Travels in a Tin Can

were able to cover. So in America there were times we could drive all day on
an interstate and not pass through a single settlement, whereas in Europe we
had come through a town or village at least every half hour or so. Obviously,
there are parts of America where this is also the case, but there are huge
areas where its just you, the road and a vast but beautiful emptiness.
Some days we drove for four to five hundred miles, crossing a whole
state (or even more) in the process, and this is where cruise control really
came in handy. This facility allows you to set a speed at which you want to
travel and then the vehicle keeps itself travelling at that velocity. This means
the driver can avoid foot cramp and, if the road is straight enough, have a
snooze. And the roads often were very straight, requiring minimal steering
and encouraging multiple naps. The one drawback with this plan (apart from
crashing) was that if the gradient shifted and we started to travel uphill Emma
would be jolted awake. This was not due to Harvey saying ‘Oh look, a change
in road conditions, better wake the driver as they have been so bored with the
scenery and would not want to miss this’ (in a KIT from Knightrider style). It
was because the vehicle would start to slow down due to the slope but then
rapidly change down a gear or two and slam on the accelerator in a bid to
maintain the pre-set speed. It was the sudden change in engine noise, and
the movement of the accelerator pedal that woke Emma up, almost every
time.
It might seem odd that we would choose to cover such huge distances
in one day seeing as we had three months in the US. However, two factors
influenced our itinerary. One, we wanted to see as many places as possible
so needed to keep moving quite frequently. Two, between San Diego and the