Day 047 - Richmond to Dublin IN

The temps were in the 50's and 60's on mostly overcast day.

I was joined for the entire walk by Benjamin Turner. He was my waiter at Galo's Italian Grill last night. He is in his second year of college and is scheduled to enlist into the Army at Fort Bennington, Georgia in August.
Benjamin is the ninth person to have walked an entire day with me.

There is a school for learning to drive eighteen wheelers in Richmond. We had over a half dozen tractor trailers slowly pass us with student driver signs. We passed an Indiana mile marker as we were approaching Centerville (SL = Ohio State Line, R = Richmond, C = Centerville). There was a facility that repairs old aircraft that had the fuselage of an old military plane sitting outside the building.

Everything was turning green. We saw cherry trees and forsythia bushes in full bloom. We passed a gift shop that had a bird feeder made out of coffee can made to look like a traffic light hanging on the barn.

After we completed the walk we were met by Joe Frost the Executive Director of the Indiana National Road Association. He gave Benjamin and I a tour of the Huddleston Farmhouse in Cambridge City.

Weary travelers making the difficult journey westward on the National Road in the mid 19th century stopped at the Huddleston farm for meals provisions, shelter and feed and rest for the horses. Completed in 1841, this 11 acre farmstead has been beautifully restored by Indiana Landmarks as a museum showcasing early commerce along the road. The barn was fascinating with no nails used in it's construction.

I spent the last three nights at the historic Lantz House Inn in Centerville, Indiana. The owner Marcia Hoyt lost a good friend to ovarian cancer and graciously offered to provide me lodging. She is the sixth owner of the property. The second owner Mr. Lantz made his fortune then proceeded west on the Oregon Trail where he passed away.

Marcia gave me the history of the house. She told me how the National Road in Centerville was actually narrowed to allow more frontage for the property owners. Her parlor was the location of the original road and the door from her parlor to her dining room was the original entrance to the house.

I reviewed four different books she had on the National Road. One of which mentioned the "US 40" and "US 40 Today" books. She helped me to locate the US 40 picture and positioned me and my car each morning. If anyone is in the area I would highly recommend staying here. The link to her site can be found in the SUPPORTERS section on my blog.