Covered Bridges!!

My wife and I are planning a trip in June in our Odyssey minivan making the following stops: Greendale, WI, Plymouth, MN, Keystone, SD (all Northern stops)returning on a Southern route taking us through Chanute, KS, and Parke County, IN. We have a general idea of the highways and byways to take but would like some input from those who have been there and done that. We aren%26#39;t going to hurry ourselves, would be willing to explore alternate destinations along the way, will be using a GPS %26amp; AAA TripTiks and are open to all suggestions.

We are most interested in clean, comfortable and safe accomodations.

Points of interest are welcome. We%26#39;re not campers/hikers, night clubbers, prefer suburban rather than urban.

Thanks in advance to all who share - this will be our first trip farther than Parke County.

D%26amp;J H.

Covered Bridges!!

Clockfixr,

What do you and your wife like to do? That will help us as we give you suggestions. (Do you like art, history, sports, cars, food, etc.?)

I hope you have a wonderful trip!

Covered Bridges!!

I%26#39;m going to guess that if you like covered bridges, you appreciate history so I%26#39;ll offer a few suggestions. I%26#39;m assuming that you%26#39;ll be driving through on Interstate 70? If so, it runs parallel to Old National Road/US 40 for a good portion of the way.

';The Historic National Road was America%26#39;s first interstate highway established by an act of Congress in 1806. The Indiana portion was built between 1829 and 1834, linking the eastern seashore with the western interior.';

http://www.visitrichmond.org/history.cfm#road

Different states have different websites highlighting their portion of it, so I would think it would be worthwhile to look them up to discover special stops.

I know this is the Indiana forum, but you%26#39;ll be passing by Dayton, Ohio and if you have any interest in aviation, you would probably enjoy their attractions dedicated to the Wright Brothers as well as the aviation museum--which is free!

Just at the Indiana/Ohio border is Richmond, Indiana. Their website (which I posted above) has a lot of useful information about area attractions.

Historic Highway 27 intersects with Old National Road there. It was a key route on the Underground Railroad, and the Levi Coffin House where ';the President of the Underground Railroad'; lived in Fountain City is a worthwhile and inspiring stop. It has been featured on the History Channel and the Travel Channel several times.

(Drive carefully through here, especially as it gets dark because this area is the location of Indiana%26#39;s newest Amish settlement. It%26#39;s common to see carriages or Amish children on scooters along/crossing 27. There%26#39;s also an Amish grocery store along the highway, closed Sundays, I believe.)

Cars and racing are an important part of our heritage in Indiana, and if you enjoy them, try to time it so you can see a race at ';The Fastest 1/2 Mile Track in the World'; in Winchester, a bit farther north on 27. Don%26#39;t miss the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Museum either!

www.winchesterspeedway.com

www.roamrandolph.org

www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com

www.indy.org

Indianapolis has a lot of other great attractions and is actually quite easy to navigate for a city. Visitors and locals alike enjoy the area around the canal which has museums, ballpark, zoo and conservatory, etc.

Farther off your route, Brown County is another popular destination in Indiana. I know you%26#39;re not fans of hiking/camping, which is a very popular activity in Brown County, but it is worth a visit if you enjoy art. This was the site of the famous Brown County Art Colony, and is still popular with artists today.

www.browncounty.com

Fans of James Dean often visit his hometown of Fairmount. I%26#39;ve driven through, but I%26#39;m not familiar with the sites that people visit or what is open to the public.

As for visiting the covered bridges in Parke County, you%26#39;ll definitely want to print out a map of the bridges. Also, for anyone who isn%26#39;t used to driving country roads at night, they can get very dark especially on moonless nights. It isn%26#39;t always easy to see the signs so it%26#39;s best if you%26#39;re unfamiliar with the area to plan to be back in town before dark. (This is something I learned the hard way in my youth!)

I have only done day trips there, so I don%26#39;t have any suggestions for hotels.

http://www.parkecounty.com/about/map.asp

I hope this helps! Have a great time!

This is a helpful site:

www.visitindiana.com

There is a very nice covered wood bridge in Lawrence county at Williams that you can actually still drive over. It is scheduled to be closed in the next few years after a new bridge is constructed down river of the present covered bridge. There is a state park area at the Williams Dam just upriver to this bridge.