A Road Trip List

Husband and I climbed in the car at 5 a.m. and made the epic journey to Midland, MI, to visit his family before we get on a plane, again.
Here's how the trip went:

Theme song: The Longest Road, which I think is by Morgan Page. As if the 22 hours in a car were not enough of a reason to choose "Longest Road," the lyrics are fitting, as well:
Giddy up and gold mine
Different place, different time
All the stars are in their prime

Fast food eaten: Just a couple of grilled chicken sandwiches and a "Real fruit!" smoothie from McD's. This was at probably 2 a.m., and I was having a "yo quiero Taco Bell" moment, but nothing but McD's was open.

Caffeine ingested: A venti skinny vanilla latte, 16 ounces of diet pepsi, and half a can of diet Doctor Pepper. Yeah, I was super wired.

Books read: Only a little more of Jeffry Eugenides' Middlesex, which is, if nothing else, an epic that must have taken 15 years to research.

Phone calls made: Five.

Political opinions discussed: Health care reform, primarily. I spoke with my friend Dawn on the phone. She works for Social Security, and said that if people would spend just one day working her job, they'd all support health care reform. This is because she regularly meets people who, for instance, have a kidney problem, need a test to determine what kind of problem it is, can't afford the test, don't have insurance because they're self-employed, and could literally die any day because they can't get treated before they get diagnosed.

Philosophies discussed: Determinalism, i.e. your lack of free will. This is the idea that our "state" completely determines which choices we make; therefore the choice itself is an illusion. What's previously happened to you has already determined which choices you'll make. This is something I'm writing about in an essay, currently, because blogs are not the place for such complicated dealings.

Work done: Nada. First I felt too hyper because of all the caffeine, and then I felt too exhausted by all the driving. My self-control could use some work.

Post-script: Apologies for not posting pictures of Africa yet. My laptop is having issues and not letting me upload anything to the Internet right now. Once I get that fixed, I'll post some. While we're on the subject, if anyone knows what my laptop's problem is, you could be a dear and leave me a comment.