On September 9, 2013 I had the opportunity to accompany my daughter and three grand kids on a an adventure across the midwest from Kentucky to Omaha, Nebraska. She wanted to visit her close friend there and needed a “tour planner and driver.” I was free and able to make the journey. All totaled, we spent 5 days on the road visiting spots in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri. This post covers our adventures on Day 1 as we made our way to Walcott, Iowa, home of the World’s Largest Truck Stop.
View Larger Map – Lexington, KY to Walcott, IA
We left plenty early so that we could hit Indianapolis by early morning with the intent to surprise the three grand kids with a “Dinosaur Sighting”. As we arrived in downtown Indy near the Lucas Field, I saw my first “Football” Wall Art. There was an entire wall of a building dedicated to the Indianapolis Colts. Here are a few shots:
A few blocks later we arrived at the Indianapolis Children’s Museum. Unfortunately, it was the first Monday after Labor Day, so the museum was closed. But, our main concern was seeing the amazing dinosaurs busting out of the building. Needless to say, the kids were thrilled!!
After looking at the dinosaurs, we were walking past the building and peeking in. The kids got all excited as there was a GIANT Transformer in the lobby. To our total delight, one of the staff members came to the door and invited us in to see the Autobot “Bumblebee.” This huge model was actually a prop from the original 2007 Transformers movie.
The outside of the museum also has a couple of nice bronze sculptures of kids at play and a nice “Walk through History” of some of the unique buildings of the world…
This first part of our trip was a real splash for the kids and got us on the fast lane for the remainder of the day. From Indy we headed west to Danville, Illinois. Danville has put in a great deal of effort to color up the town with beautiful murals and the Lindley Signpost Forest.
Danville, Illinois is a town of a bit over 33,000 people. It is literally on the border of Indiana. The town has a colorful history and was the home to famous actors Dick Van Dyke and Gene Hackman. The Baseball Hall of Famer Robin Yount was also born in Danville.
Today the charming town features antique shops and other shopping, a number of historical museums and a smattering of colorful Wall Murals created by Walldogs. In August of 2010, one hundred and sixty-two Walldog artists traveled to Danville from all over the world for a four day meet (see a complete Gallery here). During that span, they forever changed and enhanced the city with sixteen murals in a 7 block area.
And perhaps the best one of all of them….
Along with the numerous murals in town, Danville also set a park aside downtown to create the Lindley Sign Post Forest. This was created in honor of Danville resident Carl Lindley. He was a soldier who became homesick while working on the Alaska Highway in 1942. While there, Lindley erected a sign at Watson Lake in the Yukon showing how far it was to his hometown of Danville — 2835 miles. Since that time more than 40,000 signs have been added to it at Watson Lake. The Danville version of the Sign Post Forest was originally built in 2010 along with the painting of the Walldog murals.
And following are a few more sign posts….
And a few more scenes from Danville….
More on Danville USA Sculpture here
We let the kids play at the AMBUCS Playground for Everyone, which has been specifically designed to accommodate not only children, but also handicapped individuals and adults. It was actually quite unique.
From Danville, it was westward to Champaign, Illinois. Obviously, with the kids, I had hoped to get them to the Curtis Orchard Pumpkin Farm to see the Wizard of Oz themed things and for them to “follow the yellow brick road”. Unfortunately, only the youngest, little Lyla, was awake.
From Champaign we continued northwest on I-74 through the windfarms near Bloomington and onward into Morton, Illinois, the Pumpkin Capital of the World and home of the Libby’s Pumpkin Canning Plant.
From Morton it was up I-74 into East Peoria. This was a very hot day (around 100 degrees) and the kids needed some cooling off. Where better than to go to the M & M’s Twistee Treat? This is one of those iconic Ice Cream/Hot Dog places where going there is as much fun as eating the ice cream.
Though built in the 1980s, there are flashbacks to the 1960s in here and also a collection of M & M stuff….
Just down the street from the Twistee Treat is Carl’s Bakery, home of the giant Rooster with a Top Hat.
From Peoria is was north to Le Claire, Iowa. My daughter Marissa was keen on visiting Antique Archeaology, home of the American Pickers TV Show. So, we zoomed on up the freeway.
We arrived in LeClaire around 5 PM knowing that Antique Archaeology closed at 6 PM. Marissa was very excited to visit. But, lo and behold, on this, my third visit and her first, we saw the following sign when we got there….
That did not stop us from taking a few shots from the outside. We also got a chance to meet Mike Wolfe’s brother Rob, who was on hand for the filming that day. Danielle Colby was nowhere to be found, likely because she is running her clothing shop in Chicago. Last year I did get a chance to visit her as well (and I have included that photo for fun).
And the best picture of all….
Of course, LeClaire is not only known for American Pickers. It is also the birthplace of William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody in April 1846. The family left LeClaire in 1853 to move to Leavenworth, Kansas. Eventually, Buffalo Bill made his way west. Cody, Wyoming is named after him and has a large museum (which I visited earlier this year). We dropped by the Buffalo Bill Museum in LeClaire for a couple of shots to round off my visit to Buffalo Bill Cody Museums in two locations!
After our brief visit to LeClaire, we were hot, tired and ready to settle down, so we headed straight to our motel in Walcott, IA, next door to the Iowa 80 Truck Stop – the World’s Largest Truck Stop.
