Musings From a Trip Home

While I normally try to keep this blog to thoughts intellectual, I am so brimming over with random musings from my drive back from Michigan that I simply must spew them out. Blog, I christen thee my recipient of spewage.

I traded in my Chevy for a Malibu-bu-bu-bu-bu-bu. You oughta know by now that my dear old S-10 died. While the Malibu is also a Chevy, and not a Cadillac, the Billy Joel song did play when I was pulling it out of the lot. Too perfect.

It was wonderful driving a long trip and not spending the whole time wondering if my vehicle is going to make it the full 325 miles or not. As a result, I had time to consider some things I passed along the way.

There is a bridal shop in the middle of a cornfield on the highway south of my parent's house. It's this lonely, deplorable cube building with no windows. It just screams, "Come shop here, and you will have the wedding of your dreams." Not.

Just south of there is a series of roads named after presidents. Every time I drive through there, I feel like I should be able to turn east on Roosevelt, drive about 7/4 of a mile, turn off into the woods, and be magically transported to somewhere in Lombard, right between Glendbard South and The Enchanted Castle. All in all, the trip would take a little under an hour.

At this point I became fascinated with all the little buttons my car has to offer. I tried to not be too distracted by this, as it would be in poor form to crash my car while playing with all of its trinkets. That said, my car is probably more fun to play with than most of your friends.

Favorite town I drove through on my way back: Climax, Michigan. In case any children or Mennonites read this blog, I won't comment on this point.

Kalamazoo must be a nice town to live in. Not only did Ben Folds write a song about it, but it has its very own Lovers Lane. Not the store, but an actual road called Lovers Lane. I wonder if it is actually used for the purpose of its name. If so, the cops must totally be onto the high schoolers there. Some creativity, kids.

I picked the wrong gas station to stop at. I paid at the pump, no problem, but then went in to get a diet Pepsi, mostly so I would have change for the one toll booth I thought I needed change for in Indiana before my iPass kicked in. Between Croatian truck drivers who hardly speak english, fairly confused college students from India, and a couple of twelve year old girls buying lemonade, it took about 20 minutes to get my Pepsi, and thus, my needed change. As a kicker to this story, the Indiana Toll Road now accepts iPass. Perfect.

Props to Gary, Indiana. The Christmas trees on top of steel mills really give it a "Home for the Holidays" feeling. I might even vacation there for the New Year. How's this for a vacation pitch? There are two new lake front casinos, plenty of unemployed adults to talk to, and I'm sure you could get a steel mill tour. Plus, you could visit the childhood homes of Michael Jackon, Morgan Freeman, checkers champion Walter Hellman, and serial killer Christopher Peterson. For further information and to begin planning your trip, click here.

Music employed for the trip home: Billy Joel's greatest hits, RUF Hymns, Sufjan Stevens: "Come on and Feel the Illinois," Philadephia Orchestra's Brass Ensemble Christmas, and Radiohead, "In Rainbows."

Finally, regarding Radiohead, I am glad they do not spell their name "Radiohed" or "Radiohedd." Were that the case, I could not allow myself to enjoy one of the more consistently creative bands around.