2014 - 09 - 05: Day 45 - Road Trip Across the USA - Route 6 East - farmlands and small towns of Illinois

2014 – 09 – 05

Route 6 east

From  Moline Illinois to Joliet Illinois 

Distance  152 miles

It rained overnight,  the parking lot was all wet, so I made a good call to stay in a motel last night.

After waking up, I spent a little bit of time posting some pictures and working on my notes and then I was back on the road. 

The weather was rather strange today.  It started cloudy and overcast, then it got brilliantly sunny hot and humid.  The about 3 pm it started to get really dark with evil looking black clouds. I arrived at the Days Inn in Joliet just as it started to come down heavy!   Like buckets!

Today's adventure took me through the farmlands and the small towns of Illinois along route 6.

Farmlands on the route to Geneseo

 Leaving Moline along highway 6 was a simple matter of following the road signs.  Soon I was driving through colourful pastoral landscapes toward the town of Geneseo.

Historic Main Street Geneseo 

Here there was a most picturesque historic district where I enjoy a pleasant stroll down the main street.

In the newer part of town there is of course the college campus and all the student amenities like coffee shops.

Back on the road through unchanging farmlands and several look a like smaller towns, I paused to consider, why do some small towns prosper while others seem to fade into a forgotten time zone. 

Parkette in Atkinson 

For example in Atkinson this new parkette speaks to continued development.

main street in Annawan 

Whereas in Annawan, if it weren't for the modern cars, I could imagine that I had stepped back into the 60's.

In Sheffield the "historical society" is busy at work restoring the 1880's the first Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church. 

Hennepin Canal - Lock 21 

Near Wyanet I stopped for a walk about at the Hennepin Canal Parkway - Lock 21. Here I learned about the canal that joined the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers for a "shorter" waterway route.  The novel construction methods used here were later used for the Panama Canal. This was the first canal built with poured concrete! 

Town Square in Princeton 

In Princeton I found this lovely old green town square for a quiet rest from road noise.  I was surrounded by pretty gingerbread cottages and vintage church towers.

Lovejoy Homestead in Princeton 

Princeton is also the historical home of the Owen Lovejoy Homestead, a part of the underground railway and a shelter for runaway slaves.

Bright red barns create a visual distraction during the miles and miles of corn fields.

Main street in Peru

And the cornices and steeples of Peru gave some vertical interest after long stretches of wide open plains. 

Cornfields, as far as the eye can see, are interspersed with towns that bear witness to the French explorers and a past connection with European ancestry. 

The towns of LaSalle and Ottawa and Marseilles are now just places with odd sounding names to any who have forgotten the names of early explorers, or far away French cities.   There is no evidence of this past, nor markers commemorating that time in history and I am left feeling vaguely sad for the loss of connection with heritage and history. 

Just before entering Morris 

As I was approaching Morris the skies started darkening with storm clouds.

I drive through Seneca, Morris, Channahon, more examples of small town America along the route.  Flat farmlands as far as the eye can see between the those mileage signposts.  The horizon remains mostly unbroken to the point where sky meets land.  

My eyes grow weary of the unending sameness.  And yet this is what our pioneer ancestors that settled in this area faced day in and day out.  And this is the vista that greats the eyes of those hardy folk that choose to call this region home.

I arrive at my motel for the night just as the black clouds begin to release their burden of rain.

I am soaked through to the skin in the few moments it takes me to unload my luggage to my room.  

It is good to have the shelter of a roof over my head tonight. 

Renate Dundys Marrello 

2014 - 09 - 05  

link to more photographs of my adventure 

Reflections on Life page