My experience in NJ was actually good...it really puts things in perspective.  Not everything is homogeneous in the good old USA...we have it really good in CA because voters have generally made good decisions over the years, plus we have less population density per square mile.  I count it among my many blessings to live here, and access to the ocean because of the California Coastal Act is just one of them.

Today I continued my meandering route to avoid the Jersey Turnpike.  This was fun, as it led me south into northern Maryland and West Virginia.  I stopped for coffee mid-a.m. And there was an equal number of license plates in the parking lot from PA, MD, WV and Virginia.  It must be unsettling to drive around never knowing what state you might be in.  I have no idea where the coffee stop was, other than near the border of those four states.

I drove westward mostly through Maryland and then  West Virginia, and then back into PA for a bit before entering Ohio, in which jurisdiction I presently reside.--somewhere just west of  Columbus for those keeping track.  To tell the truth, not much of interest is viewable from the interstate, other than the fact that there is a striking cluster of churches in the very center of Cumberland MD (or it could be WV—I haven't checked.) Perhaps because of the mining history, this town was obviously influenced by the major religions, as this “church hill” is comprised of impressive brick built cathedral-like structures, each vying for the highest, closest to god steeple.  There is an odd 'country' then intense 'city', then 'country' feel to the landscape.  It is like New Jersey, but real, without the people.  The people are all in these monochromatic brick towns;  the countryside is just countryside.

Tomorrow, I attempt to burrow deep into Missouri, and then on tuesday to my music jam in Topeka.  Tell you how it goes later.!