Cross Country

Last weekend we drove from coast to coast. That’s right, across the whole girth of this great country. We live right on the East Coast, and on Saturday morning we got on the legendary Route (A)66 and headed due West. We went to see my oldest sister, and her lovely family, for a couple of days in beautiful rainy Cumbria.

From the East Coast to West Coast, UK style

As I said to TLOML, it was like driving from LA to Baltimore. Only a lot quicker. Whereas our cross-country trip took a couple of hours, in the US it would take days.

West Side to the East Side, on a US scale

The scale of the US is hard to grasp, as a Brit. What brought it home to me was the revelation that some US airlines offer ‘funeral fares’ for the recently bereaved to make it home for a funeral. It is that common to live a flight away from your close family. Americans, being used to living in a country as ginormous as America, don’t let the small matter of a cross-country flight stop them seeing their family. 

When we move back to California we will be in the same country as the other side of Lady P’s family. But as most of them are East Coasters, they’ll still be a five or six hour flight away. (Actually we were almost as close to her grandparents when we lived in London as we will be when we live in California.)

Plenty of Americans will drive for two, four, six or more hours for Thanksgiving dinners in a couple of weeks time. It makes the distance between me and my sisters seem very manageable by comparison. While we’re still here, I’m determined to make the most of it, and see a bit more of the family we are close to.