As reported earlier, 71-year-old Dr. Bernard “Buddy” Rosenbaum is driving the Lincoln Highway coast-to-coast with long-time cycling friend, 72-year-old Bob Chase. They started in San Francisco June 13 and will end in New York City’s Times Square on July 14. The pair is riding three-wheeled Piaggio MP3 scooters, getting some 55 miles per gallon.
Read more about the trip at their blog www.noagelimitpiaggio.us/. There are tons of pictures, virtual Google maps, and info on restaurants and roadside stops. The pair are about to enter Wyoming.
Historian, trails authority, and former LHA president Randy Wagner reports that the State of Wyoming will install a new historic site sign commemorating Henry B. Joy and the Lincoln Highway today, Monday, June 16. Those headed to the LHA conference in Evanston, Wyoming, from the east can look for it just south of the I-80 Continental Divide Exit (184) about 30 miles west of Rawlins, at the original site of the Joy Monument.
Above: The Henry B. Joy monument at its current location, I-80 exit 323.
Joy, one of the leading players in the original LHA, had camped at this site in 1915 and the stunning sunset led him to declare his desire to be buried here. He was not, but a monument was erected in 1939 that included 8 of the 1928 concrete markers. The site is very isolated but vandals nonetheless took a toll until the stone tablet and 4 of the posts were relocated to the Summit Rest Area (I-80 exit 323) east of Laramie in 2001 (as seen above).
Folks have been asking how the Rick, Bob, and Glenn — filming a Lincoln Highway program for PBS — are faring after their tornado troubles. Rick called to say they’re having a bit of trouble posting to their blog, understandable in the midst of so much weather-related damage. They’re back on the road this morning, heading to Wyoming, but first were about to check out Fort Cody Trading Post, one of the Lincoln Highway’s coolest roadside attractions. Make sure you visit next time you’re in North Platte, Nebraska.
Here’s a brief videoblog they were able to post from Omaha yesterday:
UPDATE 1 PM EDT: They’re back online and updating their blog. A couple days later, here were Bob and Glenn at Green River, Wyoming:
A road trip means adventure. On the first trip I took to photograph for my Greetings from the Lincoln Highway book, my trusty camera broke – and this was a PHOTO trip. All I could afford then was a cheap replacement, but I got my photos – along with some great adventures. So it goes for Rick Sebak and his PBS crew as they head out for a second round of filming for A Ride Along the Lincoln Highway, premiering nationally October 29 at 8 pm. Follow his well-written adventures HERE. Click below for a videoblog recap of their first two days.
FIrst day out they ran into fierce storms and tornado warnings at Van Wert, Ohio. Next morning, his laptop died – the thing he’ll depend on for 3 weeks to store his photos, communicate to the world, and write his blog. Like on my camera adventure, where do you get high-priced electronic equipment in rural America? (In this case, a bit tougher than normal since he’s on a Mac – as am I.)
Rick does get a new Mac and heads to Iowa where they hit tornadoes again. And the tornadoes hit them too, or at least hail does, breaking a window in the van filled with their video equipment.
Reminder to us all for the next road trip – bring flashlights. Maybe plastic sheets for emergencies too. And here’s wishing them sunny skies for the rest of their trip!
The 3rd Annual Lincoln Highway Arts Festival in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, is set for September 27. Some 40 artists will diplay their work, while docents lead tours of the Lincoln Highway and three National Historic Districts. The Lincoln Highway Arts Festival is sponsored by the Mount Vernon Area Arts Council. Visit http://www.visitmvl.com for more information. And tell them what a great logo they have!
In anticipation of the 36th annual RAGBRAI®, the “Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa,” Des Moines Register Editorial Cartoonist (and race host) Brian Duffy has been checking out the route the past week. The yearly week-long bicycle ride through Iowa is sponsored by The Des Moines Register; the 2008 route will follow much of the Lincoln Highway from July 20-26. RAGBRAI® is the longest, largest, and oldest touring bicycle ride in the world. Click HERE to see a list of Duffy’s daily posts. For a map you can zoom in on, plus photos and videos, visit Duffy’s blog (screen shot below):
Although Iowa seems flat to outsiders, this year’s day 2 alone has more than 5,000 feet of climb in its 80-mile length. The end of that day will bring riders their first views of Lincoln Highway and Burma Shave signs just west of Jefferson.
RAGBRAI was started in 1973 as a 6-day ride (not a race) across Iowa by two Register columnists; it’s still planned and coordinated by the newspaper. This year will launch from Missouri Valley but not pick up the LH till Jefferson, hit it from Ogden through Boone, again some of it in Ames, Nevada, Colo, and State Center, cross it at points in Le Grand and Tama, then pick it up in Chelsea through Belle Plaine, meet it through Lisbon/Mt. Vernon, and finally cross it at Mechanicsville. The bike route will be nearby or parallel the LH for much of the time, though not always along it.
I met Rick Sebak about 1990 as he was preparing to produce a show about roadside attractions in Pennsylvania. We traveled the Lincoln Highway together, and now almost two decades later (seems like two years!) he’s traveling the Lincoln Highway coast-to-coast for an hour-long show to debut later this summer. We’ve also worked together on programs about diners, Isaly’s, and one called Stuff That’s Gone, but we still talk most about the Lincoln Highway and the places we saw back then that are now gone, most notably the Ship Hotel.
Above: Jarrett, Rick, and Bob at the Western Terminus of the LH.
Last fall Rick and cameraman Bob Lubomski made it to the Pacific and back with Jarrett Buba. This time Rick and Bob are joined in the QED van by sound-and-video man Glenn Syska, who is also helping post their daily blog. They’re leaving early today with a plan of getting as far west ASAP. Of course, that was the plan last time! There’s never enough time or daylight to fit in all the cool places along the way….
The blog for his last long LH trip ended September 1 at San Francisco. Rick just updated it to include the days heading back east — scroll down and you’ll find another entry for that day called No Reservations. Start there and remember the days get more recent as you go up (so the top is the most recent, when they had reached Nebraska). Posts from the trip starting today should start arriving tonight or tomorrow — they have some great stops planned.
Also check out his Video Postcards link, which offer a great daily look at sites along the way.
BTW, note that the web address has changed — it can now be found at http://www.wqed.org/tv/sebak/lincoln_hwy/blog/. So has the name — no longer just Lincoln Highway Postcards, it now carries the name of the show, A Ride Along The Lincoln Highway. You can see when the blog updates by watching the RSS feed on the page in the column to the right.
It was 75 years ago today that the first drive-in theater opened. Celebrate these icons of car culture and the open road with a visit this week. What’s playing? Indiana Jones, Kung Fu Panda, The Strangers, Iron Man, Narnia–Prince Caspian, Baby Mama, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Made of Honor, and What Happens in Vegas are just some of the flicks on local outdoor screens. Clck the drive-in page to the right to see a list of operating “ozoners” along the Lincoln Highway.
The Lewisboro [Connecticut] Ledgerreports that Buddy Rosenbaum will leave San Francisco next Friday and follow the Lincoln Highway to Times Square. It’s been done before, but not by a 71-year-old. Rosenbaum approached Piaggio, maker of the popular Vespa, in the hope of altering stereotypes about aging and activity levels. The company responded by offering their new innovative all-terrain bike, the MD3-500, with two wheels in front and one in back. Rosenbaum has biked around the world with his wife, but he will be accompanied on this trip by his friend, Bob Chase of California. They leave June 13 and hope to arrive in NYC on July 14. He had planned to camp along the Lincoln Highway, but has decided to use hotels, in part so they can produce a daily blog with photos. Click the screen shot below for the full story:
Next summer, the Military Vehicle Preservation Association will recreate the 1919 Transcontinental Motor Convoy, a grueling trip perhaps best known for including young Dwight Eisenhower. The Lincoln Highway Association is working with the group, and one of the stops will be the 2009 LHA conference in South Bend, Indiana—arriving on Thursday, June 18, and joining an LHA parade on Friday.
More than 60 participants hope to drive some of the route, many of them all the way coast-to-coast Departure from Washington DC is Saturday, June 13, with arrival in San Francisco on Saturday, July 4. Here’s a description from the site:
In 1919, the US Army’s Military Transportation Corps (MTC) undertook a transcontinental Convoy to demonstrate the need for a mechanized Army. This “hooves to wheels” plan to modernize America’s fighting force needed an attention-getting event to energize Congress and the citizenry, and parading the Army’s military might from coast-to-coast along the new Lincoln Highway was a great way to get demonstrate new vehicles. As part of its mission to honor our country’s military vehicle history, the MVPA has decided to recreate the famous 1919 convoy in 2009 as a 90th Anniversary celebration of the achievement and in conjunction with the nation’s President Lincoln Bicentennial celebration.
Click HERE for a PDF of the MVPA’s log of the route and overnight stops.
Click the map above for a full-size view of the Lincoln Highway.
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