Road Trippin'

Happy New Year! I hope everyone rung in '09 with a bang. My New Year was a little low key, and definitely sans ball dropping--I'm left slightly unfulfilled. Anyhoo, an update to start off your '09 work week.

I did my very first UK road trip. I love road trips because it gives you a chance to see a country and experience local culture. Dan and I left on the 29th to go to Kent then to Dymock. On the 30th we went into Wales to see a castle. Then on the 31st we went to Cornwall. We left Cornwall on the 4th and stopped to see Stonehenge. It was terribly cold and a little disappointing here and there.

As a seasoned road tripper back in the States, I thought that I had this innate ability to navigate my way through any pickle. I rarely get lost and I usually know my way around any foreign city in a day. Here in the UK, it has taken me awhile to get to know the area, and it is harder when you don't drive. But I miss the grid and interstate systems and it's organization! Living in England for a few weeks now, the roads remind me of Maryland--they suddenly change names or suddenly end--it's awful! What disturbs me the most is the UK highway system. M means motorway, A is a smaller motorway but can go through rural towns at low speeds. That's fine, label the type of road you are going to travel on. But the numbers attached have no rhyme or reason like they do back home. Everyone in the US should know that odd numbers means you travel north/south, even east/west, when there's three numbers if the beginning is even you travel in a loop around a city or odd then you go through a city, etc. That's organization I can appreciate. You definitely don't have that here, so one road can theoretically take you in a roundabout fashion and you wouldn't know it. It's awful!

It's still fun to go around and see different places, though I wish I weren't sick for most of it. Oh well. But the next time you are on the Beltway, take the time to appreciate the organization before you curse it as you are stuck in traffic.