Homer's Travels: A Late President's Day Observance

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

A Late President's Day Observance

I went out for a walk today, my only one this week, and it turned out to have a connection with yesterday's President's Day holiday.  The connection is even stronger with Lincoln's birthday a week ago.

Old Lincoln Highway Marker showing the President Lincoln Medallion.
I put together a twelve mile loop in west Omaha, a part of Omaha that I don't walk very often.  A short but significant part of my route was along the old Lincoln Highway.  The stretch was in a relatively rural area of west Omaha, was marked with the standard Lincoln Highway markers (including the red, white, and blue painted electric poles), and was paved with red brick instead of the usual asphalt.  The markers have the profile of President Lincoln and blue arrows that reminded me of the yellow arrows of the Camino.  I watched a train go by as I walked along.  Here are all the pictures I took along this section of the Lincoln Highway.

The brick surface of the Old Lincoln Highway.
After walking part of the Lincoln Highway, I made my way to the West Papio trail that would take be back south to the car.  I'd wondered where this bike trail started and this walk gave me the opportunity to find out.  When I saw the zero mile maker I felt like I'd found the source of the Nile or something.  I know it wasn't a real accomplishment - I could have just looked at the city bike path map - but sometimes you just have to enjoy a little self-delusion.

Hope you all had a good President's Day!

2 comments:

  1. The Lincoln Highway markings on the poles seem to be pretty freshly painted. Is there a group that does regular maintenance on them?

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    1. GH: Not sure if it's a specific group or if it's the state. I know that both Nebraska and Iowa mark the Lincoln Highway with signs and call them "byways" so I suspect its the state that maintains the signage.

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