It's great to get out of town now and then. The financial crisis had me hunkered down, a siege mentality taking hold. A long car ride was in order.

Fortunately, I had the opportunity last week to do just that, visiting Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Mexico and Texas.

My take-away mirrored a recent poll by the Pew Research Center. Pew found that people are concerned, but not panicking about the financial crisis.

That does mean that people like Dave Garretson, the fruit farmer I met in Biglerville, PA, are not feeling some pain. Dave "lost more in a month" than he makes in a year. But people need apples, he plans to sell them, and he doesn't have a lot of debt on the books. Dave is not panicking.

Neither are the people I spoke with in Amarillo. KACV, the local PBS station, was kind enough to invite me out to speak to a group of local business owners. I heard concern, some outrage at CEO pay, and a general sense of shock at the way business has been done on Wall Street, but no panic. Amarillo is benefiting from oil money, investment in wind energy, and a strong sense of community. Amarillo is looking pretty good right now.

It was much the same story in Virginia and New Mexico. In the long run, there is much to be optimistic about in these states. Strong research institutions, skilled entrepreneurs, and lots of hard-working people.

On the whole, my trips always remind me that we are a pretty sensible nation. Sure many of us got carried away with debt, but all of us will make our choice on November 4th, and then we'll move on to fix this mess with as much care and common sense as we can muster. That's how the nation does business even if the financial sector didn't.