May 14th, 2009 by Jess

The TNTeam blog has now returned from a brief hiatus – it was much longer than I had expected when I embarked on my latest adventure!

I have been living outside of Washington, DC for the past several years.  Recently, I decided it was time to move on.  So my crew and I packed our bags and took to the road. 

The crew relaxing after a hard day on the road.

I optimistically thought a cross-country road trip would be an excellent opportunity to catch up on blogging, website maintenance, and general news.  Boy was I mistaken.  Instead I caught up on sleep!

We turned up in Olympia, WA, one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.  It is so green here (double entendre intended).

This was my third coast to coast road trip.  Each time I have taken a different route.  I firmly believe that every American should be required to drive across the country at least once.  I think there is no other way to truly understand the enormity and diversity of our country.  The United States is a heterogeneous experience.  I forget sometimes that the many viewpoints held by fellow citizens can be a result of their own, very different lives.  I often think with politics, “How can they not be seeing what I’m seeing about this issue?!” when, really,  how could they be?  Their lives and their realities look nothing like my own.

I am glad to be back on the West Coast, glad to be settled and mostly unpacked, and very glad to have internet all hooked up and running again.