Amtrak’s Lake Shore Limited leaves New York City at 3:40 PM, and it arrives in Chicago at 10:12 AM the next day, which means the train passes through Cleveland at 4 AM.
Here I am waiting for the 4 AM train at the seriously-inconvenient Amtrak station in downtown Cleveland.
(My son Manny gave my bike and me a ride to the station.)
Here’s a view looking up the aisle of my darkened passenger car at 4:30 AM. It looks pretty much like the aisle of an airplane cabin except:
– No doors on the overhead storage
– No seat belts
– About twice as much leg room
There are (12) cars on this train, including a baggage car where my bike was stored, and a passenger car with an observation deck allowing passengers to see Cleveland at 4:30 AM.
I got off the train at South Bend, which is home of the University of Notre Dame. This is a Catholic university, and among other things, it is known for its 134-foot tall “Word of Life” mosaic on the west wall of the Hershberger Library. Somewhere on the ‘net I read that the mosaic “is comprised of 6,700 individual pieces of granite in 140 different colors. Granite from 11 states and 16 countries was carefully chosen to survive the harsh Indiana winters”.
I didn’t even bother to try to get into the campus as an unauthorized visitor to see this mosaic up close, but here is a photo from the ‘net.
It turns out that the top half of the mosaic can be seen from the football stadium on campus. Here’s a view from inside the the stadium
Although the formal name of the mosaic is “Word of Life”, it is more commonly known as “Touchdown Jesus”, for some reason.
South Bend is also the home of the Studebaker Museum. According to Wiki,
. . .the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company was originally a coachbuilder, manufacturing wagons, buggies, carriages and harnesses. Studebaker entered the automotive business in 1902 with electric vehicles and in 1904 with gasoline vehicles, all sold under the name “Studebaker Automobile Company”. . .. Over the next 50 years, the company established a reputation for quality, durability and reliability. … the South Bend plant ceased automobile production in 1963, and the last Studebaker automobile rolled off the Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, assembly line in 1966.
On the left is a 1911 Electric Coupe, and on the right is a 1932 President Convertible Coupe
On the left is a 1964 Excalibur Prototype, and on the right is a selfie in a 1950 Champion Convertible.
Adjacent to the Studebaker Museum is the 38-room Oliver Mansion, once home to several generations of the J.D. Oliver family. According to Wiki
. . . In 1857, Oliver, who was an iron worker, invented and patented the “chilled” plow which was cast in a mold and cooled rapidly resulting in a hard surface that kept a sharp edge. By the turn of the 20th century, his company produced as many as three hundred thousand plows a year, living up to its slogan, “Plow makers for the World.” . . . Subsequent generations of the Oliver family created Oliver Farm Equipment Company.
The Oliver name touches my family history. This is a cousin, my brothers, and me (hand raised) on our Uncle Albert’s Oliver 1600 tractor.
Albert raised chickens and sold eggs, but as I recall it, he also raised marijuana. He never made a lot of money, but he sure made a great chicken pot pie.
[Full disclosure: the previous statement may not be completely accurate.]
Anyway, finally on the bike. . . Michigan is six miles north of South Bend, and New Buffalo, Michigan (and the start of USBR 35 for me) is 33 miles into Michigan.
Northwest Indiana and southwest Michigan have largely flat to gently rolling terrain with many fields of corn and soy beans.
