Saturday, June 12, 2010

PA, OH, IN, IL, IA

When we left New York state, we passed through the northwestern corner of PA that borders Lake Erie.  We followed the Yellowstone Trail on Hwy 20 but didn't find any signs, etc. about the YT.
We  continued into OH heading for an RV park on the Huron River.
This sign is as close as we got to downtown Cleveland.  We have by-passed many of the larger cities in most states by taking freeway loops around them but we have to forge through the Cleveland area on Hwy 90.  We try to go between rush hours and so far, we have been extremely lucky to make all the lane changes without missing the lanes we needed.  That's a big plus when you are towing trailers and vehicles.
We did pass by Progressive Field, home of the Cleveland Indians.   The Cleveland Indians home park opened on April 4, 1994, when fans filled the ballpark to watch the Indians battle the Seattle Mariners.  I thought it was interesting that their first game at Progessive Field was with Seattle.
The rivers were muddy looking because OH had received a lot of rain just days before we arrived.
There were lots of farms.  It is still amazing to see all the farmland across the U.S.
This old, old silo was completely covered with ivy. 
It is great to see the wind farms in so many places, too.
Pioneer Hi-Bred is the second largest (to Monsanto Company) U.S. producer of hybrid seeds for agriculture.  We have seen quite a few of their plants as we have traveled.
Ohio celebrated their bicentennial as a state in 2003.  Someone was proud enough to have this great sign on their outbuilding. 
Looks like this trucking company didn't get their trucks moved before the water raised.  We saw lots of high water in both OH and IL but only saw a little on the sides of the roads we traveled.  There were signs indicating the water had been over the roads just a day or two before we got there.
We traveled Hwy 6 after leaving the RV park in OH to our next destination in Indiana.  We left Hwy 6 and went north on Hwy 9 to Howe, IN, where we spent several days.
Here's another picture of the high water we saw in IN.  We have been extremely fortunate to have dodged many storms. 
We spent one day traveling from Howe back to Hicksville, OH, looking for YT towns and signs.  We did see some old homes and buildings.
Hicksville, OH, was a town on the YT but there weren't any signs or roads named after the Trail that we could find.  We had a laugh at the name of the town, though. 
In many states beginning in PA and all through the Great Lakes states, we have seen Amish communities.  This is the only picture I took of them because I didn't want to invade their privacy.  This family was at a park on a Sunday afternoon.  We have seen them in a parking lot at Walmart, driving along the highways, and in their gardens near their homes.
It was only 6 miles to MI from where we stayed in OH.
We made a trip to Walmart in Sturgis, MI, to get a replacement tire for our trailer.  This is the second tire on the same side of our trailer that we have had to replace.  The tires on the other side are wearing normally.  What's up????
After studying our resource books about the YT, we decide to head for WI where there appears to be a real interest in the preservation of the history of the YT.  It has been fun to research and explore the YT but we have added many other sights to our trip that have made it an awesome trip.  We head through IL to get to WI.

We traveled through the northeastern corner of IL south of Chicago on Hwy 30 so again we avoided the congestion of a large city.  It was a busy road but not like a freeway right through Chicago.  We saw the Chicago Heights area.  Also, Hwy 30 was the YT at one time.
After leaving the suburbs of Chicago, we again found nice farms.
How many rivers have we passed?  We haven't really counted but they are beautiful.
Wind farms are everywhere.
We decided to drive on Hwy 61 through IA.  It is pretty with lots of rolling hills.
This part of IA was mostly farmlands and rural communities.
The highway went in the middle of all the buildings for this farm.
The old farm house was still standing but unoccupied.  We have seen many abandoned buildings.  The stories they could tell would probably be interesting.
What a neat city hall.
WI here we come. Oh, did I tell you that we were in the middle of thunder and lightning storms all day as we traveled through IA.  It was exciting to say the least.

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