With trips to Manchester, Tennessee; Bloomington, Indiana; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Louisville, Kentucky; Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee; and more, it’s safe to say I’ve done more than my fair share of cross-country road travel this year.

Through all my hours of driving experience, I’ve noticed this: The interstate never seems to travel in a straight line. Nor does it ever seem to move exactly East-West. Some might chalk this up to improper measuring equipment, or a need to maneuver around natural landscape. But I wonder if, in fact, highways were designed that way so that you’d never have to stare directly into a sunrise or sunset for a prolonged period of time. How many accidents might this avoid in a year? Hmm.

On the other hand: Gravois Avenue—the bane of my St. Louis driving existence—is absolutely, positively intolerable around 7:00pm summertime, 4:30pm winter. Not that I find it any more enjoyable at any other time of day.