The Abe Martin Lodge is located in Brown County State Park. Named for the cartoon character in the Indianapolis newspaper in the early 1900's.

Abe Martin says, "You just can't go away hungry".



Taken from this site:
"
Abe Martin has become a favorite son of Brown County and of the State Park which includes Weed Patch Hill and its surroundings. The Abe Martin Lodge commemorates his connection with the county.
For twenty-five years, from 1905-1930, "Abe Martin" was the mouthpiece for Kin Hubbard's daily quips in The Indianapolis News, which, accompanied by sketches of Abe and his friends in action, were syndicated across the nation. Hubbard was born in Bellefontaine, Ohio, and settled in Indianapolis, starting the Abe Martin Character in 1904. At first Abe Martin belonged to no particular locality, but on February 3, 1905, he announced,"I'm goin' ter move ter Brown County Tewmorrow," and the next day he was depicted in a wagon piled high with household goods.

His comment was, "By cracky, it's sum travelin' ter git ter Brown County." The reason for the move lay in the fact that the steep hills and the general "picturesque-ness" of that area lent themselves to humorous exaggeration and provided the material Hubbard liked for his pictorial backgrounds.

Gradually many of Abe's neighbors came into being, to appear in the pictures and text. The cottages of the Abe Martin Lodge in the Park bear the names of these characters.

Much of Hubbard's humor is as timely now as it was during its heyday, from 1905 to 1930. Will Rogers called Kin Hubbard " America's greatest humorist."

Hubbard's cartoons played a significant part in drawing the attention of artists and tourists to Brown County. They, in turn, have made the area world famous. In dedication to his memory, the Department of Natural Resources built Abe Martin Lodge in 1932 on Kin Hubbard Ridge, naming the cottages after his principle characters. "


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Itinerary

Saturday June 20th

Joe drives down to Carmel, IN all the way from Aurora, IL


Sunday June 21st

We (I) pack, buy Merrell shoes, and leave for the lodge, arrive at lodge only 1 1/2 hrs later 


Monday June 22nd

Hiking Trails, swimming, oh yes we (I) barbecued.


Tuesday June 23rd

Hiking Trails, swimming


Wednesday June 24th

Shopping and sight-seeing around Nashville, IN


Thursday June 25th

Dr's Appointment, Joe drives back to Aurora, I ready myself for the next travel adventure...

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Trails

We accomplished hiking the following trails #1,#3,#6,#7

Map is located here

DESCRIPTION OF HIKING TRAILS

1. (.9 mile/ easy) Joins with Trail 2 for a short distance to return to near Lodge. Leads through wooded land where oak, hickory, sassafras, beech and maple may be observed.

Comments: This was hilly and had a lot of stone steps, wood stairs, stairs, and topology change. Kind of dangerous after raining.

3. (1.25 miles/ moderate) An interesting trail to observe a variety of topography. Passes saddle barn and amphitheatre to return to the lodge. Varieties of ferns can be seen in the ravines and on the slopes.

Comments: The change of topology provided a good workout, beautiful views of the horses and barns, not so nice smells.

6. (1.75 miles/ moderate) Encircles Jimmie Strahl Lake where the hiker may enjoy an easy walk around the lake and return to the point of origin near the dam. Connecting spur to Nature Center.



Comments: Many places to sit out and look out at the lake, fish, and the gentle, maintained trails, stairs.

7. (1.5 miles/ moderate) This trail enables the hiker to explore the shores of Ogle Lake while in a hilly, wooded habitat. Here also, pileated woodpeckers have been known to nest.

Comments: Had many of the same features as trail #6, except this also went through swamp land.

My favorite was the trail along Strahl lake. We hiked on trail #1 right after it rained.. and it was our first trail. Trail #3 offered views of the horse barn.




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Vistas

We also checked out the nature center and on our way there I climbed the fire fighter's lookout tower, whereas Joe was too chicken shit to climb that, hehehe.

It offered some amazing views, including those of Joe all the way on the ground, hahahaha! Yeah but it was kind of scary, fun to climb and be at the top of that tower.







Height of Look-Out Tower in feet: 80

We also enjoyed many of the beautiful VISTAS as we drove through the park, and we stopped to take a look at some of them.



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I Am Woman

-Artist: Helen Reddy from "Helen Reddy's Greatest Hits": EMI ST 11467
-peak Billboard position # 1 for 1 week in 1972
-Words and Music by Helen Reddy and Ray Burton

I am woman, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore
And I know too much to go back an' pretend
'cause I've heard it all before
And I've been down there on the floor
No one's ever gonna keep me down again

CHORUS
Oh yes I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to, I can do anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman

You can bend but never break me
'cause it only serves to make me
More determined to achieve my final goal
And I come back even stronger
Not a novice any longer
'cause you've deepened the conviction in my soul

CHORUS

I am woman watch me grow
See me standing toe to toe
As I spread my lovin' arms across the land
But I'm still an embryo
With a long long way to go
Until I make my brother understand

Oh yes I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to I can face anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman
Oh, I am woman
I am invincible
I am strong

FADE
I am woman
I am invincible
I am strong
I am woman

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Heard this on the radio while driving back from the store and it brought up memories from a presentation at a regional SWE conference (society of women engineers) meant to motivate women in manufacturing:

Lipstick in Manufacturing: Women "Making Their Mark!'

Presenter: Ann Schneider, Manager, Industrial Engineering and the Global Manufacturing System, Allison Transmission, Inc.

Summary: Manufacturing has not been, historically, one of the leading career choices for women.  The manufacturing work environment has had an image of dirty, unorganized, dark, dingy, dangerous, and a lot of prejudices (men who believed women “should be at home.”)  This presentation will reflect on those earlier days…and then highlight the tremendous advancements that have occurred in a truly competitive manufacturing operation (Allison Transmission) and the impact that women currently have in “making a difference” in the day-to-day operations of modern-day “chip-cutting America.”

The presentation was awesome and positively influenced women into the manufacturing field, it would be fun and challenging, except most of the factories that manufacture are going overseas. It's good to see a company doing manufacturing here, with American workers. Women have made strides and will continue to do so, to prove they are valuable.