GeoWoodstock VIII or Bust! - June 30-July 5, 2010

We'd been looking forward to GeoWoodstock VIII for a year and at last it was here!  We'd made our flight, hotel, and rental car arrangements several months ago and could hardly stand the wait.  Neither of us had ever been to the Seattle area and now we had a great reason for going.

Day 1:  Our flight didn't leave Jacksonville until 6:30pm so we had a long day to wait for our adventure to begin, but at last it was here.  Not much to tell except that the flight to Dallas and then the second leg to Seattle seemed to take forever.  It was agonizing.  But at last we arrived... at 1:00am.  Yikes!  We quickly picked up our luggage and our rental car, then made our way to a hotel near the airport where we had reservations.  Time for some much needed sleep!

Fife Motel along U.S. Route 99

Day 2:  Today was our first full day after arriving in Washington and what did we do?  We headed to Oregon!  The hotel we stayed in the previous night was located on the historic U.S. Route 99 - The Pacific Highway so we decided to make our way south along this old road.  It wasn't long before we spotted an interesting piece of old Americana, the Fife Motel, a quaint little motor lodge.  We had our wireless computer in the car and the Biologist posted the waymark while we continued heading south.  Within minutes Hikenutty approved it.  Now that's what we call service!

Covington House Historical Marker

We continued south to Vancouver, Washington, where we stopped at the historic Covington House, an old log cabin and former boarding school that housed the first piano in the Oregon Country and was the center of social activity in the entire region.  We learned that piece of information from the Washington Historical Marker located on the property!  Also at this site was a Wagon Roads and Trails marker for the Oregon Trail, as well as a Blue Star Memorial Highway Marker that we visited.

Beacon Rock Historical Marker

Soon after, we crossed the Columbia River and the State border into Oregon and took a drive along Interstate 84 where we enjoyed the absolutely wonderful views of the river, mountains, and waterfalls.  We spotted a sign for the Bonneville Fish Hatchery and couldn't resist making a side trip to see what it had to offer.  Now that's an impressive operation.  We especially enjoyed the sturgeon viewing area.  Talk about a prehistoric looking animal.  What a beauty!  As we were departing the fish hatchery, we decided to turn to the left toward the overflow parking area so we could check out the view of the Columbia River from there and what did we see?  An unclaimed Oregon Historical Marker about Beacon Rock, a prominent geographic feature named by Lewis and Clark in 1805 that was located across the river in the State of Washington.  We hopped back on Interstate 84 and spotted another pull-off, this one at Mitchell Point where we found yet another Oregon Historical Marker and learned about the former famous Mitchell Point Tunnel that used to run through here.

Palmer Glacier

Back on the road again, we turned south onto Highway 35 in Hood River and made our way to Mount Hood.  Our plan was to head to the small town of Parkdale where we were hoping we could see the Eliot Glacier, one of many glaciers on Mount Hood.  No such luck, but we did meet some hikers/cross country skiers who suggested we head to the Timberline Lodge in the town of Government Camp where we would be able to see the Palmer Glacier.  Yea!  So off we went.  Unfortunately, the top of Mount Hood was starting to get socked in the day we visited the Timberline Lodge, but a lodge employee pointed out the lower part of the Palmer Glacier to us and we were able to snap a few photos before it got totally socked in.  Whew!  That was close!  After spending a little time wandering around the infamous lodge that served as the exterior of the Overlook Hotel in "The Shining" (ooh, very creepy!), we made our way to Portland and checked into our hotel.  A little while later, we met up with the Marine's cousin Dana, who now lives in the Portland area and whom he hadn't seen in 18 years.  We had a great time visiting with Dana, her husband Brian, and their daughter Kailyn over dinner and made them promise to come visit us in Florida.

A Family Get-together

 

Ramona Quimby

Day 3:  Today we needed to head back north to enjoy some of the pre-GeoWoodstock activities.  But first we had to stop in Grant Park, a Municipal Park and Plaza, where the Biologist had found through an internet search that the Beverly Cleary sculpture garden was located.  The sculpture garden was made up of statues of Ramona Quimby, Henry Huggins, and Henry's dog Ribsy, some of the most beloved characters in Cleary's childrens' books.  After grabbing some photos and the coordinates for these Famous Fictional Figures, we had just one more stop to make in Oregon and that was to Rocky Butte.  Rocky Butte and the area surrounding it were scoured by Ice Age floods and are a Glacial Lake Missoula Floods Feature.  Sweet!  At the top of Rocky Butte was a lovely little Municipal Park and Plaza named after Dr. Joseph Wood Hill.  A nice Citizen Memorial with a Relief Art Sculpture dedicated to Dr. Hill was located in the park, as well as a cool Orientation Table that points to several vistas including the City Center, Mt. Tabor, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, Mt. Saint Helens, Mt. Ranier, and the Columbia River.  It also turns out that Joseph Wood Hill Park was improved during 1937-1939 as a WPA Project, with stone walls, roadways, and a wide parking platform.  Wow, what a great place to visit.  And to think we probably would never have come here were it not for the Biologist's waymarking addiction!

Orientation Table

We hated to leave Portland without having had the opportunity to do much exploring there, but we needed to make tracks back to the Seattle area.  We checked into our hotel in Renton, just outside Seattle, in the early afternoon and decided to grab some lunch.  The front desk clerk highly recommended the Whistle Stop Ale House, which not only had great food, but was a nice addition to the Pubs and Inns category.  Then back to our hotel for a short rest before heading over to the "COWWS Friday Meet & Greet and Luau" at Lake Sammamish State Park.  Turns out we had to travel 3,000 miles to see some of our old friends from home!  We had a nice time catching up with Sights2c, IceCreamMan, Mrs. IceCreamMan, Turtletoes, and TeamSnook, as well as meeting many new geocachers and waymarkers from other places.

sights2c

TeamSnook's better half & Turtletoes

GeoWoodstock VIII

Day 4:  At last GeoWoodstock VIII arrived and off we went.  We ran into a few other folks from home today - Clan Barron, paintfiction, blakdogs, and MS Wahoo and had a great time trying to find the items on the Scavenger Hunt list.  We caught a glimpse of Doc-Dean while we were eating dinner, then never saw him again.  There were soooo many people there!  It was a Mega-Event after all!  Fun, fun, fun.

The Marine & Clan Barron

MS Wahoo & more Clan Barron

After leaving GeoWoodstock, we spent a little time wandering around Seattle, including the Seattle Center where the Space Needle is located.  We found a few geocaches and enjoyed all the interesting art work around town.  We visited several pieces of art that were part of the Seattle Art & Seek, as well as an interesting Abstract Sculpture, a Figurative Public Sculpture, a Peace Memorial, a piece of Kinetic Sculpture and Art, Coin-Op Binoculars, and some lovely Bottle Art.  This town is full of it!  Art that is!

The Marine, Tag-along2, & In-Cahoots

Day 5:  Our last day in Seattle and we decided to make the most of it.  We returned to the Seattle Center to try to find the "Under the Needle" cache.  We tried to find this one yesterday, but a couple of muggles were unknowingly guarding the cache and we didn't have time to wait them out.  Today, we decided to give it one more try, but alas a couple of different muggles were occupying ground zero today as well.  Darn it!  But then one of the muggles knelt down and started fiddling with her shoelaces while the other pulled out her camera and started to take pictures. Now why would a muggle take a picture of another muggle tying her shoelaces?  Aha!  These weren't muggles after all!  Yea.  So after we busted In-Cahoots and Tag-along2, the four of us started looking for the cache together.  Turns out we weren't actually at ground zero, but fortunately the real ground zero was muggle-free and we nabbed the cache at last.

Kobe Friendship Bell

After parting ways from our new caching friends, we stopped to check out a Kobe Friendship Bell at the Seattle Center, which was also a Permanent World Fair and Expo Structure, a Sister City Memorial, and a Gift from Another Country.  We decided to leave our car where we'd parked it at the Seattle Center and flagged down a taxi to take us over to the Groundspeak Headquarters for the "Lost and Found Celebration" event.  While wandering around the event, the Biologist spotted Signal the Frog and got her picture taken with him for a Photo Goal visit.  A bit later we called for another taxi and had it take us to Pike's Public Market, where we found a Magic Shop with a Coin-operated Fortune Telling Machine in front.  We finally found the famous Pike's Fish Market, but can you believe it, it was closed for the 4th of July holiday!  Shoot!  Oh, well, I guess we'll just have to come back some day.

The Biologist & Signal the Frog

Spirit of '76 Marker

We next decided to head toward the waterfront, but first passed by Beecher's Handmade Cheese shop, a nice little Dairy Creamery.  Upon reaching the waterfront, we found a virtual cache and another Washington Historical Marker and a Spirit of '76 bicentennial marker.  Then we headed downtown and passed several Neon Signs and Artistic Neon Lights on our way to the Monorail, which we decided to take back to the Seattle Center.  We took another stroll around the Seattle Center enjoying more of the Seattle Art & Seek targets, as well as a Citizen Memorial and another Peace Memorial, this time a Sri Chimnoy Peace-Blossom.  By now it was time to find a place to eat and get back to our hotel for an early night as we had a very early flight to catch the next day.

Day 6:  Alas, our trip was ending.  We got up around 3:30am so we could get to the airport in time to turn in our rental car and catch our flight.  We were two tired puppies by the time we got home, but it was well worth it.  We greatly enjoyed our visit to the Pacific Northwest and hope to go back some day.

Spring Break? - April 2-6, 2010

On March 31, we celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary!  Wow, time really flies when you're happy.  Last year, for our 1st wedding anniversary (and the Marine's Spring Break from college), the Marine surprised the Biologist by suggesting that we take a trip to New York City, and also visit several adjacent states while up that way so we could add some new historical marker icons to our waymarking grid.  For this year's Spring Break, the Marine suggested we go on another waymarking adventure.  It's not that he loves waymarking, but he loves the Biologist and making her happy.  Isn't he wonderful?  So, this year we decided to make a trip through the southern U.S. states to get historical marker icons for Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.  Hmmm, maybe Spring BREAK isn't the best name for this adventure because I think we're going to really need a Break by the time we get home.

DAY 1:  Today we decided to hit the road dark and early.  Our goal was to leave the house by 6am.  We actually got out the door by 5:45.  We were so proud of ourselves.  Twenty miles into the trip, the Biologist turned on the laptop that we have set up on a mount in the waymobile.  As she went to log on to the waymarking site, she said to the Marine, "Uh oh, where's our wireless card?"  He replied, "It's in the computer bag, isn't it?"  The Biologist replied, "Probably.  Where's the computer bag?"  He just looked at her for a moment, then said, "Didn't you bring it?"  Oh boy.  So 40 additional miles and an hour later, after a detour back home, we were finally back to the point where the Biologist first decided to try to log onto the waymarking site.  Our adventure had truly begun..

 We made tracks through Florida and Alabama, but had to make a quick stop to admire a Doppler Weather Radar at the Mobile Regional Airport in Alabama.

Then we booked it for the Magnolia State where we found our first Mississippi Historical Marker about the "Salem Methodist Campground" -- the oldest regularly held Methodist camp meeting in Mississippi, what a Superlative find!  There was also a cute little Methodist Church at the campground site, so we took some coords and photos for it as well.  By this time, we were starting to feel the effects of our early start and made our way to Jackson, Mississippi, to bed down for the night.

DAY 2:  We left Jackson at about 9am and made our way toward Louisiana.  As we approached Vicksburg, we saw signs for the National Park Service's Vicksburg National Military Park and decided to check it out.  We bought a cd at the Visitor Center and passed through the Freestanding Arches at the park's entrance and began the driving tour describing the historic Civil War Battle and Siege of Vicksburg.  What an amazing piece of history.  It was hard to imagine the beauty and peacefulness of the present day Spring scenery dotted with splashes of pink flowers from the blooming redbud trees ever having been the site of such a large and bloody battle.  We even stood on the spot where General Pemberton (Confederacy) and General Grant (Union) stood and attempted to negotiate the surrender of Confederate forces.  We had expected to spend 3 hours here, but it turned into 6 hours.  Well worth the time.

It was after 3:30pm when we left Vicksburg and made our way to Louisiana.  As we drove through Tallulah, we spotted a Googie sign, a Louisiana Historical Marker about the city on the Madison Parish Courthouse grounds where we also discovered a Civil War Memorial and a lovely Gazebo.

From Tallulah, we headed north to Arkansas and spotted two more Louisiana Historical Markers.  As we passed through the town of Transylvania, we had a good laugh at their Water Tower, but started getting creeped out by all the signs in town inviting us to stop and visit.  Yea, I don't think so!

We booked it to Arkansas post haste and found a Geodesic Dome house and three Arkansas Historical Markers in the little town of Eudora.  By now we were exhausted, but there were no good hotels in the area.  So onward we drove to El Dorado, Arkansas, where we found a nice hotel and a Mexican restaurant with some very tasty food.


DAY 3:  Today it was time to make our way to Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas.  Yes, I know I said Texas twice.  But come on, you know they say everything's bigger in Texas, so we had to visit it twice!  As we passed through DeKalb, Texas, we spotted an already claimed Texas Historical Marker that we visited.  Before we knew it, however, we were in Oklahoma where we visited the small town of Idabel.  Idabel may be small, but it is the home of at least two beautiful houses that are on the National Register of Historic Places and that have Oklahoma Historical Markers on their front lawns.  We especially loved the Barnes-Stevenson House.  What a beauty!

On our second pass through Texas, we stopped at the old New Haven Cemetery, a Worldwide Cemetery with a Texas Historical Marker. Then into the city of Clarksville where we found two more Texas Historical Markers, one at the Home of Colonel DeMorse, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, and another at the First Baptist Church of Clarksville.  We also found an Architectural Remnant of the Red River County Courthouse's old cupola and a Zinc Headstone in the Clarksville Cemetery.

By now it was time to make tracks east and begin our journey toward home.  However, as we were driving the Biologist was checking out the Newest Groups on the waymarking site and noticed a new group had been formed to establish a category for the Graves of Texas Rangers.  Oh boy!  What if that gets approved?  Then we'll have to either come back to Texas or search high and low for a Texas Ranger gravesite located outside the state of Texas.  A quick Google search resulted in the discovery of such a gravesite in New Boston, Texas, which we were quickly approaching.  We made a short detour to the Read Hill Cemetery, another Worldwide Cemetery and the final resting place of Texas Ranger Dan LaFayette McDuffie, which was denoted with the presence of a Texas Historical Marker about his life.

We left New Boston and decided to push forth to Shreveport, Louisiana, before stopping for the night.  We found a Hampton Inn, our favorite place to stay while on the road, grabbed some dinner, then settled down to watch the Amazing Race.  I'm not really sure why we felt compelled to watch this show.  It feels like we're participating in our own version of the race.

DAY 4:  This morning we set the alarm for an early start and made our way to The Big Easy.  Neither of us had been to the New Orleans area since Hurricane Katrina nor had we ever been to the French Quarter.  Since we were going to pass by the area on our way home anyway, we decided to make a detour and spend an afternoon and evening exploring Bourbon Street and the rest of the French Quarter.  We hit town at around 2:00 pm, checked into our downtown hotel, and walked out the door and onto Bourbon Street.  Our first stop was for a couple of frozen drinks, a Hurricane for the Marine and a Mango Daiquiri for the Biologist.  Yum!

We spent a few hours walking up and down the streets of the French Quarter, wandered into the historic St. Louis Cathedral, and walked along the waterfront before heading back to the hotel for a little rest before dinner.  Then back to Bourbon Street and Sammy's restaurant where the Marine enjoyed a nice Jambalaya while the Biologist, a vegetarian, enjoyed a varied vegetable dinner.  On the way to the restaurant and on the way back to the hotel, we took some time to stop and waymark quite a few of the Neon Signs along Bourbon Street.  Quite an interesting experience.

 DAY 5:  Today we headed for home.  The only stops we made today were at a few rest areas and gas stations in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.  This whirlwind waymarking adventure was a lot of fun, but very exhausting.  We were sure glad when we reached Jacksonville.  Dorothy was right, there's no place like home.

Wherefore Art Thou Chocolate? - December 27-28, 2009

What better way to head back home to Jacksonville, Florida, from Columbus, Ohio, than through the beautiful state of Pennsylvania!  Sure it's not the most direct route, but when you're an addicted waymarker (and chocolate eater), does that really matter?  Of course not!  So, we got up bright and early on the morning of December 27, loaded up the waymarking mobile, and hit the road.  Hershey, Pennsylvania, here we come!  Yea, baby!

We pulled into Hershey in the afternoon and lost no time making our way to the Antique Auto Museum of Hershey, a Motor Vehicle Museum!  And you'll never guess what was parked out front under the entrance portico -- it was the Kissmobile!  What a wonderful Sighting!  The Biologist had been keeping her eyes open for one of these luscious vehicles for a couple of years and she finally got to see it.  I'm not sure who was happier, her or the Marine.  Now he doesn't have to hear her say all the time, "I'd better bring along the camera and GPS in case we see the Kissmobile while we're out."

Next we decided to wander around Hershey a bit to get our bearings before heading to the hotel where we had a reservation for the night.  We spotted Hershey's Iconic Factory, a few Pennsylvania Historical Markers, This Old Church that was lovely, the Soda Jerk Diner where we had dinner, and some Unique Chimneys.  That was all we had time for before darkness fell and we dropped off to sleep at the hotel.

The next morning we headed over to the Official Local Tourism Attraction better known as Hershey's Chocolate World where we spotted some 3 Dimensional Art and Giants of Commerce.  We first took the free chocolate tour ride that includes animated singing cows and culminates with the distribution of a free sample of chocolate (yum!).  The ride ends at the entrance to a giant Candy Store where we wandered around salivating and sniffing all the wonderful smelling chocolate.  Of course we couldn't resist picking up a few items..

 After making off with the chocolate, we decided it was time to hit the road and start heading south.  We made yet another detour... a slight one to run by the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, a Research Institute in Laurel, Maryland.  The Biologist started her career here in the endangered species research program back in 1985.  This was the first time she's been back here since 1988.  There have been a lot of changes in the past 20 years!

A Visit to the Historic Green Lawn Cemetery - December 23, 2009

Today the Marine went off with his Dad for a full day of poker with his Dad's buddies.  With some time on my hands, I (the Biologist) decided to head to the nearby historic Green Lawn Cemetery to do a little waymarking.  It was a cold day with some snow on the ground,  The first thing I saw upon entering the cemetery was an Ohio Historical Marker.

The historical marker provides the following information:

SIDE 1: Landscape architect Howard Daniels designed the original portion of Green Lawn Cemetery in 1848. Noted Columbus architect Frank Packard designed Green Lawn's Chapel mausoleum, the Hayden family mausoleum, and the Packard mausoleum. Spanning over 360 acres, the cemetery's wooded setting provides a habitat for a variety of birds and other wildlife. The Chapel contains stunning stained glass windows and mosaic artwork by Tiffany & Company of New York. The monuments, obelisks, and memorials throughout the cemetery represent a wealth of artwork and a history of Columbus. As one of the oldest and largest cemeteries in Ohio, Green Lawn is the resting-place of many noted individuals who have made significant contributions to Columbus, Franklin County and the nation.

SIDE 2: Interments here include: Gordon Battelle - founder of Battelle Memorial Institute, a center for creative research and invention development; Samuel Bush - president of Buckeye Steel Castings and grandfather and great grandfather of United States Presidents George Bush and George W. Bush; Dr. Lincoln Goodale - first physician to practice in Franklinton, now Columbus; P. W. Huntington - founder of Huntington National Bank in Columbus in 1866 and member of Green Lawn's Board of Trustees for over forty years; Simon Lazarus - began Lazarus department stores in 1851; James Poindexter - barber, minister, conductor on the Underground Railroad, and first African American to be elected to Columbus City Council; James Rhodes - the longest serving governor of Ohio; Eddie Rickenbacker - famed racecar driver and World War I flying ace; Lucas Sullivant - surveyor and planner of the city of Franklinton in 1797; James Thurber - twentieth century humorist author and cartoonist; and honored veterans of every war since the Civil War.

Below are a few of the places I visited or waymarked while here:

The Grave of a Famous Person (Eddie Rickenbacker)












Three Zinc Headstones

Two Broken Column Headstones

Four Woodmen of the World Headstones (3 shown below)

Five Mausoleums (3 shown below)

An Odd Fellow Memorial

Bas Relief Art on a Bronze Sarcophagus

An American Civil War Monument

It's Cold in Columbus! - December 21, 2009

Today, we decided to head toward the Ohio State University to find a couple of waymarks for two new categories. Okay, so it was really the Biologist who decided to do this, but the Marine humored her and drove her to them. Our first stop was the Sleep and Breathing Research Institute on Olentangy River Road. Not much to see here, but this Research Institute is internationally recognized for their sleep apnea research. A bit of a snooze as far as waymarks go, but we nabbed it just the same!  UPDATE:  Turns out this Research Institute doesn't do enough research to qualify for approval.  Go figure...

Next, we headed to High Street, where we made a stop at the Improved Order of Red Men Sioux Tribe No. 128 lodge, which appears to still be a very active lodge. We particularly liked the defunct Neon Sign on this lodge. It wasn't much to look at, but we still liked it for its simplicity.

By this time, it was about 1pm, so we decided to
search for a restaurant in the area and spotted a Mexican restaurant called Mad Mex (http://www.madmex.com/regions/columbus/entrance). What an eclectic place! We had the Nachos Grande as an appetizer, then the Marine had the Mad Mex Huevo Burrito and the Biologist had the Black Beanie Quesadeenie. Yummy! It was Mexican food with a twist and absolutely delicious. They also have restaurants in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Happy Valley, Pennsylvania, and hope to expand elsewhere in the future. If you like Mexican food and are a bit adventurous, we highly recommend this place. It was awesome! As we exited the restaurant, we found another fun Neon Sign for the Ugly Tuna restaurant. Took photos and coords, then made our way back to the Marine's parents home.

The Long Way to Ohio - December 16-19, 2009

It's hard to believe, but it's that time of year again. Time to head north for the winter. Wait! There's something's wrong with that! Aren't we supposed to be heading south? Anyway, on Wednesday, we started our annual trek to Columbus, Ohio, to spend the holidays with the Marine's family. The Marine finished his last final exam at 10am and we were on the road by 11am. Before we (read the Biologist) took up waymarking, we used to be able to make it from Jacksonville, Florida, to Columbus in about 12 to 13 hours. Well let me tell you, those days are over much to the Marine's chagrin as it now takes 3 to 4 days!

DAY 1: Because of our late start, we only made it to Calhoun, Georgia, today. We had no waymarking goals on this first day. Our only plan was to put as many miles behind us as possible before nightfall. However, we did manage to snap some photos and coords of the Stowe, Vermont, U-Haul Graphic so we could visit it. Hey! We're not proud. We'll take what we can get!

DAY 2: Brrrr. It sure was cold when we left Calhoun this morning. The thermometer in the car read 30 degrees Fahrenheit. Yikes! We were wearing short sleeves in Jacksonville just yesterday and were comfortable. Thank goodness the car has seat warmers... or as the Biologist likes to refer to them, butt warmers. After passing though Tennessee and Kentucky, we stopped shortly after arriving in Indiana to find our first geocache in this state. It was an easy grab and go. Thank goodness. The temperature had risen about 10 degrees, but it was still REALLY cold! Next we made our way over to Illinois in search of an Illinois Historical Marker at the former village of Wanborough. The only thing that remains of this historic village is a small, well tended Worldwide Cemetery! After a short wander (because it was small, but mostly because it was COLD) through the cemetery, we hopped back in the car and made our way back to Indiana.

Once we crossed back over the state line, we found three Indiana Historical Markers: two about the Wabash and Erie Canal and a third about the Buffalo Trace. By this time, it was getting dark so we made tracks to the nearest city, Vincennes, to find a hotel and a place to get a nice, hot meal.

DAY 3: Today, we headed to Michigan. If you're going to go north for the winter, you might as well do it right! Right?! After arriving in Michigan, we immediately made a pit stop at the Michigan Welcome Center in New Buffalo where we spotted an unclaimed Michigan Historical Marker and found our first geocache in this state. We also found an Accessible-Designed Recreational Location here. It was An "Able to Play" Playground, which was designed to be accessible to children of all abilities. We also visited the Landlocked Lighthouse located here. Then we hopped back in the waymobile (formerly the cachemobile) and made our way to the lovely little town of Three Oaks.

In Three Oaks, we visited the Dewey Cannon, a piece of Static Artillery with a terrific history. The cannon, captured in the Spanish-American War by Admiral Dewey, was presented to Three Oaks when its citizens raised $1,400 for a memorial to the men of the battleship Maine. A Michigan Historical Marker accompanied the cannon and there was a lovely little Gazebo here as well. A few miles away we stopped at a Michigan Centennial Farm, which has been owned by the Payne Family for over 100 years. A few miles further down the highway, we stopped at the Haslett Farm, which has been in that family for over 150 years, making it a Sesquicentennial Farm! We made one last stop for another Michigan Historical Marker at The Presbyterian Church in Edwardsburg. By this time, it was mid-afternoon so we started making our way to Columbus, Ohio. We ran out of steam as we reached Fort Wayne, Indiana, and decided to call it a night and get a hotel room rather than try to push through to Columbus. By the next morning, we had second thoughts about the wisdom of this decision.

DAY 4: This morning we awoke to about 2 inches of snow! Aaack! Maybe we should have kept driving last night and made our way to Columbus. We don't get this treacherous stuff in Florida (thank goodness). We got on the interstate and the road wasn't in the best of shape. After about 10 white-knuckled miles and after spotting several vehicles stuck along the side of the highway, we got off the interstate and got on US 30 (aka the Lincoln Highway). Fortunately this road had already been well tended and we had a fairly nice drive into Columbus. Unfortunately, we weren't able to take the time to enjoy the Lincoln Highway or look for any of its hidden treasures (aka waymarks). We pulled into the Marine's parents drive at about noon and breathed huge sighs of relief. It sure was great to have our northward waymarking adventure behind us and see the Marine's mom and dad!