Check your Odometer

You may have noticed that the link to the map of states I've visited has been broken for a couple days. It appears the website hosting the map and map builder has gone offline, so in the meantime I've replaced it with a map of our approximate driving route so far. This map is rather inferior to the one it replaced, so I'll be looking for something to put there that's a little more interactive and informative. In the meantime, you get to look at a 226 pixel wide map with some blue lines on it.

Anyway, mapping it all out got me thinking about how much we've driven. After some time spent making rough calculations, I estimate I've traveled just under 25,000 road miles (either riding or driving) since July. By the time the tour is over, it should be closer to 35,000. That's a great deal of driving, and at this point the country feels much smaller than it once did. 3,000 miles isn't a short drive, but when you can picture how each part of the country's terrain flows from one region into another, the distance between oceans becomes fathomable (no pun intended, but it's a pun nonetheless).

Today we had an easy drive from Detriot to Pittsburgh. I had no clue what to expect from Pittsburgh other than a depressed manufacturing economy based upon steel, but so far this city has actually been rather lively (especially when compared to Detriot). Our hotel is sandwiched right between the University of Pittsburg and Carnegie Mellon. There's some fabulous old architecture around here. Most notable is the Cathedral of Learning (built 1926-1937), the tallest academic building in the world except for one in Moscow.



Plus, there are numerous spires sticking up into the sky that give the city a great mix of modernity and history.



Tonight we had the best food I've had in at least a week. We ended up at Lulu's noodles, where I got some Teriaki Chicken. The prices were great. We surmised it would have been possible to get tea, an appetizer, soup, and an entree for around $10, with most entrees being only $5-7.



Tomorrow it's back to Washington, DC for the Marine Corps Marathon. This is a huge event (nearly the size of Chicago's marathon) and should be a lot of fun to work. And it's only 200 miles away. Piece of cake.