We're leaving Minnesota in five days to go on a 19-day road trip across the American West. First we'll drive North to Fargo, then West across N Dakota to into Montana and then South into Wyoming to visit Yellowstone. Then we'll continue South/West through Idaho, Utah and Arizona, seeing Craters of the Moon National Park, Salt Lake City, Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon. We'll continue South/West to San Diego, California to go to the zoo and finally we'll head North to Anaheim for a trip to Disneyland and fly out of LAX. The boys are going to get really good at sleeping in hotels.
As we've been preparing to leave, several people have asked me what I will miss most about America. Apart from all the great friends I've made, there are two things I will miss:
- The variety of weather. In Minnesota the seasons are all very distinct and each one has it's charm. Winter is bitterly cold and probably goes on a little too long, but snow is beautiful, winter sports are fun and the feeling of entering a warm house after trudging through knee-deep snow on a day when even your eyeballs freeze is hard to beat. In Spring, as the snow melts and the rain pours down, everything that was dormant over winter comes to life within a few weeks. Summer days are long and hot. And Summer ends with the State Fair. And Autumn, with all it's falling leaves of red, yellow and brown, is truly a sight to behold. Contrast this to Tasmania, where the temperature over an entire year typically ranges between 0 and 35 Celsius and winter just brings cold and rain.
- Americans' enthusiasm. Generally, I have found Americans to be positive people. Where they see a problem, they'll try to come up with a way to fix it. They work to make the world a better place and really believe they can. My fellow Australians and I tend to be more interested in what we can get out of life. We're concerned with having a good time. And when there's a problem, we tend to complain about it and hope someone else will fix it (I apologise for the gross generalisations).
