We had a great evening, it was both my wife and son's first time. Unfortunately rude people go to drive ins too. Guy next to us throwing lit cigarette butts all over and constantly in and out of vehicle for some reason which caused his obnoxious break and running lights to come on. Still it was a fun and made me wish we had one near us.

I used to love going to the drive-ins on dates. Once in awhile we even watched a little bit of the movies...:cool:

I know I am way behind on posting have not had good wifi until now. I can usually use my data to post well enough to FB but it bogs down on here for some reason. Anyway if anyone is interested in viewing my FB let me know I would be happy to friend you. I do not use it much but for the vacation I am posting a lot of pics there too.


But for now here are some pictures of our visit with my daughter in Springfield , MO. We went to the large Bass pro shop here and then went for a hike at a place called Watershed.







World's biggest fork




Hydrate!!!




Break time



Big Gar




Bridge over the pond/lake.



Bass Pro Shop

This place was crazy big, couldn't even finish seeing it all.

Americana at it's best.

Very cool place.

Where was this picture taken?

This was in Eldon Iowa, the actual place where the house in the painting is located. The house in this picture is the same one. It is a really cool place and there is a small museum there that has a lot of history on the town and the artist Grant Wood.

It is really off the beaten path so to speak and we did not even know it was so close to where we are currently staying until we looked up things near us to do.

Re: Road Trip Pics and Blog
 

@7thson, did you know that the original characters in Wood’s American Gothic were his sister & his dentist?

Re: Road Trip Pics and Blog
 

I'm sure he does, especially since he was there and they posed as them.

They mentioned that in the museum, and had a very large portrait of the two of them standing next to the original. Also some news clippings, as his sister occasionally comes back to the area for anniversaries of the portrait and still refuses to smile, much to the delight of the locals, who call her 'Dour Nan'.

Pretty sure I need a recap of our latest adventures, things are starting to blur together when i try to access my brain's memory files. :).

So a quick rundown of our recent stops:

Sevierville, TN

We stayed in a cabin, also celebrated my birthday there. Visited wax museum and ran from zombies in a zombie run exhibit. Got lost multiple times in the mountains, went white water rafting on Pigeon River. Ate at Alamo Steak house.












Grand Rivers, KY.

Stayed at a bed and breakfast for 3 days, it was called Rose of the Lake. Went to a planetarium, Dev fed a wild raccoon, saw some buffalo on a reserve. Went to Calvert drive in movie theater and saw Toy Story 4, they had really good burgers. Visited a really cool roadside attraction called Apple Valley Hillbilly Garden and Toyland, it was creepy and quite amazing all at once.





Springfield, MO.

Stayed with my daughter and grand kids for 3 days. Had Hibachi with the family, visited the large Bass pro shop they had there. Went for a hike at the Watershed with the family as well. It was great hanging out, it has been awhile since we last saw them all.

St Joseph, MO

Stopped at the Glore Psychiatric Museum on the way to Iowa. It as a very interesting and disturbing place, I enjoyed it a lot.

Bentonsport, IA.

Stayed 2 days at a haunted B&B. We stayed in the "general store" room which used to be an old store and it had some original decorations in it - very cool. Nothing scary happened but the view on the Des Moines River was beautiful. A very friendly cat kept sneaking into our room. Saw the actual spot the American Gothic painting was created and did a recreation of it.

Spring Green, Wi. This is where we are now. Went to the House on the Rock today. Damn cool place. spent all day exploring it and seeing some amazing and crazy things. Never even heard of this place until we were looking for a place to stay on our way to Minnesota.
Ate at a little place called Rock 'N Roll Drive in, great diner food and atmosphere.

Tomorrow we head out towards MN, but we have three days to get there and our just winging it for places to go on the way.


Got lots more pics to post too, will try to get them up soon.

Yikes. I would never go near a raccoon. Nice creatures, but it could have been rabid.

I said same thing lol, but she also follows bear cubs.

I thought I was the only one who had a house that looked like this. :lol:

It reminded me of my bedroom when I was 10, but on a much larger scale.

Now give someone like this millions of dollars and you have The House on the Rock in WI.



Full sized giant whale eating a rowboat and being attacked by giant octopus.



Awesome room that hangs way out over cliffside, it is counterbalanced and has no actual support at the end. You can feel it wobble slightly as you walk out



Awesome indoor carousel.



A chandelier made of hundres of chandeliers.


So much more to this place, it was whimsical, crazy, creepy, and hella fun.

Made our way to Baudette MN. today. Taking a boat in the morning to go spend 3 days in a lodge on an island in Lake Superior. On the way we stopped at the location of the origin of the Mississippi river. Such a small width, we all walked across the Mississippi river :).

Made it to the northernmost point in the U.S. today. We only have the western point left to hit all 4.

Spent a couple days camping at Custer st Park in S.D.

Froze my butt off at night but stiil a great time. Saw tons of wildlife and cooked up the rest of the fish we caught in Minnesotaand Canada.










.



__________

Just made it to Deadwood, here for a couple of days.

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Great pics. I need to get to House on the Rock someday

Please tell me your wife didn’t try to feed this bear. :)

No, but she wanted to try and get a piece of fur...

Was at Devil's Tower the other day, now I need to watch Close Encounters.

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Ah, shame I'm just seeing this thread now as I might have met up with you in Niagara Falls. It's about a 40 minute drive for me and have gone up twice this summer. Granted, you'd have to come over to the better side. :p

More Devil's Tower pics. I couldnt get enough of this place, wish we had planned more time there but I am very glad we were able to see it. Mashed potatoes were never the same (they were better) after seeing it the first time on film.

For all you Twilight fans.

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I was in Forks in May. I loved Washington.

Currently we are in Tombstone, AZ and will be here until Friday. It is a lot of fun here and we watched the Tombstone movie last night for posterity sake. It is cool to see the landmarks in person and compare them to the film set. I do need to catch up (again) on some older stuff though.

Here are some pictures from the Redwoods:



Roasting marshmallows in fire pit



Our YURT, was really fun and comfortable.











Amazing "cathedral" of tress near our YURT, so many stunning areas around us there.







This is one of the spots you can drive a vehicle through. Our van has storage container on top of it so it was too tall to drive though so we walked it :).


The Redwoods was one of my favorite places to visit on our trip so far. I definitely want to return again and do some more exploring and hiking. I think it would be neat to camp out there for a few days in a regular tent or even under the stars.

A map of our trip from start to finish. Everything up to tombstone is correct, after that we may deviate a little, but pretty much this is our course. This puts us home on or around October 17th. If you look at the picture it shows the total miles. It does not take into account local driving. We drove over 200 miles around Yellowstone alone. I figure when all is said and done we will be at around 20,000 miles. I have my "trip" odometer keeping track as well so we will see how it all plays out. Still a lot to see, about a month left, it has been a wild ride thus far and I hope to get some more pics and info on our stops up when I can.

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@7thson, everything ok? Haven’t heard from you for 3 weeks.

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He's been posting in other threads. My guess is not traveling at the moment?

I should have checked other threads 1st.

Sorry guys my laptop bit the dust and very difficult to post pics and large dialog here on my phone. I have posted a few things on my FB page for those I am friends with on there.

We actually just got home about 4 days ago, we cut the last week of the trip short because we are proud new grandparents and we wanted to be home to welcome him into the world. I promise to get some pics and catch up on the whole trip. A lot of interesting things to share. thanks for checking.

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Sorry to hear about the laptop, but glad to hear things have gone well.

This is very much one of those "I'd love to do that someday..." things that almost everybody has on their list, but you actually did it! So cool.

Thanks, I think the laptop was victim to a windows upgrade it didn't like. Probably just going to wipe it after I save some data off of it.

Yeah the trip was quite amazing and something I will always remember, I would highly recommend doing it to anyone thinking about it, but putting it off. I have done so much traveling in my life and many of the places we visited I have been to before, but the difference is that before it was for work or relocating, this time I got to stop and enjoy what each place had to offer. This is an amazing country we live in (us Americans) and the cultures, history and people are insanely varied and wonderful to experience. I honestly did not see much of the division that we see on the news. I am not saying it isn't there, but I do not think it is the norm in most places. Just don't talk about politics and everything runs smooth. ;)

In no particular order - here are some pics from our trip:

At the Grand Canyon



We did not even know it was the Canyon's 100th anniversary. That is Damian being Damian.



Obligatory selfie, I refused to stand at the edge, yeah wuss I know, but I will not be a stat on dumb ways to die, js.



Where we started our day at the canyon. No idea who the two guys are, but they never moved so they made it into my pic.




One of the many views of the canyon



We stayed in a really old 50's themed air-stream during our visit. It was fun and the sunsets were awesome, but I am cool with not staying in one of these sardine cans again. Not the best for larger people.



One of the aforementioned sunsets.


My take on the Grand Canyon:

The good

First of all, it had some of the most amazing views I have ever seen. Definitely breathtaking and it made me feel small in the big scheme of things. Some of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever witnesses. We did the southern rim so I cannot say what the northern side had to offer but I have heard the views on the south side are better, however I have no first hand knowledge of this. I imagine the views are spectacular at any point where one can over look the bottom or the edge. The nighttime sky was full of so many stars you could sit outside for hours and just gaze. If you like hiking this has got to be one of the best places on Earth to explore. We hiked quite a bit and loved the free buses that took you to different areas along a set route. They come often so you are never waiting very long. Some were overly crowded, but with the short wait it wasn't that big of a deal.


The bad and the ugly:

We did not hike down or take donkeys to the bottom. The donkeys had a weight limit and even though there were a couple places that had larger mules that we probably could have rode we decided against it due to the very high prices. I do not remember how much it would have been, but it was ore than we were willing to pay. If we had more time there we would have probably hiked down and camped at the bottom. It is on my future things to do list. The worst part of visiting the Grand Canyon was the other tourists and some of the customer service reps in the local shops. One of the bus drivers was pretty rude to someone that spoke broken English. She asked if the bus was going to a certain point and he told her to read the sign on the front of the bus. His exact words after she asked were: "What does it say on the front of the bus?" She did not even get on even though I think it was the bus she needed. I would have helped her if I had the opportunity but she left too quickly and I was a few seats back.

The one or two times that a bus was very crowded (we rode the buses probably around a dozen times overall) there were people that sat on an aisle seat and did not move to allow someone else to sit down. Even if someone asked them to move. This happened a few times and not sure why, it was not a language barrier, from what I could tell, and even then it was obvious that people wanted to sit instead of stand. The rides were not long thank god, but they could be a little bumpy making it difficult to stand.

The prices - One expects high prices at big tourist areas, but many things were just over the top and felt like price gouging.

Overall:
We loved it and plan to visit again. We loved the place and did not care for many of the rude people, but there were nice people too. We meet a few others and made small talk and shared travelling stories, it was a lot of fun.

Basic Info:
The Grand Canyon is one of those places that you can visit for one day or for a week and still enjoy it either way. They even have a half day route. We only did one day at the actual Park and spent the other day exploring the surrounding desert where we stayed in the air-stream. It was about a 30 to 45 minute drive away from the park, but the prices were about half the amount and the privacy was wonderful.

It was one of the more expensive parks to visit at $35 a vehicle. Fortunately I have the access pass so national parks are free for us, but it is one thing to take into account.





Just a taste for now, but I wanted to start posting again about the trip.

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“Donkeys to the bottom”. Hope they were treated well. So many horror stories around the world of donkeys being worked to death, poor things.

It's cool that you were there for their 100th Anniversary. Were they doing anything special for their 100th Anniversary celebration?


I don't think refusing to stand at the edge makes you a wuss. I think it shows you're an intelligent person. I've read that 2 or 3 people die every year from falling off the edge at the Grand Canyon, sometimes because they just wanted to take a selfie picture.



Did you ask them to move so you could take the picture?



This looks pretty cool, but also kind of claustrophobic. It might be nice to visit for a little while, but it doesn't look big enough to stay there for any length of time.



Those pictures of the Grand Canyon are beautiful. I've always wanted to visit the Grand Canyon, but I have a terrible fear of heights, so I'll probably never go there. I'll just have to appreciate its beauty in the pictures.

BTW, what's an access pass?

They had some special tours I think and a bunch of decorations. other than that I did not see much, but we did not ask.

I did not ask the guys to move for the picture, they were intently discussing something and I could see the map anyway so no biggie, just didn't want anyone to think they were with us or family or anything.

An access pass is for disabled VETS, but if you are going to visit multiple national parks you can purchase a pass as well and save money. There are quite a few out that way.

Here are a few more pics:



The Airstream we stayed in, the yurt in the background was already reserved or we would have stayed there.







The one where my wife is near the edge is not as dangerous as it looks, there is a large ledge about 6 feet down, but still nope for me.

Unfortunately, I don't think there are many national parks in my area, so it probably wouldn't be worth it for me to buy an access pass unless I ever get a chance to take a trip like you guys took. (That would be awesome, but it's not likely.)


An Airstream is like a trailer? I didn't know what it was when you mentioned it, but thought it was like a B&B.

What's a yurt? That white tent in the grassy area in the background?


Those pictures are beautiful, but your wife is still too close to the edge for my comfort. :eek:

An Airstream (made in America) is a luxury trailer. Never stepped foot in one, but I’ve seen them parked & they’re beautiful IMO.

A yurt is a portable tent used by nomads. (In Mongolia, e.g.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airstream

His wife feeds bear cubs (even if the mother is around). Or she goes near them, at least. Can’t remember. She did a lot of things on their trip that I’d be too scared to do.

At Shakespeare - a ghost town in New Mexico.






Off the beaten path. It took us a few times to find the turn off for the ghost town, but we finally found it.




This is the first building you see when you get there. The only way to see the town is with a private tour, but someone seems to be there most of the time, you just have to call the posted number and they will come out to greet you and let you in. It is pretty inexpensive as well, I think we paid like $15 all together for the 3 of us.

This building was actually moved as a whole from a neighboring town from quite awhile back. It was moved there because it was scheduled to be demolished and they saved it and moved it to Shakespeare.



Dining room of a business there. Doc holiday worked a short time there at some point as a server/dishwasher.



This was an old post office. It was too small as the town grew and became a place where different people would stay when they got there until they settled in permanently. Supposedly a union soldier was tortured here and if you visit at night you can hear his screams. The tour guide said he has never heard them but the owners told him that they have.




So they used to hang criminals in the dining area of a saloon there. I was told it did not happen often, but there was no jail and no law so they kind of took care of their own so to speak.




The blacksmith area. This was my favorite building. So many authentic tools from that era. The owners are wanting to fix it up so it is operational and they can have an actual blacksmith showing how things were done. I guess at one point years ago they had one there. The original owner recently passed away and it is now being ran by his daughter and her husband. They seem to be struggling and I wish then the best.


The good:

Very authentic and not touristy at all. When we went the tour before us had just ended and we were the only ones on our tour so it was very cool. The tour guide was the husband of the new owner and he was very knowledgeable and attentive. He did not rush us and he was very patient with our son's millions of questions. This place has a lot of potential if they can get it up and going. We had a lot of fun here.

The bad and the ugly:

It is quite run down, not in a cool authentic way. Many of the buildings were just not safe to go into and needed some restoration. It is a part of the historical society so in order to restore it they have to build/repair it like they would have done in the past which takes a lot of work. A little difficult to find and if you do not have a 4 wheel drive it can be a little tough, but we managed.

The price was definitely worth everything we did.

Overall:

We loved it and if you are ever near this area of New Mexico and if you like ghost towns this is a really neat place. So much history there and the sacrifices that were made by any over the years to keep the town going are amazing.

Basic Info:
Check out their website if you just want to read about the history of the place and how they are progressing with restoration. they also have a FB page which has a lot of cool info and updates.

I was told a documentary on Doc Holiday was done here, anyone know the name of it? I failed to ask.


https://www.facebook.com/groups/ShakespeareGhostTown/

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⬆️ Strange that the town was given the name of Shakespeare. Wonder who dreamed up this?

Yeah that is a cool part of the history there.

From Wikipedia:

Founded as a rest stop called Mexican Springs along a stagecoach route, it was renamed Grant after the Civil War, after General U. S. Grant. When silver was discovered nearby it became a mining town called Ralston City, named after financier William Chapman Ralston. It was finally renamed Shakespeare, and was abandoned when the mines closed in 1929.

We were told that due to a fake gold rush that the place got bad rep and the new name was because of the popularity of the playwright .

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⬆️ Cheers