36: Indiana
Tuesday, May 17th, 2011
After briefly visiting Michigan (from north-western Ohio), I drove quickly along Interstate 90 across northern Indiana. Most of this region of Indiana is rustic and pretty – except for the north-western section (the cities of Gary and Hammond), adjacent to Chicago – which is heavily industrialized and ugly.
As I drove across northern Indiana, I wasn’t sure what I was going to photograph. Most of the countryside here is pretty, but not exceptional. Then, I stopped for lunch in the town of Middlebury, and was surprised to see several horse-drawn buggies being ridden on the streets. It turns out that this part of Indiana has a large Amish community. The Amish are a Christian group who live an extremely conservative lifestyle – without cars or electricity. The town has accommodated the Amish community by setting up special hitching spots for their buggies.
 An Amish buggy on the streets of Middlebury |
 A hitching spot for horse-drawn buggies, in Middlebury |
As I drove through Indiana I crossed back into the Central Time Zone, regaining one of the three hours that I lost on my trip across the country.
Earlier in the trip, I was able to visit two states (Colorado and Utah) very quickly, by going to a point where four states meet. Now, I was able to visit Michigan quickly by going to a point where three states – Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana meet. In the summer of 2007 I spent several days driving around Michigan (and Illinois and Wisconsin). This time, however, I stayed in Michigan for only a few minutes.
