Thursday, 8 October 2009
Road Trip Day 50
Today has been all about signs.
Street Cleaning
Free parking around Simon and Nicky's place is difficult to find. I searched in vain last night and had to bite the bullet and park in a pay zone. No big problem really, I just had to be sure to get up in time to feed the meter at 8:00am.
A the appointed time this morning I wandered out, bleary eyed and pumped enough quarters to keep the meter maids at bay for over an hour. I had approached The Beast from behind and didn't bother looking at the windscreen because I was in good time.
Here's where the first of today's signs came in to play. It turns out the side of Sheridan that I'd chosen has street cleaning in the early hours of Thursday morning. I didn't see the sign. I got fined $50.
Crossroads of America
The next sign of note today said "Welcome to Indiana, Crossroads of America". This was a much nicer sign than the snippy little one 15 feet up a pole in Chicago and marked the point at which I entered the 30th state of my adventure.
Junction 26B
As I drove through the drizzle on 94 East, I followed a brown tourist sign to Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Brown signs rarely lie and this one led me to the Visitor centre where I met the effusive Dennis who played the expositional video and gave me the low down on what to see in the park. We also chatted about England and Brazil, prompted by my yellow hoodie. Dennis was the second person to have heard of the Iguacu Falls and knows a Jesuit man who was a consultant and bit player in the movie "The Mission" which was filmed there... but I digress.
I took Dennis' advice for a good trail to walk and enjoyed a slightly damp, breezy, but very pretty stroll through the oak wood that has taken hold on an inland dune.
Further along the road I came to another highlight of the park. After the 1933 Worlds Fair in Chicago an enterprising fellow bought 5 "homes of the future" which had been on display. They were barged across Lake Michigan and reassembled on the Indiana shore to be the start of a new settlement. They fell into disrepair but are currently being refurbished.
Slow
I've seen many different "Animal Crossing" signs on my travels. The most common is for Deer, but there's also been ones for cattle, sheep, goats, bears and elk. They have usually, but not always, been indicated by a silhouette of the animal concerned. This animal caution sign may be unique though.
Mount Baldy
As well as the inland dunes I had walked on earlier, there are some huge, more recognisable dunes on the Lakefront. One spectacular example is Mount Baldy. It's over 120 feet tall and is advancing inland at over 4 feet a year. Here's the inland side of the dune as it eats mature oak trees by the soon to disappear car park.
The dune has begun advancing faster recently due to people climbing on the inland side, so a path has been set up to keep people from scrambling up the slope. I followed the signs to the path.
The sign was correct, but the effort was worth it.
What Time Is It?
Of the many signs on my route today, I clearly missed the one which told me I had entered the Eastern Standard Time zone. It was somewhere around the Michigan border, but according to the lady in Pizza Hut where I stopped for what turned out to be a very, very late lunch, things get a bit wooley around these parts so pick whatever time suits best.
Here's the border sign that I didn't miss.
Last Detour
My last detour of the day didn't take me too far off track, so seeing as I was going past anyway, I stopped briefly in a pretty little village for a donut... only to find that the time difference meant the shop had shut an hour ago. Never mind, it was worth it for the final sign today.
The Lemon and Jalapeno Butter Anecdote
Sadly, there was no warning sign on my side dish at dinner tonight. The little paper pot of spread with my free warmed bread looked innocent enough. I assumed the green flecks in the butter were parsley. I was wrong.
If you have not braced your taste buds for a dose of "Lemon and Jalapeno Butter" it comes as quite a shock. As I explained to my waitress who had failed to issue a health warning for this vile, tart concoction I did not like it. "Oh dear, people really like it". I, clearly, am not one of the "people" in that select group of gastronomically suicidal individuals.
As I further explained to the manager as I left, they should warn people before inflicting such nastiness upon them. "Sorry. People really like it" he told me.
People are stupid.
Goodnight.
visited 31 states (62%)
Stats - Day Seventy-Six
Distance travelled - 255 miles - Chicago, IL to Ann Arbor, MI via Indiana Dunes, National Lakeshore
States entered - Indianan, Michigan
State count - 31 + DC + B.C.
Room numbers stayed in - 203, 1, 148, 212, 205, 210, 246, 118, 3, 145, 229, 111, 207, 206, 40, 605, "Cowboy", 35, 11, 18, 262, 216, 208, 430, 216, 59, 226, 115 / 110*, 309, 30, 8, 255, 428, 209, "Spare", 105
*room switch
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