Day Eight: A New Sport Is Born

Every night of this trip (with the exception of that awful night in Sa-LIE-na), Mom and I have cuddled up with NBC and watched the Olympics until we fell asleep.
So, in honor of the Olympics, and to commemorate our last day on the road, I think it's time for us to share the sport we've created to keep us occupied: State Line Photography.

It's more complicated than you would expect.

First, you have to figure out where the state line will be. You might think that the interstate signs would give some warning of when you're crossing a border. Not so. There's a lot of counting exits and peering at maps and generally exposing our ignorance of American geography.

Second, you have to be aware that most states have two state line markers. The first one is usually a nondescript state line marker, about 2' by 3' - like so:



But if you're not careful, you can miss the big welcome sign that's usually a hundred feet down the road from the actual state line:


These are the kinds of state line signs we've tried to capture, with varying degrees of success. Today was a particularly eventful day for crossing state lines. We started out in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, and drove east a couple hours toward Wheeling, West Virginia. I was driving, so Mom was in charge of the photography. Here's what she got:


"But wait," you say, "that's Ohio." Yes, yes it is. Mom is not yet adept at the sport of state line photography, so she missed the gigantic West Virginia sign.
I pulled off the highway and turned back to Ohio again so we could get a proper picture. Observe:


But I got cocky, which is always a mistake. Here's what happened 20 miles later as we crossed into Pennsylvania.


Is Pennsylvania the "State of Independence"? Of "Independent Living"? Of "Independency"? And who does Pennsylvania welcome? Yoda? Yetis? Yul Brynner? We'll never know!
At least West Virginia was good enough to give us a second (third) chance, after we headed south again:


And here's Maryland:


We missed Virginia's sign in all the Beltway confusion, but we'll make up for it somewhere along the way. I'm sure we'll be in and out of DC in the next few days enough to get a good shot.

But we invite you to look back at our posts and vote for your favorite state line picture. Mine's at Four Corners:


Here are your options:
1. Arizona
2. Four Corners
3. Colorado
4. Kansas
5. Missouri
6. Illinois
7. Indiana
8. Ohio
9. West Virginia
10. Pennsylvania
11. Maryland

Haven't we been here before?

Today was the last day on the road. We made it clear across without incident. That's a total of 8 days in the Aveo. Not bad timing. We didn't go too far off the main highway and cut the trip by 2 nites, but were still able to see some interesting sites.We kept the car clean of trash, but not of language. No, seriously, Alison and I were successful in not making this the road trip from hell. We deserve pats on our backs or preferrably, a massage.
Today was Ohio, W. Virginia, Pennsylvania, W. Virginia, Maryland and Virginia. Oh, and Ohio again. What? you say? We had a little communication problem coming out of Ohio and missed the photo op for the Ohio-W. Virginia crossing, had to make a turn around and get that pic! We crossed over the Eastern Continental Divide and traversed the West Virginia "mountains". Mountain MaMa, take me home!! One meltdown somewhere in Maryland. These people do NOT know how to MERGE! I just don't get it. All the way from Illinois we had to put up with it. No one moves over for nothing and then they ride your tail and want to pass on the right. What's up with that??!!
So, tomorrow Alison signs her lease and we will be looking for someplace to purchase a bed. I will be playing tourist so the blog will go on...
Bob - this is for you. I know you wanted something from Route 66, so here it is...

Now, who ARE these guys?? It's your doppleganger Route 66 band!! What do you think? Looks like it could be you and Steve after a few years. LOL LOL!! They actually didn't sound too bad. Listened to one song - Brandy.

Go, Speed Racer, Go

Hmmm.... I don't know how to feel about going back to the Bradley campus after so long. I can't quite wrap my head around the whole thing. It was a strange, mixed-up thing - where I've been, where I'm going, who I've been and will be. At least Lydia still looks as sour and cranky as ever.
Not much to report from Indiana, except that Mom needs to familiarize herself with some of the definitions in the Urban Dictionary.
Mom is totally right about the Amish cheese. It's awesome. I think I ate the Aveo's weight in bacon cheese spread before we even got to Dayton. Bacon cheese spread sounds gross, but when it's not filled with preservatives and processed beyond recognition, it is truly marvelous.
Or maybe I was just hungry.
And what's going on with these afternoon storms. Every time I take the wheel, the sky darkens and the semis start kicking up tsunamis of rainwater. It's like I'm a rain god.
But onward! Across the mountains, to the capital.

Ah, Amish Cheese

Alison and I have arrived in Columbus, OH this evening. We are sitting in our room and Alison is eating what is left of her Amish cheese. She got bacon cheddar spread and I bought a fabulous blueberry cheddar. Let me tell how we arrived here...




First stop - Bradley U. Alison bought a new Bradley t-shirt as her old one is now 8 years old. Can you believe that?? We took her pic with old Lydia standing proud in the middle of campus. Alison can add a link here for anyone interested in Bradley or Peoria.



Next stop, old Jumer's for some cinnamon rolls and a pic of the bear for dad. Well, Jumers sold out to Raddison and took the bear with him!! All thats left is a gargoyle over the door. Raddison was unable to remove the lingering smell of cigarrette smoke tho.
So, Chris - I do have one complaint.. the traffic in Peoria stinks!! no one knows how to drive especially the meaning of merge.


We are headed down the highway to the state border with Indiana and stop at a rest stop. The sheriff who had been following me for a ways pulled in ahead of us. I got out of the car, doing some stretches and he made a comment about needing to do that after being in the car so long. We chatted, I asked if he saw the CA plate and he responded " that's my job" - I think he wanted to say DUH!! He was a nice guy and I asked if I could take his pic for the blog and he said "as long as there are no identifying features included." Please see pic and Alison may or may not tell the rest of the story.....

Down the road and past the Indianapolis Speedway , over the border into Ohio.
Not much happening here so we decide to go off road to find Wilber Wright's birthplace. Down thru neverending cornfields and along country dirt roads with no real indication of where it is, we give up and turn back to the highway. Next sign is for AMISH CHEESE. That we are doing!!
The shop smells so fantastic. Not only is there cheese, there is PIE. Pecan this time. I only had samples of the blueberry cheddar but I am sure there will be none left to bring home, alas.


If you are getting tired of rain pics from the car, well, so are we. The thunderstorms seem to always come in when Alison is driving in the afternoon. I figure it is good driving experience for her since she hasn't driven much in the last 3-7 years.
Tomorrow we are going to make an attempt to get as close to DC as we can. One more nite on the road I think. Alison made arrangements while we were driving to have her utilities turned on on Sat. and sign the lease early too. We may be camping out on her floor til we can get her some furniture.
Watching Olympics - when is Diving? I want to see diving.

a day in Peoria

Alison went for a run this a.m. in Springfield, I tried to sleep in but no go. We showered and headed into Peoria. Our host for the morning , Sara , created tasty crepes for us. After having my fill I vegged out on the couch with a magazine while the girls caught up. After, farewells we went on the neverending quest for a room. Sorry, Steven, but the price keeps going up. We have developed a sense of entitlement since Salina... we are bound and determined not to go thru that again.
Success with the room. We met up with another of Alison's friends - Chris - for dinner. He is a very pleasant and entertaining young man. Works for the Peoria Journal Star on the swing shift, so we had to cut our visit short so he could get back to work. Came back to the room to plot out tomorrow. The goal is to make it to Columbus, OH. It is only 6 hours. NO Problemo for us road warriors or should I say road amazons? We will decide tomorrow nite if we feel like pushing on to DC or spend another nite somewhere before that.
Here's hoping for interesting pictures tomorrow.

Day Six: The Land of Lincoln

Hooray (in chronological order) for:

* the jogging track around the lake behind our hotel in Springfield
* that yeasty Peoria summertime smell
* crepes
* Sara
* Chris
* the brand-new hotel on War Memorial
* prairie fire that wanders about

I am so lost...

We were unable to write in the blog yesterday because we didnt have a promised wi-fi connection and so over the course of days and miles I have lost track of what we have said and done. Like the miles, my thoughts are behind me. I really need to write down things when i think of them. I say to myself - oh, I will remember this and then of course I dont. Very frustrating.
I feel like the little Aveo is taking its toll on me. I woke up this morning with the muscles in my back cramping up on me on my first yawn of the day. I need Dr. Paul!! (my chiropractor). Alison and I have promised ourselves massages at the end of this trip.


This is a view of one of the many rooms filled with JUNK - Windom would be in seventh heaven. There are thousands and thousands of rocks, bottles, tools, arrowheads, animal skins, carcasses , you name it, its in here at the amazing Wonder Tower. From the top one can see 6 unnamed states, apparantly you get to figure that one out on your own.


Here i have tried to capture how very steep these steps are. The layers of paint from 1930 have only added to the incline. We got next to the last "floor" and poked our heads up to see out of the top. There was no way we were going out on that last landing - it was only surrounded by chicken wire!


Beware when an old man in an old house full of old stuff says "It's around back and it's a little old fashioned.."

So after surviving the tower of power we made it across state without too much happening. Then we found this fabulous Carousel in the town of Burlington. During the war the structure enclosing the carousel was used as grain storage, grain was dumped down over all the carousel animals and all the fabulous horses, giraffes, lions, camels and doggies were left to rot or be eaten by mice. Thankfully the town needed a Centenial project and decided to restore the carousel. I hope these pictures do it justice. By the way it is one of the fastest carousel ever at top speed of 10 miles an hour!! It also has a working Wurlitzer military organ . Hope the video plays here.















Kansas is hurting for natural attractions so they had to make their own...



We wanted to see the oddities but didnt want to pay 7.00 each


So after talking to the nice man at the Missouri Visitors Center we decided to change our route and avoid St. Louis. We went further north and plowed our way all the way to Springfield, IL but not before stopping in Marciliene (sp?) where you know who grew up and the streets of his hometown inspired Main Street Disneyland.


Look closely and you can see the mouse ears

OK it is bedtime in Springfield - 2 hours ahead of you all. Tomorrow we visit with Alison's undergrad buddies from Bradley U. in Peoria. Her friend Sara has generously offered to make us breakfast. Do you know how good a home cooked meal sounds after so many restaurants on the road?