WHERE ARE WE?!

After traveling 1,544 miles, I've come to a sad conclusion.
All of America seems to look exactly the same.

Which means that our country has become one, endless strip mall.
We drove across six states, and sadly all that we passed was

chain after chain after chain after chain after chain!

TEXAS... Y'all, I think I saw a "lone star" on the horizon. 

OKLAHOMA... We decided the "sooner" we left, the better.

KANSAS... Is pasta the "wheat" in the "sunflower" state?

.

COLORADO... The "centennial" state seemed off target.

Photo courtesy of davidneubert.com

WYOMING... Monotony must be how they define "equality".

MONTANA... Look! The "Big Sky" is above that strip.

Mediocrity has become America's comfort zone.

On the road, you do experience varied weather and terrain. Funny how it seems that if you drive north it gets colder, and sometimes it even snows! We cruised open prairie, passed through majestic mountain ranges, crossed rushing rivers.



The diversity of the American landscape is amazing.

But if you drive on any highway and exit as the signs instruct, you discover that our towns and cities are all built according to a formula. National chains, set on acres of flat land, adjacent to the freeway.

Therefore, most American cities are simply boring.

Don't get me wrong, zoning is
important. But sometime in the
fifties something went wrong.
Community leaders decided
that the way to reduce urban
traffic was "enterprise zones"
leading into town via highways.
Subsequently over the years...

Almost every downtown in America slowly withered away.

And... where did all the people go?