Lincoln Highway Part I
Day 1, June 16, 2023
Finally, with much preparation, anticipation and a little trepidation we are on our way for our biggest adventure yet.
For the last year Steve has been dreaming of driving the Lincoln Highway. It goes from New York City, NY to San Francisco, CA. Being we are in Minnesota we had a choice to go either East or West first. We decided we’d go West, but I insisted we come home for a month before going East and that’s if all goes well . Carroll, IA is where we pick up the Lincoln Highway to go west.
Steve joined the Lincoln Highway Association and has been studying maps and books to learn everything he could about this journey. His goal is to get a certificate to prove he drove it. He even got a book called “The Complete Official Road Guide of the Lincoln Highway”, printed in 1924! It’s been a fun read. It’s suggested for breakfast we bring along for food, a slab of bacon, 1 can each of peaches and pineapple, two cans of baked beans, a dozen eggs, bread and many more items. We decided McDonald’s sounded like a better choice!
We had a later start today because of a doctor’s appointment I had made months ago. Steve was anxiously awaiting for me to get home. By 10:30 we were heading down the road. The weather was nice if not a little cool, but it soon warmed up and by the time we hit Iowa it was in the 80’s.
Our first stop was at St. Peter, MN for gas. Gas is much cheaper the farther south you go. We paid $3.33 a gallon and then 50 miles down the road it was $3.19, compared to the $3.59 at home.
We were moving along at a nice clip when Steve missed a turn in Madelia, MN due to road construction. Everyone who knows Steve knows he can’t drive his Model A without making U-turns. I’m sure this will be the first of many for us.
My dad was born in Emmetsburg, IA and as we were driving through I spotted an A&W and made Steve stop. A&W’s always bring back good memories of the frothy root beer in an icy mug. Instead of the icy mug we were handed paper cups with a straw. A little disappointing, but it still tasted good and what better place for a photo op.
After a few pics I saw the A&W bear across the parking lot. I wanted my picture with it, so Steve drove over and the car killed. Try as he might, he couldn’t get It going….until he remembered he had shut off the gas and forgot to turn it back on! What a relief, and we were back on the road.
As we turned south on highway 60 we noticed the haze from the Canadian fires and soon we could smell the smoke, too. We didn’t have much of a choice but to roll up the windows and try not to breathe in that air. Of course, in an A that’s pretty much impossible and our eyes began to burn before the air got better.
Around 5pm we finally rolled into Carroll, IA and soon spotted all the Lincoln Highway markers. We drove to the Lincoln Highway Heritage Center where a larger and nicer sign was posted. It was a little tricky getting a good picture of Steve in his car as it was on the corner of the busy main thoroughfare, but I did it! This will be his first of many pictures to prove he drove on this highway.
We drove another 20 some miles to Dennison, IA where we ate at a “greasy spoon” restaurant called the Family Table, and then to the Dennison Inn to stay the night.
Tomorrow we’ll be driving through NE. Not the most exciting state to drive through and knowing me, I’ll probably sleep through most of it.
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