| Have You Seen My Dad? |
| If you are following along with us, on my Dad's journey to travel US Highway 20, from coast-to-coast, you can find the posts HERE. |
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| June 26 Royal NE to Grundy IA Small town America. Stayed the night at the Royal NE city park which was quiet and restful in spite of the rain. Had breakfast at the Last Chance Bar, Grill, and Hot Spot. The only spot in Royal. And set out, for Sioux City. Hwy 20 was closed due to bridge repair, so the day started with a detour of 10 miles of county road. There were several places in Sioux City that I planned to see, but MAJOR road rebuilding and detours became far too confusing and frustrating, so I got back on track and headed east. I stopped at McDonald’s to use the wi-fi, but after multiple attempts, I gave up. In Correctionville I used the wi-fi at the Community Center to send your email. I also took pictures of the ‘correction’, which has nothing to do with law enforcement, and everything to do with longitude. Just east of Correctionville, Hwy 20 is again closed, and BOB and I were detoured onto back roads until east of Early. I had also planned a stop in Early which didn’t happen because of the detour. Early is called the ‘Crossroad of the Nation’ because US-20 and US-71 cross there. Took pictures of old Fort Dodge in Fort Dodge, but the museum was closed. Iowa is somewhat flat, but not flat like Texas. All of the farm houses are way off so you see a lot of corn and soy beans. Camped at the Grundy County Lake Campground tonight. Warm, humid, and buggy. So far, Nebraska and Iowa are my two least favorite states. Not raining, but feels like it needs to. -Dad |
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| Wed. June 27 After a warm, humid night, and a LOOONG shower, I headed for Dyersville IA to see the ‘Field of Dreams’ movie site. It didn’t turn out to be too exciting - just a corn farm with a baseball field. It appeared two of the town’s league teams were playing a game. Kevin Costner wasn’t there. The surprise, however was the Basilica of St. Francis Xavier. What a huge beautiful building! And the National Farm Toy Museum, which exceeded all of my expectations. Who knew that those toy tractors and horses had such a collectable following. People from all over were there to photograph ‘the one they didn’t have’. Before crossing the mighty Mississippi River, I visited the waterfront of Dubuque: Shot Tower, National Mississippi River Museum, and the River Walk of Art. I did not get to Fenelon Place Elevator because, once again, Iowa was rebuilding the road system. They must have received a ton of federal grant money for road reconstruction. I will be in Dubuque on the return, so maybe then. Heading for a rest area, I left Hwy 20 to cross the river on US 61/151. That lead me into Wisconsin for about 7 miles before returning to US 20 in Illinois. In Galena IL, I stopped at President Grants residence and also the Long Hollow Scenic Overlook. The area looked like it belonged in Vermont with rolling hills of trees and meadows, and old brick houses. After Iowa, it was a welcome sight. I spent the night in Belvidere IL. I plan to blow past Chicago as it is too big to see everything on this trip. -Dad |
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| Belvidere IL to Chesterton IN First stop today was in Union IL at the Illinois Railroad Museum. It is a massive complex that multiple huge warehouses holding entire trains. In the steam building - over twenty different Engines ranging from a small switcher to several massive 4-88-4 locomotives. Other buildings held diesel electrics, inter-urbans, trolleys, and a variety of train cars. I rode an inter-urban for a 10 mile out and back trip. I was there for hours and walked many miles. I attempted to blow past Chicago, but the traffic was as thick as the mosquitoes later at camp. Once I made it past Chicago and Gary IN, I found a campsite at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Campground and watched the fireflies flash. I slept inside the truck because the mosquitoes created a fog of pestilence. No photos this email because they are lost inside my computer . . . somewhere. -Dad |
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| Chesterton IN to Fayette OH Who ordered this heat? I started in Late June to avoid the rain and high heat. Silly me! Left camp this morning headed north up the coast and ran smack dab into . . . Michigan where I turned east to see the Hesston Steam Museum in LaPorte IN. It was closed until later, so I took pictures through the fence. Then on to South Bend IN, which was under major road construction AND was dealing with a monster traffic accident in the area I wanted to get to. Several frustrating hours later, I gave up and passed on seeing the Studebaker Museum, and the Indiana Whiskey Company. In Elkhart IN, I saw the National New York Central Railroad Museum - not as large as the Illinois museum, but well worth stopping to see - and in Shipshewana I carefully drove around Amish horse carriages. Many of them. It was a very warm, frustrating, potholed road kind of day, so I stopped early at Harrison Lake State Park in Fayette OH. The potholed roads, traffic, and mosquitoes were a negative. The fireflies, Amish carriages, clean campgrounds with showers, and no rain were positives. -Dad |
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Fayette OH to Ashtabula OH What a difference a state line can make! From broken, potholed, orange coned, detoured Indiana roads to nice smooth driving. John Glenn must have spent all of the Federal road money last year. Starting in Fayette, this is where I visited: Summit Raceway Park (drag strip) in Berkey OH. Rutherford B. Hayes home and Presidential Library in Freemont OH. Hayes was the first President to visit Oregon, and his library is the only one that is privately owned. Mad River & NPK Railroad Society Museum in Bellevue OH. Relatively small, but worth the visit. James Garfield home in Mentor OH. Garfield was one of four Presidents assassinated while in office. Can you name the other three? The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland OH. Much like the one we visited in LA during our school band Disney trip. Lots of costumes, guitars, and hand written songs on display, plus a live concert on stage outside. In the heat. Actually, with the massive crowd inside, the air conditioning couldn’t keep up in there either. Ever been to a Hard Rock? Makes you wonder how many guitars the Ramones actually owned. While in Cleveland, I also took note of the USS Cod submarine, and First Energy Stadium (home of the Cleveland Browns). They were all in the same area as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Whew! BIG day. I ended up for the night just north of Ashtabula OH. |
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Ashtabula OH to Niagara Falls NY Very hot and excessively humid driving along the Lake Erie shoreline. Took pictures of lighthouses in Westfield NY and Dunkirk NY (supposedly haunted). Stopped in the park in Angola NY and walked the trail up Big Sister Creek to the sight of the ‘Angola Horror’ 1867 train wreck. Pretty scenery, but not much to indicate a train falling off of a bridge. In Eden NY, I stopped at the Original American Kazoo Co. The only metal kazoo manufacturer in the ENTIRE WORLD! It's Sunday - so they were closed. I may need to order one online. Then on to Buffalo NY to see Niagara Falls. Getting through Buffalo was a white knuckle experience with traffic and crazy, speeding drivers. Parking at the Falls is impossible as there were a bazzillion vehicles all needing that one open space as someone left. Compounded with pedestrians (me included) crossing the streets. Once at the riverbank, however, the views are fantastic. I was told multiple times that the view from the Canadian side is even better, but I was hot and tired so I didn’t cross over (I did bring my passport) I fought my way south about 20 miles before camping for the night. |
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