(Every so often I find apps I think are worth mentioning by name in this blog. I do not get any referral fees or kickbacks from the developers, but I think they are useful & worthy of mentioning to people who read my blog. Perhaps at some point I will look into referrals so I can make a few bucks toward put toward the cause! – Shawn)

A couple of years ago I was looking at apps and found a couple of interesting ones that I downloaded. and tried. One had interesting things around the world, but my experience with the app was not good so I deleted it. The other one, though, I kept and actually upgraded for just a few dollars.

The one I kept is called Roadside America. It is a very basic, no-frills yet functional app with nothing but good info about quirky interesting roadside attractions you can see on road trips here in the States. Some of it is pretty interesting and many of these are things and places you probably will not see in your average travel guides or on map apps. I am talking weird, unique and quirky stuff – real Americana most of it.

There are some other apps out there for road trips I have tried, and I did like the details in their maps for points of interest and such, but there are the ongoing subscription fees and all of the clutter that I do not need or want to sift through. That is why this one is such a good bargain.

If you are interested in this kind of stuff when you travel and are looking for an inexpensive app for your road trip adventures this is a pretty decent one. Again, it is nothing fancy and has a somewhat-dated feel to it (maybe it is retro/intentional?) as you can see by the website linked above, but I wish more apps were as uncluttered and simple to use as this one is. I am really more than happy to help promote these smaller developers and websites.

One of the best things? You only pay once, and that is it – no ongoing subscriptions! You can even get by really cheap if you only pick one area of the country if that is where you want to focus your travels. However, for not much more you can get the entire country covered and those few extra dollars really help support the developers.

🛻🛣️

Using this app, one of the things I found near me is pretty strange so you know me…I had to go see it. I have been stuck on stand-by (actually, it has been “sit-by”) for the last month and I really needed to get out of the house to get some sunshine to get the mold off my backside and take a little road trip to SOMEPLACE. I figured that I might as well go see this “attraction” since it was fairly close by.

It was a nice day today, with sunshine and comfortable temps right around 80° F – a perfect day for a spur-of-the-moment drive and a little hobble around town.

McLouth is a typical midwest farm community and the sometimes-curvy two-lane drive there goes through gentle rolling fields of hay, corn and soybean fields and cattle operations.

I got into town and stopped at a coffee shop for a shot of espresso. They were a little surprised by my order, but it IS a coffee shop. Everyone in there was really friendly, but it was funny…they kept asking me to make sure I was sure, holding up the tiny espresso cup to make even MORE sure that was what I wanted. I really could not have been any clearer about my order – a shot of espresso, black. My guess is they don’t get many orders for a straight espresso (but why the small cups?). They still seemed surprised, but then they asked if I wanted anything in it. I said no – I want coffee that is strong & black in the tiny cup and that is it – nothing more is necessary. I am a purist and drink coffee and espresso black; I want the flavor of the beans and not all that other crap ruining it.

They had some fresh-baked pastries but I now also have to watch my diet with carbs & sugar, plus most of what they had was pumpkin spice. WTF the obsession is with that stuff I will never understand and October cannot end fast enough because of that.

I decided to limp around town to get a little exercise and take some photos. Like most farming towns, there are many empty buildings in this once-thriving community. The younger people grow up and leave, looking for more and better opportunities elsewhere. Gentrification sets in and, in some cases, a very few of these places become hip again for the quiet lifestyles and inexpensive living. Some are even offering incentives to attract new residents.

Eventually some of those transplants might bring other businesses in, like the coffee shop I went to. Some of the old businesses have been converted into other uses like new & different businesses, bars, and even houses, while some just sit empty.

I walked several blocks round-trip but I really pushed it doing that; with my foot now burning, I decided I better stop walking. If I could have, I would have walked into some neighborhoods and just looked around at some of the old houses. Some of these small rural towns are not big on outsiders, especially guys with a ponytail and 10 earrings, but I am always very friendly and am the first one to wave and say hello if I see someone.

I got back in my truck, drove around town for a bit more exploring and happened across a pretty little park that has a very nice disc golf course. I really haven’t played disc golf much after leaving Washington but when my foot recovers I will probably go back & check it out. It is good exercise, you’re outdoors, and it is just fun to do as a hobby.

But, the main thing I went to see was actually the first stop on this adventure…

In the above-mentioned app is an attraction (if you will) known as “Rock in the Road” and it is in the middle of the street in the middle of town in the middle of a residential area.

And they paved around it. Yes…they left it in place and paved around it.

Wasn’t dynamite ever a thing around here? Usually in farming communities farmers used to use dynamite to remove stumps (it was readily available back in the day). How about a jack hammer? Why would this happen, and why is it STILL happening? It is not even marked, barricaded or painted to deter vehicular damage. Pretty crazy!

For me seeing unique things like this is one of the wonderful things about taking a short drive like I made today, or making a long road trip. These types of quirky little stops may not be Mount Rushmore, but they (quite obviously) bring people in out of curiosity if nothing else, and it is worth seeing once…I mean how many towns have paved around a rock in the middle of the street?

When we travel, especially when we first strike out on our own life path, when we travel we tend to want to see “the biggest”, “the best”, “the most beautiful”…you get my drift. I have been through that myself so I understand. I really do love the mountains – they have a magic that is permanently deep in my heart and soul. But, after you see a lot of mountains (or any spectacular scenery really), it starts to take more to get that same high from it; even though the good feeling is there, you find you need more spectacular spectacular scenery. After you get over that and see many of the “big” sights, why not see the less-crowded not-so-big ones? In these days of (un)social media there’s a lot of hidden pressure to follow the herd because of doctored & filtered fake pictures. Instead, try being your own herd.

Another thing is that even a few dollars spent by a few tourists in a small town like this makes a difference for someone that lives there. McLouth is a small town that, like many out-of-the-way places, seems to be slowly going by the wayside. They may just be a stop for gas, snack, or even something more to eat but take a little time to do that. Most (but not all) of the small places I have been to most (but not all) of the people are usually very friendly. While you are at it, have a look around, grab an espresso and sit at the sidewalk table under the umbrella and take some photos – it is really no different than going to Europe on a basic level. Something might stand out to entice you back if you are in the area, and if not, you saw someplace new.

It was so nice to get out of the house for something other than a doctor visit. I needed it and am glad I went. It wasn’t the forest or mountains, but it was outdoors in the sunshine and I got a little exercise in.

This was the first place I went to see that is in the app. I have looked through local places and I have seen many other places that I had no idea were there and I have to go see (stay tuned for those!). I saw some things that I have already seen or been to, and others I have no desire to see (like the local prison or the graves of the “In Cold Blood” killers).

But, again, these are the things that make road trips interesting. Get out and enjoy the lesser-known things along the way!

See you next time!

Shawn