Beartooth All-American Highway – Less Beaten Paths of America Travel Blog

April 1, 2018April 1, 2018

A Grab Bag from America’s Back Roads – The B Things #AtoZChallenge

In 2018 I will feature a random (yet alphabetical) selection of photos I have taken from my nearly 20 years of back roads travel in the United States and Canada. I may even throw in a few random shots from other trips to Japan, Mexico and the Philippines. My theme is called America’s Back Roads: A Grab Bag of Places in Pictures.

Blueberry, WI

Brazos Bend State Park – Needville, TX

Bruce Windmill Farm – Woodstock, ON

Cliff Bruce Windmill Hill in Woodstock, ON is One of Ontario’s premier “roadart” places

Bison/Buffalo – Yellowstone National Park

Bison and calves relax by a lake in Yellowstone

Blackwater, Missouri

Boring Post Office – Boring, Oregon

Bridges of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Bugtussle, Kentucky

Remember Jed Clampett from the Beverly Hillbillies??

What remains of the Bugtussle General Store in Bugtussle, KY

Buffalo Bill Museum – LeClaire, Iowa

Beloit Smiley Water Tower – Beloit, WI

Beloit’s Smiley Water Tower greets visitors to Wisconsin

Two-State Sign – Bristol, TN and Bristol, VA

Bristol, Tennessee and Virginia – taken when we visited the Virginia Creeper Bike Trail

Beatles Tribute – Walnut Ridge, Arkansas

This way to Beatles Park at the corner of US 67 and Abbey Rd. in Walnut Ridge, AR

The Beatles Abbey Road Sculpture in Beatles Park.

Big Fish Supper Club – Bena, Minnesota

Complete view of the Big Fish Supper Club and the Big Fish in Bena, MN

Blue Heron Photos – Lexington, Kentucky & Uncertain, Texas

Blue Heron in Flight over Jacobson Lake in Kentucky

A blue heron flies by on Caddo Lake near Uncertain, Texas

Booger Hollow, Arkansas

Barbed Wire Sculpture at Sod House Museum – Gothenburg, Nebraska

Barbed Wire Indian Chief and Horse – Sod House Museum – Gothenburg, Nebraska

Bob Evans Headquarters – New Albany, Ohio

Butte, Montana

Blue Banana Espresso – Lostine, Oregon

Blue Banana Espesso Bar in Lostine, Oregon

Bessie the Cow – Janesville, Wisconsin

Blues Highway – US 61 in Mississippi

Sumoflam at the Blues Highway in Mississippi

Beatles Statues – Houston, Texas

The 35 Foot tall Beatles statues by David Adickes, currently on display outside Houston’s 8th Wonder Brewery

Hot Spring Shower in Hot Spring Capital of Japan – Beppu, Japan

A hot spring shower in Beppu…and yes, the towel was necessary. 1990

Brown Pelicans in Formation – Galveston, Texas

Pelicans in formation over the Gulf of Mexico in Galveston, TX

Pelicans fly in formation over the beach in Galveston

Beartooth Pass – near Red Lodge, Montana

The Beartooth Range in northern Wyoming.

Big Stone Gap, Virginia

Boudreau’s Antiques and Collectibles – Ashland, Wisconsin

Boudreau’s Antiques Boudreau’s Antiques and Collectibles on US Hwy 2 east of Ashland, WI

Big Jud’s Burgers – Rexburg, Idaho

Total indulgence in a Big Jud’s “small” burger

Tersier Monkey in Bohol, Philippines

Badlands National Park

Big Apple – Medina, NY (Yes, the OTHER big apple in New York)

World’s Largest Buffalo – Jamestown, North Dakota

World’s Largest Buffalo in Jamestown, ND

Big Bone Lick State Park – Union, Kentucky

Big Indian – Bemidji, Minnesota

Big Indian in Bemidji, MN in front of a souvenir shop

Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum – Vicksburg, Mississippi

Big John – Great Falls, Montana

Cowboy Muffler Man – Big John in Great Falls, Montana

If you like what you see, you may want to check out my book: Less Beaten Paths of America: Unique Town Names, available on Amazon. My second book, Less Beaten Paths of America: Quirky and Offbeat Roadside Attractions, will be available in late April or early May 2018. Click on the photo below for more details or to get a copy of the book.

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May 2, 2017May 2, 2017

Z is for Zeal – #atozchallenge

I am a zealous traveler. I travel passion and with all the gusto I can. A roadtrip with me can be grueling, but it is always fun. Indeed, I travel with the intent of creating many good memories. Many call me a Road Warrior. Well, I love that term. I travel with zeal.

When on roadtrips, I like to be up with the sun and travel until the sun goes down. I stop for the night wherever I am at sundown…I can’t take many pictures at night now can I?

Sumoflam and the FREE Stamp in Cleveland

In my zealous travels, I have visited all 50 states and a few Canadian Provinces. I have at least one photo of me in almost all of them…a few exceptions where I traveled to those places years ago and the photos either were lost or were never taken (Nevada, Rhode Island, Massachusetts…at least). But in recent years, I have become the “Shamelessly Self-Proclaimed Selfie King” and have tried to record my travels digitally, and include selfies along the way.

Without further adieu, following are selfies/photos of me in every state and Canadian Province I have visited (where I have photos). I have throw some “Road Warrior” and “Traveling with Zeal” pics in along the way for fun.

Sumoflam at Carlo’s Bake Shop in Hoboken, NJ

ALABAMA

ALASKA

ARIZONA

ARKANSAS

CALIFORNIA

At Golden Gate Bridge in in San Francisco, CA May 2015

COLORADO

CONNECTICUT

DELAWARE

FLORIDA

GEORGIA

HAWAII

Well…I used to have a photo of me hitting a golf ball at Mililani Golf Course in Honolulu. Can’t find it…..

IDAHO

ILLINOIS

Sumoflam with Superman in Metropolis, IL in 2014

INDIANA

IOWA

KANSAS

KENTUCKY – My Home Sweet Home since 1993

Visiting Cumberland Falls in Kentucky with grandchildren in 2016

Visiting Kentucky’s Red River Gorge in November 2016

LOUISIANA

Visiting Troy Landry of Swamp People fame in Pierre Part, LA in 2014

MAINE

MARYLAND

MASSACHUSETTS – I last visited Massachusetts in 1990 on a trip to Boston. Photos were taken, but got long lost….

MICHIGAN

Sumoflam with Hiawatha, America’s tallest Indian Statue at over 50 feet in Ironwood, MI

MINNESOTA

Bemidji, MN in 2014 — one of my bucket list places

MISSISSIPPI

MISSOURI

MONTANA – Lived in this wonderful state from 1970-1973

At the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park, still on US 89 in Montana

NEBRASKA

NEVADA – I have visited a few times but don’t think I ever got any photos. Oh well.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

NEW JERSEY

Photo of NYC taken from Sinatra Park in Hoboken, NJ

NEW MEXICO

Have a Coke and a Smile?? Coke machine in Roswell…

NEW YORK

Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, NY 1990

NORTH CAROLINA

NORTH DAKOTA

OHIO – I was born in Little Italy in Cleveland. Home sweet home.

My first home – 2072 Murray Hill Road, now home of the Murray Hill Market

OKLAHOMA

OREGON

PENNSYLVANIA

RHODE ISLAND – Only visited once way back in 1988. No photos. Actually drove through. Need to stop again!!

SOUTH CAROLINA

SOUTH DAKOTA

Winner Winner..no chicken dinner, just the name of a town in SD

TENNESSEE

TEXAS

UTAH – Graduated High School in Murray, UT in 1974

Graduated from Murray High School in 1974

VERMONT – My 50th state visited — made it in 2016

State Number 50 – At NH/VT border in Brattleboro, VT

VIRGINIA

WASHINGTON

Seattle’s famed Pike Place Market – what a place!

WEST VIRGINIA

Meeting a Friendly guy outside the Friendly, WV Post Office

WISCONSIN

WYOMING

WASHINGTON DC

ONTARIO, CANADA

Sumoflam at Screaming Heads in Burk’s Falls, Ontario

SASKATCHEWAN

MANITOBA

ALBERTA

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April 17, 2017

M is for Mountains – #atozchallenge

I love the mountains. I spent a good part of my life in the mountains – New Mexico, Montana, Utah, Colorado, Arizona. These are the BIG mountains.

Having lived in Kentucky for the past 25 years, I hear of people that live in “the mountains of Kentucky” or heading to “the mountains of West Virginia.” In my perspective these are more like hills. But, by the broader definition, there are mountains in states like Kentucky, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Maybe even Tennessee.

Purple Mountain Majesties – Sawtooth range in Central Idaho

Here I am at the Sandia Overlook near Albuquerque in 1964

When I take trips to the Western US, I always try to make an effort to get to the REAL mountains….the kind over 10,000′ tall. I love the fresh air of these mountains. I long for the spectacular views…both from below and on top.

My first ventures into the mountains were as a young boy living in New Mexico. My Dad also loved the mountains and we often took rides up to the Sandias. We would hike, take picnics and my dad always took pictures. He always took slides because he thought they were better quality.

In 1968 we moved from Dallas to Denver. While in Denver, my Dad would take us on various drives up to Rocky Mountain National Park, Mt. Evans, Pikes Peak and other mountains. As a junior high school youth I went with him for the intense hike up Longs Peak, near Boulder. This mountain hike was a first for me. I never made it to the top (since we were bogged down by a massive hailstorm in the middle of summer). But my Dad left me at the stop station and continued up with a couple of friends.

My Dad Joe at the top of Colorado’s Longs Peak in 1968.

Later in life I had the opportunity to take a trip up to the top of Mt. Evans (by car). It had changed over the years, but still had the mountain goats and the thin air.

Living in Bozeman, Montana in the mid 1970s was the final straw. We actually lived up in the mountains south of Bozeman. I was hooked and still am. My goals have always been to visit America’s great mountains, mountain ranges and parks. I have been blessed to have been able to do so.

Over the years I have been to Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Grand Tetons National Park, the Colorado Rockies, the Sawtooth Range in Idaho, the Beartooth Range and scenic drive in northern Wyoming and more. I have even been to the eastern mountains of Shenandoah, the Alleghany Highlands in Virginia (where I am as I write this!), the Ozarks in Arkansas and Missouri and the Adirondacks. They have their own wonderful scenery.