dollars a gallon in some towns! 

It is a bit weird to write and have total strangers read my thought... welcome total strangers! I guess at some level I am comfortable with this new medium. It's no different than people buying books that an author has written, after all they too are read by total strangers. I have always wanted to write stories, this way I get to fulfill my wish. I have had positive feedback for the blog, thanks to all those who have shared their thoughts with me.

The summer of 2008, in June I started off for Alaska. People always ask me how long it took to get there. I went to Alaska by way of Minnesota, Portland and Vancouver, British Columbia. Family and friends live in those three cities. From Vancouver, it took five days of driving ten hours a day to get to Anchorage. It was an amazing journey. For hours my car was the only car on the road. No one in front of me, no one behind me. No one coming towards me, it was surreal. I enjoyed the solitude, alone with my thoughts. Sometimes I drove in silence and other times I had the music cranked up so high, even the bears came out of hibernation!

The Alaska hi-way is a challenging road, most of it is in good repair, but then there are portions of it that are in dire need of repair. There are frost heaves and the only way they are marked-- tiny red flags by the road side to warn you of a buckle in the road that would damage the underside of your car with tremendous force! So, I learnt to drive slowly anytime I saw the flags. With the sun high up in the sky until eleven at night, there was no danger of missing the red flags. There are no towns that far north, just a few motels on the side of the road along with a gas station. True frontier land! I enjoyed my trip and will make that trek again.

Back home.

So, yesterday I woke up early, yes I can do it every once in a while! I had breakfast at the hotel and, was on the road by 9 a.m. I drove through Tennessee, Arkansas and then home to Oklahoma. For part of the way, I was able to have the top down, but then rain clouds appeared and for the rest of the journey the top was up. 

Every time I pull into a gas station, men tell me they really like my car. That car is a man magnet! I enjoy listening to their questions about the car. Most often, you can't get a man to talk about anything, but when it comes to talking about cars, you can't get them to shut up. At a gas station in Tennessee, a man came up to me told me he liked my car.  His name was Jerry, he proceeded to tell me that he gambled for a living. Fascinated, I asked how something like that is at all possible? He explained, he signs up for all the free stuff they give away at the casinos and since he is a regular customer, they give him free rooms and often free meals. He had done this for a living for the past ten years. I asked him does he make enough money to live on from this? And, his answer was-- yeah! I do love to hear people stories.

As I was driving through this amazing country, my mind wandered back to the very first cross country trip I had taken with my two young children, my nephew and sister. We set off across the country to Canada from Oklahoma. We were terrified and excited at the same time. The country has changed a lot since that time. Now the homogenization of America has happened. Every town looks like any other town. It used to be that you could go to a relatively small town and find a home town restaurant with unique flavors. Now the hi-ways are littered with Taco Bell, McDonalds, Wendys, my personal favorite Chic-A-Filet (not really, though I do find the name amusing!). The amount of trash generated by these fast food, convenience based "restaurants" is monumental. Every fast food place you go into, everything you buy to eat comes prepackaged in wrappers, or boxes with drinks served in either styrofoam, plastic or paper cups. Add to that, plastic spoons, knives and forks. Top that off with a handful of napkins. One person just added to the landfill at least ten items. Multiply that with millions of people everyday feeding themselves at these fast food places.

I came to a decision, I was not going to frequent the fast food outlets, not that I do very often. I opted to stop for a sit down break where I was served food in a ceramic plate along with silverware not made from plastic. I drank my Coke from a glass made from glass without the aid of a straw. Straws don't biodegrade! I know I am just one person making this choice, at least there will be ten less items going into a landfill somewhere.

As my journey was nearing it's end, I felt sad that it had come to an end so quickly. I was glad to be going home, to sleep in my own bed and to get to see my daughter and son in law. The sorrow over missing my son had abated somewhat and I will see him again during my summer trip... yes, another road trip is coming up. This time I will be in familiar territory-- the west coast. I made myself a promise, I will go back to the east coast and visit the coastline of both the Carolinas and perhaps make it to Monticello too.

The end is in sight.

Well, tonight I am writing from Murfreesboro TN. I may actually make it to OKC tomorrow night. I think I'll keep driving until I get home. The trip back didn't turn out the way I had envisioned it. I was going to travel the eastern seaboard. But, after saying goodbye to Mahesh, my heart was just too heavy and all the rain didn't help me any. I usually don't mind driving through rain, these past couple of days it's been tough. The rain has been heavy and blinding. So, I drove cautiously with the top up :-(. I did try to drive with the top down, the clouds looked ominous and I had to pull over and put the top up. It's no fun driving a convertible without the top down. It looks like tomorrow it will be a sunny day and I will be able to have the wind blowing through my hair.

I did go to the Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta. Quite a place. I was hoping to see the actual bottling plant, instead we took a tour of 'World of Coke'. It was still a lot of fun. I did taste the different types of products Coke has worldwide. The soft drink they sell in Japan tasted like it had ginger in it. The one sold in Costa Rica tasted fruity. I liked them both. At the end of the tour we were given a free bottle of Coke as a memento of our visit. I am not sure if I will drink that bottle, or just save it as a souvenir. At the end of the tour, of course you are herded towards the Coke shop. Every imaginable Coke product is available in that store. I bought some red drinking glasses. 

What I did like about the World of Coke was the employees were all very happy. They were truly happy to be working there. Unlike the workers at Graceland. All the employees were eager to help and were forthcoming with information. They all said working for the Coca Cola company was a good thing. One young man said he had been working there for the past five years. He started in high school and continued to work there through college. I think I would enjoy working at the Coke place too. When I was a child, one of my dream jobs was to work at a Coke factory along with being an astronaut and an artist. Well, one out of three ain't bad! 

The World of Coke is touted as a happy place and it really was. Everyone there had a smile on their face. It was as if they were visiting a good friend. I read about the 79 days we did without the original formula Coke. I remember those days well, I was very upset about new Coke. And was so grateful when Coke Classic became available again.

After my sojourn to the World of Coke, I started out of Atlanta during rush hour! Atlanta has to be the LA of the midwest. Six lanes of crazy rush hour traffic, what was I thinking? I think every so often I like to remind myself why I don't live in a bigger city than OKC. I drove through Georgia onto Tennessee. I am going to have to come back to this part of the country again. In the past I have always gone west, since my family lives in Vancouver British Columbia. I know the western half of the country well. I have not explored the eastern half of the country.

As I was driving the sun was setting, it was behind clouds the rays were bright and the clouds had a silver lining. It looked almost exactly like the sunset I had witnessed in Goa India, over the Arabian Sea. In a moment I was transported half a world across. If only we could be transported anywhere (like in Star Trek) in the blink of an eye, where would I want to go? Hmmm......

Leaving D.C.

It was hard to say goodbye to my son this morning. We had enjoyed our time together, so we came to a conclusion that we will have to have an annual trip together. I think the next time I will want to go to a beach resort and just relax. D.C. was very interesting, and we packed in too much. After my trip to India which was loaded down with so much sightseeing  I don't think I was ready for another information packed tour-a-thon!

I decided not to go to Monticello. As I was leaving D.C. it had begun to rain and the drive to see Thomas Jefferson's home was three hours away. With rain in the forecast for the entire day, I decided to drive south towards Atlanta. That is the beauty of driving, I have the freedom to do as I please. And since I veered away from my AAA triptik, I had to fend for myself. Every so often I pulled over to check my map and kept on going. I was glad to be out of Virginia. I am still mad about getting a ticket for not speeding.

I am tired tonight, I drove through heavy rains all day long. At one point traffic on  I-85 south was crawling at snail's pace. With rain coming down fast and furiously, I decided to call it a night and pulled into Kings Mountain a small town in North Carolina. It's been a somber day. The rain matched my melancholy mood, my heart was crying about at the same pace the rain was falling. I will write more tomorrow, no doubt going to the Coke plant will lift my spirits!

The last day in DC

Well this is our last day in DC. I will miss my son, we have had a good time talking with each other and getting to spend time in the Nation's capital. We went to see the Natural History museum to begin with, after that we went to the Library of Congress. Mahesh wanted to see the draft of the Declaration of Independence, but it was not on display it has been put in a vault to protect it.

We did do a lot of walking, I am tired of walking but I have enjoyed the public transportation. I do wish all of the cities in this country could have public transportation. I guess I can keep on dreaming!

Tonight we went to an Italian restaurant called Al Tiramisu, again an excellent choice by our concierge Eric. He has not steered us wrong. I will miss all the unique restaurants we have eaten at. Having grown up in London, I have enjoyed the variety of different cultures here in DC.  I have decided that DC is an anomaly. I have never visited a city such as this. It seems to have a very transient personality as far as it's inhabitants are concerned. It's a unique city in that it is rich in history, politics and one can't help but feel patriotic, at the same time I didn't feel connected to it's people. Because none of the people I met live in the city. They live in neighboring Virginia or Maryland. I found that to be disconnected.

It will be hard to see my son leave for the west coast tomorrow. Living so far away and not being able to see him often makes my heartache and it bothers me that he won't move closer. Tomorrow, I will be heading towards Oklahoma. First, though I will visit Monticello and then onto Atlanta Georgia to see the Coca-Cola plant. I have been a fan of Coke since I was a child, it will be awesome to see where it all began.

Arlington

Well, today was a laid back day. Mahesh wanted to visit with a friend he has known for about ten years. We took the Metro to meet his friend in Virginia. The Metro is very simple and so convenient. We had been using cabs until now, we needed to have been using public transport. We will do that tomorrow when we visit the museum of Natural History. Mahesh enjoyed seeing his friend. We ate pizza for lunch. They both had a lot to catch up on and conversation over lunch just didn't seem to be long enough. I would have been fine taking a walk while they visited with each other, but my son felt like he would be abandoning his mother...I know how to amuse myself! It's difficult to be the third wheel when two people are friends. They said their goodbyes and we were off to see the Arlington Cemetery.

Today the weather was hot and muggy, I did get tired walking to the last resting place of President John . F. Kennedy. It's always somber to visit a grave site. As a Hindu, I have no point of reference for that, since we cremate. I think there are advantages and disadvantages for both practices. There is a sense of closure when a person can visit a grave site. At the same time there is this sense of loss, holding on to the person lost to us. With cremation there is this sense of moving on and also feeling a bit adrift. I think, I would still prefer cremation. Too much land being dedicated to people who are no longer here. 

After visiting the grave site of JFK, we went to see changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We got there just in time to watch the guards change places. It was an intriguing and a precise ceremony. Mahesh has always been fascinated by military personnel, I think in many other lifetimes he was a soldier. Gratefully, he decided not to be one in this lifetime! We sat for awhile watching, everyone around us was also watching in a somber manner.  As we walked away looking at all the grave markers, I thought of all the families who lost loved ones in wars, such senseless deaths usually at the prime of life. Many would argue that's the price of freedom. I would argue, why we can't have freedom without loss of life?

We got back to our hotel just in time for afternoon tea. We headed to the restaurant and had English breakfast tea along with apple caramel cake with ice cream. Totally the most wonderful way to spend late afternoon.

Later in the evening we went to a Greek/Lebanese restaurant called Zaytinya. The great advantage of a cosmopolitan city like DC is the choice of great restaurants and Zaytinya would have to be added to that list. Great food at reasonable prices. We took a cab back to the hotel and then headed to the White House for our evening conversation in the back yard. 

Tomorrow will be our last day in DC. I will miss the conversations I get to have with my son. It's just never the same over the phone.

Museums, monuments and the Bill of Rights...

Today we walked a lot. To begin with we went to see the Declaration of Independence, The Bill of Rights and the Constitution. All very impressive. They also had one of four originals of the Magna Carta. I find it interesting that I spent several years in Merry Olde England and had forgotten that it was drafted in England, but seeing it in person was part of the joy of this day. I thought it sad that the Declaration of Independence was so faded by time, but my wonderful son said that the most important thing was that democracy was all around us.  The document itself, although important, was only a vessel for the wonder of this country.  

The Constitution was in better shape - and there were also two guards watching over it. Some people were grumbling about not getting enough time to look at it, and I gave them a wide berth. After that, we went to the National Art Gallery.  

Mahesh's wife Sara hadn't gotten a chance to see the only DaVinci painting in the U.S. from a previous trip to D.C., so one of his "missions" was to see that painting.  The painting itself is beautiful, and I gave my son a brief lesson in art history about how DaVinci used chiaroscuro (the use of light and shadow) and how, essentially, he created photo-realistic paintings when such creations were unheard of.  I prefer the Post-Impressionists myself, but I enjoyed seeing this one-of-a-kind work of art. Next we went to the Air and Space Museum, and I got to touch a moon rock, which was really cool. It brought back my memories of watching the original moon landing live on television, with my brothers and sisters in London.  

We also saw the original Wright Brothers flyer from 1903, and it still looked like it could fly. The next museum was the Museum of American History, and I found this to be a slight disappointment.  While I did enjoy seeing Archie Bunker's chair, the ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland and the original Star Spangled Banner that flew over Fort McHenry during the War of 1812, I wished there had been more variety.  Although I did get a few pictures of my son with C-3P0.  

At night, we ate a great authentic Mexican restaurant (Oyamel), and afterwards walked off the heavy meal by walking all the way to the Washington Monument.  Of course we ended our day at the backyard of the Nation's House as is our routine for DC.  All in all, it was a busy day, but I enjoyed seeing all the places I'd read (and heard) so much about.  The most priceless thing, of course, was getting to spend it all with my son.