(4) PA: It will be dark soon (still day 1)...

By the time we reached Indianapolis we've been driving for roughly 12 hours with only short breaks to refuel, breakfast and lunch. I simply loved all of what I've seen so far; I was still on an adrenaline high and far from tired. Besides, I haven't yet had a chance to drive. I would have my opportunity soon enough - yay!

Approaching Indianapolis... A comforting sense of familiarity - again (*smile*) This is one of the biggest cities that we drove through on the way.

Recreational riding is popular in the US. Wearing a helmet is mandatory by law in 20 states, only mandatory for some riders in 27 states and in 3 states there is no law in this regard. In Kansas you don't have to wear one except on the military base. Personally I prefer wearing one. It just seems like the responsible thing to do, you know.  

Beautiful view; a glimpse of civilization the way I'm used to it. Until now I've only seen this kind of America in the movies and now I was driving in it. 

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: a highway.

City scape of Indianapolis from the highway.

Look familiar anyone? I was fascinated by the blue on these bridges. It wasn't until we drove back and passed it a second time that we noticed that it is part of a space theme around the highway. They had all sorts of space shuttle cartoons "engraved" into the concrete on the side of the road. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of it - sorry :(

There's that famous off-ramp to the right...

Garett was a little concerned that we were going to hit Indianapolis during rush hour traffic. His memories of the highway was a little unsettling and he didn't want to have a repeat experience. We only realized it just on the other side of town that the time zone changed in Terre Haute, Indiana, so instead of it being 5pm, it was already 6pm and the worse was already over.

Those little VW bugs are also rather popular around the cities... Seeing as we've already been driving for 12 hours by this time it was quite a relief that this highway was not that busy. Just like everyone rushing home to dinner we were starting to feel like it was time for dinner and a decent break.

Unfortunately it was dark after dinner and I couldn't take any more pictures. Finally it was my turn to drive. The weather was cool and rainy - much appreciated after the fairly hot day in the car. We got to see a spectacular display of lightning. We decided to drive as far as we felt the energy to do so safely. It turned out to be around 3:30am. Now both Garett and I were pooped and we decided to find a safe spot to take a break until at least sunrise.

Note to self: Liane is too tall to take a nap on the front seat; comfortable for driving but not for sleeping. I would have preferred the backseat instead but it was filled with luggage - sadly no luck there :( Either way it was a welcome break. The upside was that we wouldn't have to drive another full day to our destination. We were now already within the state of Pennsylvania and I was slowly starting to look forward to getting the long drive behind us.

(2) Road trip to Pennsylvania - A-N-D we're still going...

OK... So we're still cruising along. We haven't had breakfast yet and the coffee is finished, but we're still smooth sailing on adrenaline! It's not hot and we've not needed to turn the airconditioning on, and at this point (I'm happy to report) I'm still best buds with the passenger seat - lucky for Garett (*wink*). So let's get back to 'show 'n tell', shall we?

I just threw this one in because I loved the silhouette of the truck on the bridge. Cool! isn't it?

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Obviously we did not pass through here during rush hour...

Kansas City from a distance. I couldn't help but feel a twinge of familiarity from some photographs I've seen of Johannesburg's skyline.

Some more Kansas City. Driving through here I got a sense that I might feel right at home.

Kansas City in hindsight. Doesn't that just remind you of driving into Johannesburg or Cape Town?

Just to show you a little what the roads look like. (This is just outside of Kansas City of course.)

A little bit more on what the roads look like. This is called an interstate highway. The speed limits on most of them were typically between 60 and 70mph (97 - 113km/hr). With the GPS on the dash Garett made sure we stuck to the limits. He watched me like a hawk.

Uh oh! You know what this means...

...Roadworks! We had quite a bit of this along the way but seldom was it cause for standstill traffic. We were backed up a few times on the way there but maybe only once on the way back. Typically in these zones the speed limit is 55mph (88km/hr) but - as usual - you have those who either can't read or think they're invincible. Who knows what I'm talking about?

R-i-g-h-t! Columbus is a city in the next state: Missouri. They also have 'Toys R us' - a little something familiar... again :)