The critters that wind up in the middle of the road can be funny or infuriating and other times down right terrifying. We have had several strings on this forum about frog and toad crossings and many of us have had to brake a little too fast when the headlights reveal a startled deer or two. (Have you heard about the deer in Colorado that have figured out the traffic signals? I've seen them.) On the same road where I acquired Birdy I had to get out of the car and herd a gaggle of geese marching mostly down the yellow line. Hey Horton, if you were missing a squadron, at least they were on Airport Road headed for the north-south runway. Another time I wound up chasing cows wandering along the same stretch. I've often wondered if I got them in the correct barnyard. You know it's really hard rounding up cows while wearing high heels, especially when there is a bull on the other side of the barb wire. Your turn. Sandy

Dear Kat_Wa: I am in agreement for the most part for the route that you have picked. The most unpredictable part is I-80 through Wyoming. This is an easy route when the roads are clear, and it is a main trucker's route between Chicago and the west coast. A major snowstorm can close this highway for several days. When a snowfall overwhelms Wyoming's plowing equipment, they close major highways. I-80 across Nebraska is flat and boring. If you pick up a stiff tail wind, you could coast all the way across. LOL. The remainder of the route from Lincoln, NE to Rio Grande, OH has no mountains or significat hills. major grades are caused by rolling landscape and dips into large river basins. You can handily avoid I-80 in the south side of Chicago and I advise you do so. I-80 south of Chicago and across the top Indiana is crowded with trucks and speeders. it can be a fast trip under good conditions, but can turn into a parking lot on short order. A jack-knifed truck 30 miles north of I-80 in Chicago can create a traffic backup that extends all the way back to the Illinois-Indiana border. The route that I would try is: 1. From Wasington State, take I-84 to Salt Lake City, UT. 2. At Salt Lake City, check the road conditions of I-80 through Wyoming. If open, ok, but if closed, either wait it out or find an alternate route across the Rockies. 3. I-80 east through Wyoming, Nebraska, and Iowa crossing the Mississippi River at Davenport/Bettendorf. 4. Immediately after crossing the Mississippi river, take I-74 south to Galesburg, IL. 5. I-74 turns east at Galesburg. Continue on I-74 to Indianapolis, IN. 6. Change to I-70 east at Indianapolis to Dayton, OH. 7. At Dayton, change to US-36 / I-36 and follow this to Rio Grande, OH. About 50% of this part is interstate. Get a detailed map of Dayton and plan a route either around or through Dayton whichever is your preference. Without a navigator at your side, the non-thinking and easiest route is to stay on I-70, then South on I-675 to US-35. This route is east of Dayton and totally avoids the city, but adds about a 5 mile backtrack. More about Wyoming: Wyoming is a high plains state with part of the the rocky mountains passing through it. The lowest elevation in the state is about 3600 ft at its SE corner. The last time I was along I-80 (several years ago) I found motels at Rock Srings and Cheyenne. When you first enter the state, you may see a set of huge gate arms beside the road akin to a railroad crossing. These are for closing the road. Its too bad this is not a pleasure trip. You are passing nearby a number of historical locations. Rock Island Arsenal, IL - site of a Civil War prison. There is a cemetery on the Island holding a large number of Confederate Soldiers. Many soldiers died at this camp from disease. Small pox ran rampant. Prisoners were taken upstream to a limestone quarry and there they cut stone used to construct some of the early permanent buildings at the arsenal. At my last count, some of these building were still standing and in use. Galesburg, IL - Home of Robert Frost. He was born in a garage sized house. Monmouth, IL - Birthplace of Wyatt Erp. Dixon, IL - Boyhood home of Nixon. Black Hawk War 1832 - Many sites and many of these forgotten. This war began in Northern IL, then into Wisconsin and westward through WI to the Mississippi river at the confluence of the Bad Axe river where the final masacre of Black Hawk's band occured. President Lincoln mania - Although Abe Lincoln was not born in Illinois, he grew up in Illinois and spent his early adulthood in IL, and was largely self taught. he was a 23 yr old store clerk when the Black Hawk war broke out. Lincoln was a Captain for 1 month in that war. He was elected Captain by winning a wrestling match. However, he voluntered for more terms serving in a position similar to assistant quartermaster. Vincennes, IN The site of Fort Sackville, the place where the French surrendered to a tired, rag tag group of US explorers. The leader of the group produced a sham to trick the French into surrendering. He knew that he had little chance of winning an outright battle and had to cross the Big Wabash River to engage the enemy. So waht did he do? at nightfall, he spread out his men into a number of groups, possibly as many as ten. There were only a few men per group, but the opponent did not know this. Each group kept a campfire buring all night giving an impression that an army was encamped on the river. Early, the next morning before his ruse could be discovered, he crossed the river under a white flag and demanded the French to surrender. The French's main object was fur trade, not make battle so they complied. After the surrender, the French leader asked to see a show of the troops hidden on the other side of the river, and when he saw how few it were, he became angry, but he was already under guard. Illinois and Indiana high schools are noted for basketball, not football. Dayton, OH - Wright Brothers. Parke County, IN - has 30 covered bridges. These are not as picturesque as those in Vermont and New Hampshire, but this is a lagre collection for one county. Ohio has covered bridges also. Battelle Memorial Institute at Columbus, OH. This institute helped to develop the Xerox process and accepted shares in the fledging company for payment. Nauvoo, IL - The site of an early Mormon town. They were attacked and then decided to leave. This was the beginning of their mass migration to Salt Lake City, UT. When they left their homes, some did a complete abandonment by leaving their houses unlocked and the front doors open. Because of this persucation, there are two Oregon trails in Nebraska: the main trail on the south side of the Platte River and the Mormon trail on the north side of the river. They took the less traveled side of the river to avoid fights and unpleasant encounters.

I agree, edlincoln. "Neighborhood lined with grand old trees" is a good description of the aesthetic I'm going for. I'm thankful for the old farmers that had to the foresight to line these roads a hundred years ago. Some planted endless rows of sugar maples, but others saw fit to diversify, mixing in red and white oaks, often alternating them with sugars. While the sugars are now showing their age and several have succumbed, the oaks are growing strong, providing a canopy over the road. I'll be long gone before the trees I plant now reach such a stature, but I hope that one day they'll look as majestic.

The 300,000th time you garden there is plenty of trial and error. Catch the number of times I say, "I don't know" or supply links because I had to look it up after it fell through my Swiss cheese memory. Watch out for those who are overly definitive or who argue "Their way or the the highway." There's often a way around something unless you're fighting with summer or winter. Those...well, seasons are implacable and simply won't concede the territory very much. Other than that, very little is strictly black and white. Your timing was bad, which you didn't know. Sod's better laid in early September (Labor Day weekend is great, or the week after when the stuff goes on sale). Too much later and it won't have time to root. April and May are great, too. June, July...a little too hot. November through February, too cold. You've learned this. March, August and October we can argue. :-) You might be able to hack and slash the magnolia. It'll probably survive. Hopefully. Magnolia really don't like that, but... It won't look the best, and you may end up removing it in the future in favor of something more vase-shaped. And it's not going to grow so fast that you don't have time to think about it. I think you made a good start. Right now, if something is definitely dead, ignore it and don't waste the water. Get started what's going to start, like the tree and the good grasses. See if you can still return the dying sod (larger landscape stores will often take anything back rather than argue with you, others...it depends). Then re-sod in very late August or early September when the weather's a bit more compatible. You can simply kill off the weeds at that point with a little RoundUp a week or two early and remove the dead bodies. I like to lay them out as a warning to other weeds, but I'm a little warped.