Driving in USA

I'm posting again from USA. Since now, this is the only place from where I felt I want to write something here. Maybe because here I am alone and what's even worse, I feel lonely. Somehow, it seems I need to get used with this feeling. But this is a different subject. I don't want to think or talk about it...

I just got back from Chicago. I'm here, in Illinois, for the 4th time. I feel Chicago like a very familiar town. And I like it a lot. But this is the first time I was there driving. And I loved it. Is crazy: buses for which I don't know the stops, cars going on 2 lanes, taxis always in hurry and almost all the time horning, changes of the lane in the last moment, cars stopped on the right lane and just left there (yeah, is not happening just in Cyprus like I thought :) )... Why did I like it? Because I got bored driving on the highway, just me and my CD with Natasha Bedingfield. Driving in Chicago I got the chance to enjoy the city even if the weather was awful. I saw the places I used to walk by. I saw the Trump building. Is the first time I realized at what am I looking, because I've seen it before. Is too big to miss it. :)

When I start driving, my first thought was 'why didn't I do that before? why did I wait so much till now?'. I'm sure you got that feeling at least once. This year, for me is the second time I get it. The first time was when I start snowboarding. I like both driving and snowboarding. And this is why few days back I drove almost 3 hours to Cascade Mountain, to enjoy the last day when the resort was still open for ski/snowboard. I also went visiting Elaine which was few miles away, in Champaign. This week-end I went to Cedar Rapids, in Iowa. Is the place where Grand Wood painted American Gothic. Maybe I was looking to see what inspired him on that area. But... again, a new proof of 'is not about the place, is about the people'. :) I was not impressed by the place...
About driving directions in USA, even if my directions from google maps seemed complicated, the idea is very simple: interstate roads named according to direction (east, west, north, south), and few exits... I didn't have either GPS or other person with me. If I could do it, anyone can. :)

Driving in USA was a learning experience and I enjoyed it as much as I could. Thank you, Ela! (like any girl, I named my rented car from here; Ela comes actually from the name of the car: Hyundai Elantra).