The road trip is over. I covered 7,261 miles over the 30 days from November 10 through December 10. I had a good Thanksgiving with Kate and Jonathan in Salt Lake City at the midpoint of the trip. Shortly after I arrived home I was diagnosed with a case of pneumonia and pleurisy for which I am now getting treatment and am hopeful of a full recovery fairly soon.
I re-sequenced the entries in this blog so that they are now in chronological order. They read like a journal. After the trip has been completed that makes more sense than the standard blog sequence of latest entry first. At least I think so.
State Border Signs
For some foolish reason, I stopped at the border line as I crossed from one state to another throughout the trip. Altogether I visited parts of 26 of the 50 states.
At each border I took a photo of the state's welcome sign. Here they are, in the order I first entered each state after leaving New Hampshire. (I entered New York, Pennsylvania, and Colorado multiple times.)
I entered New Mexico from Colorado during a snow storm, which should explain that photo.
If you look closely you will see that the Arkansas sign is full of bullet holes. That may be indicative of something about that remote rural area where Oklahoma abuts Arkansas. The bullets appear to have been shot from the Oklahoma side, by the way.
At each border I took a photo of the state's welcome sign. Here they are, in the order I first entered each state after leaving New Hampshire. (I entered New York, Pennsylvania, and Colorado multiple times.)
I entered New Mexico from Colorado during a snow storm, which should explain that photo.
If you look closely you will see that the Arkansas sign is full of bullet holes. That may be indicative of something about that remote rural area where Oklahoma abuts Arkansas. The bullets appear to have been shot from the Oklahoma side, by the way.
O
Preparation and departure day Thursday, November 10
I don't want to take too much STUFF on this trip. Pack lightly.
But.... yes, I'll take hiking boots, a tent, sleeping bag, and mat. Yes I'll take the binoculars. Yes I'll take a digital tire pressure gauge. Yes, I'll take a pillow to sleep in the car. Yes, the laptop, camera, cell phone, ipod, and 4 (!!!) different chargers and connecting cables. How many books should I take? Will I really have any time to read? A box of old family photos for my sister. A crossword puzzle book. A winter parka for the really cold weather. Will I need gloves anywhere? A spring jacket for the American south. Raincoat. Small backpack for hiking. A huge umbrella and Gore-tex raincoat (why do I need both?). The "Let's Go Roadtripping USA" book with its wonderful suggestions of small town sites and eateries is a must. .....
Kate is making cookies AND brownies for me to take along. Yum, yum.
Really now, will there be room for me in the car?
Here is a nice photo of our house as I get ready to leave.
But.... yes, I'll take hiking boots, a tent, sleeping bag, and mat. Yes I'll take the binoculars. Yes I'll take a digital tire pressure gauge. Yes, I'll take a pillow to sleep in the car. Yes, the laptop, camera, cell phone, ipod, and 4 (!!!) different chargers and connecting cables. How many books should I take? Will I really have any time to read? A box of old family photos for my sister. A crossword puzzle book. A winter parka for the really cold weather. Will I need gloves anywhere? A spring jacket for the American south. Raincoat. Small backpack for hiking. A huge umbrella and Gore-tex raincoat (why do I need both?). The "Let's Go Roadtripping USA" book with its wonderful suggestions of small town sites and eateries is a must. .....
Kate is making cookies AND brownies for me to take along. Yum, yum.
Really now, will there be room for me in the car?
Here is a nice photo of our house as I get ready to leave.
November 10: Chichester, New Hampshire, to Elmira, New York
What a beautiful fall day. The air was dry and the sky a clear blue. What a gorgeous day to drive over the Green Mountains from Brattleboro to Bennington VT. I'm sure I could see 100 miles from Hogback Mountain. I have done the trip from Chichester NH to Elmira NY perhaps a dozen times. Today was the nicest I can remember. I took time to visit the Battle of Bennington Memorial, a Washington-Monument like obelisk that I had passed by without stopping or seeing so many times before.
Interstate 88 along the upper reaches of the Susquehanna River valley was just fantastic. In many places the road is high above the valley with views down and across the river to many dairy farms.
When I reached Binghamton, NY, I decided to take a small detour. South about 15 miles and just over the border into Pennsylvania is Tripp Lake where Camp Susquehannock sits. I spent a summer month at that camp after 7th, 8th, and 9th grades. Let's see, that would have been 1956, 1957, 1958. I decided to see if it was still there. The Garmin GPS gave me directions and within 25 minutes I drove up the driveway into the camp. I couldn't believe it. It was 95% exactly the same. The camp buildings, the baseball fields, the tennis courts, even the outhouses were the same. No one was there of course so I walked around for a few minutes and took a few photos to send to old friends who had gone to the same camp with me those summers so many years ago.
From there I continued west to Elmira, arriving here at about 7:00pm.
Interstate 88 along the upper reaches of the Susquehanna River valley was just fantastic. In many places the road is high above the valley with views down and across the river to many dairy farms.
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| The Royal Diner in Brattleboro. The first of many diners where I hope to eat during this trip. |
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| Battle of Bennington Memorial |
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| One of hundreds of dairy farms along I-88. |
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| Tumble Inn, the summer camp building where I spent much of the summer of 1956. |
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| The main building and dining hall of Camp Susquehannock. |
From there I continued west to Elmira, arriving here at about 7:00pm.
November 11: Elmira, New York, to Chagrin Falls, Ohio
I got a late start today. For most of the morning I drove along New York route 417. The road went along a small river valley with many dairy farms. Along the way were small towns that seemed to be movie sets -- Addison, Jasper, Greenwood, Wellsville.... Each town had a main street with houses set back with large front yards, sidewalks, large old trees. Each house had a large front porch. At the main cross streets sit banks and libraries with a fire station nearby with a fire truck in the driveway as if it were on display. At Portville there is a drive in theater with 2 movie screens. It was closed for the season today but it clearly functions during the warm season. These towns seem frozen in the 1940s. A wonderful route to drive.
I stopped briefly at Chautauqua Institute on the lake there.
My first sight of Lake Erie was surprising. It was down below. I had always had the image of the Great Lakes surrounded by the flattest land on earth. To find that I had to descend from a mountain ridge down to the lake at Westfield, NY, broke that image. The area around Westfield consists of many vineyards. I passed two Welch's factories where I presume they make grape juice.
I arrived at the home of my old friend Dave York in Chagrin Falls about 5:30. Dave has been battling pneumonia for the past few weeks.
I stopped briefly at Chautauqua Institute on the lake there.
My first sight of Lake Erie was surprising. It was down below. I had always had the image of the Great Lakes surrounded by the flattest land on earth. To find that I had to descend from a mountain ridge down to the lake at Westfield, NY, broke that image. The area around Westfield consists of many vineyards. I passed two Welch's factories where I presume they make grape juice.
I arrived at the home of my old friend Dave York in Chagrin Falls about 5:30. Dave has been battling pneumonia for the past few weeks.
November 12: Chagrin Falls, Ohio, to Indianapolis, Indiana
Another late start. Had some mist and rain between Cleveland and Columbus. At Columbus the sky cleared and I left the Interstate system for old US Route 40, the so-called National Road. This road was the first national highway, funded by Congress in 1806 to open up the land west of the Appalachians. There is an interstate highway that parallels this old road and takes all of the truck traffic. As a result this was a fun road to travel. Wide and well paved, yet with little traffic. The old towns that had grown up right on Route 40 have survived the displacement of thru traffic - with the exception of motels and gas stations. Quite a few of those have been turned to other uses or simply been abandoned. At one point today the dashboard light indicating I needed gas came on. I had to drive nearly 20 miles before I found a gas station on Route 40. But I could see many off in the distance near the exits to the interstate nearby.
I had thought I might stop to see the large museum of airplanes at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base outside of Dayton, Ohio. My roadtrip guide book said it housed 300 planes of all sorts. My friend in Chagrin Falls told me that it was a great place and I could easily spend a whole day there. That made me decide to pass up a visit because I couldn't afford the time. I decided to put on more miles today and ended up on the west side of Indianapolis about 4:30.
While it is dark in New Hampshire by 5:00 at this time of year, here in Indianapolis the sun was still up and it didn't really get dark until 6:00. I cross into the Central Time Zone tomorrow and will gain an hour but it also means that darkness will come by 5:00 much as it does in New Hampshire.
I had thought I might stop to see the large museum of airplanes at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base outside of Dayton, Ohio. My roadtrip guide book said it housed 300 planes of all sorts. My friend in Chagrin Falls told me that it was a great place and I could easily spend a whole day there. That made me decide to pass up a visit because I couldn't afford the time. I decided to put on more miles today and ended up on the west side of Indianapolis about 4:30.
While it is dark in New Hampshire by 5:00 at this time of year, here in Indianapolis the sun was still up and it didn't really get dark until 6:00. I cross into the Central Time Zone tomorrow and will gain an hour but it also means that darkness will come by 5:00 much as it does in New Hampshire.
November 13: Indianapolis, Indiana, to Fairview Heights, Illinois
I drove a lot more of US Route 40 this morning. On the west side of Terra Haute, just before the Illinois border, I opted for even smaller roads. At one point I was driving on a dirt road -- County Route #1 -- but I have no idea what county it was. I got a little lost, even with my GPS, and stumbled on the tiny town of Vermillion, Illinois. It has a large old grain elevator located next to the single railroad track and has maybe 30-40 houses clustered nearby. All of the buildings have seen better days. It apeared today that many have been abandoned.
The endless fields are quite barren now, the harvest of corn and hay having been complete for some time. I would love to drive some of the same route during the summer when the fields are filled with green. In November the fields are brown and full of stubble. One advantage right now is that you can see for miles across empty fields. With tall corn in August and no ability to see cars on distant roads I would have felt even more lost.
One goal I had today was to visit a few of the historic sites related to Abraham Lincoln. I did stop at the Abe Lincoln Log Cabin in Lerna, Illinois, and the old State House in Vandalia where Lincoln was first served in the Illinois legislature. What I did not know is that everything - and I mean everything - in this part of Illinois is closed on Mondays. I was the only visitor to the Log Cabin site. The parking lot had spaces for hundreds of cars and some buses. The State House in Vandalia was closed as were all the stores on the main street. Many were totally empty or boarded up with signs indicating that the buildings themselves were for sale. I did take a few photos as a consolation.
This is the log cabin of Thomas Lincoln, Abe's father. Abe bought it from his father for $200 and then deeded it back to his father for him to live in for the rest of his life. Abe visited here but did not actually live here.
The second capital of Illinois was Vandalia, very much in the southern part of the state. The reason for this was that in its earliest years much of the territory further north was still considered Indian territory and little of it had been settled. By the time Abe Lincoln was elected to the legislature, however, that had changed and Lincoln was part of a group that desired to move the capital northward. The citizens of Vandalia, of course, were not happy at that prospect and built a new State House to entice the legislators to stay in town. It didn't work. The photo below is of the State House that was abandoned by the legislature in 1839 when they moved to Springfield. Vandalia was also the original terminus of the National Road that had been built to open the midwest to settlement. Today it appears as if most of the world has passed it by.
The endless fields are quite barren now, the harvest of corn and hay having been complete for some time. I would love to drive some of the same route during the summer when the fields are filled with green. In November the fields are brown and full of stubble. One advantage right now is that you can see for miles across empty fields. With tall corn in August and no ability to see cars on distant roads I would have felt even more lost.
One goal I had today was to visit a few of the historic sites related to Abraham Lincoln. I did stop at the Abe Lincoln Log Cabin in Lerna, Illinois, and the old State House in Vandalia where Lincoln was first served in the Illinois legislature. What I did not know is that everything - and I mean everything - in this part of Illinois is closed on Mondays. I was the only visitor to the Log Cabin site. The parking lot had spaces for hundreds of cars and some buses. The State House in Vandalia was closed as were all the stores on the main street. Many were totally empty or boarded up with signs indicating that the buildings themselves were for sale. I did take a few photos as a consolation.
The second capital of Illinois was Vandalia, very much in the southern part of the state. The reason for this was that in its earliest years much of the territory further north was still considered Indian territory and little of it had been settled. By the time Abe Lincoln was elected to the legislature, however, that had changed and Lincoln was part of a group that desired to move the capital northward. The citizens of Vandalia, of course, were not happy at that prospect and built a new State House to entice the legislators to stay in town. It didn't work. The photo below is of the State House that was abandoned by the legislature in 1839 when they moved to Springfield. Vandalia was also the original terminus of the National Road that had been built to open the midwest to settlement. Today it appears as if most of the world has passed it by.
November 14: Fairview Heights, Illinois, to Jefferson City, Missouri
I spent most of the day sightseeing in St. Louis. I had seen pictures of the Gateway Arch for years but never thought much about it. Walking up to it, however, was wonderful. There is a park with walking paths surrounding it. The arch itself is much larger than I had realized and it is truly a work of art. Eero Saarinen was an architect, yes; but he was also an artist. I think this huge monument is the largest and most beautiful piece of outdoor sculpture that exists.
But its beauty is in contrast with what you see looking through the arch eastward across the Mississippi River: rusting railroad cars, decrepit grain elevators, industrial trash, rotting timbers, rickety piers in the river. Such a contrast. Of course the land across the river is in Illinois, so Missourians are not able to insist that it be cleaned up.
With the exception of the arch, and the downtown buildings the Missouri side of the Mississippi River is not much better. There is a huge power plant that hasn't been painted or cleaned in at least 50 years as well as vacant lots with trash, railroad tracks, and other industrial debris.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if some day there was a project to beautify both banks of the Mississippi here?
Under the arch is a Museum of Westward Expansion that contains some very interesting exhibits. I especially enjoyed those related to the Lewis & Clark Expedition. What an adventure!! Lewis was only 29 years old and Clark in his mid 30s when they followed the Missouri and the Columbia to the Pacific. The museum mixed quotes from the journals of the explorers with huge present day photos of the remote sites they mentioned.
From downtown I went to the St. Louis zoo. On a cool day in November there were very few visitors. Some of the warm weather animals (like the alligators) were not to be seen as they were "on vacation." This zoo does not have a huge diversity of animals, but many of the ones it does have are exhibited wonderfully, the elephants in particular. For me, however, the most fascinating exhibit was the 4 hippopotamuses(i?). Part of their area includes a pool that has a glass side for visitors just like an aquarium. You can watch these huge creatures up close, like 2 feet away, and can see their antics with each other under water. The huge pool also has fish who seem to know instinctively how not to be squashed underfoot of the behemoths.
From the zoo, I headed westward. At the town of Washington, I drove over a bridge to the north side of the Missouri River and then onto a small road (hardly 2 full lanes), Missouri Route 94, that parallels the river near the north bank. I say "near" because the river runs through a flat plain that is all farm fields about 1/2 mile on either side of the river. There are hills beyond those farm fields. In fact, after flat Indiana and Illinois, the roller coaster hills were fun to drive. For the most part the farm houses have been smartly built 10 or 15 feet up the hill so they would be above floods. There are many small towns along the way.(population 90, 160, 75, etc.)
There is also a 225 mile footpath/bikepath that is an old railroad bed. See http://www.bikekatytrail.com. There are lots of trailheads along the path, old railroad stations included, and it would make a good long distance walk some day. As a railroad bed along a river there are almost no hills to climb by definition!
The Missouri was running fast and when I got up close I could see huge logs from fallen trees floating their way downstream.
But I began to wonder about how much fun it might be to take a small boat with a cabin (kind of like a British canal houseboat) and go with the flow downstream. I tried to search the internet for places that might rent boats for that purpose, but found none. Such a beautiful river, at least here in mid-Missouri! In the 19th century it was such a thoroughfare for commerce and travel. Not today.
But its beauty is in contrast with what you see looking through the arch eastward across the Mississippi River: rusting railroad cars, decrepit grain elevators, industrial trash, rotting timbers, rickety piers in the river. Such a contrast. Of course the land across the river is in Illinois, so Missourians are not able to insist that it be cleaned up.
With the exception of the arch, and the downtown buildings the Missouri side of the Mississippi River is not much better. There is a huge power plant that hasn't been painted or cleaned in at least 50 years as well as vacant lots with trash, railroad tracks, and other industrial debris.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if some day there was a project to beautify both banks of the Mississippi here?
Under the arch is a Museum of Westward Expansion that contains some very interesting exhibits. I especially enjoyed those related to the Lewis & Clark Expedition. What an adventure!! Lewis was only 29 years old and Clark in his mid 30s when they followed the Missouri and the Columbia to the Pacific. The museum mixed quotes from the journals of the explorers with huge present day photos of the remote sites they mentioned.
From downtown I went to the St. Louis zoo. On a cool day in November there were very few visitors. Some of the warm weather animals (like the alligators) were not to be seen as they were "on vacation." This zoo does not have a huge diversity of animals, but many of the ones it does have are exhibited wonderfully, the elephants in particular. For me, however, the most fascinating exhibit was the 4 hippopotamuses(i?). Part of their area includes a pool that has a glass side for visitors just like an aquarium. You can watch these huge creatures up close, like 2 feet away, and can see their antics with each other under water. The huge pool also has fish who seem to know instinctively how not to be squashed underfoot of the behemoths.
From the zoo, I headed westward. At the town of Washington, I drove over a bridge to the north side of the Missouri River and then onto a small road (hardly 2 full lanes), Missouri Route 94, that parallels the river near the north bank. I say "near" because the river runs through a flat plain that is all farm fields about 1/2 mile on either side of the river. There are hills beyond those farm fields. In fact, after flat Indiana and Illinois, the roller coaster hills were fun to drive. For the most part the farm houses have been smartly built 10 or 15 feet up the hill so they would be above floods. There are many small towns along the way.(population 90, 160, 75, etc.)
There is also a 225 mile footpath/bikepath that is an old railroad bed. See http://www.bikekatytrail.com. There are lots of trailheads along the path, old railroad stations included, and it would make a good long distance walk some day. As a railroad bed along a river there are almost no hills to climb by definition!
The Missouri was running fast and when I got up close I could see huge logs from fallen trees floating their way downstream.
But I began to wonder about how much fun it might be to take a small boat with a cabin (kind of like a British canal houseboat) and go with the flow downstream. I tried to search the internet for places that might rent boats for that purpose, but found none. Such a beautiful river, at least here in mid-Missouri! In the 19th century it was such a thoroughfare for commerce and travel. Not today.
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