I thought we were more like the Borg...oh well...welcome home Kate.

We live on the continent that should have been divided 3 ways alright. Just North to South, not East to West.

I have worked all the way down to Texas and it's always been clear to me that the prairies are the prairies all the way down to the Gulf coast.

The similarities in people all the way up and down are quite evident, from the way we dress, the trucks we drive, work we do and not least of all, generally conservative outlook on life.

Any chance we could redraw the borders along the Rockies and the Mississippi?

Glad to see you're home safe and sound, Kate!

Welcome back home. It is nice to go on a trip and it is nice to get back home.

Next time take 40 east to 5 to I-29 N. You'll save a couple hours.

And it takes 17 hours and 45 minutes to get from the factory outlets outside of Minneapolis to Martensville. We did it once. Maybe it was the snow...
Drive safe.

Kate, your comment "we are more like Americans than we are one another" really struck a chord with me.

In times past, when visiting Europeans or Asians have asked me what it means to be Canadian, I've often struggled to find an answer. I've always added that "Vancouver has a lot more in common with Seattle and Portland [Oregon] than it does with the rest of the country".

Walk East-West often provides a much wider cultural gap than walking North-South does.

I-29 was full of sandbags and detours on the way down, so I took the alternate route home. Took about the same number of driving hours.

Welcome back Kate..

-
But

I am having trouble driving in the rain,
and large football crowds during cold weather cause me paranoia!

RATES of mental illnesses including depression and post-traumatic stress will increase as a result of climate change..

The paper, prepared for the Climate Institute, says loss of social cohesion in the wake of severe weather events related to climate change could be linked to increased rates of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress and substance abuse.

As many as one in five people reported ''emotional injury, stress and despair'' in the wake of these events.

Climate Change post traumatic stress reminds me of my favorite poem,
which is, "Roses are red, violets are blue,
I'm a schizophrenic... and so am I!"

After I went to university in the states I believe that vertical lines on the map are the true division. the east is the same in Canada and the usa, the central prairies are the same and so is the west coast. Our trade itself in north and south, not east and west.

Appearances can be deceptive.

With decades of reliance on government-controlled marketing boards, protectionist supply-management systems, and allocations of grant monies, Canadian farmers have largely lost the self-reliance that characterizes their Yank cousins.

This may be more true in the east, but I seem to recall that a substantial minority of western farmers wanted to retain the CWB.

Happy to hear you are back safe. I couldn't agree more with your comment about the Americans. I read and listen to the media and politicians in Eastern Canada and I'm instantly upset at what I hear. I'm on my way to Idaho next week where I have something in common with people on the street.

It's a bit of a snark, but I remember the old joke: "There is no difference between Canadians and Americans, and the surest way to prove this is to make this observation to a Canadian."

Physical geography is only one metric.

Family roots tend to run east to west - not north south: people from Maine moved to CA; NLers moved to AB.

Ditto plane traffic. And freight. Our countries are more economically diversified and thus more resilient when they run east to west.

So, what did you do with the extra 3 hours and 57 minutes that Google says you needed to make this epic trek?

According to a certain female astronaut, you could have saved even more time with Depends....

Welcome back, eh.

It's the secret to making time on secondary highways - travel at interstate speed.

As a person who lives within a mile of US281, albeit a bit farther south than Topeka, I can testify that this is true as far south as my area.

But I live on the edge of the Cambrian escarpment. From here north, through north Texas and Oklahoma, the scenery changes little if any, but from here south you are no longer on the Great Plains and there are significant differences.

Differences in the scenery, yes. As Derek points out, in culture, not so much, at least until you get to San Antonio. It's always tickled me a bit that Calgary and San Antonio are on the same north-south route, just as Dallas and Winterpeg are.

Regards,
Ric

Ric, Calgary isn't on a route to San Antonio. It's way too far west. Calgary is on route 89, which runs to Flagstaff, AZ (originally to Phoenix and the Mexican border at Nogales). Route 281 to San Antonio runs from Brandon and Flin Flon, Manitoba.

From Kansas you might head west and pick up I25 to northeastern Wyoming and I90 to Billings, then to Saskatchewan from there. Kate knows the way a sight better than I do though, I'll trust her judgment.

Rick, you should have turned left at Albuquerque.
(Always wanted to say that.)

The coming Nafta Super Highway:

=http://www.sweetliberty.org/issues/nafta_gatt/images/nasco_corridor.jpg

Viva Winnipeg!

I drove from Marshall MN to Phoenix once. Two days down, three days back, because I am not a superhuman and I have to stop to stretch every couple hours.

It all looks the same until you get to Colorado. You can see the curve of the Earth. Its almost flat and straight enough to set the cruise control and nap.

It seemed like I spent a week in Nebraska even though the trip was two days long.

Look up Joel Garreau's "Nine Nations of North America." Food for thought.

The current political structures on this continent are driven more by historical accident than by geographic, political, linguistic, or regional realities.

Which means that, if those structures were ever disrupted for a time, odds are they coalesce into something shaped much differently than they are now.

Had you gone up US41 along the Indiana/Illinois border you would see the scenery is changing.

Windmills as fas as the eye can see.

Disgusting really.

But you can just go to Gull Lake to see the general idea.

US30 along the Indiana/Ohio border is the same thing.

Where's Paul Bunyan and Babe when you need him?

Glad your home safe. Ive always felt at home in Texas myself.