Day 4

Up at 530am with the sun, thank you chirping bird. On the road by 630am, to goal for the day, Ohio. Eastern states are quick to go by, at least faster than the west coast. I believe someone told me that if you end up in another state on the west coast you meant to be there, while if you don't pay close enough attention on the east coast while driving you could end up in another state completely by accident. I suppose its kind of true. Today was Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana, maybe a little of Ohio. Very easy riding. There was considerably more traffic that previous days, but the roads are kept up pretty well. There were a few points that the highway was closed and alternate routes were needed. Minor inconveniences, but it did allow me to spend some time riding along the Mississippi River which was a nice sight. Really nothing special about the day, other than the excitement is starting to wear off of the large trip and the new excitement is starting to settle in of "I've almost completed this". The only difficulty while driving came from a semi driver upset with the fact he was tailgating the car in front of him and they weren't speeding up, decided to merge into me. The car in front of me passed by his cab and he turned his signal on for one blink and immediately began to swerve even though I was right next to his door. I swerved to the left, over the white line but not off the road, while laying on the horn and opened up the throttle. I was able to safely speed by the engine as the car in front must have seen it and sped up as well to give me some room. When the semi driver noticed me he didn't alter speed but turned pale white with shock as I stood up and proudly awarded him the one finger gold star award for excellence in driving. He continued to stare blankly until the next rest stop where he pulled off and I lost sight of him. Afterward, it was just driving hard. It seems as though when you have a goal in mind or an area become familiar it takes, infinitely longer to get anywhere than if you just decide to go and see how far you get. But about 8pm I rolled into western Ohio and stayed with my brother Chris (TW). A nice dinner at a gourmet grilled cheese store/pub that really is pretty amazing, watching some typical punkish bands down town and then some much needed sleep and waiting for the storms that rolled in to pass over. I should eb able to make it to NY tomorrow (friday). Total today 716 miles.