Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Category: U.S. States

  • Finish Ohio & More, Part 3 (Swipe Down)

    Michigan was fun but now I needed to drive through Ohio for the last bit of unfinished business. Only three counties out of 88 remained unvisited in Ohio, aligned in a single contiguous row heading due south. It felt like bowling pins lined up for an easy spare. So look out Paulding, Van Wert, and…

  • Finish Ohio & More, Part 2 (Last Chances)

    Sure, collecting the remaining Ohio counties was a major goal but not the only goal of this particular trip. The Ohio portion focused on the drive up and the drive back. Michigan was the destination. We spent significantly more time, several days in fact, based in East Lansing near Michigan State University. So despite the…

  • Interior Alaska, Part 1 (Golden Heart)

    Fairbanks calls itself the Golden Heart of Alaska, a nod to its gold-rush past, its geographic placement deep within Interior Alaska, and presumably its demeanor. It’s the second largest metropolitan area in the state but it also feels like a small town. And that’s to be expected because even though it’s Alaska’s second largest metro,…

  • Indiana I-69 Time Zone Crossing

    If you’re driving along Indiana’s portion of Interstate 69, say from Evansville to Bloomington, you are going to cross a Time Zone boundary. It happens between Mile Markers 37.5 and 39.0, about forty minutes north of Evansville at normal highway speeds. But please note that the situation gets genuinely weird as you cross between zones…

  • Inland Northwest, Day 1 (Staging)

    Was there a name for that largely empty space beyond Washington’s Cascades Range and into the Idaho Panhandle? A little research suggested the Inland Northwest, or perhaps a now lesser-used designation, the Inland Empire (not to be confused with a similarly named area of California). Anyway, that’s where I traveled for a few days on…

  • Cumberland Parkway Time Zone Crossing

    Time Zone crossings in the United States generally happen at state borders which of course are easily recognizable landmarks. So you simply cross the state line and you change your watch. No big deal. Unfortunately Time Zones cut right through the middle of some states, like Kentucky. That can be a real inconvenience if you…

  • 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…

  • Florida I-10 Time Zone Crossing

    I’ll bet you’re checking your phone right now, driving along Interstate 10 in Florida and wondering where the time changes. I think I can help you. It happens between Mile Markers 160 and 161. If you’re driving westbound, going from Eastern Time into Central Time, set your coordinates to: 30.633557°, -84.904119° If you’re driving eastbound,…

  • Tennessee I-40 Time Zone Crossing

    So you’re driving along Interstate 40 in eastern Tennessee and you want to know where the time changes. Let’s make this easy. It happens between Mile Markers 340 and 341. If you’re driving westbound, going from Eastern Time into Central Time, set your coordinates to: 35.895888°, -84.701530° If you’re driving eastbound, going from Central Time…

  • Carolina Wetlands, Part 2 (All About the Water)

    Water, water everywhere! Well what else would anyone expect? After all, the whole area was basically a swamp. They even called one big chunk of South Carolina the Lowcountry for its very specific lack of elevation and percolating water table. Liquid gurgled, flowed, pooled or crashed just about everywhere I stepped during the week. So…