America! - Updated!

I woke up today at 6am, got washed (the water couldn't decide if it wanted to be hot or cold), and was on the road by seven. We drove for about half an hour, and arrived at the US border at 1000 Islands. I was surprised at how painless the border crossing actually was. As usual, the guard never smiled and asked a series of pointless questions that don't protect national security. But after two minutes, he signed the papers and we were in America.

One thing I got to give America credit for is it's highway system. No matter where we went, the highways are way better than any of the ones in Canada. Ontario in particular can learn a thing or two from America highways.



Today we traveled through three different states; New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio in that order.

New York is the most impressive of the three states we visited. I didn't go to New York City (though I have been there before), but we followed the highways around Syracuse and Buffalo. Some highlights of the New York leg include: seeing the Amish, the highly developed highways, and the scenery. The best part of the highways are the rest stations which dot around the highway. Basically these areas are a very large building with huge washrooms, and an even bigger selection of restaurants. One big minus, is that this state is covered in toll roads. Every city has a toll booth, so you have to pay every hour or so.

Pennsylvania, really there's not much to say about it. We were in and out of the state in less than an hour, so there were no particular highlights.

Ohio kind of reminds me of Alberta. There are lots of farms, and small towns spread all over the land. One of the cities, Columbus, reminds me of Calgary with how the town is flat, and the buildings are laid out. The place is pleasant and reminds me of home.

On the food front, I had two new things today. The first was a pizza flatbread in New York. Imagine a pizza made on a tortilla. It was actually pretty good, but way too greasy.

The second was burgers from the American chain Big Boy here in Cincinnati. Honestly, it was kind of bland, I guess the stories are true about Canadians using way more salt than others... Knowing that, I'm kind of tempted to see how McDonald's is different down here.

Well, tomorrow we should head through Kentucky and Arkansas. I doubt we'll reach Texas, but maybe we can if we really push it.