It was three days after graduation, and I was getting restless. The U-Haul had finally been attached to our green Toyota Highlander, and the cab of the car was filled to the front seats with pillows, suitcases, snack boxes, and a cooler filled with Diet Pepsi, of all things. We dragged our first cheap mattress through the back door and laid it up on the dirty fence, grabbed sheets and pillows, and closed the door. This change didn't upset me as much as I thought it would, or should. I ran away to Virginia to figure out life and college, and now I was leaving it half a decade later: very content, very accomplished, and very much married. I'd gotten what Virginia had to offer me, taken what I needed from it, and looked towards the next place to explore.
Now, I don't know if anyone else has done this, but the drive from the East Coast to the Gulf is quite a trip. I was happy to cross three more states off of my list, which added more excitement to road trip ennui. (Spoken like a true Oscar Wilde scholar.) I had already visited Tennessee, so I could not cross it off my list; however, this drive through revealed the damage caused by the recent storms and tornadoes across the South. We drove past splintered buildings and hunching metal poles. I said a little prayer for the South, both the people and the land - something I never thought I'd do in my life.
