NANCY’S NOTES
Stockton, Indiana... I’m so confused!
Well, technically speaking, the Stockton we’re heading to today isn’t a town. Like last week’s visit to Stockton, Wisconsin, Stockton, Indiana is an unincorporated community in Jefferson Township, Owen County, Indiana. This is the map pindrop that ends out in the country, at the intersection of County Road 1375 W and Stockton Road. But then there is also a Stockton Township, in Greene County, Indiana, with another map pindrop out in the middle of a farming/residential community. This is the destination, we’ve decided, based on the fact that the school system there is the “Linton-Stockton School Corporation,” a fairly large school system. That’s where we are going to point the car.
But before we left Stockton, Wisconsin, I knew I owed a mea culpa to this pretty area and the town, which exists with more reality than I gave it credit for in last week’s travels. I found the official website for the Town of Stockton, Wisconsin, and it is very interesting. Someone has put together an extensive history of the “town,” its early schools, and its churches. Also included is an account of the early farming operations, back in the mid- to late-1800s. According to the “Town Chairman” (equivalent of Mayor?), the agricultural, natural and cultural resources of the area are some of the most important reasons why people pause for recreation, choose to do business, or live in the Town of Stockton. Natural woodlands, wetlands, varied and abundant wildlife, along with farmland that has been farmed for generations, all come together to create landscapes that change with each season. Their mission statement is: “Town officials and residents will work to maintain the rural character of the community as much as possible by trying to preserve, protect, and enhance the Town’s natural resources and open spaces while maintaining a high quality of life in the Town of Stockton.” Sounds like a wonderful place to live. Mea culpa maxima.
So as we bid farewell to the Town of Stockton, Wisconsin, I checked GoogleMap once more as we headed south to Indiana. Again, there were several routes possible, and only because this is an imaginary drive, I chose the route that would take us to Chicago. In reality, we despise Chicago driving. With about 460 miles to drive, GoogleMaps gave an estimated time of 7 hours, 33 minutes. That translates to at least 9, probably closer to 10 hours, of driving for us.
Going this direction, I-41 took us to Oshkosh (I’ve always wanted to go there, b’gosh!), then on to Milwaukee. After an overnight in Milwaukee, we basically followed Lake Michigan towards Chicago, which we skirted around as much as possible on I-94/I-294. We have visited Chicago a couple of times, taking in Cubs games at Wrigley Field, experiencing the huge Ferris wheel at Navy Pier, and getting a bird’s eye view of the city from the top of the (then) Sears Tower. A nice place to visit, but I can’t imagine why anyone would want to live there.
Once we got through the suburb areas west of Chicago, we enjoyed our drive through beautiful farming country, traveling nearly straight south, past Terra Haute where we saw Indiana State University. Just after the little town of Sullivan, Indiana, we turned to head east towards Linton, Indiana, and somewhere along this stretch, we passed through Stockton Township. There were no signs telling us that we had “arrived,” no red “pin” stuck in the ground to match GoogleMaps, so we just enjoyed the fertile farmlands and very large farms. We soon arrived at Linton, and just to prove the connection to Stockton, we went to find the schools.
My goodness, they have beautiful schools in Linton! The Linton-Stockton School Corporation, home of the Miners, has three separate buildings for the high school, junior high and elementary, all situated on one nice campus with an adjoining sports complex that includes softball and baseball fields, track and football stadium, and tennis courts. From our online search, we learned there are about 360 kids in the high school, 350 in the 6-8 middle school, and 700 kids in K-5! Wow! After driving around the school complex, we decided to head on down to the main drag through town, A Street, which is Hwy. 54. Just south of the schools, we noticed a little “Blessing Box.” At first I thought it was one of those little libraries with books to share, but this cute little box was filled with canned goods, boxed mixes and numerous other non-perishable items. The writing on the glass front said, “Blessing Box, Take what you need. Bring what you can.” What a cool idea, and one that I might think about creating when we get back to Stockton!
We got to the highway and found a motel, the Park Inn, which we decided would do for the night, and then went on to find a place to eat. It’s amazing how hungry a person can get doing nothing but driving around the country! That’s when we passed a cute little place — Bundt in the Oven — a bakery! Oh, my heart! What a cute little place, but we were too late to pick up a tiny bundt cake; tlhey were closed, probably sold out for the day. Determined to find something other than the franchise places that can be found anywhere, towards the edge of town and scross the highway from the Greene County General Hospital, we spotted Goosepond Pizza. It had a cute enough name to draw us inside, and we weren’t disappointed. And besides, it was located right next to Walmart, which we needed anyway for some supplies.
The next leg of our trip is going to be quite a drive as we are heading next to Stockton, New York! It sounds much further away than it really is. After just driving about 475 miles from Wisconsin to Indiana, the next Stockton is not much further at around 550 miles.
Come back next week, and we’ll be traveling along Lake Erie to Stockton, New York!
