On the Road Again: A Travelogue

I’m back home in western New York after a long and grueling solitary 900 mile drive across five states, not counting the 20 miles of Minnesota and 8 miles of New York.

Wisconsin is the crown jewel of travel to the upper Midwest. It has by far the most interesting landscape, with rolling hills, forested bluffs, towering rock formations and scenic rivers. A lovely area called The Dells is a weekend mecca for Chicagoans and folks from the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul) alike. Filled with tourist trap resorts, it still redeems itself with the “duck boat” rides through the glacial rock formations. A must see if you’re ever passing through.

It’s interesting to me how subtly different the upper Midwest states are from each other. If the Midwest is the bread basket of the world, as we learned in school, then the upper Midwest is the corn bread basket. As far as the eye can see, corn fields stretch to the horizon in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Western Illinois is quite pretty, in fact: if you like corn. Contrary to popular opinion, Illinois is more than just Chicago, just as New York is more than New York City. I’m always amazed at the people who think I run over to New York City to shop every week or so. I guess they just assume that New York is wall to wall concrete.

The return trip through Illinois was uneventful, if you call four traffic back-ups uneventful. They’re more of a nuisance than an event. And Chicago really doesn’t count because it’s always backed up, and always under construction. They might have a nice stretch of road if they ever finish it.

Northern Indiana, once you get past the Chicago suburbs and congestion, is Amish country. The Amish make an industry of tourism in Indiana. “Quilt” gardens are a major attraction in these towns. Town names in Indiana fascinate me. I’ve always wanted to stop at places like Nappanee, Elkhart, Mishawaka and Wakarusa. My all time favorite, however, is Shipshewana. Every time I see the name I break into a big smile and sing the name of the town to the phrase “just a wanna” from Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper – Ship-she-wana, Ship-she-wana…

Ohio, what can I say about Ohio. Ohio is one big speed trap, five hours of boredom, the last leg of a long trip. I used to live in Ohio. It’s a lovely state, filled with fun and interesting sites and friendly people, but I find it necessary to divide Ohio into two hour segments to get myself through it. It’s two hours from Ripley to Cleveland, two hours from Cleveland to Toledo, and one hour from Toledo to the Indiana line. Those times aren’t terribly accurate, but they work for me. Admittedly, Cleveland is fun with its 35 mph curves and close up view of downtown. It’s also my last glimpse (or first, depending on the direction) of Lake Erie.

Because it is two hours from Ripley to Cleveland, I sort of bypass Pennsylvania in my mind. The 45 miles of I-90 are divided into 20 miles to Erie, 25 miles to the Ohio line; an afterthought really. But don’t feel badly Pennsylvania. I spend a lot of time on Peach Street lately. It’s almost my second home. Did I mention, it’s good to be home again?