Road Trip - Indiana 07-20-14

I am on the road again, but not by much.  I dawdled around this morning, sort of dragging my feet and recovering from the three days of festivities.  It is much warmer than it has been since I have been in Indiana, at one point my car thermometer read 89F.  A bit humid, but not bad.  When I finally got going I meandered around deciding which way to go, taking pictures, stopping to buy some bottled water, talking to a California friend on my cell phone.  The roadway was a two lane through farming countryside, so I pulled off and parked to talk as I think it is dangerous to be distracted when a tractor might pull out from a side road at any moment.  Just about when we were through talking my phone died and it was already plugged into the lighter socket.  Guess the charger was bad.  Soon after I came across a Walmart, where I stopped and bought a new charger.  Can't be without a cell phone whilst traveling - not in this day and age.   I checked the map and decided it was time to stop and I am still in Indiana!  I drove fewer than 100 miles today, but it was enough.  I have been working on the Surfside QGuild newsletter, which I hope to have completed by the time I get home.  Whenever that might be.  Tomorrow I will head for Chicago, but take the circle route  that avoids the downtown area and perhaps stay in Wisconsin tomorrow night.

One of the quilts on display in Marion is "Sap Buckets" (at lower right) which is part of TCQC, but I have not shown it on my blog.  Here is a picture of it hanging at the Marion Library along with "A Rash of Flamingoes" (also part of TCQC) and "Two Bridges" which I think is still available for sale on Ruth's website.  And the photo of "Sap Buckets" on the website is much better.  See it at: http://www.ruthbmcdowell.com/clients/rbm/ShowQuilt.cfm?Quilt=sapbuckets

 

I've seen the five-pointed stars on buildings on previous trips, but couldn't remember what their purpose is.  Apparently they are strictly decorative, although some think the stars mean prosperity and good luck.   Check out:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnstar   Here are some examples I saw today: 

 

An organized project to place quilt blocks on barns and other buildings covers quite a bit of the mid-west.  Some areas provide a driving map of the quilt blocks in a certain county/counties. 

This one is at a crossroads near Wabash, IN., on state highway 15.

 

 As  you can tell in the top picture the blocks are quite large.  You can Google Barn Quilt Blocks or check this Wikipedia site:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quilt_Trail

I stopped at CVS in Wabash, it seems to be in slightly better shape than Marion, but it is a much smaller town.  I didn't investigate, but wonder why a town out in the boonies would be the first to be lighted with electricity.

Across the street is the courthouse, so typical of those found throughout the Midwest.

I am staying tonight near Logansport, IN.  Their main street is hung with beautiful pots of the same colored petunias - except when a few "foreigners" accidentally appear.

This metal sculpture is in the "art scene" area of Logansport.  It is very tall - compare it to the young woman and her vehicle in the background.

 

It is only 10pm Eastern Time, but I am going to bed and hope to sleep all night.

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