Day Three

Day three

It has been said that the Lincoln Highway begins after Chicago... and I could not agree more. Gone are the busy streets.

After going through Chicago and Route 31 The drive to Dekalb was a pure delight. Blue skies and great two lane roads lead you west. After Dekalb, I found the town of Rochelle and its restored Standard Oil Gas Station that had what I believe to be are reproduction cement LH markers. After the town of Rochelle on rt 38 you will find the 1950's Iconic Cadillac that watches over the fields by an old barn. There have been many posted images of the Caddy but I felt that a few more would not hurt. Yep... that's my Pirate hat on the hood.

Franklin Grove is the base for the current Lincoln Highway Association. Their headquarters is a fabulous old building that is administrated and staffed by Lyn Asp. Super nice lady who is willing to tell the story of the LH and the headquarter building itself. I bought a nice hat and a few other small items. Need to keep things to a minimum since I am on a bike, After that I went across the street to the Lincoln Way Cafe for a great lunch.

After Franklin I took an alternate route of the LH... alternate routes seem to be unpaved. Great fun on a motorcycle. I soon found much of the LH in Iowa is not paved.

Dixon Illinois brought me to the childhood home of our great conservative president, Ronald W. Reagan. NICE.

Fulton Illinois sits right on the Mississippi river and is home to a authentic working windmill. It's not LH related but man was it cool.

Once over the Big river I went through Clinton Iowa and drove on some really authentic alignments of the LH that were very narrow. You can imagine what it might have been like driving these roads in an ol Tin Lizzie.

Tama Iowa is home to the bridge that spells out Lincoln Highway beneath the railing. It's the only one on the entire highway. A neighborhood kid took my picture while the neighbors were really nice people who shared some stories about living next to the bridge.

All in all it was a great day... Blue skies and not too hot. What really matters is that the LH is alive and well and is waiting to be experienced. The roads from West of Chicago through Tama are spectacular. Not having a GPS with the programmed routes has not been too much of a problem. Illinois was marked all the way to its Western border. Iowa is not marked quite as well but the roads are easy to distinguish in most areas. The GPS has been useful locating routes.

And finally... The Lincoln Highway News has posted a link to my blog. Thanks Brian. Lyn said hello.
http://brianbutko.wordpress.com/

Sorry for the lack of details but I am bit tired tonight.

More to see on the LH... tomorrow.