Normal Is Boring: 4000 Mile Drive (Part II)

"Don't give way to that asshole. He is trying to squeeze in. We are not idiots waiting here forever being good drivers" I shouted to my friend who was driving. It was midnight and we were still stuck somewhere in Indiana. We could see lights flashing at like a mile ahead of us. There seemed to be an accident and the traffic was moving at snail's pace. We finally reached our destination at around 2 in the morning. Our good 'ol buddy in Chicago was waiting with his wife for our arrival. We chatted for a while and crashed into deep slumber. "It is going to be another long day driving once we wake-up tomorrow" we thought.
Day 2: Chicago to Badlands, SD

We woke up at 7 AM the next day. Hardly four hours of sleep we were still tired. If it were just any other day when I'm supposed to go to work, I would have said "screw it" and snugged back under the covers to catch up another couple of hours of sleep. But this day was different. I saw an exciting schedule ahead of me and the energy oozed out of nowhere into my body. Our hosts served a nice breakfast and also something to-go for lunch on our way. We jumped into the car and set out on the second leg of our journey by 9.

Our next stop - Badlands National Park, South Dakota ('mon... don't count the rest areas). The distance was just over 850 miles and we were aiming to reach there latest by midnight. We got out of IL pretty soon, in and out of WI, cut across MN and entered SD. Not surprisingly there was one car that passed us for every million of them we passed. Jeez... these guys stick to speed limit like leeches. "Look at that crank head from NY" other drivers might have thought of us. But who cares, I loved it :-). The change in the landscape as we passed each state was wonderful. We had to cut the entire width of South Dakota to get to Badlands. We already crossed one time zone and I knew we would cross another one before reaching our destination but not sure where. Halfway into this vast barren state we saw the Sun setting. Just as we took an exit to get some gas, there was the Sun god right in front of us kissing the earth. "Wow! The heavens meet the earth" I thought to myself.

We ended up in this gas station that did not have a slit to insert my credit card. "What the hell..." both my friend and I exclaimed at the same time. The whole ground started to shake as soon as we started to pump the gas. Then the expression slowly turned into a smile. "Boy, I loved this!". Still we were clueless of the time zone. Not even the other lady pumping gas at the gas station or the guy who owned it knew. "Well, who cares about the times zone. Let us go by the Sun" we concluded. But wait a minute, unfortunately we had to go by the time to wake up the next day, start our tour of the park and to do almost everything thereafter. Alas! The world has become so complicated (I think we are working towards making life simple with all these new fancy "technology" stuff right?) that one can not completely depend on the nature for anything anymore. We continued our journey till the point when our tummies started to rumble. Our biological clocks said it was time for dinner. We pulled over into a Subway near a town called Chamberlain. "Can I have a 6 inch veggie patty on Italian Herbs and Cheese please?" I asked the guy at the counter. "Sorry sir. We don't have that". He told me all the Subways don't necessarily carry the same menu. Ooops isn't the whole point of "chain" is that you find the same damn thing anywhere you go and hence makes you feel like you are at home? I guess not. "I get that pretty much everywhere in NY" I muttered. "What? Are you from NY. I'm from Brooklyn man". I could see the glow in that guy's face. He was so excited to see another person from there. Then he explained how he ended up in SD with his mom and said he was planning to go back to Brooklyn as soon as he earns some money there. "This place is dead after 10 dude. I don't know how anyone can live here. Back home I could just walk out and get a beer even after midnight." He complained. I could see his point. Personally I don't think I can survive there. But I feel the people who have been living there forever think the same way about NY. Every place has it's own personality and it's just a matter of getting used to the lifestyle. We once again took off after dinner and reached the gates of Badlands by 1 AM. It was pitch dark and we couldn't see a thing. Then all of a sudden there appeared the faint outline of a sand dune sort of thing in the light of our car's headlights. We got out of the car and saw a couple more around us. Now not in the light of the car but under the light of the millions of starts in the absolutely dark heavens. It was extremely beautiful. Never did I see so many stars in my life before. I could actually see our Milky-way. Looking at the piles of mud we thought some construction was going on and drove down to our cabin. The place looked pretty plain and barren except for the mounds. Too tired we called it a day and crashed in to the bed.

Wait a minute... there is the Sunset alright. Where did the Sunrise in Chicago go? Give me a break! I was too tired to get one.