Next time I'm flying.

We planned our trip back to Bend on Interstates, most of the way. We'll get home one day sooner, overall, and most of the days will be at least a third less time on the road. Still a long trip, but...

Those detours into the the Grand Canyon and Zion and Santa Fe and so on were very time-consuming, but that's the way you have to do it, I guess.

We headed north from Oklahoma City, into Kansas and then into Nebraska.

When they talk about the cornfields of Nebraska, they ain't kidding. Miles and miles and miles of them. There are occasional farmhouses and barns, but I figure they're not the real farmers here, because every small town seems totally corporate -- hell, the signs and logo's alone signal that there is some major agribusiness behind all those fields of corn.

It has its own beauty.

I think I've changed my mind about the Interstates -- up to now, I thought the side roads and highways were more interesting, but there's something really great about putting your car into an 80 mile an hour cruise control and eating up the miles. (Toll roads -- what's with that?)

Gobbling up the gas, too. Which is mostly in the 3.50 range. These drivers seem more likely to stick to the speed limit, but don't signal.

We'll be well into Wyoming tomorrow, so should start seeing some mountains. Unless we're too far south.

This is a big freaking country, and traveling 8 or 10 hours a day really drives that home. A jaunt to Portland or Eugene ain't nothing. Even a trip to Seattle or San Francisco doesn't seem as daunting.

I'm pretty tired -- last night I slept the sleep of the dead. I think leaving Toby and Lisa deflated both of us a bit. I can always see the excitement in Linda when she's going to see her boys -- sometimes weeks in advance, and I can also see the letdown when we're headed the other direction. Based on last night, the same thing must happen to me a bit.

It was a good thing to do. But next time I'm flying.