All the characters are so entrenched in the industry, it’s hard to imagine them being critical of it, but I don’t think it’s portrayed favorably at all.

I watched the first season, and
while some stylistic elements were not to my taste, I did enjoy it. It’s hard for me to imagine watching and interpreting Billy Bob Thorton’s character as anything but an antihero.

I try to point things I see out to her, but more often than not, she can’t see what I see from her vantage point. What could be fun, quality time traveling together often feels like torture for us both, and is so stressful and exhausting for me, I need time to recover when we reach our destination.

Above all the things I dislike about car travel, lately it’s what the experience is like for my kid that gets to me the most. For her safety she must be restrained and out of my reach. We can’t even see each other except in a mirror, which she often kicks out of position.

The other night I forwarded a post about proposed Ohio train routes to some friends in NYC who also have a young kid. We were close when we all lived in the same city years ago, but haven’t seen each other in years. The thought of hopping on a train with my kid to go visit them is so appealing.

I’m currently considering visits to Cleveland and Findlay, and the dreaded drive with restless kiddo is the top reason why I might choose to stay home.

For both work and recreation I do a fair amount of travel to rural places that aren’t likely to ever be accessible by train, but I would probably visit other cities more frequently if I didn’t have to drive to them.

I’ve missed train travel ever since I left, but after numerous roadtrips of varying lengths with my kid, I yearn for the freedom of movement and ability to multitask that mass transit, and especially trains, allow.

Before I became a parent, I lived in Oregon for more than a decade and often took Amtrak for intercity travel.

And then there’s whole traveling part. A road trip with a kid means a lot of stopping, especially if there isn’t another adult in the car to retrieve dropped snacks and toys, and carpooling helps, but not everyone’s up for spending hours in a car with a toddler.

This is an area where gas & oil has a lot of history & power & the local residents aren’t your typical environmentalists. This is deep organizing at work and it doesn't happen overnight.