A Citizen's Guide to Indiana

Masson's Blog

Top O’ The World, Ma!

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I am finally back with my fellow flatlanders after having spent much of the last 2 weeks at or above 7,500 feet in altitude. The highest I got was atop La Plata Peak (14,336 feet):

The highest point in the lower 48 states is only 149 feet higher, so I feel pretty good about the climb. In terms of difficulty, La Plata is pretty easy for hardcore mountaineers. But, for a novice such as myself, it was a tough climb; but gratifying.

In 1999 and 2003, I went with my buddy, Tom, on trips to Rocky Mountain National and Yosemite, respectively, and was good for about one or two hikes on each occasion. The second one usually ended with me limping severely on the last half of the hike, my knees foreclosing the possibility of further excursions. I think my fitness kick of the past 1.5 years really helped in that respect. I felt a twinge here and there, but my knees held up very well.

After La Plata, we took it easy for a couple of days in Ouray and Pagosa Springs, both in the southwestern corner of Colorado. Rested and ready for one last climb, we camped south of Breckenridge, and went up Quandary Peak (14,271 feet) which is, fittingly, just south of Hoosier Pass. In fact, Quandary was once known by some as “Hoosier Peak”. Once I heard that little factoid, I knew I had to go up the thing. It’s an easier climb than La Plata, but still a solid hike for an amateur like myself. But, you know it’s not a killer peak when large mammals are hanging out at the top — in our case, a family of mountain goats.

Even so, Tom and I were happy to be up there — what a view!

Tom had the camera, so I’m still waiting on the bulk of the pictures, but if you’re interested there are a few more here.

(One of the oddest moments of the trip came on the way down Quandary. We came across an elderly gentleman heading up the mountain. He greeted us by saying humorously that he was making forward progress and exhibiting vital signs. Then he handed Tom a card that said something like, “Learn the Truth” and then giving a web address. Turns out the address was for the John Birch Society. Man, did he have the wrong two guys.)

Shamrock Run

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Just thought I’d mention that I’m going to run in the Shamrock Run in Indianapolis on March 16, 2007. It’s a 5 mile run and also happens to be the first organized race I’ve ever run in (unless you count my year on the middle school track team.) Some info here. I’m in absolutely no danger of winning this thing, but I’ll probably finish and chances are I won’t come in last.

The Snow

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mailbox.jpgNot sure if this has been in any papers or on any television news broadcasts, but it’s snowing kind of a lot out there — out there being Lafayette, Indiana in my case. I don’t know that I’ve ever before had a two shovel day before in my 7 years as a homeowner, but today was one of them. At about 7:30 this morning, I shoveled the snow from over night, and again at about 4:00 this afternoon I went out. There has been about a foot of accumulation, so I am going to guess that outing #1 had me moving about 5 inches of snow and about 7 inches during outing #2. I think my back is going to hurt in the morning.

Combining this snow with the accumulation from last week – about 3 inches or so, I think, my driveway has a feature I remember on occasion during winters growing up. At the corners of the driveway where the yard, the driveway, and the street meet, you get huge piles of snow. Since the snows have been relatively tame or at least not usually cumulative, I haven’t had piles of any significance. But, now I remember when I was little taking a shovel out and carving giant “thrones” of snow. (Basically, I cut a seat out of the pile). In retrospect, I think the ones I remember the most were when I was 6 or 7 during the blizzard of ’78. No thrones for my 3 year old son, but he likes playing king of the mountain. (Mom bundles him up to a fare thee well so he looks a little like the little brother in A Christmas Story so he doesn’t get too cold.)

So, anyway, lots of snow today. We had to close the office, and now I hear on the news that the police are asking folks not to drive until (I think they said) 6 p.m. tomorrow. Fortunately my business involves a lot of stuff that can be done at home with a phone, e-mail, and a Westlaw subscription.

Slow posting

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Just a note about the slow posting over the past few days. It’s the normal thing where life gets in the way. I spent about 5 hours today in the office working on an ultimately unsuccessful mediation. Then I spent another hour on my firm’s webpage. It’s still a work in progress, but light years ahead of what it had been. For a guy who spends as much time as I do on the Internet, I left our firm’s page in amazingly shabby shape for an extended period of time. For example, our founding attorney was still listed as “of counsel” about three years after he had passed away. Shameful.

Oh, and my kids seemed to want to play with me for some odd reason. So, it’s lack of time rather than lack of interest.

Christmas pics

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If anyone cares to see pictures of our Christmas at Hilton Head, they’re here.

Meanwhile, here’s a picture of the boy before Santa came:

And then after Santa came, when he reveals his true colors:

More press

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Call me vain, but I’m always a little tickled when I make it into the Journal Gazette’s Best of the Blogs editorial segment. They highlight this September 16, 2006 post, quoting the following:

The Associated Press has a story telling of a poll indicating that privatizing the Toll Road and adopting Daylight Saving Time are unpopular with Hoosiers.  …

I sort of hold these issues to a double standard. I think the popularity, or lack thereof, with respect to DST is more significant than the lack of support for Toll Road privatization. DST seems like the kind of issue perfectly suited to a straight up popularity contest. How we synchronize our clock to the sun is basically a lifestyle choice with few complex policy questions involved. …

The lack of public support for the Toll Road would concern me less if it were good public policy. But, it’s not. That’s just my opinion, of course, but I have my reasons. I’ve read the lease and thought it through a bit. At the end of the day, I think it’s bad public policy to increase taxes solely on the motorists of northern Indiana to pay for roads in the rest of the state. I could still be wrong, obviously, but we have no idea how much information the poll respondents had on this issue and, therefore, no idea how informed their opinions are.

Dental hygiene

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This post is apropos of very little, but it reminded me of a recent comment from “T” and I just wanted to share. I went to the dentist this afternoon and, in the waiting room. A woman was waiting at the same time I was. While she was waiting, she took her coke outside so she could have a cigarette. It just struck me as particularly bad form to go for a dental visit with a mouth full of sugar and smoke.  And, if it matters, I overheard her discussing
Medicaid issues with the receptionist.

Travel Question

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Anyone have an opinion on the best way to get from Lafayette, Indiana to Cleveland, OH?

As I see it, I have two basic options.

Option #1 – Take US 24 the “Hoosier Heartland Highway” to Fort Wayne, get to Toledo (presumably by going north to I-80/90, then heading southeast to Toledo) and then 80/90 to Cleveland. This route is shorter, but the roads are inferior. US 24 isn’t bad, but it’s not as good as an Interstate. All the options from Fort Wayne to Toledo are bad — either go the route described or find a secondary route to cut the corner.

Option #2 – Take I-65 southeast to Indy; I-70 east to Columbus; and I-71 northeast to Cleveland. This route is about 50 miles longer but is  Interstate the whole way. However, Columbus traffic, in particular can be dicey.

I’ll have my 3 year old son in the car with me. He’s generally a good traveler, but this is going to be a long trip for him no matter what. So, I want to try to get a fast route, but I also want one that isn’t stop & go at the wrong place so that if he decides to go to sleep, he’ll stay asleep as
 long as possible.