Take me back home, al!Aloha to my friends in Hawai'i!!!
My cross country trip was very enjoyable _and_ vegan friendly! The information found on the net concerning restaurants on the World Guide to Vegetarianism web page was indispensable. I even found a delightful restaurant chain named Chili's (three veg entrees, in good locations in major cities). Nice visit for a bite to eat at Loma Linda U., too.
My first day of driving was quite an experience! Why was everyone driving so incredibly fast? Was I so tired from the overnight flight that my perception of speed went haywire? Before getting out of LA, I finally saw the 75mph speed limit sign, then remembered a story on CNN about new interstate speeds. Still, it took a while to adjust. The worst was in Arizona--while speed limits were only 65mph, the interstate from Phoenix to Tucson was only two lanes and very, very crowded. I found this to be somewhat scary. However, 65mph is a wee more easy to manage than 75mph!
In the Tucson area, I visited with some Veg/AR friends, managing to spend 4 or 5 days in the area. The Vegetarian Resource Group of Tucson has, in its three years of existence, grown to 190 members and continues to grow. They are working on having restaurants _pay_ VRGT to be included on their restaurant list, are working on their own home page, and do both vegetarian and animal rights outreach.
While in Tucson, check out Coffee Etc. for breakfast. There are two or three vegan breakfast items--listed as "macrobiotic"--that taste great and are very filling. I should know, I had two breakfast items at one sitting! (I believe they were Hopi Blue Corn Pancakes and Scrambled Tofu.) Also, as I was leaving (to meet the checkout time at a motel (I didn't always stay with friends--didn't want to *overstay*), I overheard two women having breakfast discussing the benefits of vegetarianism as it related to osteoporosis.
While I do not ordinarily support zoos, I visited the Sonora Desert Museum (recommended by an AR activist as a better--from a welfarist standpoint--zoo). The "museum" was a miniature version of the Sonora Desert, including flora and fauna, as well as a simulated cave. The animals there looked well cared-for for captive beings. They looked like they had as natural environment as could possibly be created for them. However, the larger birds, including an eagle, were kept in a very small area. Perhaps the animals that had it best were the prairie dogs (okay! I can't help but enjoy cute animals like prairie dogs!). One last thing...I didn't know there were soooooo many kinds of cactus!
Phoenix...an incredibly crowded city with a cloud of pollution all around it. Still, the California Pizza Kitchen wasn't so bad...too bad I didn't plan my trip differently and do the Tour de CPK across the US. Hmmm...I wonder how many people have eaten at _all_ the CPKs?!
Flagstaff...one of my Favorite Places on this planet (I'm still waiting for a chance to visit other planets just to make a fair comparison), topped, perhaps, by Monterey Bay. Wonderful forest and mountains rising above the desert--and, uh, COLD!!! Also, wonderful coffee shop (I don't remember the name at the moment), great for breakfast (both these coffee shops also had good items for other meals), and is located on San Francisco Street, I think. Also, in Flagstaff, found an internet coffee shop (tucked away in a Bookman's Bookstore) and chatted with Kevin Pickard (Toronto Vegetarian Association) and Geraint Edwards (Vegetarian Pages) for an hour or so via IRC (Internet Relay Chat).
Leaving Arizona, I finally visited the Meteor Crater--big hole in the ground! Okay, I liked it anyway...besides, pictures of it look much like the volcano on the Big Island!
Albuquerque...another visit with a veg friend...unfortunately, the Vegetarian Society of New Mexico isn't growing as fast as other organizations. Still, I had a fun time at a potluck, plus someone else visited as well, turning this portion of the trip into a small International Vegan Festival reunion! Plus, I visited the _largest_ health food store I've ever seen...not only physically large and busy in sheer number of customers, but with a produce section that indicated whether foods were American grown (or not), organic (or not), union (or not). A PC crisis!!!
I finally left Albuquerque when I saw on the Weather Channel that there would be nothing but good weather for travelling to the East Coast. However, don't go south from Albuqueque--BORING!!! Worse yet (and I've travelled this way before), was the trip through west Texas. This was not a veg friendly area--it was even _friendly_!! No McDonald's in sight for SAD eaters...or any other fast food, from Van Horn to the outskirts of San Antonio--about 350 miles of Moon landscape with breathable atmosphere!!
I drove on I-10, the southern most route, and saw many accidents there--perhaps because of the high highway speeds as well as the boringly straight roads bordered by tall trees (perhaps hiding environmental devastation by tree farming?). I even came across an accident moments after it happened, with smoke from screeching tires still in the air, passengers scrambling to the road from a car trapped under the trailer section of a semi. No one appeared hurt and another semi had just stopped and, I hope, radioed for the state police.
In Florida, Pensacola, to be specific, I had a phone conversation with someone I've only met on the IRC (Internet Relay Chat). [Previous to this, the closest I had ever been to Pensacola was near Ala Moana! Okay...no humor there if you haven't been to Hawaii.] The nice thing about the conversation was realizing that there were young people out there with Veg/AR interests as well as 'net savvy (on the 'net before their teen years and before the World Wide Web existed!).
Eating vegan (not necessarily fatfree), is easy travelling cross country. There are 24-hour Subways on the interstates, Chili's near the interstates, as well as so many restaurants along the way (many thanks to Mark Wisom and his World Guide to Vegetarianism--did you know that Dunkin' Donuts, while not having vegan donuts, _does_ have *vegan* Bavarian Cream Filling?!).
It's easy to Travel Vegan--Just Do It!!!