The long haul

I feel comfortable saying that I have logged serious miles driving in the time I have been legally allowed to (since I was 16 and a half). From Boston to the Cape, Jay Peak, Sugarloaf, Mount Washington, etc. and back. And out west last summer on the "Road Trip '09: Brohawks & Beards" road trip, I logged serious miles driving through the remote areas of Phoenix and Nevada. Even out west when there was nothing around, I was still intrigued by the landscape. The same can't be said for the land between Niagara and Chicago. It's flat, plain, boring, and super lame.

I did, however, manage to get a cool pic or two form the car as we sped across US90 towards our destination.

And thanks to Ryan's lack of being able to spot out speed traps while doing 80 mph, I was able to snap this shot waiting for the cop to come up to the car and ask us if our a/c was working.

Apparently the cop hasn't seen too many sedans packed to the brim with 2 shirtless bros in his day. Luckily for Olmsted, the officer was kind enough to show him the Ohio way and let him off with a warning as a way to ensure safety on Ohio's byways. So for the next 15 miles Ryan cautiously did the speed limit until we saw this:

And then it was back to normal.

I guess this is a good of time as any to address how miserable Cleveland, OH is. I apologize in advance if I offend you, but it's just a miserable place with nothing except maybe Lake Erie and this video to make up for it.

So other than fields, animals, and state troopers, we swung in through Notre Dame to see what all the fuss was about. The area seemed lame until we got to the other end of campus near the football stadium where it looked like it could be a sweet spot to hang out in town. And we saw some middle aged man sprint towards a car full of football players to shamelessly ask for an autograph holding toy helmets and sharpies... kind of depressing. He actually resembled Private Cowboy just a little bit.

Coming into Chi town was impressive not just because of the lightning storm...

I didn't realize it was much bigger than Boston and almost had an NYC feel to it without all the horrible drivers, overcrowded streets, and lowlifes. If Chicago were on the east coast, I would definitely consider living there. But as it is, who wants to be landlocked in the middle of the country with out mountains? Not this guy. Assuming Ryan gets up on time tomorrow, we leave bright and early for The Badlands. Just a casual 15 hour drive, nbd.