Indiana Libraries, Bricks, and 8,540 miles later:

Tuesday, July 22 to Wednesday, July 30:
Indiana Libraries, Bricks, and 8,540 miles later:

I haven’t been able to post to the Blog since Monday, July 21. But, at 8,540 miles total since June 4 when I left Clinton, TN, I arrived back at my house in Clinton on Wednesday, July 30. I arrived two hours before a Session meeting at my church on Wednesday evening. I felt responsible to be at this Session meeting, since I was not present at the May and June meetings. But, admittedly, I was cutting it close.

So, to backtrack, when I arrived in northwest Indiana on U.S. 52, I visited some of the libraries that I worked with when I was an ALSA library network director from 1976 to 1986. The Raub, Otterbein, West Lafayette Public Libraries, as well as the IVYTech Community College/branch of the Tippecanoe County Public Library have new buildings. Outside of Raub and Earl Park, Indiana I found more wind turbines in the middle of Indiana cornfields. I was able to visit with two library directors who I worked with as an ALSA Director. I also was able to visit the retired library director of the West Lafayette Public Library.

Getting to Indianapolis for the NASCAR Brickyard 400 weekend meant there was not much time to get on the Internet, update a Bog, or even do much email. Friday and Saturday were spent at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway watching practice and qualifications. My brother, Bucky, went with me on Saturday. We had a good time sitting up in the race day expensive seats up in the Paddock Penthouse.

Now, for those of you who know what took place on Sunday, my opinion is Goodyear and NASCAR made a mistake by not doing a tire test using the so called “Car of Tomorrow” long before the weekend of July 27. For those who do not know, let us just say, the Brickyard 400 was a series of sprint races, connected by yellow flag laps. It was not a normal race. Jimmy Johnson won; not our first choice. We were hoping Carl Edwards, the second place finisher, would have beat Jimmy to the flag at the end of the final “sprint car” race of the last 7 laps.

On Tuesday, I left my brother’s house, went to the Motor Speedway to re-order Brickyard 400 tickets for next year, tried to go find a friend at home, and then hit the downtown central branch of the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library. I “got into” the older maps that the library has and, before I knew it, the library was getting ready to close at 9 p.m. So, I left and drove on U.S. 52 as far as I could in Indiana. U.S. 52 goes off toward south east Ohio along the Ohio River when it reaches Cincinnati. I drove only to the Flying J Travel Plaza, just south of Cincinnati. On Tuesday, I took my time driving some of U.S. 25, instead of I-75, which caused me to arrive back in Clinton at 4:35 p.m.

Arriving home, I found that I had lost the remainder of the maple tree in my backyard. The tree had been previously damaged in previous storm. I also discovered that the new building for the Food City Grocery Store right behind my backyard has a good start. I was presently surprised that Clinton also has a new Radio Shack Store. A Weigels Milk Store being completed at the Interstate; and the new Walmart (which opened May 21st) is going strong.

On my next blog post, and probably the final one of this Blog, I will be bullet listing the highlights of sites and places I saw. This journey has been one wonderful way to spend part of the summer.