The Last Word....

Thank you all for reading. The above is a Lensbaby capture from the fortune cookie at the Japanese Steakhouse in Amarillo. (Why does a Japanese Steakhouse have fortune cookies? Why doesn't Neil carry a macro lens?)

The lessons of a roadtrip like this are great. For once, you forget whether "you" are a red state, or a blue state, or a proponent of big government or small; you get to ignore all the little stuff that divides us in this country and concentrate on the wondrous beauty that unites us (not to mention the miles of Interstates.) You get an amazing appreciation for how rich we on the coasts are (in so many ways) because of the folks in the interior.

When we get to look at the big picture, it becomes very easy to solve our problems. I'm a little sorry I didn't do this roadtrip when I was 18 or 20. I certainly recommend that every other 18 year old out of high school takes this trip before college. Or, even better, I hope they get to spend 10 months with Americorps and learn about how to fix the stuff that's really important. (See? Nothing has changed except my perspective. How cool is that? Neil is shaking his head. He used to do sit-ins at nuclear plants because they had no emergency evacuation plans. He knows stuff I don't.)

But, better late than never. Or certainly better now than before the rest of Route 66 disappears into history. So you, too, get hip to this timely tip and make that California trip.