Road Trip Day 4: I Hate Indiana

Chicago was beautiful, but the traffic sucked. Driving the trailer through rush hour traffic in a huge city after three days of country was really nerve-wracking, plus it was easy to get distracted by all the awesome old brick buildings and cool skyscrapers. Chicago is gorgeous.

And then we crossed into Indiana. Gary, Indiana, right across the state border. It's like the city of Chicago squatted over the border and took a giant, industrial crap. It's nothing but train tracks, water treatment plants, piles of dirt, and sadness. For miles. The less time I spend on Gary, Indiana, the happier everybody will be.

Lovely Gary, IN

Interstate 90 is a toll highway through the state, which basically means it's a giant express lane to get out of Indiana as quickly as possible. There were few exits, and no major cities along the road. We stopped once, for gas, in a tiny mom and pop gas station that also sold fireworks, where we were the only customer. I walked in the door, looked up, and was faced with a huge confederate flag. In Indiana? I thought, and I hit the bathroom and filled my water as quickly as possible. The bathroom was full of pretty nasty graffiti, and a sign from the management that begged the vandals to stop because children used the restrooms as well (+5 for the courteous sign, -250 for the confederate flag). I looked up and saw scrawled across the ceiling in big black letters, “CRIPS.”

Soon we left Indiana, and its haze and industrial scuzz behind, and we entered Ohio. Ohio! Round on the sides and high in the middle, Oh-hi-oh! Things were looking up. Until we stopped for the night in Maumee.