October 2015 Road Trip – The Land of Lincoln

The Land of Lincoln

In October of 2015, following the completion of the Void Rally 10, I set off on a week long road trip to nowhere. These are the posts from a road trip. During my time on the road I passed through Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania.


 

Travel Inspiration in a Cup o’ Coffee

You never know where you'll find inspiration to get out and see good stuff! 🙂 The Blue Whale Route 66 Catoosa, Oklahoma The Gemini Giant Route 66 Wilmington, Illinois Tall Paul Route 66 Atlanta, Illinois ...

Believe In The Power of Daydreams

Then turn those daydreams into reality! These days, our lives are filled with information. Maybe too much of it. Every second of the day we open up wide and words and images are shoveled in. This information tsunami fills up a lot of space set aside for daydreams. What we ...

A Strange Encounter on Route 6 in Ohio

While riding through a fairly residential section of Route 6 in Ohio, as I approached the intersection of a side street, a big silvery fish fell out of the sky. Thick and long, it's 18 inches met the pavement with an unceremonious, vaguely moist sounding splat. It was a sound ...

Lorain Lighthouse – Banana at East Beach

With my belly grumbling, I decided to stop for a spell at Lakeview Park along Lake Erie to eat my electric banana. I didn't know anything about the park, I just happened to see that it had a waterview. Though my morning ride was just little over a hundred miles since leaving Napoleon, Ohio ...

Ghost Ad in Chenoa, Illinois: Selz Royal Blue Shoes

While riding Historic Route 66 in Illinois, I tried to take a turn through the towns that seemed to pop up like an oasis after a stretch of nothin' much. Often my ride would be like road, road, road, TOWN, road, road road... These places that punctuate the route seemed to hold ...

Passing Through Lincoln, Illinois

During my ride through Illinois in the fall of 2015, I followed Route 66 north from Springfield and passed through the town of Lincoln, Illinois. Prior to leaving home, I did almost no research about the areas I might ride through. I was just sort of floating on the wind ...

Petrol-Love: Olde Tyme Service Stations in Illinois

Last fall after finishing a stint at the Void Rally 10 in Virginia, I set off on a road trip around Illinois. My plan was to just bum around and look at stuff. As an Americana-lover, Illinois and it's section of Route 66 have a lot to offer. One thing ...

Quirky Roadside Attractions from Illinois

This morning when I saw the Daily Page prompt: What's the quirkiest thing about you? I had to smirk. Personally, I don't think I'm exceptionally quirky but then, who does? It's other people who find your you-ness quirky and comment on it. I don't think I dare ask my husband ...

Route 66 – A Leap of Faith

When the calendar rolled over to 2015 and the Northeast was frozen in the icy grip of a polar vortex, I didn't really expect to see any part of Route 66. I mean, sure I've always fancifully thought about it but never in a real "I should do this now!" sort ...

In the Shadow of the World’s Largest Ketchup Bottle

The World's Largest Bottle of Ketchup is a roadside icon! When I pulled into the parking lot below the world's largest ketchup bottle there was a man talking on his cellphone. I snapped a few photos and scribbled some notes on the hotel pad I keep in my tankbag. During ...

The Tangled Web of Bigfeet

Does anyone ever wake up in the morning, rub the sleep from their eyes, stretch and think... "I bet I'll see Bigfoot today"? I've got 5-bucks on probably not. But that's the funny thing about life. It is seemingly random. Bigfoot in Cave City, Kentucky I say seemingly because even ...

The Illusion of Safety

It's funny how you can become fixated on the potential for things to go wrong. You look at a situation and place some type of possible danger-score on it and then tread lightly. Maybe that keeps mishap at bay. Or... maybe whatever is going to happen is beyond your control ...

Oh. Hello, Mr. Water Tower – Nice to See You!

Do you live in the type of place that could have a smiley face water tower? I don't. But I wish I did. This tower was along my route from Metropolis to Springfield, Ill. in the town of Makanda. That bulbous knob with a smirk surveying the land has to ...

The Decaying Standard Oil Station of Vienna, Illinois

Meeting a beautiful ghost while road tripping While riding from Metropolis towards Springfield, Illinois, I passed through the town of Vienna. It was a place I'd never heard of before. As I slowed my motorcycle and approached the stop sign at IL-146, to my right was the most beautiful ghost. The ...

That OTHER Guy From Metropolis? Maybe You’ve Heard of Him?

When I left Fredericksburg, Virginia my plan was very loose. I didn't have a route but I did have a few points on the map that I wanted to see. One of them was Metropolis, Illinois - the Official Home of Superman. Now I was never a huge Superman buff ...

Visiting Santa Claus in Indiana

"Holy shit!" When I crested the camels hump of a hill, the suspension on the Tiger completely unloaded leaving in its wake an unnerving floating sensation. During that millisecond of weightless hang-time strangely enough there's plenty of time to contemplate your own idiocy. Maybe I should've slowed down. I hope ...

Whispering Giants Grand Tour: Wacinton of Paducah, Kentucky

When I pulled up at the edge of Noble Park in Paducah the word "Wow," escaped from me. Even though it was the 10th Whispering Giant I visited, I didn't expect how striking his appearance would be in person. Having seen Wacinton in photos from other grand-tourers I knew that ...

Wide Open Space, Wide Open Mind

You wouldn't think that writing your own story could be difficult. After all, you live it, it's right there in front of you. And yet finding the loose thread to pull at the end of the day is hard. I'm reading a book about how put my life on paper ...

This Post Has Been Sanitized for Your Protection

At breakfast in Morehead, Kentucky I spent most of my time eavesdropping on a man talking about his work. His job was to pull around a Jack Daniel's Airstream party trailer. It is basically a rolling bar. Not a bad gig, I'd say. When you pull up, throw open the ...

Things I Think About While Riding – Is Love Based on Proximity?

While riding through rural Kentucky, past lonely tobacco farms I couldn't help but wonder about the lives of the people who toil away on them. The farmhouses sit far apart with big fields and tracts of land between them. How do people find each other and fall in love there? Are small ...

Big, Pink Roadside Odds and Ends in West Virginia

As I wound my way across West Virginia towards Kentucky, I spotted a few great pink roadside attractions. A super-duper pink elephant in Barboursville on Route 60. Just down the road from the pink elephant in Huntington, WV is a pink giraffe with green spots. Naturally. And smack in between the two ...

Pretending to be Brave – Leaving the Void for Parts Unknown

On Sunday morning as I rubbed the I think I drank one too many pints from my eyes I wondered how in the world my weekend had gone by so fast. What started on Thursday evening, riding out to State College, Pa. for a pre-rally dinner, moved in to doing ...

Talking to Strangers: The Power of Vulnerability

Traveling by motorcycle opens you up to meaningful exchanges. I’ve been wondering about why people move in and out of your life. While I was on my road trip last week, I had several experiences meeting people which have stayed with me. The exchanges that we shared carved out a ...

I’ve Returned From My October Road Trip – There’s So Much To Think About

Last Thursday after tidying up the last of my pressing tasks at work, I set off on my motorcycle. With a week worth of vacation time blocked off on the calendar, I had a few things scribbled on the notebook of my mind to visit. Sightseeing, that’s what I would ...