This entry is brought to you by The Big Texan Steak Ranch where the steaks are high. 72oz high.
Californians
It occurred to me that when I mentioned writing separately about how abysmal the Californians are at operating their motor vehicles that I should write entire about who the driving has been as it’s obviously been a tremendous part of this expedition. I’ve more often than not spent more time driving than I would sleeping later that night. Tomorrow as a matter of fact may be one of those days.
I’ll begin as I hinted with Californians as I could not escape them today, even as I sped east. It hadn’t immediately occurred to me Friday night as I turned back onto the 5 and headed into Los Angeles just how terrible these people were at driving and understand how this may sound coming from a life long east-coaster who grew up driving in some of the worst traffic in and around some of the worst traffic in the world. DC and NYC and it all in between which includes Marylanders which I will firmly state might be the worst drivers in the country. The level of absent mindedness I’ve seen these people display would challenge the greatest minds in all of human history. So Californians at the very least aren’t that bad. And in fact are much, much better than the Mary’s in that they operate very nearly in opposite in that they’re too passive and maybe burdened by being too safe and not instinctual enough. Those that don’t delusionally believe that they are Tokyo-drifting race car drivers — which in their defense may simply have had enough and pick apart their fellow Californian motorists.
Californians speed up on everyones ass like so very many other people and then don’t pass when you get out of their way. They poke unaware that when you got over you pulled behind a tractor trailer that was traveling 10mph slower forcing you to have to further slow and then speed back up. A tremendous waste of energy when traveling great distances. So when having to deal with 2.5 days of them understand how I came to feel this way.
Californians also fail the predict/see/anticipate the most remedial of [primarily highway] travel situations. For instance when you are behind a tractor trailer it will be traveling 10mph slower than everyone else — which may not be the case as much on the east coast as it is over here where more often than not highways direct trucks to travel slower and only use the left hand lane when absolutely necessary. Have on a couple of trips seen TT’s use the extra wide shoulder when carrying heavier loads. This doesn’t stop Californians from driving right up on their asses. Refusing to remember the 100’s or 1000’s of times they’ve been behind a TT before they don’t bother accelerating when the opportunity provides itself, sliding over into another lane maintaining the speed of the cars before and behind them and carrying forth until they’ve passed the TT. This isn’t any different with any slower vehicle. It clearly displays an inability to predict and act proactively instead reactionary. This slows and boggs down progress. It requires behaivng like a cockroach rather than a large cat.
The drive today was overwhelming pleasant. While the land seemingly reaching forever it was a different landscape in that there was GREEN! Things grown eastern Arizona and most definitely in New Mexico which was surprisingly beautiful. The northern part anyway. It was rolling, had mountains, lots of green, yellow wildflowers and giant boulders all over through one stretch. Really beautiful land. It was however littered with more billboards than, without hesitation, have seen in any 1 drive before ever and maybe in many east coast drives compiled.
I saw nothing in Amarillo aside of the hotel and the Rudy’s [regrettable] BBQ restaurant. I’m not anticipating being back.
Am growing tired so will wrap this up.
3 states
600ish miles
5 roadside casinos
1 Petrified Forest
1 Glider Museum
1 Mesalands Museum
1 Knife City
1 Potter County (my mothers maiden name)
More billboards than I could keep count