7/14: Today was tough leaving Kim and Richard. It felt so good to be with them, to laugh and not be sad every day.
I had a beautiful drive, after I left I-70 I got onto US30 (the Lincoln Highway). Gorgeous through western Pennsylvania. I went to the Flight 93 Memorial. It was very moving, and the ranger gave a great talk by the memorial walkway at the crash site.
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| Observation deck at Visitor Center - this is the flight path |
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| Boulder marking the actual crash site |
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| View of the Visitor Center from Memorial Plaza - observation deck visible |
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| Hemlock wood slats viewing the boulder at the crash site. The names of the passengers and crew are carved in stone along the flight path leading to this gate. |
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| The Tower of Voices: 93 feet tall with 40 chimes (for 40 passengers and crew) |
7/15: I headed out to Yellow Springs, OH. What a beautiful drive through the Pennsylvania hills, and Ohio farmland. Yellow Springs seems to me to be a hippy-dippy/artsy-fartsy town. It is home to Antioch College, a private liberal arts college. The main reason I went there was to see the Glen Helen Raptor Center. It was small, mainly for rescue, but they had several birds that couldn't be released back into the wild due to their injuries. They had various types of owls and hawks, a peregrine falcon, a bald eagle, and a couple of vultures (ugh). As I was leaving, a family came in with an injured baby hawk - that they were turning over to the center for care and rehab.
The Yellow Springs Motel where I stayed was a great place - straight out of the 50's. It had been fixed up really cute. The sink in the bathroom was only up to mid-thigh on me - making me really appreciate modern bathroom fixtures!!!
The last two nights I have forced myself to go out to a restaurant to eat. I hate being out alone - next time I'll bring a book.
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| The Yellow Springs Motel |
7/16: Just a drive today to Peru, IL. I took all back roads through lots of corn fields. It's really smokey - from the Canadian wildfires. I hope it clears up tomorrow!
7/17: Beautiful drive today on the back roads to Plymouth, WI. The smoke has cleared up, and it was blue sky and puffy clouds. I tried to take pictures of some of the barns, but they didn't come out very well.
Plymouth is the CHEESE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD! Sargento has a packing facility here.
I went out to eat at a local restaurant - and they had Broasted Chicken on the menu!! (It's a midwest recipe - like fried chicken only cooked in a pressure cooker). Mike LOVED broasted chicken - so I ordered it for him. It was pretty darn good.😀
7/18: I had a beautiful drive along the backroads to Baileys Harbor. Using the Roadside America website (they have an app for Apple but not for Android 😐), I found some interesting stuff.
I specifically stopped in Manitowoc to see the giant badger and the Sputnik debris. Manitowoc is a charming little town right on Lake Michigan.
The Sputnik debris was at the Rahr West Art Museum, which is an old mansion on the historical registry. The satellite burned up in the atmosphere, except for this piece which fell in the middle of 8th street, right in front of the museum.
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| There is a marker in the middle of the street, just to the left of the tar line |
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| I thought this was interesting - in the old home part of the museum. It's what a water closet looked like in the late 1800's - early 1900's. Running water in the sink, but you had to use a chamber pot. |
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| View of the harbor out to Lake Michigan |
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| The badger statue. The car ferry, USS Badger, leaves from right down the street |
I had a nice drive to Sturgeon Bay to see the Wisconsin Motorcycle Memorial. It was very touching. The brick pavers were engraved with names, dates, and slogans. People had left beer bottles, coins, Jack Daniels, and other alcohol bottles. I got a little verklempt, thinking of Mike.
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| Cute idea for a picnic table! |
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| View of Lake Michigan on the way. |
I checked into my motel - a cute little place called Journey's End, and it's right next to Maureen and Gene's campground. They treated me to supper, it was so good to see them. I think Gene was feeling a little verklempt, but we managed to talk about and remember Mike without any tears. I cried when I got home.
7/19: A really enjoyable day! I drove up to Sister Bay. Maureen said I had to go to Al Johnson's for Swedish pancakes, and that happened to be where the goats were on the roof. It was a 2 hour wait, but well worth it. I had the pancakes with lingonberries and syrup, and I had lingonberry iced tea. While I was waiting, I walked around town. Really a charming place.
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| The goats are only up there 9 - 3 weather permitting. All of Al Johnson's buildings (restaurant and stores) have sod roofs. |
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| Cute - bush dressed like a Swedish girl |
After lunch, I drove up to the northernmost tip - Northport - where the ferry crosses the Port de Morts. That's where Door County gets it's name - Death's Door. Evidently a lot of ships sank between the mainland and Washington Island.
Then I stopped at Uncle Tom's candy store - the owner is Maureen's cousin - she told me about it. I got some peanut brittle and chocolate bark for her. I'm having supper at their place tonight. It looks like an old house - the entrance is really cute:
Then on the way back to Baileys Harbor, I found Lederhosen Man - he was on the list of sights to see on the Roadside America website. Tomorrow I head to Germantown - I'll be there two nights so I can see the Harley museum in Milwaukee.
7/22: Seems last night there was quite the storm in north Georgia. I haven't seen it called a tornado, but I have seen reports of 65mph winds, and pictures of lots of damage. Neil and Pam's yard is pretty torn up, lots of trees down, and no power, but thankfully their house isn't damaged. The 5th wheel looks to be ok, but Pam says the metal roof is leaning, and some of the supports are off kilter. So now I'll have to deal with that when I get home. Shit
Update: two reported tornadoes touched down by Jasper, and 85mph winds reported!
Here are some pictures Pam sent:
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| Mike's bike is blown over (the cover is likely in the next county), grills are blown over, one of the Dish antennas is on the ground. |
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| The swing and grill (big heavy one) that was behind the trailer got blown here. You can kind of see the support posts aren't exactly straight. |
Pam said I didn't need to come back home, so I'll continue on. I went to the Harley Davidson museum today. It was okay, but I really missed having Mike to share it with. So, I had lunch, and then came back to the hotel.
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| The wall of engines |
7/22: Kim suggested that I go see the Field of Dreams. I didn't even know it was a thing. Today was "Ghost" day, and it was so cool. The players came out to the diamond from the corn field. The Dyersville VFW marched out with the colors, and a local gal sang the national anthem. They pulled kids (families were here from all over the country) to come out and bat and run the bases. I had no idea, but what a cool place! This Ghost team has been doing this for 34 years, and has traveled all over the world doing this!
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| This is the house from the movie |
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| The Ghost team coming in from the corn field |
7/23: Today's Roadside America site was the American Gothic House in Eldon, IA. It's much smaller than you would imagine, but fun to see none the less. I sent a picture of it to Kim, and she sent me a photoshopped picture back with two GIANT statues of the farm couple - in front of the real house - with Richard next to them from a sculpture garden in Delaware (I think). Funny!!
7/24: Today I drove to West Bend, IA to see the Shrine of the Grotto of Redemption. This is an amazing story of a priest, Fr. Paul Dobberstein, who promised the Blessed Virgin that he would build a shrine if she healed him from a serious illness he had just before he was ordained. He gathered rocks, quartz crystals, precious stones, shells, and it looks like even petrified wood to build this shrine. There are actually many grottos in this shrine, including a Stations of the Cross. Here's a link to a write up on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grotto_of_the_Redemption
The pictures don't do it justice, it's really something!
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| The Angel of Comfort |
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| St. Michael the Archangel statue |
RAGBRAI
RAGBRAI, Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa
All of these riders (30,000 according to the ISP officer I spoke to; it's the 50th year), coming down the road towards me. He told me to take it slow, but I could go through. They had support vehicles, people in the towns playing music and giving out food. It was something, and this picture doesn't capture the sheer volume of riders!
7/25: I found out that the Everly brothers boyhood home was only 20 miles from where I was staying, so of course I had to drive over to see!
7/28: Tonight I had supper with Karen Sue and Floyd, Lynda and Bob, and Lee and Deb. It was so nice to see them all and spend a little bit of time together.
