Got on the
road at 9:30 a.m., heading west on 64, with our bellies full and our spirits high.
J
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Today was mostly about making miles because it’s almost 1,800 miles
between here and there (Picacho, AZ) and we don’t want to spend too many days
just traveling. So with that in mind we
made a reservation for a cabin at the Oklahoma City KOA and settled in for the
ride. The back seat is in disarray
because I haven’t spent enough time in the truck to get stuff arranged so that necessary
items (camera, books, notebook, fruit, drinks, etc) are easily accessible. In other words, I don’t have my ‘nest’ made
yet, but that process has started.
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On our way to the Good Ol’ Days, a local restaurant in New Baden, IL,
we passed two inmates out picking up trash along the roadside. It’s not uncommon
to see a deputy watching over inmates on a roadside trash detail, EXCEPT these
two inmates were wearing cartoonish black and white striped outfits….and one of
them was wearing a poncho or something similar probably to ward off any stray
raindrops or maybe it was his way of hiding from the passing traffic. What he may not have realized is that with
his jail garb and poncho, he bore a striking resemblance to the Hamburglar, arch
enemy of Ronald McDonald. J Alas, I wasn’t quick enough to get a real picture
so this fake picture and word description will have to suffice for memory recall.
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It was a 5 state day: Kentucky,
Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Whew!! I’m tired!
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It wasn’t until we were driving across Illinois that I thought to
consult the app for all things weird and wonderful…my favorite place to turn
for travel oddities….Roadside America.
Turns out there was a nine foot tall statue of Abraham Lincoln outside
the Appellate Courthouse in Mt. Vernon, IL, which as luck would have it was
just up the road. This photo op turned into an impromptu history lesson from
the security guard who came out to give us a pamphlet. He took us inside the courthouse where on November 18-19, 1859, Abraham Lincoln argued a case at
this courthouse on behalf of the Illinois Central Railroad before the Third
Grand Division of the Illinois Supreme Court.
Then in March of 1860, the court handed down its decision and found in
favor of Lincoln and the railroad. The
Illinois Supreme Court’s decision in this case was the last reported decision
that Lincoln was connected to as a lawyer (he was elected president in Nov.
1860.)
 |
| Beardless Abraham Lincoln |
Up
until 1897, the courthouse in Mt. Vernon was home to both an appellate court
and the Third Grand Division of the Illinois Supreme Court. Eventually, the three Grand Divisions of the
Illinois Supreme Court were consolidated into one which is located in
Springfield, IL. The courthouse in Mt.
Vernon continues as an active courthouse today, the home of the 5th
District Appellate Court. It has the
unique distinction of being the only remaining courtroom in which Lincoln tried
a case that continues to be used in the same manner today as it was in the
1850s.
The monument,
dedicated in 2008, was sculpted by Alan Cottrell of Ohio, who through numerous
studies and multiple full scale casts, hoped to reflect Lincoln’s humanity as
opposed to creating an ‘idealized’ Lincoln.
It is one-third larger than real life and portrays Lincoln beardless as
that is how he would have looked when he tried his case before the Illinois Supreme
Court. It is 8 ½ feet tall on account of
the top hat.
Clara
Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, also spent time at the
courthouse. In 1888, a tornado struck
Mt. Vernon, killing 37 and injuring hundreds more. A temporary hospital was set up at the
courthouse under her supervision. (Information gleaned from the pamphlet given
to us by the guard. J
)
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I’ve seen armadillos in captivity (a zoo) and they’re such interesting
looking little creatures….probably as big a nuisance as our possums, raccoons
or skunks, but still interesting. It was
about 6 years ago while visiting Tick and Rachel in Louisiana that I saw my
first real armadillo in the ‘wild’…of course, it was roadkill but that didn’t
matter at the time. Since then, I’ve seen
many more dead ones but have been on the lookout for a live one...of course, one
has to be traveling in a state were armadillos reside in order to catch sight
of one, live or dead. Rolling down the
highway in the dark tonight, movement off to the right in our headlight glare
caught our attention and bingo! it was an armadillo hurrying to the shoulder of
the road. And while it wasn’t a picture
taking encounter, it was a live
armadillo sighting. Score!!
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Made it to the KOA about 12:30 a.m. (CST)……that’s about 16 hours on
the road and that’s just too much! We
put almost 800 miles behind us but my body is saying that a couple hundred less
would have been fine. I took the liberty
of tweaking the 3rd verse of a little ditty by Frank Sinatra, which is our theme song for the day:
Yes, this was a time, it’s very
true
When we bit off more than we could
chew
But through it all, when we had
doubt
We sucked it up and stuck it out
We drove it all, far into the
night….(big finish) and
From here on out, though, we’re revising our travel schedule. Lesson learned! (And, really, did you just read those words
or did you sing them? J)
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Wildlife sightings: Skunk,
deer, turkey AND an armadillo J
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