BUCKETLIST: I got my US Roadtrip!

[forever_wandering]

A few months back, I joined up with my parents for a road trip across the US. We departed from Sitka, Alaska by boat, then drove from Bellingham, Washington to Tampa, Florida. It was a two week trip, but well worth it! Having lived abroad or on small islands all my life, I never got the chance to experience life in the actual US. This trip allowed me to see so many different things I learned just how beautiful America actually is! 

   While on the boat along Canada, en route to Washington, there was an earthquake! We didn't know it at the time though. The boat was rocking ferociously and we thought the boat would flip over. We were told to stay in our cabins. It lasted about 30 minutes. When the rocking stopped, I turned on the radio and the news station was talking about an earthquake off the coast of Canada..which was where we had been! Our poor dogs had been alone below deck in the car (They weren't allowed up to the cabins) during an earthquake! >.< 

   As soon as we hit dry land, we got some food I went to Dunkin Donuts for the first time in 12 years, planned our route and took off. Because I didn't have a legal US license at the time, my parents handled the driving while I sat back and captured the sights. =D I felt like I was in a foreign country, finally seeing things I had seen in books, with my own eyes. 

Being together for so long, naturally, we had moments where we wanted to rip each other's hair out, but in the end, I'm glad I got to spend this time with my parents. 

In Montana, my mom and dad bought some food from a local BBQ, and the burgers were massive. I'm pretty sure there was an entire cow between those two pieces of bread. We found this rather humorous since on the way to the hotel, there were several fields full of cows... Whenever someone would pick up a burger, one of us would go "Mooooooooooo!" before the other could take a bite =D. I'm sorry cow. RIP. 

We went to our first truck-stop! Of course, we kept an eye out for any overly-friendly men wearing cowboy hats and chewing tobacco. We've seen enough sci-fi movies to know that the acceptance of a single kind gesture from one of these men means sudden death. And of course, we all know TV doesn't lie...

Every time we crossed a state, my mom would stop at a gift shop and buy a shot glass for her collection. Jokingly, I told my mom I hoped we wouldn't get pulled over because the cops would see all the shot glasses and take us for alcoholics. Mom looks at me and goes: Those are for drinking?! I only wanted them because they're cute and little....THEY'RE FOR DRINKING?!?! 

My mom has been collecting shot glasses from around the world for 5 years, but now that she knows they are for drinking, she's decided to collect bells. 

Comments

[kurikuribebi]

Haha, yes, I'm serious! My mom is like that.

Yeah, I've been through the earthquake or two in Japan. Most of them I didn't realize were earthquakes until after I checked my phone for the warning announcment though. Usually, I assumed it was the train since we lived so close to the station then.

Being on a boat during an earthquake though was insane. When the boat rocked, I felt like if I stuck my hand out the window, I could literally stick my fingers in to the water.

[moldypotatochip.livejournal.com]

At New Years I was in Tokyo and I was on a bridge during an earthquake. It was not too crazy but my boyfriend pointed out that you could see bubbles rising to the surface of the river during and afterward. So I can imagine that in the sea the same kind of thing might happen... not to mention waves!! That does seem unnerving.

[kurikuribebi]

You know, I don't recall seeing bubbles...but then again, I wasn't really paying attention to the water itself. I was paying more attention to how close we'd get to it every time the boat rocked.

I imagine though, that the bubbles would take longer to rise in an ocean compared to in a river.