Nothing can help me to understand that America is a country on the wheels better than drive along the long free way across the western part of US – the road that extends endlessly before you.
Along the road, we saw different scenes.
Sometimes, we passed the bridges in mountains (I-8 in Arizona)
Sometimes, we cross another road running to another direction
The mountains are always with us
and sometimes, we are winding in the mountains
The lands are green for some time
and most times, it is dots of greens with yellow lands
Sometimes we pass small villages,
But most times, it is just road after road
We passed deserts
and headed to big cities (Los Angeles)
But among all the differences, the key is, the road is always there, waiting for us to pass.
P.S. Here is the map of the trip.
I think another key, is that it is the FREEway, unlike the high priced expressways in mainland China, which cost so much money, and discriminate against motorcycle use – not matter the motorcycles engine capacity.
Things to bring while on such a trip: credit card(s), a pack of gum to prevent you from dozing off and an audio book to kill the time (This is arguably the second best time to read a book, the best being on a trans-pacific flight).
BTW, isn’t this the same route Forrest Gump ran on years ago?
@Deno, yes. FREEway is definitely a great feature, not only the money, but also the convenience it brings to be able to have much more exits, and you can pull over at any exit, and get back easily.
In China, since the roads are just built, it can be justified to collect toll. The roads come with a cost. The cost can be either carried by every tax payer, or by the car drivers, or both. I don’t see whether a free road or tolled road is definitely good or bad in terms of economics, because they have to be paid in certain way. The problem is, who made the decision and what the decision making process.
@Andrew, I never tried to read book on either trans-pacific flight (10 hours east-bound, and 12 hours west-bound), or on the road when other people (Wendy in my case) is driving. Because on a flight, the best thing I can imagine is to sleep and sleep. On the road, the better thing for me is to watch closely about what is going on along the road. There are many things to read – the mileage signs, traffic signs, and the names of each exits. I will lookup wikipedia from time to time when I see a new and interesting name, like this one: Exit 239, Zzyzx Rd. What a strange name they have: Zzyzx.