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Celebrating our two-lane highways of yesteryear…And the joys of driving them today!

roadmaven

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Everything posted by roadmaven

  1. Yup, we had fun that afternoon chasing the Google car through our neighborhood. Here's a pic of us in the Jennifer's Toyota as he passed us by.
  2. Actually, Milan would be sorta on the way back home from Cincinnati next month. As Chris mentioned, the main town scenes from the movie were filmed in New Richmond, which I believe is somewhere south of Lafayette. The school in the movie was actually in Ninevah and was replaced with a post office. The gym they played in is still standing and that's in Knightstown, a couple of blocks north of US 40. I've not been in it, but from what I understand, it still looks the same as it did in the movie. If you make it over next month for the cruise and we happen to not go over together, I'll give you directions to the Hoosier Gym in Knightstown. Bobby Plump has a tavern on the north side of Indy in Broad Ripple called "Plump's Last Shot". Never been into the Broad Ripple scene, so can't really tell you how the joint is: Plump's Last Shot We went through Milan last fall while doing a southeast Indiana orchard run:
  3. Dave, I'm assuming you're on OK *right now*, as I see you online. I've heard this happen. periodically with different folks. I'd try clearing out the cookie and monitor how that works over the next couple of days. Could be a little hiccup?
  4. Yep, the same Chitwood tree. I did my own research on him too and found out he went to college in South Florida. I thought with the new AR having the article on the Key Lime route, getting into Room 212 would be money in the bank! Good video of him on YouTube discussing his and his family's involvement with the Thrill Show. He was recognized as one of the "Forty under 40" by the Indianapolis Business Journal a couple of years ago, honoring younger executives around the state. I heard him speak at a Speedway redevelopment meeting a couple of years ago...seems like a likable guy, but has apparently caught on quite well to IMS' habit of saying NO to some things that don't beneifit them. Oops, was that a shot?
  5. And the demolition has begun. Going, going.... Funny, but the guy standing on the second floor is right in front of the Paul Newman/Robert Wagner/Joanne Woodward Room 212. I tried like heck to get in that room to do some then & now shots using movie stills from "Winning". I went so far as to send a plea (and a free copy of American Road) to IMS president Joie Chitwood last month, but to no avail. I got a reply from their PR department saying "Sorry Charlie". At least I can't say I didn't try. And maybe we got a new subscriber out of it.
  6. How about this place...on the south side of downtown Plymouth near...as I recall...the railroad overpass:
  7. And here's our then & now...I was chasing daylight like you wouldn't believe!
  8. Hi all...greetings from Warrenton, Missouri! I was able to cover a couple of routes on the way back. I started out on US 50 heading out of KC, got bored with the 4-lane divided it offered, so I went north to US 24. Per Denny, I took MO-224 into Lexington to see the Madonna there. Then I took US 24 east, hooked up with US 65, and took it to I-70 east. I then jumped off 70 and picked up US 40 and took it into Boonville. COOL little town. A little Madison, Indiana-esque. And Dave, I did get a pic of the theatre! But stupid me left my cable at the house, so I'm not able to download the pics I took there until after I get home.
  9. Denny & Dave.... Thanks for the quick suggestions! A scouring of the satellite imagery confirmed there's no water tower to be found. Since I posted my original note, a couple of other possiblities popped up. One would be taking US 24 out of KC and pick up US36/I-72 near the Mississippi River and take it on home. Or another one that looks appealing....and should be easy to follow....would be US 50 out of KC and follow it down to St. Louis. It's somewhat out of the way, but we don't read too much, if anything, about 50. Since it's a cross country route, me thinks there's a good chance there's some good roadside photo opps awaiting. Heck, I might just flip a coin on this trip home!
  10. Hi folks....I'm leaving this afternoon for a quick trip to Kansas City for a funeral. I thought on my way back Friday I'd make lemonade out of lemons for this somber trip and take US 40 through Missouri back east. I've not experienced 40 in MO, so any tips, suggestions, etc would be appreciated. Am I wrong in that 40 and I-70 are signed on the same path? And old US 40 is basically frontage road throughout most of the state? I'll have my laptop tonight to check on replies. Thanks in advance for this short-noticed request!
  11. In these parts, a grove of trees qualifies as a "forest"!
  12. Here is the latest installment in my quest to thumb my nose at winter and get out on the road! Indiana State Road 58
  13. Great news, Jim! What's the plan of attack for finding contacts from Indy south? Is this going to be more of a lobbying group as opposed to a "Michigan Road Association" with a general membership?
  14. We've had luck with the Budget Inn Motel in Cambridge, Ohio while on our way to the east coast. It's right on US 22/40. It's a basic little motel with exterior entries...nothing historic or fancy, but a good room at a good price.
  15. Mark your calendars! According to the latest issue of the Indiana Preservationist (Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana magazine), Indianapolis has been chosen as the site for the 2013 National Trust for Historic Perservation's annual conference. More details on the event can be found here.
  16. Thanks for the comments, gents! Mobilene really lit a fire under me after his IN-42 report a while back. It can be a challenge to come up with something interesting to write about from a flat-as-a-pancake, two-lane road through cornfields, but that's where all my reading of Jim Ross, Thomas Repp, and Michael Wallis comes in handy: Adding enough spice to the boring to make it worth eating. Dang, I just did it again. I was sitting at work today thinking about my next report. I think I'm heading down to southern Indiana somewhere to find a road. IN-56 is on my mind, but unless I start it at the crack of dawn, that'd be an overnighter most likely. I might try to find something a little more obscure, but scenic. IN-66 is a GREAT drive. Many options down there and even more that I've never had the pleasure to drive. Have map, will travel!
  17. For any of you Facebook users out there, there's now an American Road page on Facebook. We've got a whopping 7 members right now, so be sure to become a fan of the page if you haven't done so! Just search "American Road Magazine", click "Pages", and there we'll be.
  18. If you make that run with the kids, wait 'til it's warm out. There's a nice nature park south of North Salem that has a lot trails and various critters running and flying around. Also on the non-75 part of this alignment, there's a cool old drive-in theater near Mechanicsburg on IN-39.
  19. Here's the latest in my state highway road log series. This week I cover Indiana State Road 75. The fun begins here!
  20. First off, As for the movie in question, I first thought it might be "Winning" with Paul Newman, filmed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the late 1960's. However, after watching it recently, it was void of any dirt track scenes. So with that in mind, I'd have to say the movie you're looking for was called "The Big Wheel", starring Mickey Rooney in 1949. I've seen bits & pieces of it before, but never the whole thing. But what I do know of it is that there are dirt track and IMS scenes in it. Here's a link from Internet Movie Database about it: The Big Wheel It appears it's available at ebay and Amazon for a relatively inexpensive price.
  21. Bill, As an American, I hope someone can answer that question too! I think I'll have to do some research on these cities to find out what the attraction is.
  22. Most likely we'd cruise out US 40 from Indy to Richmond....with a couple of sections of old National Road thrown in for good measure. Perhaps anyone coming in from the west could hook up with us in caravan fashion, schedules permitting. No roadie can go through eastern Indiana on the interstate and bypass Cambridge City on US 40. It's a classic pike town if there ever was.
  23. WOW! When you say you've been writing, you're not kidding! I can't wait to dig in and read this "book" cover to cover. Nice touch adding the text boxes on the vids. A big hats off to stringing together the images of 86th & Michigan. General Data Viewer comes through again! Good job...looking forward to the 2nd half. BTW, have you figured the mileage...roughly at least....from start to end?
  24. Greetings from Stroud, Oklahoma! Sitting here at the Skyliner Motel waiting for a huge t-storm to blow through. Between here & Arcadia there was a 24 degree difference in temps as this storm was blowing through....a difference of just 40 miles. Had a good Friday drive. We started the day heading out to Adrian, TX for breakfast at the MidPoint Cafe, but alas, the MidPoint wasn't open. So, retracing the 50 miles we had just wasted, we had breakfast at the Big Texan. We stopped by the National Route 66 Museum in Elk City and took a nice tour of the museum and saw a neat 15 minute feature hosted by one Thomas Repp. Later on we stopped at Pops for some bottled goodness and then while still in Arcadia, a stop at Jim Ross' place for a visit. Jim mentioned we needed to try a good BBQ joint 3 miles down the road called The Boundary. Glad he did! Fantastic ribs... and friendly owners. We made it to Stroud where it was still in the low 70's at 9pm last night. Storms have mainly moved on, but still some occasional thunder. We'll take it slow today so we don't catch back up with them!
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