Joe's Roadtrip

Location: Milan, IN

Miles Driven: ~610

Total Miles: 6,251

New York is a big state, and I lived there for 26 years, but I don’t think I realized how big it was until this trip.  Coming from the Northeastern border to the border with Western PA and OH took quite a while.  Although I got a late start on the day, I made it into Ohio by early afternoon.  Once I crossed the border, I couldn’t help but play one of my favorite songs:

I was just east of Cleveland when I hit up a rest stop to take a break and got some exercise.  By the time I was done, it was 5PM.  I looked at the map and realized Ohio is another deceptively big state.  If I wanted to make it inside the Indiana border before it was too late, I’d have to get moving.  As you can see from the miles covered above, I certainly got moving and far too late into the night (most miles in one day so far on this journey).

It was close to rush hour so I tried to avoid the Cleveland traffic as much as possible, though I was somewhat drawn to seeing the Lebron James “We are all witnesses” giant poster.  Not being a big enough draw for me, I headed south towards Akron before hitting the city.  And you know, I can’t mention Cleveland here without showing one of the greatest city promotional videos of all time:

I’ll have to return to Cleveland sometime to see both of their buildings.

Thanks to my buddy Matt for a recommendation to get a burger from Swenson’s Drive-In in Akron.  Great burger…not sure if it’s deserving of the advertised “Best Burgers in the US” label, but it was definitely tasty.  Great shakes, too.

Continued in a southwest direction from there, eventually crossing the Indiana border late in the night.  Didn’t take many photos of note during the drive, but I was happy to make big progress on this portion of the trip.  I was thinking of pulling out the camera late at night in Indiana farm country to catch some stars, but a waning gibbous moon was a bit too prominent in the night sky.  No worries.  By the time I’m out in the desert, the light from the moon will not be a factor, and I’ll be sure to catch a large amount of stars.

joe