We LIVED Here?

If we had a dollar for every time one of us asked that rhetorical question in the last 24 hours, we might not be rich, but we could definitely fill our moose with fuel at the next Flying J.

Our first day back in the Bay Area has us asking that question again and again.

This place is nuts!

We wondered how it would be to come back to the place we called home for nearly 10 years. And, now we know.

It's weird.

There are seemingly a billion people here. And, guess what? They all want to get on the freeway the same time we do! And, although using your cell to talk or text while you drive is illegal here, everybody does it while cruising down the road at least 10 miles over the speed limit. And, turn signals? They are completely optional! And, oh yeah. If you drive a Prius, none of the rules apply. That's right. You own the road.

A simple little task, like an afternoon Wal-Mart run, takes all the courage and energy we can muster. And, for those of you familiar with the Bay Area, we have yet to venture inside the 680 corridor. This is life in the suburbs!

Let me remind you, dear reader, we lived here for almost a decade! We took it all in stride then. We were out there with the masses driving to and from work and zipping around town like crazy people trying to get everything we couldn't do during the week done on the weekend. We didn't give it a second thought. And, that's probably a good thing. Had we given it any thought we probably would've ended up on a couch somewhere in the fetal position.

But, now, something has changed. And, it's not the place. Nope, we're pretty sure the Bay Area is pretty much how we left it 10 months ago.

It's us.

I don't think we really realized it, but we've slowed down. In a good way. We see everything. We pay attention to it all. And, in a place like this where everybody else has their blinders on, it can be overwhelming. After 10 months on the road anywhere but here, we know this isn't normal. Human beings really aren't designed to live like this. Everywhere else the pace is slower. There's space to kick back and relax. Everyone doesn't move at 70 mph in the slow lane.

There's a lot to like about the Bay Area. That's why so many people live here. And, that's what screws it up. Too many people! And, having been part of that mass of humanity we know what many of these folks are thinking: That this is one of the best places to live and work in the country. Nothing could be better.

As we were cruising up pothole-filled 680 at the speed of sound this afternoon, I so wanted to roll down the window and shout, "THERE IS SOMETHING BETTER OUT THERE!"

But, nobody would have noticed. They're all wrapped up in their way-too-busy Bay Area life.

There is something better. Much better. It's in Bend, Oregon and Port Angeles, Washington and Couer d'Alene, Idaho and Polson, Montana and Cheyenne, Wyoming and Ellis, Kansas and Monett, Missouri and Little Rock, Arkansas.... You get the idea.

You just have to get out there and see it.

And, we're so glad we are.