Home…and then Finally We're Off on a Long Road Trip!

The time had come!  Finally we were set to start out on a long 2-week road trip, visiting family and exploring the back roads of the Mid-Western USA. 

We had a house sitter for the entire time we were gone.  Our new neighbor, Bob, stayed at the house while he organized what needed to be done for their move into the home they’d just purchased nearby.  Laurie was happy as now she didn’t have to worry about our bird feeders and bird baths being empty.  In addition, her plants would survive our absence due to their temporary caretaker…

These are our colorful planters by the front door/front porch.  They are a reoccurring splash of color with the begonias being the centerpiece… As they sit in the afternoon sun, Laurie had been most worried about their fate.  Bob took those worries away…

The begonias are very popular with the local bee population as well.  They are visited every day by a number of bees…as they keep up with these steadily blooming blossoms!

The first leg of our trip took us through middle Tennessee, western Kentucky and central Illinois to our planned overnight stop in Jacksonville Illinois.  Our first goal on this first leg of our trip was to visit our son and his family in Omaha Nebraska…too long for us to drive in one day.

Our route took us through Pana Illinois where I stopped to take this photo of the old and abandoned passenger/freight combination railway depot.  The structure hadn’t changed much in the five years since I last photographed it.  Built in 1927, it was used by both the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroads.

 

At one point in its history, Pana sat at the junction of 4 different railroads.  The town had a machine shop, its own power plant, a 16-stall roundhouse and turntable and much more.  As you can see from the above photo, there was a lot of railroad action in the early days.  In 1920, the town had a population of over 6,100.  Today, Pana’s residents number about 5,400.

Moving on from Pana we slid across Illinois on IL Hwy 104 avoiding the Interstate Highways and staying south of Springfield.  We arrived in Jacksonville Illinois and, after checking into our hotel, we headed for Muggsy’s Fine Dining for dinner.

That didn’t work out too well!  Muggsy’s had been closed for several months during the Covid-19 pandemic and by the first of April of this year it was being refurbished and was preparing for reopening.  Unfortunately, on April 14^th, a fire broke out and damaged much of the back of the property, including the kitchen.  So…where would we go for dinner after a long day on the road?

There were lots of cars in the parking lot across from Muggsy’s in downtown Jacksonville so we figured that popular alternate dining opportunities were close by.  We were correct.  We followed others across the parking lot to Leo’s Pizza.  Rather than wandering around, we decided that this was the place for us! 

The interior of Leo’s Pizza features one side that would fit Guy Fieri’s positive definition of a dive while the other side looks like an old time Italian Restaurant.  Other than some side dishes and appetizers, at Leo’s it is all about pizza.  They were doing a lot of pick up orders while we were there.

We ordered our usual pizza, thin crust with pepperoni and Italian sausage.  It was very good and our server was pleasant and helpful.  We think that she was part of the family that own’s Leo’s and she did comment about how hard it is to find servers and other workers.

Our meal would have been more pleasant if it wasn’t for a mother at a nearby table.  Her constant loud yacking and failure to control her children actually caused one family to move further away from them.  It was as though she wanted to be the center of attention in the room…

Leo’s Pizza is located at 230 South Main Street in Jacksonville Illinois.  They offer stuffed pizza, pan pizza and thin crust pizza.  Phone: 217-243-3413.  Leo’s is on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Pizza-Place/Leos-Pizza-116604021697465/.

The next day, my goal for a late lunch was in Maryville Missouri.  However, along the way…and definitely around Maryville…we spotted many giant wind turbines that were providing electrical energy to America’s power grid.  I can count 10 of them in this photo.  In 2020, the USA produced 8.42% of all electric energy through these ‘windfarms’.  Only the European Union and China produce more electrical energy via wind farms than the USA does.

Note: 50% of the energy used in the state of Iowa is derived from wind turbines…

We think that this visual pollution is here to stay but the current cost of this power source is low due to investment tax credits and other government subsidies.  For many farmers and ranchers, wind farms are a good thing and the installation of wind turbines can make the difference between survival/profitability and economic disaster.  With no actual investment on their part, landowners typically receive between $3,000 and $5,000 per year in royalties for each large, advanced-design wind turbine!

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave