What a country

One of the big differences between this excursion and the Ohio trip has been the amount of technology available to us.

First, we're featuring a Garmin GPS unit on the windshield. We don't have our entire route programmed into the unit, but it does offer several benefits. It has a speed limit feature that tells you at any given time how fast you must go to violate the law. It also gives a good relative view of upcoming turns.

Second, Carey is rolling with some sort of prototype uber-phone, which must have been developed for secret intelligence agents. It also has a full-color GPS, along with a map of county boundaries which he downloaded. The phone is also broadcasting our position (via bliin.com) and taking pictures, which are automatically uploaded.

Lastly, this uber-phone is obviously offering us the opportunity to blog live from remote corners of Alabama. Although we don't have a constant connection, we do have the ability to hop on and create posts, and check your messages.

Even this van's technology blows away that of the Town & Country of '05. It has 11 cup holders and 4 (FOUR!) portable DVD holders. Also, it's got Satellite radio (a feature which we have not used, but was promised on the Town & Country and never delivered).

My mother and Yakov Smirnoff would say, "what a country!"