Day 1: December 21, 2022 Foiled Again Comment via blog

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Is that particular itinerary cursed? When I set out for Carthage, MO, and some vintage motels in October, I was hit with COVID. When I did the same today, devastating weather was predicted for the route. Possible flurries were predicted along the route when I booked a couple of motels for the days closest to Christmas but predictions grew steadily worse from that point forward. By the time I went to bed Tuesday night, it seemed that a major blizzard and I would meet up in Illinois if I stuck with my original plans. Maybe I should have scrapped the whole trip but instead I considered an alternative path that would try to slip by the storm to the south and approach the target from another direction. I stubbornly delayed abandoning the original plan until the last possible moment. That came at the Greensburg exit on I-74.

I made one last study of weather predictions over breakfast at Pop's Diner at the south edge of town but there were no last minute changes. I stopped dawdling and even left a few sips of coffee in my cup to run out and photograph sunrise on the year's shortest day from the parking lot.

My new route took me through Seymour, IN, where I slipped a couple of blocks off of it to see a mural that was still in process when I was last here.

My new plan is a partial reversal of my old plan. In September, a Pat Bremer post made me aware of this bridge over the Wabash river and I tentatively added it as the last stop on my October trip and kept it as the last stop on this trip. Pat had left Illinois on the bridge; I entered it. I could see a vehicle on the one-lane bridge as I approached and slowed to a crawl until it was clear. I then stopped for a couple of photos before turning on the dash cam and moving onto the converted railroad bridge. I forgot that there are actually two bridges here and turned the camera off prematurely and have the second bridge in a separate video. There's a great History in Your Own Backyard report on the bridge here.

I did pull to the side of the road in Carmi, IL, to snap this picture through the passenger window.

Solstice is when the Sun and the Earth start moving farther apart. This year that occurred at 4:47 PM EST. This picture might be a few seconds late or it might be a few seconds early or it could be right on. Who knows?

My new plan had few details beyond turning south. This had me heading in the general direction of Memphis. I recalibrated things after crossing the bridge into Illinois and decided to try for the vintage Sunrise Inn in Brownsville, TN. I have wanted to stay here before but the one time that it fit perfectly into my schedule it was full. As you can see, it is right next to Billy Tripp's Mind Field. I'll get pictures of the Mindfield and the motel in the morning.

I had intended to walk next door for dinner at the Mindfield Grill but it appears to be closed. When I started looking for an alternative, Helen's BBQ was at the top of every list. There is no indoor seating at Helen's and it was a bit too cold to make use of one of those picnic tables so my sandwich came back to my room. It was exactly what it looks like: good and messy.

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