#1: [27-Apr-01]

25-May-2025 -- As it has been my tradition for the last many years to take an extended weekend over the US Memorial Day holiday to visit railroad depots, abandoned buildings, grain silos, campgrounds, county courthouses, convenience stores, agricultural fields, and confluence points, I had been looking forward to this trip for an entire year. You would think that after 500 points behind me, I would grow tired of this, but not so as a geographer. There was always the attraction of getting out into the field. Finally, the day came.

This year, one of my aims was to connect the large number of points forming an oblong shape in the central and western part of the USA with my large shape to the eastern side of the Midwest. Several points between those two shapes would be wonderful if they could be filled in, I thought. There was a reason why I had not visited these points already--they would require some trekking. This filling-in goal dictated the first part of my trek; and the rest were points that I had never visited but were in some of my favorite landscapes, that of Missouri, Kansas, and Illinois. The final statistics of the trip are below.

After spending the night in the beautiful campground at the Sever Lake Conservation Area in northeast Missouri, and spending time in the Newark Missouri old fashioned city park, and then visiting 40 North 91 West in western Illinois, and 40 North 89 West in central Illinois, I found myself heading due south to 39 North 89 West. It was very much to my liking as most of the trip was in rural areas, along section line roads. The skies darkened and a light rain fell. So far this weekend, I visited several points that were a lot more difficult than I thought they would be. This one was exactly as I expected with few surprises: Field and woodland with some thorns. I was nearing the southern end of the very flat corn belt, one of the flattest places in North America. But it has its own charm!

I was heading south on N 1450 St, then west on E 1850 Ave, and thus passed north of the house where most likely the landowner lived. Seeing nobody there, I drove to the next section line road, N 1325 St, and drove south along this gravel road. I gathered supplies and walked due east along the north end of the field there, making sure not to step on any new plants, but encountering some very nasty thorns along the edge. I then walked south along the east edge of the field to 39 North latitude, before plunging into the thorns and then the forest beyond. I zigzagged east and southeast, encountering numerous tripping hazards but loving being in the forest. I descended some rocky ledges and approached the confluence, walking toward the northeast and spent 10 minutes due to the tree cover zeroing out the GPS.

It was mid afternoon in late spring, cloudy skies and cool for this time of year temperature of about 75° F. It was lightly raining but fortunately no thunderstorms at present. I saw no people or animals, the birds were noticeably absent, perhaps wisely avoiding what could be an approaching rainstorm.

It was grand to be on the 39th Parallel once again. With this point I now have at least 40 points along 39 North, all the way from California on the west to Maryland on the east. I am missing very few points along 39 North in the USA; it is probably my most visited parallel. I have also been on the 89th Meridian numerous times, from Wisconsin on the north to Mississippi on the south. These include many diverse landscapes, flora, and fauna. I reflected that it had been an amazing 24 years since the last and only prior visit, though certainly the landowner or their kids had been here trekking through the forest, and the Indigenous People traversing the area for centuries before that. I took pictures and posted this video: 39 North Latitude, 89 West Longitude.

I now have a very nice collection of confluence points in Illinois spanning 25 years of visits. I might be missing only one point in the entire state, in the northwest corner. Wanting to be respectful of any landowner who might see my car, I was on site for only 10 minutes after zeroing out the GPS. I then walked back the way I came in, but this time skirted the field to the south to avoid tripping on fallen logs, again careful not to step on any plants. I departed the area, traveling south and then had a three hour drive through Illinois and Missouri en route to my fourth and final confluence destination of the day--38 North 92 West. Could I make it? I was wearing my Map This shirt: Would that bring me good confluence vibes?

Onward with gratitude!

When the trip was all said and done, here are the final statistics:

-------------------------------------------------
Days set aside to visit points:  4 + 1 evening.

Confluence points attempted:  13.  

Confluence points successfully visited:  13. 

Points where I met the local landowner = 5 of 13 points. 

Points where I met the local dogs = 2 of 13 points.

Miles = 2547, Kilometers = 4099.
  
Percent of travel on interstate highways:  25%
Percent of travel on US, state, and county roads:  75 % :-)

Campgrounds = 4.  

Windy confluence points:  4 of 13.
Rainy confluence points:  4 of 13.
Beautiful confluence points:   13 of 13.

Convenience store stops = 8.  

Points that turned out to be

                easier than I thought they would be =           1 
                about the same as I expected them to be =       4 
                more difficult than I thought they would be =   8 
		-------------------------------------------------------
			                                     13 points.
Points          in woodlands             2
		in non-tilled fields     4
		in agricultural fields   7
		-----------------------------------
			                13 points.

Points along 	42 North = 2 
		41 North = 1 
		40 North = 5 
		39 North = 3
                38 North = 1
                37 North = 1  
		----------------
			   13 points.

Points visited on 	Day 1 = 4 
			Day 2 = 4 
			Day 3 = 4 
			Day 4 = 1
		-------------------
			   	13 points.  

Points visited in the 	morning = 	5 
			afternoon = 	5 
			evening = 	3 
		-------------------------------
			   	       13 points

Points visited in 	Nebraska =       3
			Kansas =         2
			Missouri =       5 
			Illinois =       3
		-------------------------------
			   		13 points 

The most frequently visited longitude line:  
-------------------------------------------- 
                                      92 West:  3 points.

2nd most frequently visited longitude line:  
---------------------------------------------
                                      89 West and 99 West:  2 points each.

Get out there and explore!