I hated myself for getting so horribly ill on my trip. I could have seen so many more fascinating places, but instead I reluctantly turned the other way and headed home.
Shortly after leaving Safford, AZ, as I crossed into New Mexico, I stumbled across a highway (AZ 78) winding around mountains like a road in a car commercial. I couldn't fully appreciate it, given my physical state, but it still managed to cheer me up. Not far from there, I also stumbled upon the V Array of Telescopes, a field full of satellite dishes. From there I took Interstates all the way to Tucumcari in Northeastern New Mexico.
By now I had learned to stay away from the Interstates if I wanted to see anything interesting. Moreover, the most direct route back home was Highway 54, which cut a diagonal line across the prairies. I travelled on that road for two or three days, as it led me through a corner of the Texas panhandle, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri. It was a fascinating drive, if only for the novelty of being on a perfectly straight road, with a railroad track on one side, interspersed with towns consisting of nothing more than small collections of buildings around a huge grain silo. I also discovered the Toronto Wildlife Area near Toronto, Kansas.
Soon enough I found myself back on the Interstates, crossing familiar-looking territory in Indiana and Michigan. When I finally crossed the border into Ontario, I felt as though I were in a foreign land.
