It's only winter until you get to Kentucky

The weather was 45° F and windy when we left Michigan yesterday. By the time we got to Cincinnati it was 77° F. So, there you have it. It's only winter until you get to Kentucky.

Cincinnati is the first big challenge driving south. The traffic can be terrible and there are a lot of lane changes as you try to stay on I-75 and not end up somewhere in downtown Cincinnati. Traffic was light and we cruised right through.

The next one was Atlanta. We sailed through Atlanta last night around 11:30pm. There was a lot of traffic, but it moved along. The lights of Atlanta are pretty at night.

Today I'm in shorts. The weather is sunny and in the 80's as we approach the Florida border. I've never seen so many billboards along a highway. The Florida vacation billboards start more than 100 miles from the border.

Spring Flowers

My garden in Michigan is just starting to wake up. This is the first spring that the rock garden daffodils and irises actually bloomed together. There are also a few crosuses here and there. It is the last time I'll see them.

Telegraph Road

A colorful tree on Telegraph Road.

Telegraph Road (US24) runs parallel to Dixie Highway up in our neck of the woods. Further south in Toledo, Telegraph Road ends where it meets Dixie Highway at Laskey Road. US24 continues on as Detroit Avenue until it dead ends into River Road in Maumee, Ohio. If you follow the twisty turny path to cross the bridge from Maumee to Perrysburg, you can pick up another road called Dixie Highway that is US25. Where US25 goes from there is hard to follow. According the U.S. Highways historical web site it goes all the way to Brunswick, Georgia.

Why all this fascination with a physical description of a mythical road? It's like wondering where names come from, or local dialects, religious rituals, architecture and other aspects of a culture. It's so intanglible, because it's always changing. You want to be able to put your hands around it and say, "Aha, there it is!" It's hard to imagine that before the 1920's these roads didn't even exist. Since then, American culture has become deeply entrenched with things that have to do with cars. The automobile and the open road are symbols of freedom and that is what elevates them to the status of myth or legend. People write songs and tell stories about such things.

Where is the Dixie Highway?

A road sign along M-125 (S. Dixie Hwy.) in Michigan.

I've been searching for roads named Dixie Highway on map web sites. Tonight I took a virtual trip from North to South down the Dixie Highway. I think that all that remains of the Dixie Highway is on local road signs. There were so many roads called Dixie Highway at one time or another that it can get confusing. Some of them run parallel. Maybe one road is older than the other and the new road is adopted as the latest Dixie Highway. There are also roads called "Old Dixie Highway." Most of them run nearly parallel to Interstate 75.

American Flag on S. Dixie Hwy.

This house was painted with a mural of the American flag shortly after 9-11-01. It is on S. Dixie Highway in Monroe County, Michigan.

Supermen

Spiderman
Superman
Bonderman

Go Tigers!

The Snowbirds

This photo is the backyard of our retired friends The Snowbirds' house on Lake Erie. I'm not sure, but I think they may consider this the frontyard. The Snowbirds are getting ready to head south for the winter. They come to Michigan for the summer and spend winter in Florida.

Life on the Dixie Highway

Life is a highway. This blog shares my journey. I've spent a lot of time traveling along different routes along the Dixie Highway, which is a series of interconnected roads connecting Florida to the Midwest.

We took this photo on a trip to northern Michigan via I-75. Interstate 75 runs from Miami, Florida all the way up to Sault St. Marie, Michigan. The shores of Lake Superior (called Gitche Gumee by the Indians) are the land of Hiawatha.

Here are some of the places we visited:

• Indian River
• Cross in the Woods
• Legs Inn in Cross Village
• Tahquanamon Falls in Paradise, Michigan
• Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point
• The Soo Locks in Sault St. Marie