Category Archives: Road Trip

Camping World Bowl Road Trip Days 1 & 2

How many weeks of lockdown it has been has me really thinking about vacation. I have a ton of places I want to go, but I know none of them are smart. Instead, I’ve started curating the pictures from the Camping World Bowl Road Trip. Spoiler: there isn’t many of them.

The Camping World Bowl is in Orlando. Which is a forever drive from Iowa. But regardless of this fact, Jesse, Jorge, Randi, and I loaded up into a rented Cadillac and left for Orlando the day after Christmas.

On the first two days I took hardly any pictures because there it is a long, long drive. We stopped only for gas and food before we hit Kutatwa, Kentucky for the night.

Ernie hooked us up with a hotel room there and we met up with him for supper.

Here are the Day 1 pictures:


Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 1

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 1

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 1
Great sign. Smoking shouldn’t be allowed within 15 feet of anywhere!

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 1
Where we supped.

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 1
Ribs!

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 1

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 1

Day 2 was a ton more driving. From Kentucky to Tennessee to Georgia back to Tennessee back to Georgia and finally to Florida.

Here are some pictures from Day 2:


Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 2
Free continental breakfast, but the punishment is you have to listen to the morons from Fox & Friends

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 2
Day 1 Home

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 2
Gas Station in Georgia

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 2
My first ever trip to a Zaxby’s.

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 2

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 2
2 happy Zaxby’s customers.

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 2

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 2
Stopping in Florida for gas.

We got to our hotel in Orlando pretty late, plus we lost an hour with the time change. I was ready for sleep that night. Ready for the Camping World Bowl the next day.

2009-09-09

The pictures in the folder 2009-09-09 are from two road trips I took back in 2009. One was a trip with my Mom, Grandma, and Teresa to Kalona. Kalona has always been one of my favorite places to visit. It has been too long since I have been there, that is for sure.

The second road trip was one I took with Jay and Jesse to visit Faust up in Mankato. It also has been too long since I have visited Faust. I don’t lack proper motivation. Mankato has a sweet Godzilla statue that I still haven’t seen.

Here are some pictures from those road trips:


Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Kalona Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

Mankato Road Trip - 2009

By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entries to their original glory:

Vacation Stuff – One

Vacation Stuff – Two

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve some family photos I did for Jim’s lady friend Pam.

Birthday Road Trip – Pixel 2 Pics

This is the last collection of pictures from my Birthday Road Trip. This collection is the collection of cruddy cell phone pictures I took with the trusty Pixel 2. A phone that is almost paid for, so it will surely die very soon.


Birthday Road Trip - Cruddy Cell Phone Pictures

Birthday Road Trip - Cruddy Cell Phone Pictures

Birthday Road Trip - Cruddy Cell Phone Pictures

Birthday Road Trip - Cruddy Cell Phone Pictures

Birthday Road Trip - Cruddy Cell Phone Pictures

Birthday Road Trip - Cruddy Cell Phone Pictures

Birthday Road Trip - Cruddy Cell Phone Pictures

Birthday Road Trip - Cruddy Cell Phone Pictures

Birthday Road Trip - Cruddy Cell Phone Pictures

Birthday Road Trip - Cruddy Cell Phone Pictures

Birthday Road Trip - Cruddy Cell Phone Pictures

Birthday Road Trip - Cruddy Cell Phone Pictures

Birthday Road Trip - Cruddy Cell Phone Pictures

Birthday Road Trip - Cruddy Cell Phone Pictures

We lunched at Mabe’s Pizza. It was okay, but certainly wasn’t great. Somebody with a less refined pizza palette probably would have been bonkers for it though.

Now I should start planning in earnest for this year’s birthday road trip. Less than 3 months to go!

Birthday Road Trip – Misc.

Hey! Guess what? One week from today is Ash Wednesday! Do you know what that means? It means that it is another chance to come support the Youth Group’s Mission Trip to Indianapolis!

We will be holding a Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser from 6-7 PM at the Boone First United Methodist Church. You can come down there and slop down some delicious spaghetti for whatever price you deem acceptable. Just throw some of your spare scratch in the donation basket and knock down as much spaghetti as your heart can take. Some garlic bread too!



All the information you need is right there. Hope to see many of you there!

+++++++

This is the second to last collection of images from my Birthday Road Trip. This is a collection of some random stops and places that just didn’t quite have enough pictures to warrant their own post. Places like Fort Atkinson and The Small Church near Festina.


2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

2019 Birthday Road Trip - Misc

The last collection of images from my Birthday Road Trip are the cruddy cell phone pictures I took that day.

Birthday Road Trip – Dunnings Spring Waterfall

I’m not 100% sure if the waterfall featured today is the Dunning’s Spring Waterfall or the Dunnings Spring Waterfall. I have seen it spelled both ways by multiple reputable organization. This is the type of thing that keeps me up at night.

The Dunnings Spring Waterfall in Decorah was the main goal of my birthday road trip. I had visited it once a few years back and I have always been completely unsatisfied with my pictures of it. It was a goal of mine to get back there and take at least one picture of it that I liked.

Here are my attempts:


Birthday Road Trip - Dunnings Spring Waterfall

Birthday Road Trip - Dunnings Spring Waterfall

Birthday Road Trip - Dunnings Spring Waterfall

Birthday Road Trip - Dunnings Spring Waterfall

Birthday Road Trip - Dunnings Spring Waterfall

Birthday Road Trip - Dunnings Spring Waterfall

Birthday Road Trip - Dunnings Spring Waterfall

Birthday Road Trip - Dunnings Spring Waterfall

Birthday Road Trip - Dunnings Spring Waterfall

Birthday Road Trip - Dunnings Spring Waterfall

Birthday Road Trip - Dunnings Spring Waterfall

Birthday Road Trip - Dunnings Spring Waterfall

Birthday Road Trip - Dunnings Spring Waterfall

Birthday Road Trip - Dunnings Spring Waterfall

Birthday Road Trip - Dunnings Spring Waterfall

Birthday Road Trip - Dunnings Spring Waterfall

Birthday Road Trip - Dunnings Spring Waterfall

Birthday Road Trip - Dunnings Spring Waterfall

Birthday Road Trip - Dunnings Spring Waterfall

Birthday Road Trip - Dunnings Spring Waterfall

Birthday Road Trip - Dunnings Spring Waterfall

Birthday Road Trip - Dunnings Spring Waterfall

Birthday Road Trip - Dunnings Spring Waterfall

Birthday Road Trip - Dunnings Spring Waterfall

Birthday Road Trip - Dunnings Spring Waterfall

Birthday Road Trip - Dunnings Spring Waterfall

Jesse fell down the side of the waterfall and cut himself. But he kept the camera equipment he was carrying protected, so good work on his part!

I have a couple more sets of pictures from the Birthday Road Trip still to share. Kind of a miscellaneous set of pictures and the some cruddy cell phone pictures.

Birthday Road Trip – Malanaphy Springs

After we left The Little Brown Church and the possible time travelers but probably LARPers, our next stop was the Malanaphy Springs Waterfall. It is the lesser known waterfall in/near Decorah. It isn’t as pretty as Dunning’s Springs. It definitely isn’t as accessible. It is a good 20-30 minute hike on a trail that isn’t well curated.

With that being said, it is definitely worth the extra work. It is a place out in the woods that is beautiful and private. A person can collect their thoughts there.

Here are some pictures:


Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

.Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

Malanaphy Springs Waterfall

I would like to return to this waterfall at some point this year. Looking ahead, I’ll probably take my birthday road trip on May 15 this year. But I have no clue where I will end up. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it is back in northeast Iowa again.

More pictures from this trip still to come.

Birthday Road Trip – Little Brown Church

For starters, happy birthday Anders! We celebrated Anders’ birthday last night at January birthday night with yellow cake, a DOLEMITE double feature, and a root beer tasting.

After all, DOLEMITE is my name and (expletive deleted) up mother (expletive deleted) is my game!

Here are some pictures of a man I consider to be at least the equal of Dolemite!


PHOTO JOURNAL - PAGE 121 ALTERNATE

9 Emotions Project - Anders Runestad


One of my secret (I guess) goals of 2020 is to be more proactive about putting information for Movie Night up on the website. Because if you are reading these words, you are invited to Movie Night.

But be warned, you may never be the same after you attend Movie Night. Exposure to great art tends to change a person. In fact, I think Movie Night broke Willy.

+++++++

Enough about Anders’ birthday. Let’s talk about my birthday. Last year Jesse and I took a road trip around my birthday. One of the stops we made was at The Little Brown Church. There were a bunch of LARPers there. Maybe they were time travelers. Either way, they were dressed up like it was the Civil War.

Here are some pictures from that stop:


Little Brown Curch

Little Brown Curch

Little Brown Curch

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Little Brown Church

Jesse had never heard of The Little Brown Church, but it is the church from that song. You know the song. The song about the little brown church.

There’s a church in the valley by the wildwood
No lovelier spot in the dale
No place is so dear to my childhood
As the little brown church in the vale

Our church hosted a filmmaker who made a documentary about it once. It was interesting, but it didn’t feature one time traveler.

Who’s a Big Boy – Addendum

This is a collection of images that I took on my way home from following the Big Boy. After letting the train roll past us one last time, Teresa and I headed back to Boone after stopping off in Carroll for a delicious meal at Rancho Grande Mexican.

Then in Glidden we stopped at Dairy Mart for ice cream. Then finally made a brief stop at the Harrier Marsh to take a few photos.


Glidden, Iowa
Glidden, Iowa

Ralston, Iowa
Ralston, Iowa

Harrier Marsh

Harrier Marsh

Harrier Marsh

Harrier Marsh

Harrier Marsh

Harrier Marsh

Harrier Marsh

Dairy Mart

Dairy Mart

I just want to say for the record that flavor burst ice cream is straight trash. I understand it is a way to try to serve several types of ice cream on the cheap, but it is garbage. It is just vanilla ice cream with some weak tasting syrup dribbled around the outside.

That isn’t to say that my experience at Dairy Mart was bad. What I got was delicous. A raspberry shake. I stayed away from that flavor burst garbage.

Who’s a Big Boy – Chapter 3

This is my final collection of images from the day I spent following the Union Pacific Big Boy a little ways across central Iowa.

The Big Boy is 133 feet long and 17 feet tall. A standard diesel locomotive is 74 feet long and 15 foot 7 inches tall. A school bus is 40 feet tall and 10 feet tall. A standard sedan is 16 feet long and 5 feet tall.

These last pictures were taken just west of Carroll, very near a town called Maple River.


Big Boy

Big Boy

Big Boy

Big Boy

Big Boy

Big Boy

Big Boy

Big Boy

Big Boy

Big Boy

Big Boy

Big Boy

Big Boy

In “Who’s A Big Boy – Chapter 2”, I discussed my big gamble and defeat by the high bridge. Well here is a picture that Teresa got of the Big Boy with the RX0 II:


Big Boy

This concludes my Big Boy photos. Means I need to get out there and take some more train photos in the near future. Don’t care who calls me a foamer.

Backbone Road Trip

Rather than naming the folders that include images from the Backbone State Park Road Trip I took with Jay, Derrick, Jen, Sara, and Shannon, I’m just going to call this post Backbone Road Trip.

Here are a look at a few of my favorite images from the road trip:


Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

Backbone State Park Road Trip

It truly was a great trip and one of my favorite road trips of all time. We did have to pack up and leave Backbone State Park really early on Sunday morning to beat a storm, but it was still a weekend filled with treasured memories.

By adding these images to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entry to its original glory:

Spine

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve potatoes, probably a whole bunch more, but definitely potatoes.