THE KNOPE ARENA AND A CROSS STATE DRIVE BACK
From Kentucky it may have seemed like a good idea to drive straight back to Pittsburgh. However, with the state of Indiana just up north, there was no way I was not going to include that in the trip!
While we had seen a fair amount of rain throughout the trip, snow was never present due to us mostly being in the south. However, as we drove further into the city the snowfall became gradually heavier! Thankfully I was not on the wheel as driving in snow required far more experience but it was quite a sight to see a snow covered highway! Furthermore the city was literally being pounded with snow by time we got to our first stop in the state capitol (Another chance to visit another capitol!). The interior design of the building was unbelievable. It felt as though we had stepped into a castle not a state capitol. It was not particularly travel season in Indiana so the elderly guides at the desk were rather excited to see us wander in. The got even more excited when they found out that we were from nations that were a great distance away (Spain, Finland and Singapore). The gentleman gave us a personal tour, letting us into both chambers of the house and senate (that was closed at the time). He even let us walk inside house of representatives (usually a closed off area that we were only allowed to look at). After seeing the sights of the capitol we just wandered around till closing (at 2pm that day) to soak in the beauty of this incredible building. The next spot that we visited was the Soldiers & Sailors Monument. A massive monument in the middle of the city that allowed for an elevated view of the entire city! Indianapolis caked in snow was quite a sight. Due to the coronavirus pandemic and the lack of a travel season a number of locations were not open to the public. However we were happy to spend our last evening as a group at our Airbnb, having dinner and just hanging out.
The next morning, we woke up relatively early to begin our long drive back. This drive took us through the entire length of Ohio (from the left to the right) which gave us the opportunity to occasionally stop to see the state. We even had a very short drive through West Virginia which made it mandatory for us to play “Take Me Home, Country Roads” on repeat!
Eventually we returned to Pennsylvania where David got his first sight of Pittsburgh (had the same jaw-dropped reaction we did with it). After this pleasant moment we had to return our rental and eventually say our very sad farewell. I didn’t expect it to be such a painful farewell but being joined at the hips for the last 10 days made it so. Even writing this now all this time later makes for a heavy heart.
All in all, it was unbelievable trip that I’ve wanted to do for years! Just so lucky to have had such an experience!
(LAST EPISODE OF THE SPRING BREAK ROAD TRIP)
Batmar :) 
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