Category Archives: Road Trip

Art, Christianity, History, Jodie Cue, Railroad, Road Trip, Ruins, Teresa

Henry & Jefferson County Aux. – Vol. 2

May 23, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

Time for another collection of images from my road trip to harvest the town signs of Henry and Jefferson County I took with Teresa. The majority of these pictures were taken in Mount Pleasant. We met up with Doug and Jodie for lunch in Mount Pleasant. Afterwards, Doug went back to work and Jodie gave us a tour of Mount Pleasant. This was the highlight of the trip.

New London

Mount Pleasant

The statue of Belle Babb Mansfield is located on the campus of Iowa Wesleyan. That school recently went out of business. Like a couple weeks ago. Which is a shame, because of the rich history of Iowa Wesleyan. It was founded in 1842. The only college in Iowa older than Iowa Wesleyan is Loras College in Dubuque. It is older than the University of Iowa by 5 years. Iowa State University by 16 years. Northern Iowa by 34 years. Drake by 39 years.

Iowa Wesleyan was Iowa’s first co-educational institution. The oldest west of the Mississippi River. Its campus houses the summer of of Abraham Lincoln’s son Robert Todd Lincoln. Notable alumni include Belle Babb Mansfield, Davey Lopes, Dana Holgorsen, James Van Allen and Peggy Whitson.

The school will forfeit on its loan and the campus will become property of the United States Department of Agriculture.

With its closing, Clarke University in Dubuque becomes the 2nd oldest college in Iowa.

Art, Road Trip, Still Life, Street Photography, Teresa

Henry & Jefferson County Aux. – Vol. 1

May 17, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

Way back in August, Teresa joined me on a road trip to harvest the town signs of Henry County and Jefferson County. It was a good trip where met up with Doug and Jodie for lunch. We also saw the campus of the now closed Iowa Wesleyan. However, the first stop on the trip was to one of my favorite places to visit in Iowa, Kalona. When I’m in that part of the state I have to get some cheese curds and some buttermilk cookies. Just thinking about those cookies is making my mouth water.

Here is the first collection of images:

Kalona

Swedesburg

Winfield

Still plenty more pictures from this road trip left to go.

Art, Becca, Birthdays, Christianity, Michelle, Road Trip, Still Life

Muscatine County Aux. – Vol. 5

May 10, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

Since my trip to Chicago I know I have missed celebrating a few birthdays on this website, but the bleeding stops today.

Happy birthday to my awesome sister-in-law and fellow Brandi Carlile fan Becca!

I hope you have a birthday that is as tremendous as you are! Lots of Brandi Carlile music and lots of adventures for you and Jonah!

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Also, happy birthday to my favorite Editor Michelle!

I hope you don’t slave away at the Computer Mine too hard today!

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Today I am sharing the final collection of auxiliary images I took on my trip to Muscatine County to harvest their town signs. Including. Finally. The picture of the dragon that sold me the best watermelon I’ve ever had in my life.

Muscatine

Tasted better than it looks.

This dragon knows its watermelon!

Conesville

I have questions, but every time I ask a Catholic about Catholic things they don’t know anything.

I definitely enjoyed Muscatine County. I might have to make a watermelon run again this year, or commission Micky to bring back a melon. Hashtag watermelonlife!

Next time we hit the open road for auxiliary images from THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT, we will visit Henry County and Jefferson County.

Art, Christianity, History, Road Trip

Muscatine County Aux. – Vol. 4

May 3, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

Time for yet another collection of images from my road trip to Muscatine County to harvest their town signs. At this point on the trip, I had left Wildcat Den State Park and rolled into Muscatine. All of the pictures in this collection were taken in Muscatine.

I once entered a picture of this street sign in the Ogden Fun Days Photo Contest.

There is still one more collection of picture of this road trip left to share. Including finally sharing the picture of the dragon I bought the best watermelon I’ve eaten from. It was almost a mythological experience.

Alexis, Andy, Angie, Bill, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Flowers, Jen, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Lensbaby, Linda, Logan, Macro, Micky, Monica, Nathanial, Road Trip, Sabas, Sara, Sarah Toot, Scottie D., Shannon, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 398 – ROAD TRIP

May 1, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

ROAD TRIP! What a great theme and an even better way to spend a day or two. Nothing calls to me like the open road.
But did it call to many other people? Or did people stay firmly entrenched on their couches? You will have to keep scrolling to find out!

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, April 24, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Heather Courtney – 1 week
2-Scott Degeneffe – 3 weeks
3-Jesse Howard – 3 weeks
4-Alexis Baugher – 3 weeks
5-Mindi Terrell – 9 weeks (3)
6-Suzie Brannen – 14 weeks
7-Monica Jennings – 14 weeks
8-Tamara Peterson – 25 weeks (2)
9-Brandon Kahler – 35 weeks
10-Linda Bennett – 39 weeks (2)
11-Sarah Toot – 40 weeks (2)
12-Angie DeWaard – 44 weeks
13-Dawn Krause – 48 weeks
14-Kim Barker – 53 weeks (2)
15-Joe Duff – 55 weeks (2)
16-Logan Kahler – 56 weeks (2)
17-Teresa Kahler – 66 weeks (2)
18-Carla Stensland – 66 weeks
19-Micky Augustin – 67 weeks
20-Andy Sharp – 69 weeks
21-Bill Wentworth – 70 weeks
22-Cathie Morton – 74 weeks
23-Elizabeth Nordeen – 75 weeks
24-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 76 weeks (2)
25-Kio Dettman – 79 weeks (2)

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates or streaks. You came to see the submissions and what streaks continued and what streaks flamed out:

Nathanial Brown (Iowa) – 1 week

Jen Ensley-Gorshe (Iowa) – 1 week

Sabas Hernandez (Iowa) – 1 week

Sara Lockner (Iowa) – 1 week

Willy McAlpine (Iowa) – 1 week

Mike Parmelee (Arkansas) – 1 week

Mike Vest (Iowa) – 1 week

Alexis Baugher (Iowa) – 4 weeks

Alexis Baugher (Iowa)

Scott Degeneffe (Iowa) – 4 weeks

Scott Degeneffe (Iowa)

Jesse Howard (Iowa) – 4 weeks

Jesse Howard (Iowa)

Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 10 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa)

Monica Jennings (Iowa) – 15 weeks

Monica Jennings (Iowa)

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 26 weeks

Brandon Kahler (Iowa) – 36 weeks

Brandon Kahler (Iowa)

Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 40 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas)

Sarah Toot (New Jersey) – 41 weeks

Sarah Toot (New Jersey)

Angie DeWaard (Mexico) – 45 weeks

Angie DeWaard (Mexico)

Dawn Krause (Iowa) – 49 weeks

Dawn Krause (Iowa)

Kim Barker (Iowa) – 54 weeks

Joe Duff (Texas) – 56 weeks

Logan Kahler (Iowa) – 57 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa) – 67 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa)

Carla Stensland (Iowa) – 67 weeks

Carla Stensland (Iowa)

Carla Stensland

Micky Augustin (Iowa) – 68 weeks

Andy Sharp (Iowa) – 70 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Nebraska) – 71 weeks

Cathie Morton (Illinois) – 75 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 76 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa)

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Iowa) – 77 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa) – 80 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa)

Christopher D. Bennett (Iowa) – 502 weeks

31 participants! That is a great week! I believe it ties the high for this calendar year. Strange that more people love the open road than love their friends, but maybe it isn’t so strange.

There were submissions this week taken in the following places:

+ Arkansas
+ Illinois
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Mexico
+ Nebraska
+ New Jersey
+ Texas

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

+ Arizona
+ Arkansas
+ California
+ Colorado
+ Florida
+ Georgia
+ Illinois
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Nebraska
+ New Jersey
+ New York
+ Nevada
+ Michigan
+ Minnesota
+ Missouri
+ North Dakota
+ Oklahoma
+ Pennsylvania
+ South Dakota
+ Texas
+ Utah
+ Washington D.C.
+ Wisconsin
+ Wyoming

24 states and 1 district! That is pretty impressive!

The Outside of the United States map is currently:

+ British Virgin Islands
+ Mexico
+ Nassau Bahamas
+ Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Thanks to Angie’s vacation, Mexico has been added to the list of international places!

I took my picture 87 miles from my front door. So Angie isn’t the only world traveler.

The big accomplishments this week… Mindi joined the Double Digits Club! WooHoo! Tamara joined the Half Year Club! WooHoo! Mike Parmelee had his first submission of the year! WooHoo! I finally got Alexis’ last name right! WooHoo !

But it wasn’t all unicorns and double rainbows. Heather wasn’t able to build her submission from last week into a streak. And most tragically, Suzie’s 14 week streak is a goner. ROAD TRIPs are her Waterloo.

But enough dwelling on the past. Time to look to the future. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future! This week’s theme:

SCHOOL

IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

Let me tell you about IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY!

Iowa State University (ISU) is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1858 as Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, and it became the first land-grant institution in the United States in 1862, thanks to the Morrill Act.

Today, ISU is a comprehensive university with more than 35,000 students and offers over 100 undergraduate majors, 112 master’s degree programs, and 83 doctoral degree programs. The university is organized into eight colleges: Agriculture and Life Sciences, Business, Design, Engineering, Human Sciences, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Veterinary Medicine, and Graduate.

ISU is known for its strong programs in agriculture, engineering, and science, and it has a reputation for being one of the top public universities in the United States. The university is home to several research centers and institutes, including the Bioeconomy Institute, the Ames Laboratory, and the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center for Biorenewable Chemicals (CBiRC).

The university’s mascot is Cy the Cardinal, and the school colors are cardinal and gold. The Cyclones, ISU’s athletic teams, compete in the Big 12 Conference and they completely dominated the Cy-Hawk Series with Iowa Hawkeyes this year.

Overall, Iowa State University is a well-respected and prestigious institution of higher education, offering a wide range of programs and opportunities for students to excel both academically and professionally.

Wait. Wait. Sorry. I’ve just been told that there are more SCHOOL(s) in the world than just Iowa State. I’m not entirely sure why. But I guess you can take a picture of some other stupid school nobody cares about.

SCHOOL! So what in the Terrence Allen is a SCHOOL picture? Simply put it is any image that involves SCHOOL. From a building to a playground to schoolbooks (before they all get banned) to report cards to teachers to really anything related to a SCHOOL. There are all types of different SCHOOL(s). Pre, secondary, high, middle, junior, dance, Sunday, vocational, technical, and even sometimes I take people to SCHOOL on the basketball court. It does NOT have to be Iowa State, but I mean, why would you take a picture of some lesser school? But you do you bro.

While considering how you are going to incorporate Iowa State into your SCHOOL picture, mediate on the following quote and I have no doubt you will come up with a great picture:

Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world.
– Malala Yousafzai

I look forward to seeing your interpretation.

RULES

The picture has to be taken between 12:01 PM today and 11 AM next Monday. This isn’t a curate your photos project. This is a get your butt off the couch (unless you are taking your picture from the couch) and take pictures challenge. There is a limit of 3 submissions per participant. To be considered the photographer, you have to be the one that takes the picture. Don’t be stealing the work of other artists. You can submit pictures for other photographers that took pictures with your camera or phone, but give credit where credit is due.

You can send your images to either bennett@photography139.com OR you may text them to my Pixel 5.

That is it. Thems the rules!

That is all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing your idea of SCHOOL in this place that I like to think has a bit of educational value next Monday.

Night, Road Trip, Street Photography, Travel, Work, WPC - Reminder

Viva Las Vegas Day 5B

April 28, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Despite the constant rain storm, I hung out by the Bellagio Fountains waiting for the show. While I was soaked, oh well, it gave me a feeling of solitude that I didn’t get very much in Las Vegas. No matter where you go, there are people everywhere. Tony is a fantastic roomie and I have zero complaints about him. But even in the room you don’t get much alone time. Besides, why would you want to hang out in your room when there is so much to see and experience in Las Vegas. I don’t think I ever made it more than 6 blocks from Planet Hollywood and I still know I missed a million street photography opportunities.

What I’m trying to say is that I was pretty much the only person to watch the Bellagio Fountain Show. At least from the sidewalk of Las Vegas Boulevard. It was like my own personal show. I’m not going to hate on that.

Here are some pictures of the fountain:

I still have one last collection of pictures from Las Vegas to share and then we can move on to my trip to Chicago. Probably.

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This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is ROAD TRIP.

ROAD TRIP

ROAD TRIP! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE! This is one of my favorite themes for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. It isn’t just because I am one of the few universally recognized Masters of the Road Trip. Okay, maybe it is.

But what in the Sam Hill is a ROAD TRIP photo? Simply put, it is a picture that is taken on a ROAD TRIP or in preparation for a ROAD TRIP. It doesn’t have to be a picture of a road or a car or a map or snacks. I LOVE a good ROAD TRIP snack. For example, if you are taking a ROAD TRIP to Pella to do a little flowertography this weekend, then a picture of anything you encounter on that ROAD TRIP is fair game. It doesn’t have to be a grand ROAD TRIP. You don’t have to leave the state on this trip. And judging by where many of my submissions come from, many of you haven’t left the state since Theresa Becker was the Iowa State women’s basketball coach*.

Happy photo harvesting!

*If you don’t get the reference, are we even friends?

Art, Black & White, History, Nature, Road Trip, Street Photography

Muscatine County Aux. – Vol. 3

April 26, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

Time for yet another collection of images from Muscatine County. One of my favorite counties that I visited. At least that wasn’t in the Loess Hills or the Driftless Area. Definitely Top 5. No lower than Top 10. This is not the collection that will show the dragon I bought the best watermelons of my life. However, there is pictures of Wildcat Den State Park that has a mill that I think is one of the most photographed tableaus in the state of Iowa. Plus an Old Stone Church that is set in a breathtaking rural Iowa vista.

Wilton

Walcott – Based on Balmoral Castle

Buffalo – Scott County

Old Stone Church

Methodists!

The only thing I hate more than bigotry is power lines.

Wildcat Den State Park

There are plenty more pictures to share from this road trip. We haven’t even made it to Muscatine yet!!

Art, Drone, Nader, Road Trip

Rodan 139: The Gorge

April 25, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

While I was in Dysart with Nader, I also took Rodan139 up to photograph their most famous illusion The Gorge. It needs to be painted, but it still gets the job done. It is an indication of how small of a town that Dysart is that there biggest tourist draw is painted right now their main street. It even includes a spot that tells you to “Stand Here” that is right in the middle of the street.

Here are some pictures from the sky:

The next time we take Rodan139 up to the friendly skies, it will involve Teresa’s back yard.

Road Trip, WPC - Reminder

Week 398 – Reveal

April 24, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

If things have worked out correctly, I’m currently in Chicago working for the Man, helping the Computer Mine sell its myriad of mining products at a convention aimed at our exact clientele. Which mean, I’m nowhere near a computer… Okay I’m probably surrounded by computers, but I still can’t stop and put together a blog that reveals the many stunning and no doubt heartwarming FRIENDS pictures that are waiting for me in my email inbox or on my Pixel 5. In fact, I won’t be able put together something like that until I close down this convention, board an airplane, fly back to the Cyclone State, get off the airplane, get back to my car that hopefully isn’t parked in the Gray Lot… again, maneuvered through the constant construction on Fleur, taken a left and made my customary trip through the Ted’s Coney Island drive-thru, maybe stopped at Jester Park to eat such a delicious meal, waved at the buffalo and elk, drove the rest of the way back to Boone, parked my car, greeted Naima, texted all the people that care if I made it home from Chicago alive that I made it home safely (both of them), taken her for a car ride and weather permitting, a walk around Dickcissel Park, drove back home, unpacked my suitcase, maybe started a load of laundry, sat on the couch, watched an episode of whatever show I’m currently binging, and taken a nap. Maybe.

After that, I will get off the couch, roll into my home office, fire up PHOTOTRON, start downloading the submissions, renaming the submissions, upload them to the internet, categorize and label them in the gallery, open up the STREAKS document that is saved on my Google Drive, login to photography139.com backend, go to Posts, add a new post, and start coding this entry, copy and paste the things that are in the post every week (the reference to GONE WITH THE WIND, the quote from PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, the reference to Hank Williams Sr.), verify if any new states were added to the map, see if anybody reached any new milestones, mourn the end of any streaks, check all the proper categories, make sure the post is Featured, and then click on Publish.

At that point, WordPress will fire up the plugin MailPoet, MailPoet will access the subscriber list and then fire off emails to the inbox (and quite honestly the SPAM and promotional and junk folders) of all the current subscribers. At which point all the subscribers should see an email to open up and enjoy all the wonderful and heartwarming FRIENDS pictures that were no doubt submitted.

But when will all this happen? Either sometime Tomorrow night or the day after.

However, just because I’m in Chicago working like a dog, that doesn’t mean you have to wait to see the FRIENDS pictures to start on this week’s submissions. No, in fact you can start on it the moment after you finish reading this post.

The theme for this week is:

ROAD TRIP

Sorry got sidetracked. Your ROAD TRIP could be a jaunt around the block or down to the grocery store. I don’t judge. Or it could just be a picture of preparations for a ROAD TRIP to PELLA to do some flowertography.

While considering possible subjects for your ROAD TRIP submission, meditate on the following quote and I have no doubt that you will come up with an amazing idea:

All he needed was a wheel in his hand and four on the road.
-Jack Kerouac

I look forward to seeing your interpretation.

RULES

You can send your images to either bennett@photography139.com OR you may text them to my Pixel 5.

That is it. Thems the rules!

That is all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing your idea of ROAD TRIP in this place that is more of a journey than a destination next Monday.

Art, Road Trip, Ruins, Still Life, Street Photography

Muscatine County Aux. – Vol. 2

April 19, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

Time to share another collection of images from my road trip to Muscatine County to harvest their town signs back in July of last year. Most of these are taken in Wilton. Wilton, Iowa. Home of many of my worst road trip failures. I’m talking about you Wilton Candy Kitchen and the fact that you are never open. However, if I make it bake to Wilton again, it will be all about Arty’s.