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Super James: From the city streets of Chicago to the dust roads in Texas, driving along the beach on the west coast, to the desert of Arizona, the metropolis of LA to the deserted towns along the way, the friendly little communities, the rough streets of the ghetto, the quiet picturesque mountain towns and the bright lights of Vegas, never have I seen so many extremes.
This whole trip has been an adventure, not knowing where we will end up, wondering if we will find a place to sleep, and if we would survive the night (avoid downtown San Francisco).
Driving along service roads, with the train tracks to our right and the main highway to our left, it left us alone in the world. Moving out our pace, watching the country change and adapt; never have I felt more free. We were our own masters. Time didn't matter. The world didn't matter. I would stare out of the window at the highway traffic, everyone driving to be somewhere, by a certain time. All we did was go forwards, as far or as little as we wanted, enjoying the open road.
2 things made the trip for me:
Firstly, the surprises. Being centre of a party in a small town, the random attractions of giants holding hot dogs and a massive metal blue whale, people in McDonalds wanting our photograph because they hadn't met people from England and whole towns shutting down for a victory parade with cheerleaders throwing us sweets.
The other thing has to be the food! I mean the company (yes the soppy part). Spending every second with 3 people for 3 weeks in confined spaces means the people you share it with cannot be just good friends or even great friends, but the best friends. I have not only put up with them, but they have put up with me. No matter how bad the motel, how dodgy the bar, how tough the hike, we all came out laughing and enjoying every experience. I know these guys will be my best friends for a very long time and I cannot wait to go on another trip with them.
Plus the food was amazing. I would recommend the steaks in The Big Texas Steakhouse and the seafood in San Fran but what ever you do, avoid all Mexican food in Arizona and New Mexico, especially jalapeños stuffed with American cheese.
As for the trip, I would advise everyone to try it. The sense of not knowing where you will end up and where the road will take you cannot be beaten.
My special thanks has to go to 'Beast'. The car looked after us more then we could. No matter how many buses we drove in front of, corners we took too fast, bumps and hills on dirt tracks or whenever we let Chris drive, the car saw us safely through.
I will end with the biggest lesson I learnt. You can plan for good times, but the best times happen by accident when you are surrounded by your best friends.
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