Around 4200

I think the magic is gone. Driving has gotten to be a bit of a chore. I'm still enjoying my adventure, don't get me wrong. It's just that my focus has shifted from the road to the people. I have enjoyed meandering around and seeing the sights. But even for an only child who is used to being alone, it gets lonesome out there. In these past few days of driving, I have found myself calling my friends and family more than I ever have before. The long hours on the road pass much faster if I have a friend to chat with.

I have come to realize that I am happiest when I am around my loved ones. I'm not so much sick of driving as I am eager to see my peeps. I realized this while I was visiting my cousins in Illinois. I was going to leave and head back on the road, maybe explore the Great Lakes. But I was having so much fun with my family that I decided to extend my stay. (It's nice having the luxury of making my own schedule.)

Here are some highlights from my time in Illinois:

My cousin Geoffrey and I went fishing. I hadn't been fishing in twenty years. We wanted some male-bonding time. I told him I wanted to do something manly. Because I'm such a manly man, you know. He chose fishing. So we went to the local lake at dusk to cast our bobbins. Wait, is that even a thing in fishing? I don't know, but I caught the first fish. And the biggest. I caught two fish, thanked them for playing the game with me, and released them back into the water. Geoffrey caught three tiny little baby fish, but I suspect it was just the same stupid carp trying to eat the same lure three different times. So I won.

I got to experience Real Chicago Deep-Dish Pizza. It was excellent, of course. How could cheese and sauce and crust and meat not be a wonderful taste sensation? I don't think pizza is the right name for it, though. It's really a cross between a pizza and a calzone and a lasagna. It needs it's own special name. Something Italian-sounding. My buddy Jeff suggested shmaguli. I like it. Chicago has great shmaguli.

I went into Chicago to sight-see with my cousin-in-law Gretchen. I think adding the -in-law to her cousin designation diminishes the way I feel about her, so I will no longer use it. She is my cousin, my family. We had fun seeing downtown Chicago. Did you know the Sears Tower is now the Willis Tower? It sucks, I know. But I had fun at the top. Gretchen is a little acrophobic, but I was proud of her for going up with me, even if she didn't stand on The Ledge. We also went to Navy Pier, which I guess is a thing, and walked around downtown a bit. We even ate at an authentic Chicago restaurant. It was nice spending time with her.

I got to spend some time with my nephew, Otis. Being that I don't have any siblings, but have always wanted to be a fun uncle (as opposed to a creepy uncle, which would also be fun), my cousins have bestowed upon me the title of uncle. It was really sweet of them. So now I have two nephews, Otis in Illinois and Sam in California. I'll get to see Sam at the end of my trip. Anyway, it was fun seeing O. At first, he didn't like how I would come over and steal his parents away. But after a nice, lazy evening watching movies and eating Chinese food, he warmed up. He's two, so he's the perfect age to be entertaining to everybody but his frantic parents. I bounced him on my feet. He showed me how he likes to brush his teeth and swallow the delicious toothpaste. I remember swallowing toothpaste. It was like a refreshing minty treat you got for brushing your teeth. Mmmmm.

Also, Geoffrey, Gretchen and I went to see Inception. It was a fantastic, wonderful, smart film. See it. That's all I'm saying about that.

After my time in Illinois, I was eager to haul ass to New York to see my good friends. I blasted my way through Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Here is a summary of those states:

Indiana: Doesn't have it. You know that indefinable quality that a place has? That little piece of personality that says, "Hey, I'm a place. Why don't you stop here?" Indiana doesn't have it.

Ohio: Indiana with more people.

Michigan: Now, there's a state. Nice, salt-of-the-Earth people. Whatever that means, it's true about Michigan. Ann Arbor, where I stayed, is a great little college town. Maybe I'm prejudiced toward college towns, having only ever lived in college towns, but I really liked this place.

Pennsylvania: Loooong state. I have some adopted-familial ties to Pennsylvania, so I felt like I needed to pay my respects. The people were very nice and the scenery along the northern half was attractive. But unfortunately, I saw Pennsylvania as just a long stretch of road between me and New York. Maybe some day I'll return and see what it has to offer.

New Jersey: Really? What's the point, New Jersey? Being so close to the greatest cultural center in the country, if not the world, makes your whole New Jersey thing seem sort of silly. Maybe consider moving Jersey to the middle of the country? You might get a fair shake if you didn't have to live in your big brother's shadow. I hear Indiana needs something to make it a real place. Why not relocate there, New Jersey?

And having passed those states, I am now happily having an extended stay in New York City. I am not going to be driving for a long while. But before I put my car keys away so I don't have to shlep them around anymore, I have a few thoughts on driving in the big city.

As a courteous Oregon driver, I was a little intimidated by the prospect of having to negotiate the mean streets of NYC. But I've surprised myself so far. The transformation occurred in New Jersey, actually. Four miles before the George Washington Bridge, the bridge into the City, the traffic ground to a halt. It took an hour to travel those four miles. But don't think I had the pleasure of driving four miles an hour. No, most of that ground was covered in five-foot increments between minutes of sitting, trying to make up stories about the people in the cars around me. Actually, most of that time was spent trying to will my car to fly. Anyway, this is where I stopped being Alec the Nice Guy and became Alec the New York Driver.

Driving in New York City is a little like driving in a video game. When I get behind the wheel here, a different Alec comes out. I get to tap into a primal part of my brain where self-preservation is the ultimate goal. All pretenses of civilization fly out the window. It's not about driving, it's about surviving.

My hands grip the wheel with an intensity that alarms me. I gain a preternatural awareness of my surroundings. It's about imposing your will on the traffic. The traffic here is a living, breathing organism. In Oregon, the roads are there as a system of conveyance, nothing more. In New York City, the roads breathe and pulse with life. They do not want you on them. The traffic will try to tell you where to go. It is your job to pilot your miniaturized space ship through the body of the city. You have to inject yourself into the veins of the traffic, and once you are there, you have to fight to make your way to your destination. It requires all of your attention. You have to be strong. You ever cut someone off before? It feels great. Just like peer pressure, it's ok to give in if everyone else is doing it. Right? Everyone should come to New York so they can experience the thrill of cutting someone off. It is so cathartic.

I've always been good at cussing. I like to think I learned from the best. My mom was a champion cusser. I thought I knew all there was to know about what combinations of different verbs, nouns, prepositions, adverbs, adjectives, interjections and commands it takes to make a good cuss. Driving in New York has taken my cussing to previously unheard-of levels of creativity. By mixing it up and adding simple non-cusswords and stream of consciousness randomness to your cusses, you can make previously clean concepts fantastically dirty. There are just so many ways to yell at fools in traffic. It's all terribly fun.

I'll be in New York for a while. It is the geographical half-way point of my trip. I have gone just about as far east as I can. After this stop, it will be time to head back to the west coast, my coast. I like this place, though. My mom came from here and I can see how it influenced her personality.  I can imagine her as a little girl, amongst the huge buildings and millions of strangers. I like being in the place I heard so many stories about. Being here toughens you up. I only hope it imparts some of that strength on me.

Now that I am an adult, New York isn't as intimidating as it once was. It has the most history of any other place I've been. It has diversity. It has culture. It has some of the best food in the world. It is home to some of my favorite people ever. It has the worst traffic I have ever had the displeasure of driving in, but with a little creative cussing and some offensive driving, I think I can handle it.

See, New York has already me tougher.