Day 24: looking back in time

Today was a fun day. For starters, the first place to see was just 4 miles down the road - Footprint Rock - making for a great beginning to the day. It's a super tiny rock, but look at it - there's a natural imprint of what appears to be a foot. So, just like I was told, I took my shoe off, put my foot in, closed my eyes... and when I opened them, I was supposed to see into the past.

And it worked! Just like that I saw grey, overcast skies, with a light drizzle! It was as if I was back in Seattle :) Okay, so maybe the rock didn't make that happen (it was the same before I put my foot in the rock) but so what. I'll believe what I want. I also saw a crop duster while I was out there (who knows what I was breathing) and that is like going back in time, too. I can't imagine it's cost effective to spray that way anymore given the price of fuel.

A perfect fit!

And then it was on to a tribute to corn. In Dublin, OH, there's a field of corn cob scupltures. I wasn't the only one out at 9 in the morning; there was a couple and their young son pretending to eat the corn :) This field is supposed to be a double-cross hybrid called Corn Belt Dent Corn. But because of that, there's a joke that goes along with the art - that the sculptures are just like the real dent corn: inedible and paid for with tax dollars! (of course, the Bastyr students reading this get the joke - dent corn isn't intended for eating; it tastes like garbage and is basically used for making other stuff, like High Fructose Corn Syrup, and for animal feed; and the tax dollar part is because of all the subsidies the government pays to grow the bad tasting corn.)




From there, I headed into Columbus, OH. I missed my first destination - an animatronic smokey the bear. It was inside of the fairgrounds and I didn't see an entrance that was open :(

Oh well, on to the next stop: the world's largest gavel. This was actually in a nice courtyard overlooking a river. It would be a perfect place to eat lunch if you work downtown.


But up next was quite possibly the best laugh of the day - unintentional (F)art. Well, actually part of it is intentional: the a-r-t part. But if you stand in the right spot outside of the Columbus Art Museum, you can turn their large scupture that spells art into fart.

Yes, you would have thought I was 15 years old the way I giggled at this. (too bad I couldn't get that telephone pole out of the way)



Columbus also had the world's largest graduation cap at Franklin University. Compare to the car below.

But the most impressive part of the day is just how much people love hand woven baskets. I went out to the Longaberger building, which is shaped like a giant basket. Very impressive, but too bad it limits the number of windows.

But it doesn't end there. I also went out to their "Homestead" which is eerily similar to Main St at Disneyland. I never knew baskets were such a big deal. I went there to get a picture of the world's largest apple basket. But there were people all over learning about and trying to make their own baskets (and of course, buying tons of them). Just the fact that I don't get their excitement makes me think I'm missing out.

Into Akron, I found the birthplace of Alcoholics Anonymous. I wanted to see if I could get a souvenier beer mug. No such luck :)

It was at this point that I began getting lost. You see I had only programmed my GPS up until the AA house. So I stopped at a rest stop and put in more addresses, but since I didn't really know what I was doing, I got totally lost (and it didn't help that my GPS kept changing the route on me).

Anyway, I had hoped to find a sign that advertised "Atomic Playground: Kids ride the big one" but I didn't find it :( Maybe if I'd had a passenger to look rather than me trying to look and drive, I would have found it. But even with several passes around the block where I thought it lived, I didn't see it.

But I did see another sculpture by the same artist: This is called "The Politician - A Toy" Basically it mocks politicians (note the shovel for BS :)

I also found the polka hall of fame. And I wasn't the only person goofy enough to stop by just to take a picture of the sign. I ran into 3 girls who were doing the same :)

And then, I made it to Austinburg, OH, which is where I'm staying the night. I don't know where I'll go tomorrow (that's next on the list). But today was the best driving day yet. I probably did 10 hours and I don't really feel tired - why? My theory is that the overcast skies saved me from squinting with my sun-sensitive Seattle eyes. Plus, I also was good and pre-made my PBJ sandwiches in the morning so I could eat whenever I wanted. Worked great.

And finally, some thoughts:

• Why are Ohio town all corporations? And why waste signs that say "Corp begin" and "Corp Limit" when they're only 1/2 mile apart?
• And I think that Ohio must have the most literate drivers or else road sign designers must get paid by the word. I swear they have the most signs ever! So many in fact that I think they're starting to develop a plot line (I haven't got to the end yet, but I'm hoping that the shy right turn lane will meet a nice stop light who will let cars turn right on red. Maybe if he gets newly repaved, the stoplights will notice him more :)
• Speaking of signs, they have a roadsign that says:

Speeding
---------
Fines Doubled
---------
Cause Injury
or Death
---------
Fine/Jail

Now, I'm no sign designer, but it seems they have a lot of extra breaks where they're not needed. As I read that, I should look for speeding ahead and for some unrelated reason, fines are doubled. They're also instructing me to cause injury and death; seems odd, but at least they know that everything is fine in the local jails. Maybe I'm just being picky but as anyone who's read/watched the Unfortunate Events books (come on, you know Lemony Snicket) "Grammer is the most important thing in the world."

• It seems Ohioans post the 10 commandments everywhere (roadsigns, billboards, etc.) I wonder if they ever tailor it for different audiences (I made up my own redneck commandments and ghetto commandments; there has got to be a standup comedian who has done such a routine before - it's just begging to be done.)
• It snuck up on me, but I noticed that hills are back. No more flat flat flat countryside. Yay! :)