Amherstburg to the Mississippi

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=50 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" background="043085a3.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>Lone Mtn Homestead</B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lone Mtn Homestead"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="14"><B>   </B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="14"><B>     </B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="14"><B>  </B><A HREF="mississippi_river_to_wichita.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mississippi River to Wichita"><U><B><IMG SRC="0300e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="next" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=430 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="04507073.jpg"> <div> Amherstburg to the Mississippi</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I><B><U>NEW MEXICO TRIP #31:  The Knight Peak Drive</U></B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B><U>PHASE 1: Amherstburg to the Mississippi River</U></B></I><I><B> (6 photos)</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I><B>          </B></I></FONT><I><B>This was my fifth drive west with the Touareg in six years!  Time flies.  They are all memorable and adventurous road trips, with New Mexico waiting at the end of the drive.  I divide the drive west into four phases, and will use one webpage for each phase.  After this, I will detail our doings in New Mexico.  This year I drove 3926 miles (6274 km), including enough back mountain roads to warrant Beorn's presence.  In the US, we passed through parts of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois in Phase 1.  We stopped briefly in Defiance, OH at the highly recommended Cabin Fever Coffee, right downtown.  After this it was on to Indianapolis, where we stopped at </B></I><A HREF="http://www.broadripplebrewpub.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.broadripplebrewpub.com/"><U><I><B>Broad Ripple Brewpub,</B></I></U></A><I><B> a haven for cask ale drinkers.  They also have several vegan items on their menu!  The little neighbourhood of Monan is quite attractive.  We'd hoped to camp in an Indiana park, but violent storms drove us into Rockford.  Our "B" plan was the </B></I><A HREF="http://www.broadripplebrewpub.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.broadripplebrewpub.com/"><U><I><B>Parke Bridge Motel</B></I></U></A><I><B>, a little gem near the small downtown with a big courthouse.  Next morning we explored a few nearby covered bridges, then headed into Illinois.  We spent time in downtown Decatur and in Springfield, specifically at the State Capital Building.  During late afternoon on Day 2, we left Illinois and crossed the mighty Mississippi River.  In the latter part of Illinois we had latched on to US 54, a highway that extends all the way to El Paso.  It became our route from Illinois to deep within New Mexico.</B></I></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I><B><IMG SRC="18ecb5090.jpg" border=0 width="693" height="777" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Courthouse dome in Rockville, IN.  Our motel was just down the street.</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B><IMG SRC="18ed07a80.jpg" border=0 width="775" height="680" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Parke County, IN has 39 covered bridges.  We had time on our 2nd day to see three of them.  Deb is </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>checking out the fish in the creek.</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B><IMG SRC="18ee8ba80.jpg" border=0 width="907" height="680" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></I></div> <div> <I><B>State Capital Dome, Springfield, IL</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B><IMG SRC="18efbfc50.jpg" border=0 width="959" height="709" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Crossing the Illinois River.  Deb did a lot of the driving.  I looked at maps and snapped photos!</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B><IMG SRC="18f0a88b0.jpg" border=0 width="680" height="907" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></I></div> <div> <I><B>The first town along US 54 is Pittsfield, IL boasting a weird but lovable courthouse.</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B><IMG SRC="18f177880.jpg" border=0 width="887" height="648" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></I></div> <div> <I><B>US 54 crosses the Mississippi River, as we approach the town of Louisiana, MO.  The bridge marks the end of Phase 1</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>of our drive, and the beginning of Phase 2.</B></I><B> </B></div> <div> <A HREF="mississippi_river_to_wichita.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mississippi River to Wichita"><U><I><B>NEXT PAGE</B></I></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>  <script type="text/javascript"> var sc_project=4981791; var sc_invisible=0; var sc_partition=57; var sc_click_stat=1; var sc_security="0f8f7595"; </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.statcounter.com/counter/counter.js"></script><noscript><div class="statcounter"><a title="myspace visitor counter" href="http://www.statcounter.com/myspace/" target="_blank"><img class="statcounter" src="http://c.statcounter.com/4981791/0/0f8f7595/0/" alt="myspace visitor counter" ></a></div></noscript>   </B></I></div> </td> </tr></table></body>