And so it begins

American Colonial Heritage Roadtrip Extravaganza: commence at warp speed ahead!

For the next 18 days, I am search of a new America. Or rather, early America. Or rather whatever America has to offer me, what I dig up, what I taste, what I smell, what I see from the corner of my eye or the viewfinder of my camera. After a lifetime of travel to places that required a government issued passport - learning foreign tongues, eatings foods foreign to me, seeing the history and effects of foreign wars and encounters - I am turning to the places our modern forefathers landed, camped out, and claimed land that was not theirs to call "New England." For too long I've lived life as an American more interested in seeing what things looked like far away. It's past the time I spend the same energy and interest and time traipsing through the landscape of places that have shaped the government and modern history of the place I always come home to.

And so it begins with this greeting from USA Today:

I take issue, but will bow to marketing demands. So, I will make this trip.

And I will be an American.

And I will try to not be annoyed with things like this. Nor will I ever buy a Jeep. But I will wake up tomorrow for day 2 and thank Alaska Airlines for automatic MVP upgrades as I fly across the country.