Signs - Signs ... Everywhere a Sign!

As I promised in a comment to T's blog, here is a picture of our new Indiana plate. I have to admit that I was surprised that the state is able to do the "In God We Trust" design as the standard plate option. I was offered one of the ugly old neon green plates as well though(apparently they still have some available).


Getting my new plates has inspired me to look around a bit when I'm driving through the countryside. There seem to be a lot of signs .... not billboards .. but signs everywhere. So here they are (with a bit of commentary).

Here is a cool little historical marker that I snapped on the way to Linton. I must admit that I'd never heard of the Wabash Canal, so this was neat to read - not that anyone could actually read it without stopping on the bridge and dodging irritated motorists while leaning over the guard rail. FYI - this portion of the canal cut between corn and soybean fields, so over time quite a bit of excess soil and debris has been pushed in to fill the gap. It's just a drainage ditch now.

Another "inconvenient truth" marker on yet another bridge - this one on T's favorite stretch of road in the universe (between the 46/59 junction headed towards Clay City). This dam is still visible along the road along with the small breaks in the guardrails where the heavy equipment left the road to go down to the river. There are also a couple of maintenance and pump towers along the way. They look rather lonely and neglected - but I imagine a few of the local kids have made secret hideaways of them over the years.

This was also the first 2-sided marker that I'd encountered. To prevent anyone else from asking me if everything was "o.k", I quickly took the first of the two pictures and came home .... only to read the "continued on other side" when I uploaded that evening. The second picture was a couple of days later and didn't turn out nearly as well.

Across the road from the inconvenient two-sided marker at the dam is this EEL RIVER sign. I point this out because the Eel is the Clay City mascot for basketball and the proposed-but still imaginary football team. I found the following quote about the river's name in the Wiki article linked above:

"Johnny Shawnessy probably had a better guess about the river's name than anyone else as he was the only person in the County for years who made any research into the Indian culture. He finally decided that the river's name was related to the Indian word "Shakamak," meaning long fish or eel. There was a Shakamak River in southern Indiana; and in the northern part of the state, an Eel River, which in the Miami tongue had been called the Kenapocomoko, or River of Snake Fish.

The only drawback to Johnny's theory was the fact that he never found an eel in the river. "

In a previous post, I recounted our trip to Shakamak (a.k.a "Long Fish") park .... isn't wiki cool?!

In spite of the questionable eel history (or maybe because of it) the signs that visitors pass on the way in and out of town leave the mascot in the river and proclaim Clay City as the "Mayberry of the Midwest". One of the local merchants (the owner of the local A&W / Gas Station / Laundromat) got the slogan pushed through the city council but has been unable to get the other business to sign off on a plan to retrofit main street to look like Mayberry or get the Andy Griffith museum/jail/visitor center built.

One interesting fact about the plan is that his business is on the outskirts of the city and wouldn't be part of the compulsory remodel. He does have a vintage replica of Barney's squad car though. Also, I think it's cool that Clay City celebrated it's centennial the year T and I were born.



FYI - this field isn't even close to the river. If water manages to get over this road, see if the guy driving a 300 cubit gopher-wood cruiser will give you a lift. Also it is not necessary for any sign on Indiana roads to be perpendicular to the ground.

No witty commentary here. I just thought a sign about signs would be appropriate for the blog.
Sadly the picture of the "Road Oil In Use" sign that we tried to get as we drove away didn't come out. If you've never experienced Road Oil .... it's the black oil that they dump on the gravel roads to keep the dust down and (hopefully) build up over time into a cheap alternative to actually paving the road. If you can see the oil sitting on the road - and you like your current paint job - go around and let the good ol' boys in their pickup trucks get the splatterin' out of the way.

This is the first of 3 pics from our trip to Turkey Run State park. 'Turkey' is by far the best state park that I've ever been too (except Edisto Beach in NC). The other park that we visit most frequently is McCormick's Creek. We've noticed a whole section of the hiking trails there is closed for construction. Once we saw the updates to Turkey since our last visit, we are expecting to see a lot more signs like this one at McCormick's.
BTW: 70 steps down .... no problem .... but after a hike through the canyons, climbing up and down past other "140" step signs, and scaling a cliff face on ladders bolted into the rock, these 70 steps were a pain.

On the back of this sign it says, " If the river doesn't get ya - we will" .... well - not really, but it's kinda implied. Makes you wonder why all of the Turkey Run Canoe rental expeditions go right through this part of the river. I guess it keeps them from putting in a "Yield to Oncoming Canoe Traffic" signs - and they probably had these lying around after the whole Camp Crystal Lake thing.

Ok, here's the last one. Just before you cross the river on a cool bouncy suspension bridge you encounter this sign:
YOU ARE ENTERING AN AREA THAT CONTAINS
DEEP SANDSTONE CANYONS AND ONE OF THE
[ ............................ missing board.............................. ]
PROTECT. AND ENJOY THIS PRICELESS HERITAGE.
Any of my guests interested in filling in the blank? The Dashboard comment lines are open!