2014 – 09 – 06: Day 46 - Road Trip Across the USA - Route 6 East - Leaving Illinois, through Indiana and into Ohio

Route 6 east

From  Joliet IL  through Indiana to Napoleon Ohio

Distance  220 miles

I was up early and had some time to catch up on some of my travel notes.  Then it was time to pack the car and once again on the road.  

As usual I-80 is nearby. Avoid the sign and moments later I am following classic route 6 road.  

Joliet - Bridge over Des Plains River 

Here the road hugs the edge of the Des Plains River.  This is my first close up view of the river that is instrumental in linking Lake Michigan with the Mississippi River via the Chicago Canal.  

And why is this on my mind?  

Number 1, because of the Asian Carp, and the news stories I have been reading about the danger of these fish making their way into the Great Lakes.  

And secondly because I have been on a boat cruise on the Chicago Canal and it is always fun to imagine the various waterways that I have visited and how they connect.  Of course this reminds me that I want to do a Mississippi River adventure and this water flows that way, toward another possible adventure!

I continue to be pleasantly surprised that route 6 is always well marked, even now that I am traveling to urban centres.  

Joliet - Route 6 and Route 66 converge for a short stretch 

For a short stretch of road I pass the same streets of Joliet that I saw during my journey west on route 66. Here for several blocks route 66 and route 6 converge. 

Joliet - Busy rail yard 

I experience a moment of "deja vu" as I pass the Joliet city center parking lot.  I follow the twisting and turning streets through the old parts of Joliet and across the overpass by a huge, still busy, rail yard. 

Traffic in Orland Park 

I am no longer the solitary vehicle on the road.  I am in the suburban reaches of Chicago, a strange mixture of urban and farmland interspersed with the wetlands of Spring Creek.   The Spring Creek Trail beckons for a return visit with a longer stay to explore the area.  The Orland Park sign, population 56,800 tells the tale that I have left rural Illinois behind. 

A patch of remaining farmland near Orland Park 

Now I am driving through suburb after suburb, some older with mature trees and others carved freshly out of farmer’s fields urban sprawl at its finest.  Here and there a random farm clings to life, until it too is paved over to make way from more homes and more sprawl. 

Oak Forest, Markham, then Harvey and South Holland, Calumet City, each with their character stamped by economic station.  Mercedes Benz dealerships and used car lots tell the story of wealth or poverty in a neighbouhood. From million dollar mansions to the ramshackle ruins of abandoned buildings,  here is the class segregation of the USA spread out before me.  From huge shopping malls where the rich play to the street corner fruit stand where the poor eke out a living.  It is all here. 

And there in Calumet City route 6 temporarily ends, merging with Intestate 80 to cross the state line into Indiana.  Finally at Lake Station I can get off of the high speed road and back to exploring old route 6. 

New Chicago, Hobart, South Haven, more suburbs and more urban sprawl; chain stores and franchises make them all blur together like assembly lines towns.  And then I turn a corner and I am back to greenery and rural roads. 

 

Westville correction centre is sandwiched in there between the junk yard cars and the fields of crops.   

Harvested fields tell the story of approaching fall 

I am starting to see the first early signs of fall, fields of stubble, a reminder of harvest time, and here and there the golden browns of autumn. 

Kingsbury to Walkerton and on to Bremen; I am back to vintage charm and the individuality of small town flavour and in between the farmlands of Indiana.  

But there is something that feels uncomfortable here.  This is a stretch farmlands that illustrate that farming in America is facing hardships.  Poverty is clearly visible.  The pristine rows of crops stand side by side with run down homes attesting to the fact that there is scarcity. Growing food does not guarantee an adequate income!

Near Nappanee 

Then startlingly, all that changes, when around Nappanee, I cross into Amish country. This area feels prosperous, and I wonder what it the difference?  Is it the lifestyle of the family farm or the culture of these people?  This shift is reflected in the town itself and in the surrounding country side as well.

Brimfield 

Why do some small town prosper and look healthy and others are hardly more than a few houses left with maybe a church.   Many don’t even have a gas station.  Some have all the old town buildings boarded up and deserted.

Ligonier to Wawaka, Brimfield, all the way to Kendallville there is that same sadness of quiet desperation.  Will small town America be able to survive? 

Kendallville 

Kendallville seems to be a small urban industrialized centre.  It is the first industrialized smaller city that I have seen in a long time.  I stopped for coffee at Mc D's and used some wifi time to catch up on my email messages. 

near Curunna 

Long stretches of farmland, dotted with rundown farms and barns, through Curunna to Waterloo, and Butler  and then I cross the state line into Ohio.

near Ridgeville Corners

Egerton, Ridgeville Corners, another drive through country side and I crossed the next time zone to arrive in Napoleon Ohio, with the sun setting and casting lengthening shadows.

Napoleon 

What is this place Napoleon?  The historic centre looks inviting but the outskirts are seedy and run down.  

Not a single budget motel in sight.  And the one I do finally find is more like a flop house....I quickly retreat. 

The only quality hotel I find nearby is at the off ramp of highway 24, the Holiday Inn Express which is very expensive.  My solution, I park at the far end of their parking lot just as it is getting dark and get ready for some urban car camping.  Dinner and walk about in the grass verges by the parking area and then settle into my comfy car bed for some reading and then sleep time.

Renate Dundys Marrello

2014 – 09 – 06

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