{"id":17078,"date":"2016-08-10T18:39:13","date_gmt":"2016-08-10T23:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/?p=17078"},"modified":"2022-05-11T06:50:43","modified_gmt":"2022-05-11T11:50:43","slug":"where-waldo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/where-waldo\/","title":{"rendered":"Where’s Waldo?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I selected US Route 23 through Ohio as we drove back from Michigan. This would have been a long detour in normal circumstances. However I wanted to count a few new counties so I cut through a quiet slice of the state instead. So hours passed, boredom hovered nearby and I invented little non sequiturs to pass the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lame Dad Joke<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Where's<\/a>
There’s Waldo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lame Dad Jokes became routine. I’m a trained master of Dad Jokes, the worse the better. Each new attempt drew eye rolls from the back seat and only encouraged me more. Then I found Waldo (map<\/a>). I rarely spot Waldo in those puzzle pictures<\/a>. My brain didn’t work that way. Even so I clearly noticed a large sign pointing to a highway exit for Waldo, the township in Marion County, Ohio. A repeated string of “Where’s Waldo? — There’s Waldo” left my lips as I pointed to the sign to the kids’ complete indifference. Barely 300 people lived in Waldo although that made little difference. I only needed that large green side along a lonely highway as entertainment for the next fifteen minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to The History of Marion County, Ohio<\/a> (1883), “Waldo was laid out in 1831, by Milo D. Pettibone, and named after his son Waldo<\/em>.” I felt sorry for a family with a Milo and a Waldo. I supposed if someone named me Milo I’d call my kid Waldo out of spite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Waldo, Maine<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Fort<\/a>
Fort Knox<\/a>; Waldo County, Maine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The search for more Waldos began in earnest once I returned. I didn’t realize I’d already captured one, a big one, in Maine (map<\/a>). Waldo County got its name from the colonial-era Waldo Patent, a land grant to an aristocratic military officer, Samuel Waldo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I traveled extensively through Maine several years ago. One of our day-trips brought me to Fort Knox<\/a> — not the one with the gold — a different one, in Waldo County. This Fort Knox perched high above the Penobscot River, protecting inland towns during the War of 1812. It sat adjacent to the very modern Penobscot Narrows Bridge and Observatory<\/a>. The views from the observatory deserved a detour if you’re ever in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Waldo, Florida<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Waldo<\/a>
Waldo Flea Market<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, I’d probably try to avoid Waldo, Florida (map<\/a>) although the situation improved recently. The Waldo police created quite a moneymaking operation at the height of their speed trap, one of the worst in the nation. CBS News reported that “Waldo’s seven police officers wrote nearly 12,000 speeding tickets [in 2013], collecting more than $400,000 in fines – a third of the town’s revenue<\/em>.” They also ran afoul of the law because they practiced a ticket quota system specifically prohibited by the State of Florida. As a result, Waldo disbanded its police force in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m still not sure I’d trust driving through there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Waldo, Oregon<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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