And you may ask yourself, ‘what is that beautiful house’?

And you may ask yourself, ‘where does that highway go’?

— Once In A Lifetime”, Talking Heads I’m on the road again!  This time, headed for Oklahoma and the annual convention of the Rathkamp Matchcover Society; if it’s not barbecue, it’s matches. This is a bigger trip than usual; I’m going early because I’ve never been to Oklahoma.

So, what’s this? This is a red Plymouth, that’s all. Perhaps it’s a metaphor (or something) for the trip; I saw it in Jonesboro, Illinois and for some reason thought a red Plymouth is worth sharing.

Day one of the trip was just driving from my home in Owen Sound, Ontario to what I really considered my starting point near Fort Wayne, Indiana. So day two is really day one, if you know what I mean, and I think you do – and it started with an icon… James Dean.

You’ve heard the saying, “Live hard, die young, and leave a beautiful corpse.” That’s pretty much actor James Dean. Born in 1931, gone by the age of 24. I don’t know about the beautiful part – he died in a car crash. But when I woke up this morning, I found myself rising in a town where James Dean had lived, in a neighbourhood where he is still revered. About 15 minutes from my motel is Marion, Indiana; the marker is the site of the legendary actor’s birth. The house is long gone and this is the second or third monument on the site… apparently, they just keep getting bigger and better.

I was directed to various towns where Dean had lived; in Fairmount Indiana, there are at least two museums and it’s also the birthplace of Garfield creator Jim Davis. He’s getting growing notoriety these days; the Dean people are not all happy. The main museum curator will direct you to the cemetery where James Dean is buried in a very modest grave with family members nearby. Fairmont also has a fairly big James Dean celebration in September. I woke up in GasCity, Indiana; while exploring the James Dean stuff, I discovered that all of the street signs in Gas City are oil derricks. Gas City is so named because of the discovery of major natural gas deposits here in the 1800s. When I went up to Marion I found that it’s the county seat of Grant county (and no, it is not named for General Grant but for a couple of Indian fighters). You will continue to see these county seats as I come across them.Also in Fairmount Indiana, this beautiful old bank building, built in 1889; says so, right up at the top!

And here is the Vigo County Courthouse in Terre Haute Indiana.It is the second or third courthouse here; this one was built around 1885, and is now on the National Register of Historic Places. And after that, I was in Illinois. Here’s the Clark County building in Marshall, Illinois. I’m going to come back to it in a moment. What I wasn’t expecting to find in Marshall, were the Lions! I wish I knew more about the history of these. There are 16 in all, I think. I know the high school football team is called “the Lions”; there’s a pizza place in town called “the Lions Den”. But the town, and the chamber of commerce, have simply not done a good job explaining these lions on-line for those of us who have either stumbled upon them, or may have heard of them and come to see them. I was not the only one taking pictures today; I’ll leave it at that. But, aren’t they cool?Oh yes, one more thing about the Clark County Courthouse; this is a picture of the front porch. Now, nearby is a small town called Casey, Illinois and there’s a man in Casey who for the last few years has been creating “the world’s biggest” everything: the world’s biggest rocking chair; the worlds biggest mailbox; the worlds biggest pitchfork; the worlds biggest golf club, etc., etc., etc. But one of the world’s biggest is not in Casey; it’s here in Marshall – the world’s biggest gavel on the front porch of the Clark County Courthouse. Order in the court! Hurtling across Illinois, you find “The Cross At The Crossroads”. This is where I 57 and I 70 meet at Effingham, Illinois. This is billed as the largest cross in America. This place is called “the Crossroads of America”, maybe a little pretentious, maybe not – these are 2 very busy interstates in the very heart of the country. As for the cross, it’s 198 feet tall, and made of stainless steel. I’ve never stopped, but apparently it has its own welcome centre! And one more beautiful building to show you; no, it is not a county seat. This was the original Illinois state capital in Vandalia, Illinois. I think you know the capital today is up in Springfield; if you want the history, let me be your dad for a moment and say “go look it up.”

Great, great day of looking at things! I also met some nice people. Leaving my hotel this morning I met Tammy and Greg from Minnesota who are delivering a daughter to a Christian college. We had a long talk in the parking lot; I gave them both Owen Sound pins and made them honorary citizens. At the James Dean gravesite, I met a family from Germany. They are on their sixth visit to the United States; the dad said bluntly “I just love America.” They were looking for every James dean site they could find. Interestingly their van license plate was from Kentucky, but they had a European license plate on the front. I asked if they had brought the vehicle from Germany and the dad said “no, just the license plate. So for three weeks, it’s a German car.” And my waitress at supper tonight, McKenzie, is taking some pre-requisite classes at a nearby college, on her way to being an ultrasound technician. Not bad – I can’t help but think we need more ultrasound technicians…or we will soon enough!

Tomorrow, Missouri. Just a straight shot from St. Louis to Joplin, but more stuff between here and there! Busy day ahead!