The Budget of Paradox

My dear Sophia,
One thing I miss about the USA is the long drives in the desert. Sure, there are long highways in the deserts of the UAE. But it’s not the same. Plus, there are so many places I wish I could show you: places I discovered when I was young man.

Interstate 10: the Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway

Of all the freeways in the American interstate highway system, Interstate 10 holds a special place in my heart. It crosses the USA, from the Atlantic Ocean in Florida to the Pacific Ocean in California. There’s something symbolic about those terminals. Few other highways can make that claim. I drove it completely a few times when I was young. It’s a long, tough road. Interstate 10 was always exciting; it always meant “going somewhere”. For example, when I was in college in Arizona, I took Interstate 10 to get to Santa Barbara, California when I was dating my first wife. The city of Blythe is on Interstate 10; it’s where we found Blythe the Dog. She died before you were born, but Morey remembers her. She was a stray at a gas station in Blythe.

Here’s some trivia that most people in the east don’t know: Interstate 10 is also known as the Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway. But the only signs you’ll ever see with that name are in California. I always liked that name.

Interstate 10 in the desert near Blythe

When I was kid, Columbus was a hero. Of course, today, as I understand, kids in school are taught that he was an evil racist colonizer. Whatever. I mean, that was 500 years ago. I still like the name of Interstate 10.

I’d love to go on a Great American Road Trip with you someday. Hit the 10, the open road, cruising through the Sonoran Desert and Coachella Valley, the snow-capped mountains in the distance, the green fields of Palm Springs. They say the journey is half the trip. I say it’s the whole enchilada. I’ll even let you pick out the music.

I miss you, kid. I think about these things all the time.