Category Archives: On the Road

Right place, right time

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I visited Yellowstone earlier this year, and it was simply the perfect time to do so. I got this amazing shot thanks to two people: a friend who pastors a church in Cody, who told me of the vantage point far away from where all the congestion of the usual tourists, and my wife, who dialed in the best location with regard to the trees in the foreground.

When I say it was the perfect time to visit Yellowstone, I wasn’t kidding. While Yellowstone is normally intolerable because of the sheer number of people everywhere, this time was the complete opposite. There was hardly anyone there.

This is the parking lot at Old Faithful. It’s statistically empty by normal standards. We walked right up to the geyser, stood front and center while it did its thing, and hopped back into the car…all in a matter of minutes.

I hadn’t expected to even get a vacation this year, but thankfully it worked out. I’d booked everything in advance and planned it since 2019, so any cancellation would have been an enormous disappointment. But I was able to squeak it in – important items at work which I simply couldn’t work around were cancelled or moved, my schedule opened up for the entire ten days, and my boss gave his blessing. So my family and I got to enjoy some much needed rest!

Naturally I have a ton of photos from this trip, but now I’m too busy again. So it’ll be a while till I post them.

Happy to be a barn

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I spotted this cheerful red barn on a trip southwest of town. It brought a smile to my face, even as I caught a fleeting glimpse through a row of trees and made haste to turn around for a quick photo.

The shape of the face reminded me of one of my favorite children’s books: The Little Red Caboose, which was a Little Golden Book:

The idea of a building with a smile, however, reminded me of another favorite from my childhood: The Little House, by Virginia Lee Burton:

Either way, I’m glad I spotted this, and I’m glad someone took the time to add a friendly smile to their barn for passers-by to enjoy.

Nestled in plain sight

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After several grueling months, I did something I haven’t done in a long, long time: take a vacation. Along the way, I spotted this wonderful old barn along the highway. I couldn’t help myself: I had to pull off to the side of the road and snap a few shots. What a great start to what has been a fantastic vacation.

Hard core

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I spotted this core along Highway 36 a while back. There were actually a couple of them, along with the tracks of the ice fishermen who made them. They looked pretty cool when backlit with the afternoon sun. This one was better than the other, so I decided to give it star treatment.

Off the rails

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I spotted this old dining car on a rainy September morning as I was on my way to the south central part of the state. I simply had to jam on the brakes, spin around, and come back for a photo.

Old rail cars are really cool when repurposed. There’s one in town that’s been converted into an office suite. Do you know where it is?

Rain at the Row

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I was on my way to a pair of elusive photo destinations I’ve been trying to reach forever, and figured I had a couple of minutes to veer over to Thresher’s Row. I haven’t been there for a while, so I figured it was time.

What was nice about this particular time was the color in the grass, and the wispy rain in the background.

I took advantage of a break in the rain and flew for some video and airborne stills briefly, getting back on the ground just in time before the rain resumed. Then it was time to move on to an even bigger adventure.

When the elevator tries to bring you down…

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I just heard Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” before choosing this elevator photo for today’s post. It’s one of two near Danzig, North Dakota. My wife and I were on a photo trip, and I’d been talking about small towns and elevators and train tracks, what happens when the trains stop coming, and that sort of thing. It’s sad to think of towns that have declined over the years, but if I start to become too wistful about the idea I can cheer up with a nice photo.

Mercury on a hill

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If you travel down I-94 past the exits to Hebron, and are looking circumspectly instead of daydreaming or cautiously eyeing your phone, you might notice this car perched atop a hill north of the highway. It’s somewhat distant, but easy to pick out once you’ve noticed it before. Ever the curious type, I had to investigate.

There she is, a 1958 or 1959 Mercury Monterey. It’s a unique looking car, and I’m sure there’s a unique explanation for how it got up here.

I must admit I’m not into old cars much at all; however, when they’re as photogenic as this one, I’ll definitely take my time appreciating them. I’d flown up here just as the sky was getting some nice color.

Then, as it does nightly, the sun darted over the horizon. Well, it was cool while it lasted. Something tells me that this Mercury isn’t going anywhere, at least not any time soon. Meanwhile it has a fantastic view of the valley below.

11 years before the Enchanted Highway? Geese in Flight

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Articles like the one pictured above have indicated a resolution over whether or not a giant metalwork along I-94, erected in 2001, can stand and be accessible to the public. I had to include a screenshot of the article above because it pictures the atrocious misspelling of the words “temporarily” or “enchanted” – the latter being an especially important word in this case. I make my share of typographical errors as well, probably even within this post, and usually while pointing out someone else’s typos. But I feel compelled to point out that “enchanted” might be one of two words they’d really want to get right.

An astute person commenting on Facebook pointed out that an ornament like this actually appeared in the 1990 film Edward Scissorhands, so I had to look back in my collection to be sure. Yep…there it is. That made me even more curious, so I had to hit “the Google” for a minute.

A quick search for “geese sunburst wall ornament” produced a ton of results. That was a surprise. Apparently this design has been out there in various forms for a long, long time in a surprising number of permutations.

I’m not going to accuse “Geese in Flight” of being an act of plagiarism; more likely it may be an homage to such ornaments, which have apparently graced many a living room over the years. Personally, I think it’s an eyesore…but I’ve always been under the impression that it’s an original eyesore. Apparently not, since it’s been gracing living rooms since the twentieth century. One learns something new every day!