new wisdoms.

while on an 8 day road trip through the united states, i have learned many things that i will take with me for the rest of my life. for example....

-america really is a fast food nation. hamborgers, whataburgers, bbq... located approximately every five metres.
-girls sometimes do drive faster than boys.
-best western really is best.
-texas is really big. and texans LOVE texas. did i already tell you dean had a waffle in the shape of texas?
-north america isn't really that big. no excuse not to see more of canada and the us.
-you can fit WAY more than you think into a mazda suv.
-birds are really dumb. two got killed by plowing straight into our car. (one into the front grate, the other into the windshield wiper) you think they would learn from watching their friends die.
-there is no us equivalent to timmy's in taste, price and location.
-there are a lot of creepy motels in the world.
-i don't get bored in the car: choosing music, knitting, reading magazines... i loved every second of doing things i never have time to do!
-it is really hot in southern texas. scorching. my glasses fogged up when i left my hotel this morning.
-americans think you are insanely nuts for driving from canada.
-texans can't believe you would ever want to move to mexico. "good on you for making the move. there aren't a lot of people who would do that" - guy at eddie bauer. and he was being totally serious.
-foreign id's are not accepted everywhere. i got turned down at sac n pac trying to buy a six pack of beers!
-texas is much greener than you would expect.
-there is a dairy queen in every single small town... even when there isn't a hotel!
-it is important to always have a full gas tank... because we are in hurricane season. it is also important not to pick up hitchhikers in southern texas, because there are prisons.
-mexican men gawk a lot. i had kind of forgotten that. i guess i better get used to it.

aside from all these new wisdoms, i have also gained a true appreciation for the united states. almost everyone we have met has been SO friendly. holding doors open, excited about our trip, making jokes... i haven't met any stuck-up americans. i have discovered cute little small towns that i would want to stop in one day for a beer and have a list of cities to return back to. a day in each of them just wasn't enough to get a true sense of their atmosphere. there is so much diversity in the united states -- a few more road trips will definitely have to be planned in order to discover it.