Robert Indiana kept a series of illustrated journals during the late 1950s and 1960s, in which he discusses the development of his work as well as his daily life on Coenties Slip.

In his journal page for May 21, 1962, Indiana writes that he initiated the third panel of his "Red Dream" (The Red Diamond American Dream #3) "in [the] wee hours of the morning." Next to a sketch of the painting's upper panel, which he refers to as "[The] Highways," he notes that it was taken directly from the first dream and altered to fit the octagon pattern of the new painting. He goes on to say that it is "probably [the] most fun of [the] 3 panels so far," and that he enjoyed making it an almost exact translation of the original, proclaiming "I prefer it [to] [the] original, in fact." He declares that this would have been alright for the Graham Gallery show, but that he is still glad that his gallerist Eleanor Ward cancelled out on that.

Indiana also records seeing the lights go on in gallerist Rolf Nelson's loft and that he thought he recognized Ellsworth Kelly's plants, including the rubber plant he had gifted him. He notes that artist Lenore Tawney spent most of the day at the loft, with J. (his partner, fashion designer John Kloss) making her a coat from her own material, and that the three of them had dinner.