#road maintainer

[michael-massa-micon]

Day Lily at Salt Kettle Rest Stop, Oakwood IL - July 2017 http://michael-massa-micon.tumblr.com A short while after entering Illinois from Indiana on I-74, there is a rest stop called “Salt Kettle.” With the current state of affairs in Illinois, almost all of the roads are atrocious and the rest stops well under national average... except for Salt Kettle. Perhaps it is because it is located within the boarders of the Kickapoo State Recreation Area, but for some reason, this is one of the most beautiful and well-maintained rest stops I have seen. There is a very nice lake, flowers, one of the salt kettles from when salt was boiled out of local salt streams, and, for some reason, a very well-presented display of an antique, horse-drawn “road grader.” I put road grader in quotes because I have been told several times lately that road grader is not the correct term. They are road maintainers. I guess it is one more sign that I am getting old when even what I call tractors is out of date. MWM

[michael-massa-micon]

Road Grader near Lake Red Rock - June 2017 http://michael-massa-micon.tumblr.com I’m old enough to call them road graders, though they are now properly called a “Road Maintainer.” I was standing on the bike path taking pictures out over the lake when I heard a rumble behind me. I turned around to see this huge piece of equipment making a U turn on the highway to go back down the gravel road. I got a good image of it while it was still turning and then several images as it headed back down the road. After it had disappeared into the distance, I had to get out my lens wipes to clean my camera lens, my glasses, my bike mirrors, and anything else that I needed to see through. These things do raise a lot of dust. MWM