We're finally back from Ohio. 2578 miles later I'm really tired but we're okay and Fred the aloe plant is too. More later, after I stop thinking that I'm driving the computer through Wyoming.

This is it, today's the day. I've had an exciting day already, playing bingo with Grandma at the nursing home and shopping for some last minute snacks at the fine midwestern grocery store. Amy's headed down here tonight, then it's off to the wild wild west we go! I have vowed to put a dollar in every slot machine in every gas station we pass in Nevada since the last time I drove through there I was 19 and unable to spin the magic slot wheel.

I'm looking forward to the trip and moreso, to being home in California once again.

I've been in Ohio for barely more than a day and I'm seriously ready to leave. Somehow, I've grown really sick of this place and the connection I used to feel so deeply is gone. It's not nostalgia I feel as I walk the streets of my childhood, but shame at how left out I always was, at the hundreds of moments when I had no idea what to say or do, how I was always the last one picked for a team, and especially at how mean I became quickly when I finally had a friend or two and the small kernel of self-confidence that went with it.

It just hit me, I don't want to be here. I've finally outgrown this place and the memories it holds for me. My life is in California and it's pretty damn good. Free from the prejudices that seem to form people's identities here and most of all away from the goddamn humidity that turns my hair into a mess every time I walk out the door. My hair is telling me that I'm meant to be in CA. That's all there is to it.

Arrived in Ohio very tired and hungry. I'm not sure why they would think that pretzels are suitable breakfast fare, but that's what I got at 7 am. Lovely. Amy and I are all set to depart on the big trip in a mere two days, I can't believe it!