Endless straight roads, AC/DC's Highway to Hell playing on the radio, the sky shining a blue colour that we hardly know. Roads like Route 66 have made the USA one of the most popular destinations for a road trip by car. But there is also plenty to discover on the water.
Countless kilometres of rivers like the Mississippi meander through the vastness of the United States. Cruising as many lakes and rivers as possible between Michigan and Texas in your own boat - priceless memories.
The boat - a Glastron Carlson CVX 18 from 1979 - was second-hand, relatively well-maintained by American standards and in its original condition. A glittering classic on the water that is still a regular talking point today.
I wonder if the Glastron would have said thank you when she returned to her sunny and dry home state of Texas after 37 years in the cold north of America?
On the road trip of more than 20,000 kilometres through 13 states in the USA, she was at least to see more of the country than she had probably ever dreamed of.
From Michigan, the land of 11,000 lakes, past the vast, boundless cornfields of Illinois, through Kentucky, which is lined with endless white fences demarcating gigantic properties, across green Oklahoma to flat Texas, dotted with oil pumps.
Big, bigger, America. Boathouses bigger than a shopping centre with space for houseboats in the 50-foot (or more) class or a drive-in on the water. Such phenomena are not uncommon in the USA.
So you stop off at Subway for a sandwich, take the boat directly to the bar for refreshments and fill up with cheap petrol at the next bunker station. A paradise for water sports enthusiasts.
Today, however, the polyester classics of the first generations often lie sad and abandoned in scrap yards, fading into nature.
What would the boats have to say if they could talk? They would probably rave about the glorious sixties, when a gallon still cost far less than a dollar.
Or they would boast about the horsepower-laden seventies, when they were still pulled along the endless highways by shiny V8 muscle cars. Only the chrome still reflects the glamour of the past.
Many things have changed over time in the USA. But not the public holidays. Probably the most important American holiday is Independence Day on 4 July. Glastron celebrated this on the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. A reservoir with a five-lane slipway that differentiates between 25-30, 30-45 and 50-foot boats.
Pick-up trailers over 20 metres long, with uniform aluminium rims on the car and trailer, are lined up in rows in gigantic car parks. In the side arm, also known as Party Cove, several thousand boats can be found lying in packs on a weekend like this.
A scale that the Star of Berlin can only dream of. As a European, you are immediately given a warm welcome and a few boats away you are immediately introduced as the "German friend" and invited for a beer. After an extended weekend, however, work calls and the lake is much emptier again.
It's no secret that the old Metalflake Carlsons have long since become sought-after collector's items. We reported on the steadily growing community in Europe back in 2011.
So of course it's no wonder that the fan base in the USA is even bigger.
In August 2017, the time had come: the 10th anniversary of the Classic Glastron Owners Association in Red Wing Minnesota invited us to cruise together on the Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers.
We travelled along the Wisconsin border in a group of more than 60 classic Glastrons to the agreed beach. The oldest model was from 1961, the owner had bought it brand new in high school and kept it to this day.
The old photos with the towing vehicles of the time and the nostalgic stories take you straight back to the good ol' days.
The latest model was a Carlson Matise. The owners were none other than the son and grandson of Art Carlson, the legendary designer of Carlson boats. The Carlson family had also undertaken a short road trip of more than 3000 kilometres to attend the meeting. The prize for the longest journey nevertheless went to Germany.
Another water sports extreme can be found at the San Angelo Showdown in Texas or at the Diamond Nationals in Wheatland Missouri.
The kind of events you only see in films. Racing boats racing on a 100 metre wide river in the 1/4 mile. The privilege of being a special guest on the floating pontoon that serves as the starting island is probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Just two metres away, two supercharged 10000 hp V8 engines are bubbling away, just waiting to be unleashed as soon as the starting light turns green to catapult their driver to over 400 km/h in under four seconds.
The feeling of the pressure wave at the start, the smell of the nitro-methane mixture in the air, the rough running of the sharp camshaft with the muffled V8 roar - a feast for all the senses. The heartbeat of America as it has been beating for many generations.
