I've had the most mind clearing moments in my life driving on valley at night seeing if I can get to Ontario on surface streets. It also helped that 50 miles an hour felt like 120.


Jalopnik:

The view out the windshield rarely changes, and every gas stop reminds you of the last. It forces you to sink deeper into your thoughts, to pour yourself into your own head. Cities are the exact opposite — there isn't a city on the planet that doesn't become more interesting at night, and it has nothing to do with traffic or stoplight cycles. When the sun goes down, cities reveal their true personalities, bombarding you with the throbbing glow of distraction or the subtle, quiet pulse of sleep. The car allows you to observe all this from a mobile, objective fishbowl, immersed but not involved.
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What does it mean to us? Simple: To drive is to remind ourselves that we are alive, and to drive at night is to remind ourselves, in every sense of the phrase, that we are not asleep.