{"id":1812,"date":"2013-07-17T04:36:11","date_gmt":"2013-07-17T03:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tazmpictures.com\/site\/?p=1812"},"modified":"2013-07-27T01:14:04","modified_gmt":"2013-07-27T00:14:04","slug":"the-great-american-fast-food-odyssey-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tazmpictures.com\/site\/?p=1812","title":{"rendered":"The Great American Fast Food Odyssey – part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Foreign Service Officers (i.e. U.S. “diplomats”) are Congressionally mandated to spend a decent amount of time in the United States between tours – presumably so that we maintain a good understanding of our home countries while we’re out representing America to other countries. \u00a0This means is that every 2-3 years, between foreign tours, we’re required to spend a month or so at home, getting to know our country again. \u00a0It’s called “home leave,”<\/a>\u00a0and it can be expensive, unless you spending the month holed up in your parents’ basement to save money.\u00a0Not that my parents have a basement. \u00a0ANYhoo…<\/p>\n

My 15-year-old came up with a great way to spend our first (and likely my daughters’ last) home leave: rent an RV and go cruising up and down the Western states for a week or two. \u00a0So we’re driving this giant rig from Eugene, Oregon, as far south as out budget will allow, for the next couple of weeks. Here’s how our trip started:<\/p>\n