This summer I got to witness 2,652 miles of pure beauty. My brother got an internship in Los Angeles this summer and me and my family were so excited for him; but in the back of mind I was angry at him. This was because I didn’t want to go to California because that meant we had to go get him and drive his car back with him all the way back to Baltimore. This was truly a nightmare to think about; we could have taken our family trip to the Virgin Islands or Hawaii, but no, the Anderson’s had to take a family road trip! Nothing was appealing to me about this trip at first; all I could imagine was being stuck in a crammed 2006 Jeep that smelled like pickles with my family which included nonstop fights between us and mom nagging at me to “read my summer reading books” and dad yelling at me and my brother for using too much data on our phones.

All of these prejudgments about this trip ended up to be dead wrong though. The moment we got off the plane at LAX all my predictions about this trip were turned around as soon as I saw my brother. I realized how much I missed him this summer and now I got to spend 2 weeks with him. After we got out of the airport we drove straight down the coast to Laguna Beach, we weren’t even at the destination yet and I was already mind blown. Driving down the PCH felt like I was in a Hollywood movie montage with the sun reflecting of the deep blue Pacific Ocean. 70 foot palm trees lined the beach streets. Not one car I saw driving down the PCH was under 60,000 dollars, and all the houses were McMansions either on the ocean or overlooking it perched upon beautiful winding hills. How could people live like this every day? It seemed like a dream.

After our 3 day stay in Laguna we started our long trip back home to the east. Within 2 hours of driving the sandy beaches turned into sandy deserts. Our next stop was Flagstaff, Arizona. Up and down we drove through red mountains covered in cacti. There was so such open space and beautiful backdrops of sun on the mountains I felt like I was looking at one of those nice backdrop screensavers on the computer. Arizona’s mountains slowly turned to big hills and more open spaces as we entered New Mexico. My dad saw a sign that said “Meteor Crater 10 Miles off This Exit!” of course we all just thought it was a tourist trap and ignored my dad, but we went anyway. We arrived at this huge crater and it was one of the coolest things I have ever seen; spreading about 10 football fields long. I was standing on a surface that was hit by a meteor about 50,000 years ago. I am not very into astrology but I thought it was amazing to be standing on such a historically rich part of the USA that barely anyone knew about.

We kept moving east and started into the Great Plains; the big hills and mountains turned to some of the flattest grounds I’ve ever seen. The Lone Star state was next up on our road trip. Thick southern accents, 10 gallon hats, and the sounds of diesel trucks followed by confederate flags flowing behind them filled the streets on Amarillo, Texas. Living in Maryland I am not used to seeing this type of southern culture, I just thought these small southern towns only existed in movies. In Amarillo we stopped at Cadillac Ranch where I got to spray paint my name into a buried Cadillac, really making my mark in the Lone Star state!  The stereotypes about Texas’ steaks were also very correct; I’ll never forget the tender juiciness of that Texas T bone.

After Texas we officially moved from the west into the east by going through the St. Louis Arch. We found out we could actually go up to the top of the arch, so of course we did. Me and my family all got crammed into a little elevator and made our way up the arch; we finally got to the top and looked out through the small window to see all of St. Louis. After Missouri we made our way to Cincinnati, Ohio to see my uncle. We got to see the Cincinnati river walk, the Reds Stadium, and the Bengals Stadium. I also got to taste my first Ohio buckeye, and ate some of the best chili in my life.

After Ohio we made the last stretch to our house in Baltimore; and frankly when we arrived home I was upset it was all over. I sat in my bed and thought I was so thankful to have seen my whole country in such great detail and actually been a part of the culture. Seeing places on TV and hearing destinations that people talk in the USA  is something I really enjoy because I can chime in and say “oh yeah I saw that when I drove across the country!”. Not only did I get to see our whole country up close, but I got to share this experience with the people I love most, my family and I am so grateful for that.