October 17, 2006
Day 384
Today involved a lot more driving. If you're not from the US, it might be hard to fathom jut how big it really is. I've heard of Europeans showing up in New York, renting a car, and asking how far it is to the Grand Canyon. It can take a week to drive across the country, and that's without even stopping to see anything. In our case, it took us two days to get to DC, and two more to get to Miami.
Looking at the map, and judging from memory, it appeared that there would be a narrow line of almost continuous cities all the way from West Palm Beach to Miami. Figuring figuring the motels in Miami would be really expensive, we started searching for a place early. We ended up stopping in... West Palm Beach, where I had my horrible bus experience when I first returned to the US!
After unpacking, we took a drive and walk around the city and confirmed that it's definitely a shithole. Extreme wealth and extreme poverty live right next to each other with nothing in between. It's really hot and the only people walking around are drug addicts, beggars, and yuppies. I don't know how I ever got talked into stopping here. At least this time I can take refuge in a hotel room instead of being forced to sit outside among the elements while I wait for full buses to show up all night.
