A road trip across the U.S. is enough to get me back to my American roots! My father & I loaded the SUV and headed out on the road...for a 4 day trip to Georgia!KANSAS- After driving nine hours from Colorado in the 103F/39c weather, we were ecstatic (and a bit stiff from the car ride) when we arrived in Overland Park, Kansas. We could not believe how friendly everyone was (even the grocery store cashier was genuinely happy as she scanned our cheese and bananas.) You see, the international stereotype about Americans is that we are superficially friendly. Yet, I have come to the conclusion that our avid culture around small talk, smiles, general friendliness and openess to complete strangers is actually filling a void; it makes us feel connected in an unconnected culture that values independence. And let me qualify this by saying...not every American is genuinely friendly.
MISSOURI- We found ourselves shopping at a HUGE Walmart (a hypermart)! Yes, if there is any store that represents down-home USA, it is the sprawling piece of concrete that is known for being the biggest gun-seller and the largest employer in the U.S. (according to Money magazine). We grabbed some strawberries, a wine opener, and browsed the gun aisle (ha, ha!)
ARKANSAS- After a seven hour drive through th
e sweltering heat and beautiful green, lush farm country 
of Arkansas, we arrived in Little Rock. Home of Bill Clinton and the beginning of the southern drawl. We found the best Indian restaurant in Arkansas and enjoyed some chicken tikka masala. Ok, we cheated! Normally, when we travel we are ardent about trying the local cuisine...but the south is known for the unhealthy, greasy food and therefore we declined the opportunity to clog our arteries.MISSISSIPPI- This is officially the fattes
t state in the motherland. I think it might have something to do with the local cuisine: fried pickles, fried green tomatoes, biscuits and gravy, grits, fried chicken, Mississippi mud pie (this is chocolate heaven), sweet potato pie, and fried okra. Yummy! Mississippi is also in the "bible belt". Th
is was evident as we passed more churches than mile markers. I fully enjoyed the big billboards, "Don't make me come down there. -God", "No God, no peace; Know God, know peace." It just brought (some) truth to the international stereotype that Americans are uber religious.ALABAMA- We exited the main highway and headed tow
ards Joe Wheeler State Park on a good ol' country road. Now, this is where we experienced the true deep south. We drove through ma
ny counties that were dry, meaning NO ALCOHOL sales. Crazy! Many of these dry counties have been dry since the prohibition days of the early 1900's. Since 
this is a democratic country, the people (within the county) have a say in this policy; as the dry county issue appears on the ballot every year. Yet, just across the county line, you will find 
"package stores" (the old-school name for liquor stores). We spent the night at the Joe Wheeler State Park resort lodge, which sits right on the lake and luckily we managed to buy a 6 pack of Corona, as the park is located in a dry county. Our room had a balcony overlooking the pool and marina with 2 beautiful wooden rocking chairs. It was a great spot to spend our last night on the road. The next day, as my father went to throw out the beer bottles in the hallway (so no one would know that they were from our room), he found that we were not the only heathens...the rubbish bin was full of beer cans.GEORGIA- Ah, we made it...just in time for A
tlanta rush-hour. EWWWW! More on Georgia later...
