SEE THE USA IN YOUR CHEVROLET

Coast to Coast and Border to Border

April 30 to June 9, 2000

Indiana May 10 - 12, 2004

Eastbound:

--Vincennes, Indiana, USA

Home of Red Skelton, a favorite comedian of mine. Also born in Indiana, besides me, were James Dean, Herb Shriner, and the Hick from French Lick, Larry Bird.

--Logootee, Indiana, USA

Amish stores and cafes. We turn south here, on Hwy. 231, through Jasper and Huntingburg to Roger Hunter Classic Chevy shops.

--Huntingburg, Indiana, USA

We spent a couple of hours reminiscing with Roger, and Roger Jr. about restoring classic Chevys. The car I was driving at the time, a 1956 Chevy, they had restsored in 1998. I took the car to California and this was the first time they had seen it since restoring it.

Their current newly restored car is a '57 Bel Air hardtop for $38,500.	Or, they can build you a new '57 Chevy convertible.
Their newly expanded shops are about ready. They have an extensive supply of used (right) and new (above) chevy parts.

--Bedford, Indiana, USA

"Stone City" for limestone quarries providing stone for the Empire State Building and many cemeteries for gravestones.

--Medora, Indiana, USA

Medora Covered Bridge is the last standing triple span covered bridge in Indiana as well as the longest covered bridge still standing in the United States. The Medora Covered Bridge has a length of 434 feet, or 458 feet including the 12-foot overhang at each end, with a portal clearance 16 feet wide by 12 feet 6 inches high.

--Brownstown, Indiana, USA

Lake home owners and hosts Joe and Sheila Reynolds. We arrived in Brownstown a few minutes before 9 pm and found TJs not open on Sunday, so ate at a Subway/Pizza place on 50 which was closing as we ate. We went on out to Joe and Sheila's lake house and after we were in, Joe called, answering my messages on his Greenwood home phone. He said we'd just missed each other as they had about 30 people at the lake for Mother's Day.

Joe and Shiela's dock and canoe on the lake.	Next door neighbor, Bob Thomas's lake home which took 7 log barns and houses to build.
Joe's rare Pontiac Fiero.	Joe's Dad's Model A roadster.

Photo credit: Joe Reynolds Shieldtown's covered bridge, 1876, 331 ft. long.
Had you seen this Canadian goose in the previous picture?

	A few feet away from the bridge, the old B & O railroad passes. I put my ear to the rail and detected no approaching trains before taking this picture.

There are two Mail Pouch barns between Brownstown and Seymour, both on the south side of Hwy. 50.

Jim Lilliefors, author of Highway 50 Ain't That America, researched all the rumors about how many people actually painted these barns and found that one man, Harley Warrick, was the sole painter and he lived in Belmont, Ohio. He began painting barns in the forties, with one of four crews working for the Bloch Brothers Company of Wheeling, West Virginia. Since 1970, it has just been him. He paints or repaints about twenty barns a week in a nine-state area composed of PA, WV, OH, MD, KY, IN, NY, IL, and MI. He works Monday through Friday, from his pickup, staying in motels, always home by Fri. evening for the stock car races. He doesn't measure anything or use stencils. (I read somewhere else that he stands back, sizes up the barn, walks up and paints the "P" then finishes from there.) He sometimes puts in three "Cs" in tobacco to see if anyone notices. I like Harley.

--Seymour, Indiana, USA

Mayor, James Bullard, my cousin (note his name on Seymour's sign below)! Home of John Mellencamp just west of town.


Steve Vaughn, Valadictorian of our 1960 Hayden High School graduating class, and I, solving world problems outside Bryant John Deere Implement Dealer in Seymour, IN. Steve is still a good friend, the only classmate I look up when I'm in Indiana of the 22 in our graduating class.

Bell Ford covered bridge, between Seymour and Cortland.The Bell's Ford Covered Bridge crosses the East Fork of White River in Section 12, Township 6 North, and Range 5 East, where it sits beside State Road 258, just west of Seymour, Jackson County. This is the only Post Truss covered bridge still standing in the world . Considered a transition between the wood and iron bridges, the Post Truss utilized iron rods in the truss and roadway framing, while the lower chord was constructed of cast iron. As originally built, this double span structure had a length of 325 feet, however, half of this bridge was blown down during a storm in 1999 and the pieces were salvaged from the river. Built by Robert Patterson in 1875, Bell's Ford Covered Bridge has a portal clearance 16 feet 6 inches wide by 12 feet 6 inches high.

Pauls car looked good at the Heartbeat Cafe, on the west side of Seymour on Hwy. 50.

Heartbeat Cafe

Heartbeat Cafe


Radio station 96.3's Cool Bus, west of Seymour on Hwy. 50..

Cousin, Jim Bullard, had set up a newspaper interview with reporter, Melinda Knox, from The Tribune, at the Heartbeat Cafe about our 'See the USA in your Chevrolet, Coast to Coast and Border to Border' trip. It was on the front page the next day, May 14, 2004 (obviously a slow news day in Seymour!). Kyle Lowry's photo and Melinda's article follow:

More Photos by Bob Williams:

Jim let's me try his Mayoral chair.

Bud, Jim, and Carl at radio interview.

Tribune reporter, Melinda Knox, interviewing me at the Heartbeat Cafe in Seymour, Indiana.

Me and my license plate that Bryce refers to in his article.

Two classic-car enthusiasts making a cross-country trip stopped in Jackson County this week, about 2,500 miles into their planned 10,000-mile journey. Carl Morrison (left) is a Hayden native, and Paul Clifford is from Massachusetts. Both men now live in California. Tribune photo by Kyle Lowry.

Friday, May 14, 2004

Friends traveling coast-to-coast in classic style
By MELINDA KNOX
mknox@tribtown.com

For those of us who travel U.S. 50 each day to and from work, the grocery store or school, it may not seem like anything special.

But to two men on a cross-country quest, U.S. 50 seems to hold an unexplainable magic. Carl Morrison, a Hayden native and cousin of Seymour Mayor Jim Bullard, and Paul Clifford, a Massachusetts native, now live in California and are friends and classic car enthusiasts. In the spirit of adventure one afternoon, the two men began talking about how far their classic cars, a 1956 Chevrolet and 1957 Chevrolet Convertible, could go, finally deciding to drive cross-country, taking U.S. 50 as far as it could take them.

Their journey began in California on April 30 and the two men, who expect to travel U.S. 50 across the nation and hit points such as Niagara Falls and the Mexican border as they travel across and back, plan to be on their road trip of a lifetime until early June. The two recently made a stop in Jackson County, staying two nights with a friend in Brownstown.

Morrison said his affection for U.S. 50 is simple — it represents his origins. “Born and raised on Highway 50, Hayden, Indiana,” he said. Morrison said the two had been planning the trip since March of 2003 and expect to spend more than a thousand dollars apiece for gas alone. But the cost matters little, they said, in comparison to the experience, which has so far allowed them to reconnect with friends along the planned route. The two are calling their trip “Coast to Coast, Border to Border.”

“Having been raised on 50 in Hayden, I knew it was a coast-to-coast road,” Morrison said.
But can cars more than 40 years old stand up to the planned 10,000-mile journey? Clifford, designated maintenance guru on the trip, said they can — and will.

“They both are totally restored,” he said of the classic Chevrolets. “They’re in better shape than they
were when they came out of the showroom.”

Now more than 2,500 miles into the trip, Clifford said they both may be physically tired due to the long days of driving, but neither is tired of the experience.

“We’re always tired,” he said, “but this is fun.”

Taking U.S. 50 most of the trip makes for an interesting ride, Clifford added.“You meet a lot of nice people on a highway like this than compared to an interstate,” he said.

More information about the men’s journey may be found on their Web site, www.MoKnowsPhotos.com/USA.

--Seriously, Melinda, a fine article and we appreciate your hard work.

--Hayden, Indiana, USA

A quarter mile west of Hayden, on US 50, the birthplace of famous American, Carl Morrison (me!).

My birthplace still stands!

In town, 1/4 mile north of US 50, Hayden Historical Museum, operated by Rodger Ruddick. The museum's largest piece is the restored gasoline station we knew as Marshall's or Maple's store when it was built and open for years on US 50. The Hayden Elementary School has famous 6th grade teacher, Pat Sullivan, who still uses the late great Hayden teacher, Glen Morrison's chair. Just north of the railroad grade crossing is the Hayden Cemetery with the graves of both Ruth and Glen Morrison, my folks!

We always stop at Rocky Top on Hwy. 50 east of Hayden for a meal. It was in business when I was in high school in Hayden, in 1960!	Restored Hayden filling station at Hayden Historical Museum with restored Chevys by Paul Clifford (left) and Carl Morrison (right).
Rodger Ruddick has constructed many life-sized diaramas, this one being my dad's classroom. Dad taught school in and around Hayden for 50 years!	Before the trip, I contacted Editor Bryce Mayer of the North Vernon, IN, Sun and Plain Dealer and asked if he would be interested in interviewing us on our cross-country journey. He was most obliging and met us at the Hayden Historical Museum restored filling station for the interview. His story follows;

Thanks to Bob Williams, Chief Map Folder and Comic Relief, for taking these pictures of Bryce and Yours Truly, drinking a big red, during our North Vernon Sun interview.

Photo Credit: Bryce Mayer

The North Vernon, Indiana, Sun
Tuesday, May 18, 2004

Editor's notebook
The spirit of U.S. Highway 50

In trip of a lifetime, former Hayden, Indiana, resident drives 1956 Chevrolet from coast to coast
by Bryce Mayer

Even though he has lived in sunny California for 36 years, Carl “Mo” Morrison remains a Haydenite through and through.

You can take a person out of Hayden, but you can’t take Hayden out of the person.

Morrison rolled into Hayden the other day in a gorgeous 1956 Chevrolet 210 two-door hardtop coupe. The license plate on the front reads, appropriately enough, “SLOMO 56.”

Morrison was accompanied by two colleagues — one of whom was driving a 1957 Chevrolet Belair convertible.

Both cars are cherry red and in near mint condition. Morrison’s traveling partners are old college friends of his.

They were in the midst of a 3,073-mile trip of a lifetime from Sacramento, Calif., to Ocean City, Md. The entire west-to-east journey was exclusively on U.S. 50.

“I would recommend that route to anyone,” Morrison said. “The roadway is great and the scenery is better than anything you will see on the interstate.”

Morrison coined this phrase for his trip: “See the USA in your Chevrolet, Coast to Coast and Border to Border Tour.” He is chronicling the journey on his web site, MoKnowsPhotos.com/USA.

In Hayden, Morrison, Paul Clifford and Bob Williams visited several places — including the restored gas station at the Hayden Historical Museum — before continuing their journey east.

“This is the highlight of the trip,” Morrison said as he sipped on a Big Red from a longneck bottle underneath the station’s overhang and talked with Rodger Ruddick, the museum’s director, about old times.

Although several years Morrison’s junior, Ruddick remembers him and his family well.
“Carl’s father, Glen, was a legend in these parts,” Ruddick said. “He was known as quite a disciplinarian, and was a great teacher and coach.”

Glen Morrison taught nearly 50 years, most of them at Hayden High School, where his son was graduated in 1960 — the last graduating class at the Spencer Township school before it was consolidated with North Vernon.

Carl Morrison was born to Glen and Ruth Morrison on the family farm in Hayden in 1942, a short bicycle ride from the original location of the gas station, then known as Maple’s Store.

“I’d ride to the gas station all the time to get myself a pop and buy my dad a pack of Marvel cigarettes for 19 cents a pack. Their motto was, ‘Something to crow about,’” Morrison recalled.
After finishing school at Hayden, Morrison went to Indiana Central College, which is now called the University of Indianapolis, then took a teaching job in Greenfield for four years. In 1968, he and his wife, Sue, went to California where Morrison taught business at Cypress High School in the Anaheim area until retiring late last year.

Now their two children are teachers, too.

After 40 years as an educator, Morrison is gaining a new education by driving U.S. 50 from its start to finish.

“I have always wanted to drive the whole highway but didn’t have time until now,” he said. “Riding in these two old cars is perfect because we don’t go any faster than 65 and get to see so many sights. Paul keeps slowing down to look for other old cars parked behind houses.”

Appropriately enough, during his stop in Jennings Morrison talked with Ruddick about many people in Hayden from days gone by and their cars.

Morrison remembered the time that a 1950 Ford in which he went with Virgil Woodson for a joyride was rear-ended by a drunk driver’s car on U.S. 50 at the driveway to the Morrison farm in 1958. The Ford, which was brand new to the Woodson family and not yet insured, was demolished, but luckily the two teens were only shaken up.

“Mr. (Charles) Hurley (a teacher and coach at Hayden at the time) was a few cars behind and saw it happen. He wanted to kill the drunk driver,” Morrison said.

“Mr. Hurley came up with the motto ‘Hayden spirit’ that we still use,” Ruddick added.

That Hayden spirit remains very much alive in Morrison today, as is the spirit of Highway 50 — a road he thinks does not get the attention it deserves.

“Highway 50 is still intact, is in good shape and is longer than Route 66,” Morrison said.

“Originally, Highway 50 went all the way to San Francisco, though now it ends at Sacramento. I took a picture at the start of Highway 50 there that says ‘Ocean City, Md., 3,073 miles.’”
The two cars reached Ocean City last Thursday — 14 days after Morrison left his home in Placentia, Calif.

The return trip will be longer and more circuitous, not limited to U.S. 50. Morrison plans to visit Nashville, Tenn., then go north to Massachusetts, Niagara Falls and Canada, returning to Indiana for the Indianapolis 500, and return home via Des Moines, Iowa; Branson, Mo.; Colorado Springs, Co.; and Gallup, N.M.

On the return to California, Morrison will bypass the 1,000 miles of desert he drove through on U.S. 50 in Utah and Nevada.

“There is a stretch west of Austin with a sign that says, ‘No services for 106 miles.’ What it should say is no services, no homes, no people, nothing for 106 miles. It is called the loneliest road in America, and we felt like the loneliest guys on the loneliest stretch of the loneliest road.”

But that all changed when they got farther east, especially in Hayden.

“Everyone is so nice here, I hate to leave,” Clifford said.

But leave they did, as they continued a trip of a lifetime.

Photo Credit: Bryce Mayer

The above photo, with Friend, Rodger Ruddick,
was used with the North Vernon Sun article.

	Photos by Bob williams.

--North Vernon, Indiana, USA

--Scipio, Indiana, USA

The Scipio Covered Bridge crosses Sand Creek on County Road 575, in Section 2, Township 7 North, Range 7 East, on the north edge of Scipio, Jennings County. This single span Howe Truss structure has a length of 148 feet, or 156 feet including the 4-foot overhang at each end, with a portal clearance 15 feet 6 inches wide by 14 feet high. Built in 1886 by the Smith Bridge Company at a cost of about $600, the original intent for this structure was as a Railroad Bridge, however, it never served as such.

--Graham Creek, Indiana, USA

The James Covered Bridge, also known as the Graham Creek Covered Bridge, crosses Graham Creek on County Road 650 South, in Section 10, Township 5 North, and Range 8 East, just south of Vernon, Jennings County. This single span Howe Truss structure has a length of 129 feet, or 139 feet including the 5-foot overhang at each end, with a portal clearance 15 feet wide by 14 feet high. Built in 1887 by Daniel Baron, perhaps the origin its name is that this area of Indiana was sometimes referred to as the Jesse James neighborhood.

--Detour--Madison, Indiana, USA

We drove 22 miles south of North Vernon, along Hwy. 7, to Madison. We checked into an excellent Holiday Inn Express 'on the hill' above Madison. We munched on warm cookies at the counter and learned that breakfast was complimentary in the lobby in the morning. We put the top down on Paul's Chevy and drove down the hill so I could show the boys Madison, IN.

I'm still fascinated by Madison, a National Trust for Historic Preservation. We take Hwy. 7 south to Madison, one of the best preserved historic Ohio River towns. When I visited my folks in Hayden, we always took a drive down to Madison to have lunch and cross over the Ohio River bridge and up the hill to view Madison from Kentucky. My folks spent the first night of their honeymoon in this town.

	Lanier Mansion facing the Ohio River in Madison, IN.
Madison riverfront with a view of the Ohio River, Madison bridge, and Kentucky beyond.	We dined on the river, literally, at The Wharf restaurant where Starla was our waitress. The madison bridge and the Ohio River and Kentuck are behind her.

Finishing the day's notes.

Ohio river from The Wharf Restaurant.

Above 2 Photos Credit: Bob Williams

--Butlerville, Indiana, USA

--Aurora, Indiana, USA

Hillforest Mansion, a survivor of the steamboat era has a colonnaded facade and is topped with a circular lookout tower from which residents could watch the Ohio River. A round barn along US 50 is now a tractor dealer.

--Lawrenceburg, Indiana, USA

Home of Seagram's distillery, just before the Indiana-Ohio line. A used car lot here on the west side, near the Wal-Mart has a photogenic collection of auto-related advertising signage. A truck dealer on Hwy. 50 is housed in a round barn.

I was ready for sun, rain, and picturetaking.	Victory Stand.
We didn't have any trouble finding a seat. Those are enclosed boxes w/glass fronts behind Paul. We were in the last row of these pit bleachers and could stand up without bothering anyone's. view.	The scoring pylon. Easily seen from our seats, showing all 33 positions and it changes every lap.

Some are pushed out by the crew with the rear wheels raised by a wheeled jack. #55 Kosuke Matsuura	#20 Al Under Jr.
Owners paint their cars the same, but with different crews, sponsors and numbers. #91 Buddy Lazier	Some had rain tires. #24 Felipe Giaffone

Darren Manning	#27 Dario Franchitti
#1 Scott Dixon	#33 Richie Hearn

Jim let's me try his Mayoral chair.	Bud, Jim, and Carl at radio interview.
Tribune reporter, Melinda Knox, interviewing me at the Heartbeat Cafe in Seymour, Indiana.	Me and my license plate that Bryce refers to in his article.


My first teaching job after college, in 1964, was in Maxwell, Indiana, at Maxwell High School. The pictures above are of the middle school which they have built on the spot of the high school. We moved to California for my second, and final, teaching job in 1968.	Tony Hullman owned the Indianapolis 500 Speedway when I was in Indiana.

Corvette was the pace car again this year.	The Indy 500 Museum in the infield of the track.

	We beat the 300,000 fans there by being at the gate at 5:00 a.m. when the track opened.
My pagoda picture was taken earlier in the day, but it had the date for a record, 5/30/2004.	Behind our seats, we could look down into Gasoline Alley and see the cars and crews in the garages. This is A.J. Foyt IV's garage. PJ Jones' garage.

On our way back to our seats, we passed the 'gas station' where all cars were pushed by their crews. Guess that's why this is called Gasoline Alley.
	Paul, left, looks like he's in an Indiana prison, but he's peering through a cyclone fence at the fueling of the cars. Above, one of two Penske cars.

Can you imagine using this many tires to run 500 miles?! The Finish line and flagman's perch, right.
The "Yard of Bricks" finish line, all that is left from the 'Brickyard' when the whole track was made of these bricks.	Paul on the yard of bricks w/front stretch grandstands in background.

	Finally, they brought out the cars, again our seats were very close to the pathway from the garages to the track. #14, A.J. Foyt IV's car
PJ Jones' #98	Some are pulled out by the tool cart with a strap. #70 was our local, Orange County, CA, favorite, Robbie Gordon. He was born in Bellflower and lives in Orange, California. He flew to North Carolina to be in that NASCAR race this same day.

#11 Tony Kanaan	#3 Helio Castroneves
#21 Jeff Simmons Pit crews, right and below, get ready for the race.

	The pace car driver, Morgan Freeman. On the pace lap, he drove the Corvette Pacecar 183 mph!
Stormy skies and the pylon reflect in the boxes.

	About 300,000 fans were there. Looking toward turn 4,
and looking toward turn 1.


#12 Tora Takagi	#25 Marty Roth


#5 Adrian Fernandez	#8 Scott Sharp


	200+ mph and this close!

SEE THE USA IN YOUR CHEVROLET

Coast to Coast and Border to Border

April 30 to June 9, 2000

Friends traveling coast-to-coast in classic style

In trip of a lifetime, former Hayden, Indiana, resident drives 1956 Chevrolet from coast to coast

Before the race, we had time to go across the infield and see the Corvettes that were pace cars in the past.