We were in three states today, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, driving over 400 miles from sunrise to sunset to get to Columbus, Ohio, and we had three great stops along the way.
Just past Indianapolis, Sue found a Greek truck stop cafe with good reviews from our trusted road-trip companion, Yelp, and it was really fine – great food and the waitresses were very helpful. This freeway exit occurred just as road construction reduced the freeway to one lane in each direction, and we discovered that our on-ramp to get back to the freeway was closed. That caused us to detour down to highway 40 (an American classic road back in the day) and this detour allowed us to find a hidden gem.
We drove through the quaint township of Knightstown, which has a famous old basketball gym – the Hoosier Gym. Built in 1922, this is the place where a movie starring Gene Hackman and Dennis Hopper was filmed – Hoosiers. It’s about a small town high school team that won the state basketball title beating the big schools and the movie is filled with characters who are provided with second chances to succeed. Sue and I love that film. We had to stop.
We drove down some very quaint neighborhood streets to get there and parked in front of the gym. Our tour guide was a man who lived in this area his entire life. We learned about the history of the gym and the movie shoot, and then we were able to shoot baskets on the hallowed court. It was a thrill that we will long remember!
A high school basketball team passing through the area had rented the gym, and they finished just as we walked onto the court. Ted did a few jump shots and lay-ups. Sue did some wicked outside shooting. The other guys on the court tried to block our shots but we had the force, and the hope of an underdog! We stopped while we were ahead, 4-2, to prevent knee injuries and back pain, I suppose. But it was fun to shoot baskets in the Hoosier’s gym.
On we drove, memories came flooding back to Ted of freeway I-70 between Indianapolis and Dayton, as he last drove this road in the 1970s going to graduate school – memories of road trips with Ron Dunn, a Christmas trip with Ron, Jeff, and Cyndi, and of driving this trip from California alone two times.
We pulled off the road just past Dayton to drive by the church where Ted worked for two years as a youth pastor during seminary and he remembered getting soaked by water balloons outdoors during a snowy winter day because the youth group broke their attendance record with over 100 youth in attendance at a youth meeting.
We made it to Columbus, and now look forward to seeing three cherished families. On Sunday, we’ll attend worship with Heather and Don, and spend time with their family on Sunday afternoon. On Monday, we’ll be with Sue’s college roommate, Judy, and her husband Phil, and we plan to do some bicycle riding. On Monday evening, we’ll visit with friends from our Cupertino church who moved here decades ago, Tim and Linda Hanes.
PS: Here’s more information about the Hoosier Gym
