<<Midwest Coffee Talk: The Tens>>

[mobyhead]

Oh yes they are out in the sticks. They didn't have a paved road out in front of their house until a few years ago. The oil company that has been drilling under their property had the roads paved for their trucks. From what I understand the nearest Walmart is about an hour drive from them. You know they are in the middle of nowhere when that's the case. My son from 2 years ago when he was there. Holding the neighbor's groundhog:

[vid]

I haven't signed in here since Sunday at 8:43pm. This is my longest absence since December, 2007.

[rockyi]

Southern Illinois and Arkansas are basically the same state.

[LMich]

Originally Posted by mobyhead

Oh yes they are out in the sticks. They didn't have a paved road out in front of their house until a few years ago. The oil company that has been drilling under their property had the roads paved for their trucks. From what I understand the nearest Walmart is about an hour drive from them. You know they are in the middle of nowhere when that's the case. My son from 2 years ago when he was there. Holding the neighbor's groundhog:

Funny, I used to spend weeks to a month down in very rural Arkansas during the summers growing up, dirt road on many, many acres of land surrounded by literal forests, and the whole nine with a WalMart probably about 45 minute away. The nearest town was 4 or 5 miles away. Much of my grandma's property was surrounded by lumber company lands, and a natural gas pipeline ran through part of it. It had no street/road lights until you reached the rural highway off the dirt road, and was too far out to be connected to the little towns sewer system, so you used a septic system, of course.

It's an interesting way to live, is all I have to say.

[mobyhead]

Originally Posted by rockyi

Southern Illinois and Arkansas are basically the same state.

2 words: Bible Belt

[rockyi]

To Southern Illinoisans, anything north of Peoria is basically "Chicago"

[Cleveland Brown]

^ What did southern Illinois ever do to you? You outstaters must stick together to fight evil Chicagoland!

[rockyi]

I think it's because there are mostly red counties south of Peoria they see us as mostly blue up here so therefore all Northern Illinois = Chicago.......Not that we want to be lumped in with the big windy.

[vid]

Originally Posted by LMich

Funny, I used to spend weeks to a month down in very rural Arkansas during the summers growing up, dirt road on many, many acres of land surrounded by literal forests, and the whole nine with a WalMart probably about 45 minute away. The nearest town was 4 or 5 miles away. Much of my grandma's property was surrounded by lumber company lands, and a natural gas pipeline ran through part of it. It had no street/road lights until you reached the rural highway off the dirt road, and was too far out to be connected to the little towns sewer system, so you used a septic system, of course.

It's an interesting way to live, is all I have to say.

Lots of people live like that up here. Except our highways don't have street lights. Once you leave a municipality, there are no lights. Or local government; we don't have counties here.

[UpNorthMI]

Anything south of U.S. 10 and east of U.S. 27 is basically Detroit, west of 27 is Grand Rapids to most Northern Mchiganders. My parents live in rural Benzie County, on a dirt road with a well and septic tank. I had to endure that for a few years when we moved there from Flint until I left for collage. Interesting is putting it mildly and nicely.

[LMich]

Originally Posted by vid

Lots of people live like that up here. Except our highways don't have street lights. Once you leave a municipality, there are no lights. Or local government; we don't have counties here.

I mean, I imagine this is what life is like in most of the rural areas of a country as sparsely populated as Canada's. It's just not what I'm used to originally being from a big city, at all. I start to get creeped and claustrophobic out if I'm not hitting a town, village or city every five miles or so (10 at the most) on a road. Hell, generally anywhere north of my city might as well be the UP as far as I'm concerned.

[Cleveland Brown]

Originally Posted by LMich

I mean, I imagine this is what life is like in most of the rural areas of a country as sparsely populated as Canada's. It's just not what I'm used to originally being from a big city, at all. I start to get creeped and claustrophobic out if I'm not hitting a town, village or city every five miles or so (10 at the most) on a road. Hell, generally anywhere north of my city might as well be the UP as far as I'm concerned.

You're the exact opposite of some of my rural relatives who can't imagine driving in "big city" traffic nor parallel parking.

[ChiSoxRox]

To follow up on my 20 largest cities per Census quiz for Illinois, here's Ohio

[Cleveland Brown]

Originally Posted by Dralcoffin

To follow up on my 20 largest cities per Census quiz for Illinois, here's Ohio

^256 out of 300

[ColDayMan]

I got 288/300 cities correct. I forgot two obvious choices and...a city across from Wheeling. Oy.

[vid]

Up here, it's about 5 to 10 miles between houses. 50 to 100 miles between towns. The next town over from Thunder Bay is 70 miles. 200 miles to the nearest town with more than 5,000 people; 430 miles to the next real city.

Unless you cross the border. Duluth is only 150 miles away, Minneapolis is 300.

In southern Manitoba we hit a decent sized town every 20 miles or so, and were able to still receive Winnipeg's radio stations more than 150 miles away. It was strange to me; 20 miles from my city is bush, and the radio station's signals fade out long before then because of the mountains.

[rockyi]

The nearest city to Rock Island is ....0 miles. Moline is crowded right up to our eastern boarder. Across the river to the north, downtown Davenport is a bit over one thousand feet from downtown Rock Island. To the south the white-trash city of Milan (MY-lin) has us blocked in. The Mississippi and Rock Rivers meet on the west side of town so there's no escape for us......Trapped!

[Centropolis]

snagged me the last 4th of july beach campground in michigan, practically. boom shaka-laka! im assuming that i might be able to (faintly) see chicago fireworks from warren dunes? we shall see.

[Centropolis]

It amazes me that follow midwesterners eyes just kind of glaze over when i try to explain that there are beaches in the midwest...both photos from warren dunes


http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5076/7...f6e746ce_z.jpg


http://www.anniesteam.com/wp-content...unes-Beach.jpg

[The North One]

Vid, who is the chick in your icon? Some kind of real housewife?