Chewing the scenery

Living out of a small bag for five weeks has been easier than I thought it would be. Sleeping in a new town with a different pillow every night, either under the stars or inside a sometimes shady roadsde motel, is bound to make a person miss their own bed. At that point, though, I always remember that I don't have my own bed.

I love roasting s'mores and watching for a shooting star as much as I love sipping a microbrewed beer and watching the Food Network before bed. I'm tired of listening to teh sae songs in the car, whether it's on the radio or our iPods.

Somehow, my seven or eight changes of clothing haven't become annoying. Eating at local restaurants is always pleasurable -- we haven't had a bad meal yet -- but going to the supermarket and buying veggies and meat to grill, scouring the deli for fun foods and stopping at roadside stands for freshly picked fruit never gets old. And it's cheap, too!

Jun and I have learned a lot about each other on this trip, but we also are happy to ride along in silence for long stretches of time, lost in our thoughts or soaking up the passing scenery. We've fought and made up plenty of times, usually about trivial stuff like a missed turn or because I'm hungry and cranky. Or tired and cranky. Or PMS-y and cranky. Usually I'm a ray of sunshine, promise!

At 7,000 miles on the road this time around, our handsome hand-me-down car, Richard Burton, has had a couple snafus, but never anything that takes more than a couple hours to fix. Gas prices have been killer, but, hey, what can you do? We cut our expenses in other areas.

A few amazing people have also crossed our paths. There was an amiable old man running an antique shop in Montana who was prone to exclaiming "Holy macaroni!" and gave us a few items for our soon-to-be home that I adore. And an Army photojournalist camping in California who dispensed invaluable advice to Jun and told some incredible stories; I wish we had had the time to look at his photos. And the old Korean taxi driver in Vegas, who smiled the whole ride and chatted about diets and natural disasters with a really great perspective on both.

I wish I could collect all my thoughts here, but my mind is whirring from all the sights, sounds, smells and tastes. One of these days, maybe.