Some observations of things in America

• Yes it really is big: Near Yuma part of the road ran parallel with a train track and we saw 3 or 4 freight trains while we motored along. Adam videoed one from the cab at the front to the last container which took one minute - yes one minute. Given we were travelling at around 60 mph that makes the train approximately a mile long. Similarly, we passed a solar park which was probably about the size of Tunbridge Wells.
• The can-do attitude: We saw vast tracts of very green, verdant agricultural land which we realised had been reclaimed from sandy scrub land when we saw an equally vast area being prepared for the same purpose. Who says you can't grow things in a desert?
• Americans like an advert: I pulled into a gas station (as we should call them) in which I could self-serve at the pump. I inserted my credit card and using the touch screen on the pump, completed the financial side of the purchase. Picked up the pump and suddenly the touch screen began to ply me with advertising about the things I was missing in my life.

• Americans need lawyers and dentists: A phenomenal number of billboards line every highway and an extraordinary number are used to promote the services of lawyers and dentists and all have very cheesy photos of, presumably, the chief of the firm looking very sympathetic to your legal or dental needs.
• The sugar levels in food are incredible: We started reading the labels of drinks at first and then, concerned by what we saw, any food item we bought. Adam's research says American food producers only need to display the amount of 'Added' sugar in their products and not the total amount. Whilst calories per serving are quite boldly referenced, the size of a serving is very often way below what an average American would consume.
• Toilet paper is thin: We thought initially that this was just a cost-cutting hotel thing but purchasing some for Adam from Walmart we discovered this is a universal truth, if this were an amendment to the constitution along the lines of, 'We hold this to be self-evident that toilet paper should always leave you perilously close to having an unpleasant experience when you are at your most exposed.'
• Roadside hard shoulders are littered with remnants of tyres: American vehicles must suffer a very high level of tyre blow outs because an extraordinarily regular sighting along the Interstates and Highways are the shredded remains of tyres. I checked this fact with my flight buddy from Phoenix. She laughed and confirmed I was right in my observation but could offer no explanation.
• Speed limits are discretionary: A fact I find quite ironic, given my transgression in Sequoia national park, but observing the speed limit on any road will see you being overtaken by everything from a small car of European origin to the huge trucks that carry Coca-Cola during the Christmas holidays.
• Trump still looms large and splits the country: Conversations I have had with people that admitted voting for Trump suggest that decision is based around the fact that he does not represent mainstream politics, eschews the 'diplomatic' language associated with this, speaks directly with his Twitter account and, that 'putting America first again' message resonates, rather like the answer to the plight of the guy in Bruce Springsteen song lyrics of the 80s; just been made redundant with a pregnant girlfriend and '69 Chevvy still to support. Other views are totally opposite about someone who perhaps should be re-crowned as 'President Marmite'.
• Retail outlets just say what they do: - Frank's Diner, Ammo and Guns, Harry's Auto Parts. What would a sex shop be called I pondered? I ventured 'Pussy and Vibrators' but Adam would not be drawn into this game.
• Waitresses: As I have mentioned, my belief on coming to America was that waitresses should be at the cheery extremity and leading edge of the social affability that we associate with the people of this country. My attempts to test this theory have been met with blank or confused looks or, in one extreme case, seeming irritation. Adam's theory is that the tip-based remuneration system means they are more concerned with the speed with which they can take the order, serve it, clear the table and move on to the next customer, than frivolous banter with a Brit. Seems brutal but Adam may have a point. Some restaurant chains pay a wage but if not, the minimum wage rules are pretty minimum. That figure is set at $2.50 per hour and if the serving staff do not earn more than $31 in a month including tips, the employer is obliged to make up their wage to that monthly minimum.
• Craft beer has arrived: I always associate America with weak, fizzy and tasteless beer. But Coors and Miller now have some challengers with craft beer breweries getting their very good IPAs into restaurants, diners and bars. One I ordered without studying the menu in any great detail was 7.2% proof. It was very good but I obviously drank it with caution and certainly didn't order another even though I was walking back to the motel.
• Bowling alleys: You link America with their three sports of American football, basketball and baseball so we were surprised to discover even the smallest town has a ten-pin bowling alley.
• Baseball caps: It was rare to see an American male without a baseball cap in a way that reminded me of those sepia photographs of British football crowds and large groups of workers in the 1920s and 30s where all were wearing a flat cap or hat of some sort.
• Patriotism: It is quite rare to see a house without some recognition of the fact you are in America. Typically that is the Stars and Stripes hanging prominently near the front door. In some towns we saw small posters of military personnel attached to lamp posts with their photograph, name and a supportive message.
• It's clean and respected: I guess this observation links to the one above. If you are proud of your country you will look after it. Aside from the remnants of tyres mentioned earlier, litter on the streets and roadsides was just not there.
• They speak English: Not a difference obviously but a similarity that without, would have made much of these diary entries improbable. In Europe, my limited French and Spanish, would have meant conversations drying up beyond an initial introduction, or just a continuing awkward silence as we sat next to each other on some journey unable to communicate. As I remarked to the couple we met on the golf course, I for one am appreciative of the part of our colonial past that saw us try and colonise these lands. It's obvious I know, but leaving them speaking English has made sharing these experiences with the American people so much easier. And, if I'm being really selfish, opened up an awful lot of the internet.

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