Dispatch from the Road 2023

 June 5 2023 Monday The majority of the day today was spent on a dusty road trip to the covered bridges of Madison County Iowa. There are six of them in and around the town of Winterest. That’s pretty commendable to the caliber of the folks that live here. Almost all the covered bridges back where I lived in Maryland were lost to floods, fires and neglect a long time ago. The Roseman bridge was used in the movie. Even before the bridges were brought to everyone's attention in the movie, The Bridges of Madison County." they had been bypassed and preserved. Several of the bridges even have foam fire extinguishing canisters installed inside the covering. Some have security camera protection. Foam fire suppression canisters. The movie is a chick flick about an adulterous affair between a National Geographic photographer (Clint Eastwood) and the local farm wife (Merle Streep). Even if they won’t admit it, most of us guys have seen the movie. We were duped into going because it had ...

 

 May 30 2023 We drove across Illinois today, staying mostly on state road 50. The part of Illinois we drove through was mostly forested or cultivated with a few pastures mixed in. The drive from Vincennes Indiana to St Peters in Missouri was only about 180 miles and with the time change to central time we arrived at lunchtime.  The trip so far. The campground which is owned and operated by the city of St. Peters looks brand new, has paved streets concrete pull thru site with full Hookups. About all it needs are some shade trees. One point of interest is the campground is on the river side of a large high dike. The electrical transformers are post posts about twenty feet in the air. I don’t think I would stay here if there was high water rolling down the Mississippi. Note my friend Bill told me it looks new because they had to rebuild it after the last flood. transformers mounted above flood stage. On the river side of the levee. We took advantage of the new laundry facility he...

 May 29 2023 On our last overnight in Kentucky we were a stones throw from Indiana. From Carrolton Kentucky we drove along the river shore for about ten miles to Milton were we crossed the river and entered Indiana at the town of Madison. Main Street in Madison Indiana Madison is a great welcome mat for the state, it is a clean and the old Main Street is a vibrant business district. Homes seemed to be well kept; it just had that home town feel. From there the drive across the state was a pleasant journey through mostly agriculture. Small towns were as small towns go, some nice, some a little shabby. We traveled across the state in one day and arrived at Vincennes Indiana and to our planned campground early in the afternoon. Because of the holiday weekend we are staying here three nights. We don’t want to get stuck without a place to stay on the busy weekend.  Site 27 at Quabache Trails Park The campground is ok, it’s a long overgrown road to get here but the campground itself ...

 May 26 2023 Friday We got away earlier than normal and were on the road by 8 AM. We plan to drive about 75 miles to the Ark Encounter near Williamstown, Kentucky. After touring the ark we will drive about 50 miles to the west to a campground in Carrollton Kentucky.  Today's travel plans The morning went almost as planned, when we got to Lexington we had to get on the interstate. Once around the city I got off at the first exit. Our plan, which I admit is very loose, is to stay off the interstate highways and see the back roads of America. I don’t remember the exit number because I was winging it, but I remembered a country road that paralleled the interstate north.  We try to avoid big cities My decision to find the side road from memory was not a good one. The road we were on slowly narrowed the further we traveled, first too two eight-foot lanes, then one 12-foot lane and finally one lane that couldn’t have been over ten foot wide. By this time the road had many blind ...