Noticing... things

Sean and I have taken to typing away in the car whenever the other has driving duties. Right now he's in the midst of working on his novel outline. My non-driving time seems to be evenly split between catching up on last nights sleep and updating these diary entries.

Anyway, here are a few things I've noticed since coming to the continent...


Chain stores
North America seems to be populated by a proliferation of big chain stores, and when I say big I mean BIG. There's of course Wallmart, KFC/Taco Bell, MacDonalds, Safeway, Fred Myer, Denny's, Arby's, Little Ceasars, Wendy's, Dairy Queen - but it goes beyond that. Every place we stop there's some huge chain store sitting there dominating the landscape. I'm not sure what bothers me most about it, whether it's just that they are everywhere, like some kind of rash, whether it's because it reflects a mono-culture of unthinking blandness, or whether it's a reflection of the prevalence of large corporate endeavours on popular society. Whatever it is, it is starting to get to me.


RV parking
There are RVs everywhere. Every hick town that we've driven through so far seems to have at least one RV park, and as we pass by you can't help but notice that some of the vehicles look like they haven't moved for years.

RV dealerships are rife down the highway, rows and rows of fresh mobile homes on the back of a truck just waiting to be driven away. I can understand the attraction for some people of being able to travel across the country with all the comforts of home, but I can't believe how many of these things there are. Just so many big unwieldy gas guzzling motor homes is frightening. With some sort of intelligent coordination they could spawn whole new communities of seniors overnight. Fields could be overflowing with raw sewerage at the flick of a dozen switches. I wonder if it's like this all the way through the American interior?


Overweight America - got to be obese to make it
I used to laugh at the statistics about obese America. I used to snigger at the traveling American stereotype - all chubby rolls and loudly complaining ignorance. Now I'm traveling through their contry trying to behave. But I am noticing just how many large framed people there are in this country. Generous portions are everywhere, whether city, township or the boonies. I must admit that some communities are noticeably slimmer, although this tends to be biased toward well-off beach-type neighbourhoods. But overall, yes, I'm noticing the America is big. And that's big with tuck shop lady arms.