College Road Trip: The End
By THE HABIT (Chief Contributor) 
6:20 PM
Yesterday saw the completion of our road trip, finishing it off in Colorado Springs, where my parents have moved. After Russ and I spent the day hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park, we met the girls at a BBQ held by Emily’s friends. Beer and burgers were a good way to finish a 9 mile hike. After this, we hopped in the car, drove down to Colorado Springs and collapsed on couches, beds and blow up mattresses. Russ flew out this morning (back to Oregon), Emily and J went shopping, and I’ve started to clean up.
It was a long road trip, and amazing to see so much of the country. We started planning the trip back at the beginning of the school term. Our goal was to set out and see as much of the country as we could, dodge the major highways (use backroads) and chain restaurants (eat at local eateries), and meet the honest people of this country. All things considered, I think we did a pretty damn good job.
We started North to South along the eastern corridor stopping in DC, then went west through the Appalachian mountains, down along the Gulf coast into New Orleans, west through Texas and New Mexico and up into Colorado. After watching my sister graduate from high school, we continued west into Utah, Arizona, and Nevada. We then headed north throughout all of California, into the Pacific northwest and saw Oregon and Idaho, before finally finishing off back in Colorado.
The land we saw and the people we met give a good snapshot of what our country is. Honestly, I think we (American’s as a whole) are a lot more down-to-earth, and hard working as a people than we give ourselves credit for. Our survey of the land shows true people, working the 9 to 5 job to raise families and make ends meet. Clearly there are social injustices that need fixing, wrongs need to be corrected by our government, and our country has a long way to go, but over all, the beliefs and morals of our country ring true in the people we met across the board. Combined, J and I have visited or lived in Canada, Mexico, Australia, Costa Rica, Chile, Argentina, Bermuda, England, France, Germany, Spain, Kenya, Croatia and Italy, and compared to other nationalities Americans seems happier than many others, more willing to tell their story, and open up.
If you followed us along on our road trip, thanks for tuning in. We apologize if we insulted anyone, or didn’t give their section of the country enough time. Thanks to Aaron, Emily and Russ for coming along for parts of the ride.
We encourage you all to get out and see the back roads of our land, meet the honest people, and experience all you can. Thanks again.
-A and J.
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