mobilene

"Shredded Ralston for your breakfast Starts the day off shining bright Gives you lots of cowboy energy With a flavor that's just right It's delicious and nutritious Bite-sized and ready to eat Take a tip from Tom Go and tell your mom Shredded Ralston can't be beat!"

Very cool! Looks like Tenino got frozen in time shortly after the RPPCs were made. jim

We're going to leverage Kurt's contacts in the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana to get in touch with people along the road from Indy south, primarily people who are involved in tourism, Chambers of Commerce, and other sympathetic organizations. If we build a coalition of such people in every county on the route, it should create the critical mass necessary to move this forward. We are not presently considering forming a general Michigan Road Association, but one could be a lot of fun. jim

The Delta Queen is to become a hotel in Chattanooga. http://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/stor...ml?ana=from_rss

Marshall Co. is up, minus the usual level of research -- that's to come. http://jimgrey.net/Roads/MichiganRoad/12_Marshall.htm I met in Rochester today with about a half-dozen people to start talking about what it will take to get the MR names an Indiana Historic Byway. This designation is not worth very much by itself -- it's just a desgination the Indiana Dept of Transportation awards, period. If you want a byway signed, you have to fund that yourself, for example. And it doesn't protect the road or the structures on it. But it is a step toward those things, lending legitimacy to further preservation efforts. And it can provide a marketing opportunity for towns along the route to promote tourism. So we had a fellow involved with Rochester's economic development, the Fulton County historian, the president of a preservation group in Logansport, a Logansport businesswoman with ties to historic preservation, a state representative, a college professor, Kurt (the preservation architect from Plymouth) and I, and a reporter from the Logansport Pharos-Tribune who interviewed several of us extensively about the project. We are trying to build a group from northern Indiana to start the ball rolling, but lack contacts in Carroll and Clinton counties. The Logansport duo said they thought they could secure some people from those counties, so we plan to give them time to do that and then meet again in May to organize an official committee. Then we will set about making contacts in Indy and in southern Indiana, so we have a statewide organization pushing for the designation. Our goal is to submit the app summer 2010. Kurt's blog entry about the meeting: http://hoosierhappenings.blogspot.com/2009...e-michigan.html Peace, jim

This is faaaabulous information, everybody, and thank you very much! I think we're going to stay in a motel outside the beltway, one with nearby train access to town. Last time I went to DC -- 1994 -- I did this and it was great. Saved a fair amount on the room that way. When I was last in DC, I wandered the Capitol building. I'm betting we won't be able to do that now. But there's still tons to see on the mall, and we could probably spend most of a day just doing that. jim

Nifty! For a second, it felt like I was watching a PBS documentary about how a town had changed over the years.

Thanks Pat and Jennifer! I expect the Smithsonian will figure large into our plans. Thanks for the motel tips! jim

I'm saving my pennies to take my sons to Washington, D.C., for Spring Break in April. I want to dash to DC on the superslab, spend a couple-three days in DC, and then spend a couple-three days winding back slowly to Indy on the National Road. This trip is to be primarily about father-son good times, and secondarily about seeing what we can see. Money is going to be tight so I'm looking for no-low-moderate cost things to do and places to stay. I am especially interested in clean independent motels on or near the National Road. I'm looking for recommendations, especially on the National Road portion of the route! Many thanks, jim

Enjoyed the virtual ride-along. Glad it was virtual, because the back seat of an Echo is punitive. jim

Excellent work! I especially like the photo of the bridge with all the grooves in the deck, and the one where the old alignment of 51 dead ends - check that narrow pavement at the very end! Oh, and that narrow RR overpass is wild. jim

My site, The Jim Grey Page, is finally back up. My old host, Vizaweb.com, kept going down for days at a time. After getting recommendations from several people, I decided to go with eVerity.com, which Denny recommended -- it offered the right flexibility and price, plus Denny's good recommendation. I just completed the file transfer. My apologies for the interruption in service, but all is again well at jimgrey.net. Thanks, jim

Don't get me started on the shenanigans my host, Vizaweb.com, has been playing. I've signed up with a host Denny recommended, at least for now, and the site should be transferred over in the next day or two. jim

I love IN-66, and IN-62 as well. I also enjoy IN-45, and that's not an overnighter.

Fulton County is now up. http://jimgrey.net/Roads/MichiganRoad/11_Fulton.htm

I dug that fire escape, too. I've been curious about 75 for years.

I've uploaded pages for the next two Michigan Road counties, Carroll and Cass. Start here: http://jimgrey.net/Roads/MichiganRoad/09_Carroll.htm I've also updated the Clinton Co. page a bit.

I'm out. I'm saving my trip $ for a jaunt with my sons down the National Road and then to see Washington DC this year. jim

I'm sure your Vibe is better on non-dry pavement than your Vette, and so it's a matter of perspective -- but my Matrix is one of the worst cars I've ever owned when it comes to driving in snow. Best was, of all things, my Mercury Sable wagon; that sucker could inexplicably go almost anywhere and as long as clearance wasn't a problem I'd've put it down that sandy highway. The "South 62" sign was a hoot. Not as WRONG as the East 41 sign, but that's only because I've never been anywhere near US 62.

Duuuuude! You could tell it was Florida sunshine in many of those photos -- somehow, the sun in Florida always seems sunnier. I got a huge kick out of seeing the "East US 41" sign (pic07a). Well, that is, after every cell in my body screamed "that's so WRONG!" -- I lived 5 blocks from US 41 for 5 years, and lemme tellya, you get used to seeing a road signed "North" or "South" after that much time. I also enjoyed the photos of the old Bahia Honda bridge. And the "End US 1" photo! And all the shots of brick and unpaved and single-lane DH. I'm not sure I'd've taken even my Matrix down that sandy road, as easily as my wheels spin in the snow. jim

I always appreciate your encouragement, Dave, and all I can say is that perhaps I have a touch of OCD! Of course you're right! When I make my editorial pass through all the text, I'll be sure to update that paragraph to that effect. As soon as I form the Association, you can be Grand High Poobah if you want!! Peace, jim

I've added writeups for Hamilton, Boone, and Clinton Counties to my Michigan Road pages. There's a lot of farmland in these counties, to be sure, and a couple small towns. I found a whole cache of 1920s postcards that show how the little town of Kirklin has hardly changed. Kirklin, by the way, stands at the intersection of the Michigan Road and the Newcastle-Lafayette State Road, which predates the Michigan Road by a few years and is currently signed as State Road 38. I also found an abandoned alignment of a state highway that crosses the Michigan Road in the itty bitty town of Middlefork, and found an abandoned school on it. Here's a link to the Hamilton County page -- very brief, because only 1.75 miles of the Michigan Road are within the county! Use the nav bar at the bottom of the page to see the pages for the other counties. http://jimgrey.net/Roads/MichiganRoad/06_Hamilton.htm

Dave -- Yeah, I traded in my Matrix on an '83 Cavalier! The Indianapolis section was really time-consuming to write because there's so much happening on the road. I wrote the Hamilton County (next county north) page today -- two photos. There's only 1.75 miles of the road in that county. So I guess it all balances out! Pat -- It was fun putting together that animation of 86th and Michigan. We are very fortunate to have the Indianapolis General Data Viewer, lemme tell you. It has been an outstanding resource. I may write more tonight and post it. I'm hoping to get the whole trip documented before the end of January. I'm meeting in Rochester on 1/31 with a bunch of historic preservation folks to start talking about getting the MR named a historic byway -- a preservation architect I know in Plymouth is spearheading this.

I have been slowly revamping and extending my Michigan Road pages at jimgrey.net. I think I've settled on the format and approach I want to use, so now it's a matter of writing the rest of the pages. I'm taking a county-by-county approach, going through all 14 of the road's counties in order. The only hitch was Marion County (Indianapolis); there's so much to see here it made for one loooooong page, so I broke it into three parts. Anyway, I have everything written from the Ohio River to the north border of Marion County now; more will come later. http://jimgrey.net/Roads/MichiganRoad/index.htm

Mark, you join good company here, and you are not alone in admiring the George Stewart book! Welcome. jim