Day One May 14 Seville, Ohio to Ottawa, Illinois

Teare and I were up early and excited to begin our trip.  We were loaded and on our way by 8:00 AM.  Our flight plan took us north on I -71 and west on 80 and we were on our way!  It was raining off and on and we drove straight into a headwind for most of the day.  We loaded our first audio book into the CD player:  Total Control by David Baldacci.  It was decided weeks ago that we were going to walk at least 2 miles in every state that we drove through.  Betsy had done something similar when she ran a mile in every state when she drove out to California.  Our first stop was MONTPELIER, Ohio, just south of I-80.  We drove into town and found the entire stretch of Main Street was under repair.  Our two mile walk went from Main Street to the Williams County Fairgrounds and around the outside of the horse track.  We encountered a beautiful covered bridge on the fairgrounds and took this to be a good omen for the trip.  (We were married on a covered bridge)  Our final stop in Montpelier was at Rowes Restaruant where we had lunch.  Interesting fact:  Montpelier, founded in 1835,  was home to Paul Siple, Antactic explorer.   Here is a photo of Main Street under construction.

From Montpelier, we drove straight West and exited at the signs for INDIANA DUNES NATIONAL LAKESHORE, between Michigan City and Gary, Indiana.  Interesting fact:  When the steel mills in the area wanted to build on the lakeshore, a Senator from Indiana struck a deal with the mills that they could build there if they funded the improvements and establishment of the Indiana Dunes Recreation Area.  Pictured below is the walkway over one of the dunes affording great views of Lake Michigan and Chicago across the lake.  We continued on the trail and ended up at Lake Michigan.  

After our hike on the dunes, we continued west on I-80 to our final destination of OTTAWA, Illinois.  We checked in to our hotel and had dinner at the Sunfield Restaurant.  After dinner, we drove around Ottawa and found it to be a great town.  It is situated at the convergence of two scenic rivers (Fox and Illinois), and it’s skyline is dominated by the many church spires in the downtown area.  We also discovered beautiful estates on the South Bank of the river.  Interesting Fact:  Ottawa was the site of the first famous senatorial debate between Douglas and Lincoln on August 21, 1858..  The Lincoln-Douglas debates were a series of formal political showdowns between the challenger, Abraham Lincoln, and the incumbent, Stephen A. Douglas, in a campaign for one of Illinois' two United States Senate seats. Although Lincoln lost the election, these debates launched him into national prominence.  Statues of both men stand in public square to commemorate the event.

Day one was a lot of fun and we are just getting started…     See you in Iowa!    

Bill & Teare