Charles Burchfiel, Journals, October 21, 19

Thursday Oct. 21

Speedometer reading – 625.6. – Raining a little sky over-cast. Leave guest house at 8:10.

158 to 15 – 15 to Mascontan – 43 to Lebanon – (643 mi.)
On 43 below Lebanon – We stopped to get some pods from a vine on a telephone pole. A flock of wild geese flew overhead, headed S.W.

At Lebanon took route took route 50 east, against the advice of AAA who warned about extreme repairs. We hated the thought of returning on the same route as we had come.

650 mi. – Breakfast at Trenton – 9:30
Road to Frogtown Buttonwood trees on both sides of the road also shoal creek on one side.

664 – “Smoke Hazard” from tile works. Announced ahead of time by warning signs, and orders to use lights. The “works” were to the right not far from the road. The smoke came in great billowing masses over the road and actually made “visibility” close to zero for a short space. The fields and trees to the north were blackened and dead.

666 – Carlysle – city of beautiful trees
680 – Sandoval – a centralized school of pure white stone or marble, modern in style very attractive – gymnasium at one side.

Salem, Illinois 7300 pop. Look for Lincoln signs, but none.

700 – Just east of Salem, very old log house built in 1818.
740 – Olney – 12:00
762 – Lannerville – 12:45 – at Embarrass River
771 – Illinois – Indiana State line middle of Wabash River

1:00
Crossed White River just west of Washington. Beautiful hilly country. Lunch at Washington –(not too good)-
B drove after lunch for about an hour.

Light rain good part of the day.

About twilight attracted by a huge round barn – stopped to imagine about it. Two old farmers who volunteered to show us the barn – they were about to go on and do their milking. The whole upper part open – vast – with poles + supports at the center like a circus tent – Their uncle had built it – (really for a whim – had difficulty in getting a carpenter to undertake the task) – Later braces had to be put in with wires etc., and now it was apparent that more had to be done to prevent a collapse – the “ceiling” beams were all twisted out of alignment in a “whorled” fashion.
Descending stairs below, where all the stalls were – sleeping chickens, cows, pigs, etc. –

942.5 mi. Ohio State Line – 6:10. We had hoped to see a place where the states were visible simultaneously, but it was too dark (Aurora, Ind).

I felt city driving would be too confusing after night, and so we decided to take 50 – Bypass. Since then we have agreed that it probably would have better to go right through the city. It would have been shorter, and no doubt there would have been better class cabins.  

Stopped at a small village – got for gas. Then on to the next village - got lunch, in a musky dimly-lighted little lunch room. – Sandwiches + coffee. Television set under the bar showing a Mickey Mouse cartoon with raucous sound effects.

Presently we came to a detour which proved to be a long one over dark deserted country. We tried to keep our bearings by a vague glow in the sky, which we assumed to be from the lights of Cincinnati, but once we had to imagine our directions to be somewhere headed east.

Finally, after a seemingly endless time, we came back to regular route 50. Again we had to imagine which way was “east” –

We now began to look for cabins and had begun to despair when we came upon a sign “Stone-hill Cabins” in a valley. Tired to death we were not in a mood to quibble about the quality if it were reasonably good. We selected the first cabin, paid up and moved in. 003.4 miles.

It was apparent at once that it was none too good; but the fat Italian woman who checked us in, in an untidy “office” should have warned us. First of all I killed a large spider on the wall. Then from the cracks and crevices issued strange leech-like creatures that “wobbled” as they went. We felt squeamish, but closed all our luggage tight + set up on chairs + tables. (As we learned the next day, we would have had to go on 40 miles yet to the next cabin, almost impossible tired as we were.)

Charles E. Burchfield, Journals, October 21, 1948