Driving Across the Country
A few thoughts after driving all the way from South Carolina to our new home in Oregon last week.
- This is such a big country. It’s impossible to imagine that anyone living on a coast has any idea about what it’s like to live in Idaho, or Wyoming. There are huge implications for that in regards to Federal laws IMHO.
- I did the whole trip sans a GPS device. I used my iPhone when I needed directions but mostly just planned out my route the day before using major highways.
- I also made good use of AroundMe and iExit on the iPhone.
- Laws in most places prohibit picking up your phone while driving, thus I had to stop to use those apps. One place where a passenger might come in handy!
- While I understand the reason for the laws, I still resent the fact that looking at my phone for a second to see if the next right is the one on the map is illegal, spending 30 seconds fumbling around for a CD or to connect an iPod to the radio isn’t. They are all distracted driving, why can’t we just have a law that says you have to control your vehicle? Oh wait, we already do!
- The iPhone should send it’s audio directions to the bluetooth headset when it is connected. Why it doesn’t is beyond me.
- Using Instagram with IFTTT to post to my photo blog was a great way to update people on the progress of the trip. Now that it’s over, I can use the blog to share photos I actually took with my DSLR instead of my iPhone.
- Photos on the iPhone 5s were pretty good regardless. See above, for example.
- Did I mention it’s a really big country? I drove over 3000 miles in 6 days. Oregon is also a much bigger state than any other I’ve lived in during my driving years.
- I’m not as young as I used to be. After 6 days of driving and one day of setting up and wiring up the new office, I spent Friday night with ice on my knees. lol
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