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Pro Tip: Departing your route at a significant landmark makes it much easier
to pick up where you left off.
Tip to Self: There's a Sunrise and a Sunset every single day, and they are
absolutely free. Don’t miss so many of them. --Jo Walton
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A collector of vintage vehicles at the edge of Brownstown seems set on
avoiding the image of a yard filled with cars on blocks. Restaurant owners
have long been erecting "EAT" signs as a way of identifying
their purpose with the biggest letters for the least cost. It looks like
the Altamont Motel has applied the same principle to lodging.
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The one-lane covered bridge west of Greenup has been converted to a
zero-lane bridge. Greenup itself still looks cool with its charming
balconies and an occasional tractor on Cumberland Street.
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East of Greenup, there is a fairly long stretch of abandoned pavement
beside the current alignment. It is interrupted here and there by
crossovers and piles of gravel but I suppose short pieces could be driven
if one were so inclined. The first picture faces east; the second west.
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This is Casey, Illinois, a town filled with the world's largest things. I
have been here a few times and have photographed many of those things so
today I tried to stick to things I had not posted previously.
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This nearly two century old stone bridge is
still in use at the west edge of Marshall, Illinois. The second photo is
the latest (until the next geek comes to town) version of George Stewart's
famous 1950 picture of these buildings in downtown Marshall.
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On an old alignment just west of Terre Haute, Indiana, there is a whole
series of these large cutouts waiting to be filled by road crews or
inattentive drivers. The ornate courthouse is in Terre Haute.
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A couple of shots on the old alignment east of Putnamville.
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Anyone who has been around here very long will recognize the
Oasis Diner in
Plainfield, Indiana. I stop here for breakfast, or maybe a tenderloin, now
and then. But today I stopped for pie. I spotted the cherry when I
entered, wavered after sitting near some very tempting pecan, but fought
it off and went back to my first impulse.
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A lucky stop at a traffic light in Indianapolis let me snap a picture of
the old Dusenberg shop. The middle picture is rather contrived and I'm not
only thinking of its lack of color. The National Old Trails Road passed
through Indianapolis on Washington Street. That street is now one-way
westbound with Maryland Street being its eastbound partner. So I drove
around a few blocks to get a view of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument
that was a little more like what NOTR travelers would have seen. The
obelisk marks the intersection of the National Road (a component of the
National Old Trails Road) and the Michigan Road. The two plaques mounted
on it are here.
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The Indiana Madonna of the Trail monument in Richmond is the eighth and
final Madonna seen on this trip. Combined with the four seen in part 1, it
completes a round of visits to all of the roadside statues. I had
previously visited each of the twelve at least once and originally planned
to make this round of visits in a single outing. I came close but real
life requirements caused my NOTR drive to be split in two. This Madonna's
unique panels are here and a descriptive
plaque erected a few years ago is here.
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Although my full length drive of the National Old Trails Road was laid out
to begin and end at the Indiana-Ohio border, at the August
start of part 1 of the drive I
entered Indiana to reach the National Road/NOTR split known as the Dayton
Cutoff. Today I once again followed the Dayton Cutoff to the state line. I
further echoed the first day of that trip by spending the night at the
Golden Inn,
and eating at the Red
Front. I had my first Red
Front pizza on that August visit and today I
did it again.
From the moment this trip was moved to October, attending the month ending
Route 66 Miles of Possibility conference in Edwardsville, IL,had been
something hovering in the background. I first thought it probably not
possible, then at one point thought I might just naturally pass within
range at the right time. In the end, I determined that this trip would
end within one day's drive of Edwardsville with one day to go to
conference start. So, instead of heading home at the end of part 2 of my
PPOO-NOTR drive, I turned around and headed
back to Illinois.
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