Wednesday, 12 June 2019
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| today's route |
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| close-up of route around Indy |
At most of the campgrounds I've been to in Indiana, I've been easily able to hear trains and train horns. In fact, at France Park, the one I left a few days ago, there were train tracks just a few yards from my campsite, and on the first morning I got woken up at 4:00 AM by the train horn. Oddly, I didn't hear it after that, so it either doesn't run every morning or I got used to it really fast.
Anyway, all the train tracks I encounter every day remind me that railroads built this country. I know how important they were to the development of Ohio and Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and I'm guessing here in Indiana the trains coming in allowed farmers to get their products to markets much faster than by river or canal, and also brought in workers for the steel mills and other industries. Not something I ever thought much about growing up in Texas.
Public radio doesn't cover much of Indiana and I've only been able to find a station near heavily populated areas. Meaning most of the day's drive was done without the company of the radio. When I could pick it up, though, I learned the pronunciation of some of the towns here.
Hoosier pronunciation lesson: the town of Valparaiso is pronounced val-pah-RAY-so. The town of Rennselaer is pronounced renn-sah-LEER. Just over the Illinois border from Hammond is a town called Calumet City, and there's a road in the Hammond/Gary area called Calumet - which is pronounced KY-yah-met (that's what it sounded like, anyway). In case you want to know how to sound like a native.
Indianans are generally very polite drivers, but on the highway they drive like Texans: fast. Almost without exception drivers move over for vehicles entering a highway to give room to merge. It's been remarkable because in so many other states I practically have to fight my way into traffic.
I passed several signs today for the Gutwein Popcorn Co., and now I've learned they've been a family business for more than 100 years and use only Indiana-grown popcorn. I've never been a popcorn fan, but their products sound like some I might try. https://www.gpopcorn.com/
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| Ruddy Turnstone |
I think what I saw flying in front of the RV this morning was a Ruddy Turnstone - it's a shorebird and I wasn't at a shore, but it's the only one I can find in the bird book that has sharply pointed wings that have a cinnamon stripe along the wings flanked by white stripes.
Near the town of Brookston I passed what seemed to be a silo farm (like a wind farm), with a very large number of massive silos - much bigger than ordinary silos - but I didn't see a sign telling me what it was.
Both in Ohio and in Indiana I'm seeing Family Dollar stores everywhere. Very big presence in this part of the country.
Just south of Lafayette I saw a large Subaru manufacturing plant. Lots of auto-making plants in Indiana.
I heard on the radio that farmers are starting the practice of planting ground cover in the fields they aren't going to plant with crops this year. They've learned it helps keep down weeds, holds in water, and prevents erosion - all things any good home gardener knows, so I wonder why it took farmers so long.
As I passed through Lebanon, I saw a billboard for Rick Mount, Indiana's Mr. Basketball. I'd never heard of him, but now I know he was the first high school athlete to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and that when he was playing at Purdue he lost by 2 points to UCLA's Lew Alcindor. Pretty impressive. en.wikipedia.org/Rick_Mount
On the radio I heard a couple of ads for Tito's Vodka, such as: Tito's offers only one flavor - vodka-flavored vodka; and such as: brewed in Austin, TX, the live music capital of the world. I know these are normal for a Texas radio station, but it seem odd to hear them in Indiana.
On his way to be inaugurated in Washington, DC, in 1861 Abraham Lincoln stopped to rest in a small park in Zionsville, Ind. In his honor, the town named the park after him.
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| Hoosier Pie |
Also in Zionsville is a small business called My Sugar Pie, known for making the best Hoosier Pie in the state. Hoosier Pie is also called Sugar Cream Pie, the official state pie of Indiana. The fantastically perky young woman behind the counter (with a high squeaky voice like one of Cinderella's mice) told me it's essentially a custard pie made without the eggs. Being in Indiana, I had to try it.
(The bakery didn't take that corner out - I'd intended to save it for dessert tonight but couldn't wait till supper to taste it. Pretty good.)
We crossed about half the state today and spent about 7 hours traveling (including rest stops). By the time we got to our campground, I was pretty pooped.
Tonight's campground is southwest of Indianapolis, though still in the city limits, and for some reason is completely full this weekend. They could give me only one night's reservation. And even tonight the campground's pretty full, which is odd because most campgrounds are nearly empty on Wednesdays. I think most of these folks must live here full time, from the looks of things, though the campground's appearance is much tidier than many with lots of residents. I'll just look for somewhere else tomorrow.
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