"Remember that wherever your heart is,
there you will find your treasure"
Paulo Coelho - The Alchemist
It was the most beautiful the Welcome to Pennsylvania sign has ever looked. Around 3 PM on July 13th I crossed over the Ohio border into the western realm of PA. Maybe its just because I call this state home, but a drive through the mountains, forests and over the rivers of PA is up there with anything I saw out west. It may not have same take-your-breath away impact, but its a beautiful state. I made good time through the state and before I knew it was I was driving through the streets of Williamsport and pulling up to my house.
The house was empty and eerily quiet. One of the residents, Marla, had been keeping an eye on it, but with the exception of the weed jungle in my yard, everything was as I left it. My least favorite part of traveling is this moment, not because the trip has ended, but because I have to unpack and transition back into the way life was. 40 days is certainly not the longest time, but judging by the pile of mail and the weeds in my yard, life had continued along. I took care of that first, looked over the pile of stuff that had just been removed from the Element, and then headed for the door. This could wait until tomorrow, I was going to Quizzo. I made my way down to the Bullfrog as that was my only guaranteed place to find some familiar faces. Of course there were lots of initial talks about the trip, but it was not long before things were back to normal. After camping some of the Bullfrogs newest beers and four rounds of trivia it was time for bed. There's a quote by Lin Yutang (no clue who he is) that says "No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow." Exactly.
The next day I made the stop down to the residency office to say hello to more people. The rest of the day was spent getting back into my routine (even though that was all about to be disrupted by what I expect to be a very unruly bachelor party in Atlantic City). In between yard work, cleaning the house and unpacking, I made my way to Planet Fitness, Wegmans, got a haircut and ate some of the best sushi money can buy at Ichiban. Home, however, was still missing one thing. My final 2 hr drive to Allentown was the driving equivalent of warm-up exercises now. I did not keep track of the time spent driving but I estimated about 166 hours, using some fuzzy math skills. I arrived to my parents house and there she was waiting. They say dogs really have no sense of time, but I have never had a greeting like this. And that's coming from a dog who had a pretty fantastic summer lounging around a pool, playing with 3 dogs every day, and getting overfed (she even got to eat nice, albeit stolen, steak).
This is the last entry, like Vegas, you will not get the details of the bachelor party in Atlantic City, but I can say I made it to the Atlantic Ocean completing my trip across 26 states, from ocean to ocean to the shores of Lake Michigan and the Gulf of Mexico, to over 12,000 feet above the country to 200 feet below, a day that went to 125 degrees and nights that dropped to the 30s. Every day was a blessing, despite rain and storms and hail, a dead car battery, strained patience, traffic, crowds. I remember growing up and feeling that we lived in the best country on the planet, and spent the last 12 years or so being told we are fat, stupid, lazy, unhealthy, and arrogant. Yet the people I met during this trip were kind, helpful, adventurous and far from any one particular American stereotype (even the ones from New Jersey). I travelled 10,000 mile across this country and met really great people. Not all may agree with that, which if that's the case, you cannot deny the natural beauty of this country. America was the first to develop a national park system for protecting our true national treasures and has done this very well.
Finally, coming back to you all, I have been overwhelmed by the positive feedback regarding this blog. English was always my toughest subject (as evidenced by my grammatical and spelling errors). The most common reaction I have gotten has roughly gone like this "your trip was amazing, I love the pictures, I'm so jealous." And if jealousy is your sentiment, then get yourself out there and see this country. You don't have to do it in one trip. But find some time, save some money, it'll be well worth it. Mark Twain said it best, "Life is short, break the rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably, and never regret anything that made you smile. Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
Thanks again for following,
Matt
Happiness, only real when share - Chris McCandless
