Posts Tagged ‘Indiana’

Corn

Thursday, August 11th, 2011
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Thursday, August 11, 2011

Corn

Lake Loramie State Park, Minster, Ohio

What a wonderful night for sleeping! The weather here in Indiana has been heaven after our 95+ degree month in the south. Last night it got down to 54-degrees! Perfect for sleeping. This morning was a near perfect 72-degrees when we checked out of our campsite and headed to the small town of Losantville, Indiana to ride the Cardinal Greenway Rail-to-Trail.

I’m not sure of the total length of the Cardinal Greenway because it is divided into sections. I think it is close to 90-miles in total (Peg, do you know?). It runs from Gas City – through Muncie – to Richmond, Indiana. This morning at the Losantville trailhead, we met another cyclist who told us that the Losantville to Richmond section was not “officially” open yet, but lots of people were already riding it. The trail looked new and fresh so we decided to head south.

Our new friend was right. In fact, there were workmen on the trail today painting warning lines and crossings at intersections on the newly paved surface. The trail is “Indiana” flat so the riding is easy. We passed through uncountable cornfields and very picturesque farms. A couple of them were Amish or Mennonite properties…you could tell by the “neat as a pin” look and the all black clothes hanging on the cloths lines. Now here’s a sign that we’ve never seen on any other trails we’ve ridden.

There were quite a few other cyclists on the trail, which is impressive for a Thursday morning. Many were riding recumbent cycles. I’d like to try one of those sometime. We rode through the small towns of Econony and Willimasburg and at 15-miles out decided to turn around and head back to Losantville. It is easy to get carried away on the ride out because you are seeing all new countryside – especially on a perfect weather day like today, but, it’s always in the back of our minds that we have to pedal the same number of miles back. So, with 30-miles under our belts (or should I say butts?), we loaded the bikes back onto the van and headed for Ohio.

We have no real destination in mind, except that we’d like to visit the Amish community in Northeast Ohio as we make our way northeast to Connecticut. So, for today, we just picked out a green spot on the Western Ohio map that had a camping symbol ….Lake Loramie. We set the GPS (mistake!) and away we went. We were just closing in on Lake Loramie when we came upon a one-of-a-kind rural road accident: A farm tractor somehow got away from it’s driver and ended up willy-nilly across the road. We were first on the scene but don’t know how it happened…all we saw was the frustrated farmer and lots of skid marks.

We sat at a respectful distance and watched (we couldn’t do anything else because traffic had backed up behind us and we couldn’t turn around) as the frustrated farmer summoned help to pull him off the road. Soon we were on our way…but not for long…the road ahead was closed – they were replacing a bridge. We had to take a gravel road detour which really through Dora (the GPS Lady) for a loop. Then, back on track she led us down country lanes…through farmer’s fields….past little towns …till suddenly – in the middle of cornfields for as far as you could see… she said, “You Have Reached Your Destination!” You’d think we’d be used to this by now.

Luckily, my smart phone was able to help. We found a street address and plugged that in …Dora was off and running again. This time I also tracked us with phone navigation – just to make sure she didn’t pull any more of her tricks!

Lake Loramie campground is an Ohio State Park. There are lots of families here and it’s really nice to hear kids playing and riding their bikes. Right now we are enjoying watching our neighbors… a young Mennonite family tent camping. They brought everything but the kitchen sink.

Thanks For Riding Along!

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The Great 2011 Indiana State Fair

Tuesday, August 9th, 2011
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August 8 and August 9, 2011

The Great 2011 Indiana State Fair

Indianapolis, Indiana

Monday morning we arrived in Indianapolis and, with only a couple of wrong turns, found the Indiana State Fairgrounds and the fairgrounds campground. The campground is pretty much what we expected; A big level field area divided into roughly 15×32 foot campsites….which means there is very little room between camper units…except for us of course. We are so small that we fit into our 15×32 site with room to spare. On one side we have a Soft Pretzel vendor (thought we could talk shop), and on the other side….well…we’re not sure about them – at least 5 guys coming and going – probably operating midway rides. All was pretty quite here in the campground.

As soon as we were hooked up, we headed to the fairgrounds. Whooowhooo!

We decided early-on that we would eat whatever we wanted at the fair – after all, that’s what fairs are for?? So the first thing we did, after wandering through the building where all of the “miracle” products are (someday I’ll tell you about the foot-detox guy …uck!), was to look for food. We decided there would be not regrets…just eat what you want!  Even Superman was throwing caution to the wind!

 

 

That’s it! Lunch would be Indiana Pork! I got a Pork Tenderloin sandwich and Ted went for the Pulled Pork BBQ with kettle potatoes. Not the best choices…we both wished we had gotten something else…but there were just too many choices out there. Next we happened upon a FREE Turkey Hill Ice Cream booth so that kind of made up for our previous poor choices. In total, I had 2-small Turkey Hill cups of Mint Chocolate Chip; Ted had 6! Next, feeling like pigs, we headed to the animal buildings….Cattle, Swine, Poultry, Sheep and Elephant?

 

 

Ted grabbed a Giant Éclair to munch on and I had an Ice Cream Cone. We did it all…until…at about 3:00 when the skies darkened and a heavy band of rain came through the fairgrounds…we ducked into the Main Street Stage Tent to escape the rain and we were just in time to hear Ashley Wilcox And The Cosmos! We didn’t know our friend Ashley had gone on the road! Oh, turns out it wasn’t OUR Ashley Wilcox. We stayed for over an hour while the rain came and went. Half-way through the show a couple of really soggy people came in with thick milk shakes….Ted couldn’t keep his eyes off this lady’s shake. Finally, he asked her where she got it. She told him and then she actually gave Ted a coupon for a FREE Milkshake at the Indiana Dairy Association Stand (she had a bunch of coupons ‘cause her in-laws milk cows). Off he went into the pouring rain… and came back, dripping wet, with his milk shake.

The rain stopped about 5:00 and we still had not even seen a 3rd of the fair. We worked our way through more exhibits and then walked through the Midway just as it was getting dark.

 

It was after 9:00pm (late for us) by the time we made it back to the campground where all was quiet. After a good night’s sleep, we did it all again today…except, today we treated ourselves to Giant Italian Sausage Sandwiches with Onions and Peppers. We washed that down with a couple of those wonderful Indiana Dairy Milkshakes. We spent the day trying to see everything that we missed yesterday. This included: Puppy Races; The Early Farming Village; Elephant Rides; Clog Dancers; The Biggest Boar in America; and Musical Clowns.

I can’t even guess how many miles we walked over these two days. The Indiana Fairgrounds cover 250 acres and I think we toured, examined and inspected just about every exhibit and event on those 250 acres. We ended our afternoon at the stables where the professional racehorses are housed.

Tomorrow: We’re Out Of Here.

Thanks For Riding Along!

http://www.in.gov/statefair/

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That’s When Groovin’ was Groovin’

Sunday, August 7th, 2011
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Sunday, August 07, 2011

That’s When Groovin’ was Groovin’

The Hoosier National Forest

 

Last night strong thunderstorms went through our area. The lightening and rain were pretty intense for a couple of hours. We were fine, dry as a bone, but I worried about some of the tent campers near us…must have been a crazy night for them. We were up and out of the campground early so we didn’t get a chance to talk to anyone.

The reason we were out early – 7:45 ish – was because we wanted to make the 8:30 Mass at the nearest Catholic Church, St. Mary of the Annunciation in Floyds Knobs. We had no idea where Floyds Knobs was (who was Floyd and why did he have knobs?), but trusted Dora…the GPS Lady to get us there. She did except it took much longer than we anticipated. We traveled past lovely farms down picturesque back roads, which we normally would have really enjoyed except that it was taking way too long and we really hate to be late for church.

We pulled into the church parking lot at 8:28…lucky for us, it is a well known fact that at least half of the parishioners in every Catholic Church, walk into the church just as the bells stop ringing. We really don’t like walking into a strange Church late. As we got out of the van we noticed that people were not going into the main front doors of the beautiful white church on the property…instead, they were walking into what appeared to be the adjacent Parish Hall. Good thing we noticed…..we hurried after a man who seemed to know which door to go in….we walked in and found ourselves right up front …close to the alter where a Lector was already welcoming everyone. Center of attention….making ourselves as small possible….we hurried to seats. We found out later that the main Church is being renovated so the services are being held in the Parish Hall till the church is ready. The parishioners were very friendly and welcoming.

After Mass, we drove through the farming community of Floyds Knobs and on to our first destination of the day. We wanted to be in the proper mood so we plugged our “Ted’s Picks” flash drive and tuned in a little ditty about Jack and Diane; singing loud ….know’n all the words ….we flaunted Authority….and kept singing till we reach the Small Town of Seymour, Indiana; where we cruised the streets looking for Cherry Bomb and a red Cougar. We Rode Around The Little Country Town, where there are a lot of Pink Houses but we never did see a Cougar guess it was Just Another Day in Seymour. Did you guess it? Seymour, Indiana is John Cougar Mellencamp’s hometown! Ted and I love Mellencamp’s music…always have…especially loved him back in the 70’s when he was Johnny Cougar. As his fame grew, he bravely added his real last name, Mellencamp, which his agents had told him would never sell records.

Seymour, Indiana is also known as the Crossroads of America because it is here in the center of town that the Main North-South and East-West Rail lines cross. A little known fact that Ted somehow knew. Being Sunday, there wasn’t much open in town so we stopped at the Visitor’s Center that is located in the original-refurbished Seymour Depot.

Our visit to the Visitor’s Center was fun. The nice gentleman manning the Center today happened to be the former Mayor of Seymour. He was very polite and informative…at least he tried to be polite because one of the only other people in the Visitor’s Center besides us was a local man who took exception to almost everything the former Mayor had to say. The other man was a colorful 83-year-old native who proclaimed himself a righteous Republican in a town full of liberal Democrats (the former Mayor is a Democrat). When we inquired about our idol JCM, the older gentleman had some not-so-nice things to say about the whole family (draft-dodging liberals), which the former Mayor really didn’t appreciate. (my appologies to those of you who were born too late to recognize the music of the 70′s and 80′s)

In the midst of all this, I wanted to buy a 50-cent Mellencamp postcard to send to Jilly and Grace. When I went to pay for the card I handed it to the Mayor. He asked me my name and reached into a drawer to wrestle out a hard-bound 11×14 receipt book. I said, “you need my name to sell me a post card?”. He replied, “Yep, you know how government is…this place is run by the town”. I laughed, and then spelled my name for him and watched as he very carefully wrote it in on the “received from” line. He went on to write a description of the postcard; the date and time; and then signed his name with a flourish. I’m saving that receipt at least until we are out of Indiana just in case we’re stopped and questioned about the purchase. When we left the depot, the other man followed us out and continued to tell us all of the problems with the town…except when the door opened…he’d get very quiet so the former Mayor couldn’t hear him. Funny. By-the-way, Seymour is also the home of Katie Stam – the 2009 Miss America. Must be a lot of good blood in Seymour.

Before leaving Seymour (never did catch a glimpse of JCM) we studied the local map and saw that we were very close to the Longest Historic Covered Bridge in America. Who knows when we’ll be this close again…we decided to find it. The weather was perfect today, about 85 and sunny, and we were driving through beautiful fields of corn and soybeans –a picture-perfect Indiana scene.

 

Wasn’t long before we found the newly renovated Medora Covered Bridge.

 

We parked on the side of the road and walked through. The bridge was built in 1875 and carried local traffic across the East Fork of the White River for about 40-years. It was the main road – route 50 – through this part of Indiana until the highway system was improved and Route 50 bypassed the bridge.
The span between the abutment faces is 431-feet; shed extensions for weather protection extend 16 feet on each end beyond the bridge span. The Medora Bridge is the last remaining three-span covered bridge in Indiana. Inside is really unique. There are three timber arches with stiffening trusses. This photo shows the center arch. If you look really close, you’ll see a little black line at the other end ….that’s me.

 

When we walked out of the bridge at the other end we were met by a very enthusiastic, young man who is a member of the Medora Covered Bridge Preservation Committee. He seems to spend all of his spare time here at the bridge welcoming visitors. He handed us a brochure and answered all of our questions about the history of the bridge. He is a self described “starving artist” and life time resident of Medora who decided that the bridge is an important part of the towns history and needs to be preserved. We really enjoyed talking with him.

The day was quickly getting away from us so we decided to head to our destination for the night – The Hoosier National Forest where we knew we could find a (half-price Golden Age Pass) National Park Campground. Wasn’t long before we were sitting in a gorgeous hardwood forest sipp’in coffee. We spent the rest of the afternoon hiking a moderate to strenuous trail through the forest and down to Lake Monroe. A good workout!

Tomorrow: The Indian State Fair!

Thanks For Riding Along!

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Bats Everywhere!!

Saturday, August 6th, 2011
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Saturday, August 06, 2011

Bats Everywhere!

Deam Lake, Indiana

We managed to make it out of Bardstown, KY without hearing even one Steven Foster tune….harder than you think. Our first goal of the day was to find a Sam’s Club in nearby Elizabethtown, where we needed to stock up on some of our staples….oat and honey granola bars, walnuts, craisins, Emeril’s chicken and apple sausages and the best block cheddar cheese you’ve ever eaten. Our GPS Lady was playing fair today and we found Sam’s without incident. Lucky us…today was also “sample Saturday” so we stayed for lunch: a half ounce of sirloin steak….yum; a 1/64th slice of pizza ….very good; fresh fruit cup….ok; 1/16th of a peanut butter & jelly sandwich….I’ll pass ….I have never in my life tasted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and I don’t intend to break my record, Ted had two . We were feeling pretty satisfied by the time we left.

While we were at Sam’s a rainstorm passed through leaving us with really comfortable temperatures. I think we have finally made it out of the heat wave. Yesterday and today, the daily highs were in the mid 80’s ….nice; and the nighttime lows have been in the low 70’s…fantastic sleeping! Next week’s forecasted temperatures for Indiana are about the same – highs in the mid 80’s and lows around 70 – Perfect! Looks like heading north was a good idea.

Back on the road we were zeroing in on our Main Event Of The Day……The Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory! Ted does all of the driving so I am the “on the road…mobile photographer”. This is a shot I got of the Louisville, KY skyline as we drove into the city. That shadow in the photo is not a “Divine Image Over Louisville” it’s the Crucifix that hangs from our rearview mirror.

We found Louisville’s Museum Row with no problem…and even better…we found a free place to park only a couple of blocks away from the Louisville Slugger Factory. Full of anticipation, we hurried down the street …..we were not disappointed!

 

What a great place! Inside is the actual Louisville Slugger Factory where they make all of the Professional Major League baseball bats. They have other factories in Pennsylvania and New York where they make amateur bats…but this is where the personal major league player bats are made. We quickly lined up for the factory tour. You begin your tour in one of several museum areas where small groups of visitors are taken through the factory (hey. ..Mystic Color Lab friends: this reminded me of those horrible tours I used to have to take people on through our MCL Plant). We were taken through the actual production plant, by happy employees, (stay behind the yellow lines!), and we watched as bats were “turned” in less than 30 seconds on computerized lathes. They also demonstrated how the bats used to be made by hand. After the plant tour, we spent some time wandering through a wonderful Norman Rockwell Baseball Art exhibit; and then we toured the Slugger Museum. The museum is full of wonderful photos from the past. These are a couple of Ted’s favorites.

 

 

As a parting gift, everyone who tours the factory receives a genuine miniature 18” Louisville Slugger baseball bat. Hope our granddaughter’s like them. Outside on the sidewalk another show was going on…the whole street was lined with colorful…odd…cars.

Turns out this is Kentucky Art Car Weekend. People from all over the state decorate their cars and compete for recognition. We missed the parade but enjoyed seeing some of the entries.

It was almost 3:00 when we left Louisville and Kentucky via the amazing JFK Bridge over the Ohio River. Welcome to Indiana!!

 

Hey! Lincoln’s Boyhood Home???? How many boyhood homes did Lincoln have?

Thanks For Riding Along!

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Hoosier Boy

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010
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Bethel, Ohio  to  Madison Indiana

             We woke at our usual 5:00 this morning.  It was a beautiful morning so we decided to take advantage of the miles and miles of paved road that wind through the forests and around the lake at East Fork State Park.  It was so calm and fresh – as we pedaled around the park it felt like we were the only people in the forest.  We rode down to the lake and then climbed the 7% grade back up.  A bit of a challenge but we made it.  I was truly wide-eyed with wonder …. wide-eyed that is until a bug few right into my left eye and I had to stop and call Ted to come and get it out.

             Back at camp we made breakfast, took showers and loaded up.  By 9:00 we were on the road heading for Indiana.  We try to avoid large cities so we took the freeway around Cincinnati.  This is the first interstate highway that we have been on since we left Maryland.  We didn’t like it.   A little after 11:00 we exited and picked up US 50 in Indiana.  The first city we came to was Lawrenceburg.  As we drove through town we caught a glimpse of the Lawrenceburg levy and riverfront.  We parked, made a picnic lunch and climbed up the levy to eat it on the River Walk.  The central attraction on the walk, other than the Ohio River, is a big clock archway with inspiring bronze statues of US Service Personnel on one side and Rescue and Police Personnel on the other.  While we were there the clock struck 12:00 noon and peal bells started to ring and continued playing several songs for about 5 minutes.  Really enjoyable.

 

            We left Lawrenceburg on Indiana’s Scenic River By-Way, Route 56, which took us along the river and through many small river towns.  The most memorable was Rising Sun.  Rising Sun has a very quaint main street that ends at the river front.  We stopped so that we could walk through town .  We noticed that something was going on down by the river and lucky us…..we were just in time to see the christening of a brand new addition to the River Fleet – the M/V Hoosier State.  Dignitaries from the town, the ADP, and Michigan Power (a large employer in the area) were there, along with about 50 other guests and two Fools On a Mission.

 

            After the boat christening we stayed a little longer so we could watch the river and the festivities.  Ted found a really good seat.  Now he is the Hoosier Boy.

 

            What an exciting day!  It was starting to get late so the beat it out of town and continued toward our destination for the night, Madison, Indiana where we hope to get a campsite at Clifty Falls State Park.  We have heard that there are several fantastic waterfalls there.  With Memorial Day Weekend coming up, many of the campgrounds are full so we may have to boondock  if we don’t get there early.

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