The country rolled by, vast stetches of brown then green, flying streaks at 80mph. Mountains, hills, deserts, farms: America flew by my window.


My sister, Katie, and I motored through 11 states (California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York) in just 5 days. We had only a few days to get my sister between graduation from UCDavis to Day 1 of work in Annapolis Maryland. So, fast as you can, we got the job done. Thank goodness for 75mph speed limits.

Day 1: We travel from Davis, near Sacramento, to Salt Lake City Utah, through casino/truck stops in Nevada and pale brown, rocky deserts for most of the day. At dusk, insects hit our windshield like raindrops, meeting splotchy deaths and clouding the view. Each gas break means squeegee-scrubbing the windshield clean before heading on.

The desert hills.

Day 2: I drive most of the day through Wyoming and Nebraska as Katie sleeps, recouping from a rather unfortunately timed appendectomy the day after graduation. On the mend, but tuckered out, she dozes as I keep myself awake with good tunes and Starbucks double shot espresso cans, my new salvation, this being first time behind the wheel for any significant amount of time in 8-10 years.

The doggies, Gianni and Lola, riding patiently in the back.

Day 3: We transition between desert and greenery, rolling hills of electricly bright grass and a sprinkling of farms. Tonight is my 10 year high school reunion, back in New York, and old friends call me, completely wasted, to share the kooky fun they are having seeing the people we didn’t even talk to 10 years ago.

A bucolic old barn.

Day 4: Corn fields. Today is a day of corn fields, silos, and traffic jams. We are stuck for nearly two hours, covering just 10 miles, in a construction catastrophe near Chicago. Slow going means we drive late into the night. I stop for another ‘double shot’ and drive on into the darkness, terrifyingly realizing I need glasses to drive at night.

Watch the tiny farms, flying by.

Day 5: The home stretch. We know NY is our destination but torrential rain darkens our outlooks. We are driving the edge of the storm, burdened by dark grey clouds drowning us in buckets of water. We reach Jersey, slowly traversing mid-tire-high floods; greet New York and all it’s potholes and Katie drops me off at my door, our journey over.

Driving into Armageddon.