Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Tag: I-90

  • Detour to Ashtabula

    About two and a half years ago I planned to capture three unvisited counties at the far northeastern corner of Ohio. Unfortunately it didn’t happen due to a snowstorm that dumped about a foot of snow on the target area. So instead I changed my plans and focused on Michigan’s thumb. Now, finally, I had…

  • Indiana Toll Road Time Zone Crossing

    So you’re sitting somewhere outside of Chicago, Illinois cruising along the Indiana Toll Road. Most people know that Chicago and all of its nearby Indiana suburbs follow Central Time. On the other hand, much of the rest of Indiana follows Eastern Time. You just want to know when to change your watch, right? Let’s cut…

  • Murdo Mystery

    I seemed to be fixated on time lately, ever since writing the recent Time Zones in Greenland. I went through my long list of open items and found a few more timely topics. So Twelve Mile Circle could benefit from subjects of that nature while I cleared the backlog. Murdo seemed a likely candidate. Murdo…

  • Center of the Nation, Part 2 (States and Counties)

    Transporting a participant through a grueling six day, six state race series created a huge benefit for a geo-geek such as myself, the inherent need to cover a lot of territory. I’d driven through parts of the target area previously on a cross-country trip many years ago. I’d completed the typical tourist trek through the…

  • Blue Earth Revisited

    After awhile experienced 12MC readers can sort-of guess where things are heading. I knew I ran that risk in the recent Blue Earth article. The early draft began to climb towards a thousand words and I still wanted to cover several more topics. Strategically, I split the article into two separate parts and wondered if…

  • Longest Distance – Simplest Directions

    It’s Sunday, a day to relax, so I thought I’d dispense with an article that required actual research. Instead I’ll focus on something that might exercise a different part of the brain. It’s kind-of silly and pointless although it offered an opportunity for plenty of 12MC audience participation. I wondered, as I drove to my…

  • Political Access

    No less than the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) made an interesting claim. They called it “Other Interstate Trivia, but I considered it Gold. “All but five state capitals are served by the interstate highway system. Those that are not served are: Juneau, AK; Dover, DE; Jefferson City, MO; Carson City, NV;…

  • Welcome

    Welcome. It sounds so welcoming when used as a town name, as if the town founders and developers genuinely wanted visitors and residents alike to enjoy their time there. It sets a nice tone and a pleasant expectation. Settlements named Welcome exist in a number of areas. I’m actually a little surprised there aren’t a…

  • Wallace Redux

    I’ve never been to Wallace, Idaho but I simply couldn’t get that place out of my head in spite of the controversy[1] surrounding its Center of the Universe claim. Seemingly, there is an odd story for each of its 960 residents. This one involves a stoplight. It all comes down to geography and in this…

  • Center of the Universe

    Colonel William R. Wallace built a pioneering homestead within a narrow valley in the northern Idaho panhandle. However, he probably didn’t realize he’d settled at the Center of the Universe. We can forgive that. In 1884 he couldn’t possibly have know he was sitting atop a billion ounces of silver either, or next to what…