Day 043 - New Carlisle to Vandalia OH

Temps were in the 60's and 70's on an overcast and rainy day. We again drove thru a couple heavy downpours staging my car. Due to the forecast of a slight chance of thunderstorms and hail in the afternoon the uniform of the day was full rain gear.

Cyndie Gerken a breast cancer survivor and Past-President of the Ohio National Road Association joined Jim Gilkey and I for the first two miles. We stopped at Olive Branch High School which was built in 1908 and reconstructed in 1913, following a devastating fire. Designed by noted Dayton, Ohio architect, Charles Insco Williams, the building was used as a school house until the 1970s and still maintains its 1914 appearance. It was listed to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009, and is currently being used as a district warehouse and storage center.

The National Road, which spans 227 miles as it crosses the State of Ohio, runs through 10 counties. Miami County has the least mileage with just 6.3 miles. Cyndie presented me a number of gifts from the Ohio National Road Society that included a very cool poster and postcard of an art print by Mark Yaris of "TheHistoric National Road in Ohio", a ball cap and pin.

Thanks to disk jockey Laura Chase of WMVO 1300 AM radio from Mount Vernon, Ohio for doing a live interview during the walk.

Once we completed the walk Joe Dranachal of the Historical Society of Vandalia-Butler gave us a very interesting tour of the buildings at their historical site including the Hoottinger House, Barn, Spring House, Log House and Brown School.

Jim Gilkey finished his second complete day of walking tying the puppies Bernard and Lexi for third place.

Trivia Question:

I frequently finish and post my daily blog at midnight or later.

Why does the post time listed at the bottom of the blog show a different time?