Top Ten Surprising Things I Learned in 17 Days on the Road in 16 States
1. In rural America, if a town has a name, it has a Dollar General or Family Dollar store.
2. Texas actually is a very poor state with considerable poverty – at least East Texas is.
3. I discovered a correlation I’m sure is true: the more poor a community is, the more churches it must have and the divide between rich and poor is stark with little if anything in between the two in many parts of the country, particularly rural areas.
4. You can go 75 mph on some two lane back country roads in Texas but must slow down to 65 in some towns along the way.
5. Florida State Police appear to have an abundant budget to sit on highways waiting to catch speeders as compared to other states.
6. Flying J truck stops are awesome!
7. The market for sheds and metal car ports is insatiable in parts of the country.
8. Towns (often wrongly called cities on signs and promotional material) that are the seat of county government appear economically better off than their non-government focused counterparts.
9. Secondary US highways can be faster and far more interesting than travel on the interstate system
10. And finally, and sadly, the Mississippi Coast has far too much Gulf front vacant land years after Katrina.
These are the things that I think I found the most surprising on our 17 day journey through 16 states. I hope there is a pleasant surprise on your travels.
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