Roadside Adventures

The continental United States is big! We have been driving for six days. We have logged over 2,400 miles and we have still not reached the west coast. Sunday (today) we are in Eugene, Oregon, 60 miles from the Pacific shoreline. We are visiting Jay’s cousin, then we'll head north for another visit with Jay’s college friend in Anacortes, WA, then finally to Vancouver, British Columbia. After a day of touring in Vancouver, Jay will begin the ride on July 29. 

There are two strategies for a cross-county drive. One, drive until you get there. Two, drive until something goofy catches your eye and stop. We are pursuing the latter strategy.

Below is list of goofy things that caused us to stop and smell the “whatever.”

Crane’s Country Store

As we drove on I-70 west of St. Louis, we fell prey to the allure of an interstate advertising campaign. “Boots, Bullets, Britches, Bologna.” True to its advertising, this country store in Williamsburg, MO had the goods. 

Truckhenge

We drove another 225 miles to Topeka, KS where we visited Ron Lessman’s Truckhenge. We have visited the real Stonehenge in the Salisbury Plain in England as well as the dismantled Foamhenge in Centerville, VA. So, a henge of trucks was right up our alley. The visit was a bust. Ron, known for his engaging humor (e.g., a boat OAR inserted into the KNOT of a tree with the punch line of “do you like gorillas in thong underwear, OR NOT. . .ha!). Both Ron and the henge have lost their luster. Ron was pleasant, friendly, inviting and engaging, but could manage only a whisper of a voice. The graffiti spray-painted three trucks, long ago planted tail end in the ground, have been overtaken by vegetation. The acres of eclectic chainsaw carvings and beer and wine bottle displays in concrete are also losing the battle of time. We are glad we can now include Truckhenge in our henge experiences before time and nature reclaims this wonder.

Evel Knievel

Those of our age remember the daredevil Evel Knievel and his motorcycle jumps of buses, tanks of sharks or pits of vipers. Anything to get attention and put on a show. The museum in Topeka did justice to this showman, but a line on a closing display captured the fate of this unique man who died at age 69 in 2007. “Robert (Evel’s birth name) never made me a dime. Evel made me $33 million, but I spent $35 million.”

Abilene, KS – Ike’s Hometown

We visited the hometown and museum of a war hero and US president, most likely known now only by senior citizens, Dwight David Eisenhower, or Ike as he was affectionally known. We did not have time to visit his library but toured his burial site and museum. The museum depicted Ike’s humble beginnings, his time at West Point, his marriage to Mamie (nee Doud), the well-heeled daughter of a Midwest meatpacking magnet, his time as Supreme Commander in World War II, his presidency, and post presidential years. Very glad we stopped here!

Oakley, KS

Two hundred miles later we stopped for the night in Oakley, KS. In 2018 on our trip west for our Seattle to Savannah bike ride, we stopped in Oakley to visit the nearby rock outcropping known as Monument Rocks.  Now the draw of Oakley, KS for us was the Annie Oakley Motel. The motel’s large signage is irresistible, offering direct dial phones, queen-sized beds and color TV. The signage also offers a more than life-size illuminated visage of a miniskirted Annie Oakley. We dined at Buffalo Bill’s Bar and Grill, followed by a visit to the county fair. 

Before leaving Oakley, we visited the huge sculpture of Buffalo Bill riding a galloping horse and shooting a buffalo. Social commentary aside, the sculpture was impressive in size and detail.

Loveland, CO – Family

We spent the evening of July 19 in Loveland, CO visiting family. Gathered were three generations of the Borland family. We had a wonderful meal, excellent conversation, and confirmation that if you are family by birth or marriage, you are always welcome.

Lincoln Statue

Just outside Laramie, WY on US I-80, we visited the Lincoln Memorial Monument. Built in 1959, the 30-foot granite spire with a 4,500 pound bronze bust of Abraham Lincoln commemorated the 150th anniversary of the 16th president’s birth. It was originally located on the highest point of the Lincoln Highway. That highway, conceived in 1912, was the first transcontinental highway running from New York City to San Francisco.  

Idaho Potato Motel

Before concluding our day’s journey to Ontario, OR, we detoured about five miles off the highway outside Boise to visit the Idaho Potato Motel. While Idaho supplies almost a third of the country’s potatoes, in 2012 the state’s Potato Commission, knowing it couldn’t rest on its laurels (or is it spuds?), commissioned the construction of a giant, hollow, fake tuber as the centerpiece of its 75th anniversary celebration. Borne on the back of a massive red truck, the 28-by-12-foot tater travelled the country for seven years, finally retiring in 2019. The travelling spud was then renovated to an Air BnB for $200 a night option equipped with an outside silo-bathroom. Call us crazy, but we continued to drive for another hour and stayed at a Clarion Inn in Ontario, OR. Our spirit of adventure stops at outside silo-bathrooms.