Postcard From The Lamoille Canyon Scenic Byway, Nevada
Tag Archives: Fuji X-T4
Roadside Finds: What The Heck?
Shortly after we stopped to take the photo of the sailboat in the previous post, we stopped at a roadside park to take a photo of a covered bridge. The covered bridge paled in comparison to what was across the road!
I don’t even know what to call this. It was definitely a facade of some kind, but I’m not sure what it was hiding – the Google satellite view is inconclusive, and we didn’t cross the road to investigate. It was a little creepy, actually. But made for some interesting photographs! 😉
Someone appears to have a lot of time on their hands and a very active imagination!
Roadside Finds: Foster, Oregon
You never know what you will come across while exploring some random back road. No idea what the story behind this boat is, but it was sitting alongside a gravel driveway a quarter mile or so from a really nice lake.
On The Road Again….
Kathy & I departed this morning for what we expect to be an 8,000 +/- mile journey to the Oregon coast, visiting Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Montana before making the big turn through Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada and Utah before heading back through Colorado and home. With any luck there will be a Monte sighting along the way. 😉
We’re doing a few things differently this trip than we’ve ever done before. First, and the biggest departure for us, is that we have made zero hotel reservations beyond the first night. I’ve always been an ‘anal’ planner, preferring to have all my I’s dotted and T’s crossed, weeks and sometimes months before we leave home. We wanted to make this trip as flexible as possible, and figured that we shouldn’t have trouble finding a place to sleep as long as we keep the “requirements” to a minimum.
The second departure – for me – is that this is the longest trip we’ve taken with the least amount of camera gear. I have my X-T4 and my 3 zoom lenses – the sweet 16-80, the 55-200 and the 10-24. And it is all in a shoulder bag! I have always ended up with at least one backpack, sometimes two. This time the backpack holds our computers and peripherals, but not camera gear. Nice!
So stay tuned for some “Postcards” from the road, plus some hopefully interesting photos – and stories – along the way!
A More Reasonable Accommodation
Several of the commenters on my previous post mentioned the excessive-ness of the huge cottages on Lake Geneva. Kathy & I did find a few that would be more reasonably sized, assuming you could afford the lot. The top image is just the boat house for a larger mansion. The A-frame would be just about right, I think. Anyway, wanted to show what the folks on my side of the wealth curve would buy if we could! 😉
How The “Other Half” Lives
One of the highlights of our visit to Wisconsin was a cruise on Lake Geneva with our friends Jeff and Mary Pat. The cruise featured a look at the numerous “summer cottages” that surround the lake. They ain’t like any “cottages” I’ve ever seen, and would make a lot of the so-called “mansions” around Lake Norman look like guest houses.
I didn’t attempt to document them all, but I did take some photos of some of the most noteworthy ones. It was a nice cruise, a pleasant afternoon with fun people. Good weather and smooth sailing! 🙂
Roadside Finds: Jasper, Indiana
Our first overnight stop on the return home from Wisconsin took us to the town of Jasper, Indiana. We chose Jasper primarily because it was just about the right distance for the day, but also because it looked like it had an interesting downtown area for us to check out.
I was initially attracted by the fact that Jasper has a train station, but we noted that the train station was an anchor for a new mixed-use development called River Centre. A brand new Fairfield Inn sits along the Patoka River and is connected to the Jasper Riverwalk, a 4.5 mile multi-purpose trail that connects several businesses and restaurants, and winds through a scenic section along the river.
Across the river from River Centre and connected by a very nice steel bridge is the historic Jasper City Mill. The current mill building is a replica of a mill that was established on the site in 1817 and was in operation until 1933. Among the customers of the mill is said to have been Thomas Lincoln and his son Abraham Lincoln, who bartered goods for corn meal in 1828.
We got into town late and left early, and it was a Sunday so not too many businesses were open. But we got a good look at the town – enough to determine that it would be worth a re-visit. It is “on the way” to a lot of places we hope to visit, so we will be sure to add Jasper to the itinerary on a future road trip!
Roadside Finds: Casey, Illinois
“Big Things In A Small Town” That is Casey’ Illinois’ claim to fame, and the reason we stopped off on our way home from Wisconsin. Scattered around the downtown area of this town of about 3,000 located just off I-70 between St. Louis and Indianapolis. Casey only has one traffic light, and most everything is walking distance from the center of town.
Casey holds eight Guinness records, including giants such as largest wind chime, golf driver, knitting needles, giant chair, giant mailbox, wooden clogs, rulers and giant bird cage, constructed by businessman Jim Bolin.
We didn’t visit all of the attractions, and unfortunately didn’t try the ice cream 🙁 but we did do a pretty reasonable job of visiting the sights.
Roadside Finds: Dwight, Illinois
For our drive from Wisconsin back to Charlotte, we decided to stick completely to back roads. Taking 2 1/2 days to make a drive that many would make in 1 is just the way we roll. We encountered a number of interesting places along the way, some planned, many unexpected.
Case in point is our stop in Dwight, Illinois. We were attracted to Dwight because of the old Texaco gas station that is associated with Route 66. While at the gas station, I spoke with the docent there who encouraged me to visit some of the other landmarks in town, including the historic railroad depot. Never one to pass up a railroad depot unknowingly, we headed into town.
In addition to the depot, there is a bank building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and a building that once housed an at-that-time famous treatment center for alcoholism. We couldn’t find the windmill or the church immediately and decided to not take more time looking.
Hangin’ In While Hangin’ Out
My grandfather, a wise man who taught me a lot, always said that we should never complain about birthdays or haircuts. He didn’t have much hair, so birthdays were a big deal. 😉 My brother and I have carried on the birthday tradition, although we both have much more hair than he did. 🙂
To steal a statistic from Monte – today is my 22,647th day on this planet.
Celebrating doesn’t have to be a big deal, and this year is no exception. I’m looking forward to a quiet afternoon with family – as quiet as an afternoon with a 4 1/2 year old can be! – and a nice easy dinner of spaghetti and meatballs, takeout from our favorite Italian restaurant. With wine!
Kathy and I have been watching the developments in other parts of our country and can’t help but wonder what the outlook for travel will be over the next few months and longer. We just had a nice road trip to visit a number of our closest friends and family members and are privileged to have our closest family right here in Charlotte with us.
We look forward to our next adventure, but in the meantime we are thankful to have family, friends and memories to carry us through.
