There were some apparent differences between the southern USA and the Pacific Northwest to which I'm exposed. Some are charming.

Real drive-in restaurants. "Sonic" is a chain which seems to be thriving. The last one around here of which I'm aware died about 30 years ago.

Elegant mansions with huge grounds, dozens or hundreds for every one in the NW.

Acres and acres and acres of fields filled with grass but few if any hills big enough to supply water power. No wonder the South was an agrarian economy, and a wonderful one at that.

And times change. I passed two huge, enormous auto plants, one Hyundai and one Nissan on the edge of nowhere.

There were many more "payday loan" and pawn shops than I'm used to seeing. I'd say there were 10 times as many as in the PNW. Along with those was poverty such as I don't see here. Block after block of totally run-down apartments, streets filled with junk and kids playing in them.

Drove by Graceland, which has become almost a destination resort. The souvenir shops across the highway were crowded on an unexceptional day 30 years after Elvis passed away ingloriously perched on a toilet seat. It's nice people remember his entire life, not just the last moments.

Texas was much prettier than I had imagined, and there were serious windmill farms. Those enormous blades are turning at a pretty good clip and I accept they are a threat to birds, but they certainly aren't all that fast. Not blender-like. And they are in plain sight. The winds across Texas, New Mexico and Arizona were serious winds. I can't imagine why every freestanding house doesn't have a windmill if those winds are at all common.

I'm glad I went. Changed my perspective a lot, really.

Arf