Towns of America A to Z: The I Towns #atozchallenge

Towns of America A to Z: The I Towns #atozchallenge

A to Z Challenge, Back Roads, Backroads Discoveries, Bucket List Trips, Buildings, Barns and Houses, Cross Country Road Trips, Dinosaurs, Family Travel, Giant Things, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Large Statues, Less Beaten Paths Books, Michigan, Murals, Museums, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Peter Wolf Toth, Place Names, Quirky Things, Roadside Attractions, Saskatchewan, Selfies, Signs and Billboards, Water Towers, Welcome Signs, Whispering Giants
Hope my A to Z posts are Interesting to y'all! I am Intending to get some good I town names in this post today.  There are some fun places and perhaps a few surprises! One of America's most famous I towns will be included as will one of the only towns whose name is an abbreviation. We'll also take a brief trip to Canada on this post. ENJOY THE READ!  ENJOY THE RIDE!   I.X.L, OKLAHOMA [caption id="attachment_29965" align="alignleft" width="225"] I.X.L., Oklahoma[/caption] I have traveled to all of the 50 states and have been tens of thousands of miles of backroads, and I.X.L. is the only place name I have come across where the actual town is abbreviated.  There may be more, but I  have personally not come across any.…
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8154: What’s a Trip Without Faces?

8154: What’s a Trip Without Faces?

Adventure, Animals, Arizona, Back Roads, Backroads Discoveries, Bison, Blue Heron, Books, Buffalo, California, Cross Country Road Trips, Deer, Dinosaurs, Eagles, Egret, Elk, Family Travel, Geese, Horse Art, Idaho, Illinois, Junk Art, Junk-art Sculptures, Kentucky, Less Beaten Paths Books, Lewis and Clark Sites, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Mountains, Murals, Mythical Creatures, National Monuments, National Parks, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Ocean Scenes, Offbeat Places, Oregon, People Shots, prairie dogs, Quirky Things, Raccoon, Roadside Attractions, Sandhill Cranes, Seagulls, Selfies, South Dakota, Street Art, Texas, Tourist Traps, Travel with grandchildren, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places, Wall Art, Washington, Wyoming
In early 2020 I traveled across the country over the course of three weeks with my daughter and three grandchildren.    During this trip we traveled 8154 miles across 20 states and visited over 100 destinations, saw all sorts of animals, all sorts of geography, 10 National Parks and Monuments, various state parks, oceans, deserts, mountains, beaches, grasslands, canyons and more. This is the fifth of a few posts about some of the fun from this EPIC Road Trip.  In this post I am sharing FACES. What is a trip without faces?  And over 8000 miles of travel opens up the opportunity to see all kinds of faces -- family, friends, strange people, aliens, wild animals, birds, art, statues and who knows what else?  Here are 125 of them. Enjoy…
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A to Z Challenge: The V Towns #atozchallenge

A to Z Challenge, Alberta, Backroads Discoveries, Bucket List Trips, Cross Country Road Trips, Family Travel, Found Metal Sculptures, Geologic Formations, Giant Things, Horse Art, Horses, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Landscapes, Large Statues, Lewis and Clark Sites, Montana, Murals, Museums, Mythical Creatures, National Monuments, National Parks, Place Names, Random Thoughts, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, Television Shows, Town Names, Travel Blogging, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places, US Highway 41, US Highway 50, US Highway 61, US Highway 62, US Highway 89, Utah, Wall Art, Water Towers
During the month of April I am participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. The challenge has each blogger select a theme and then do a post thematically from A to Z during each day of April , except Sundays. My blog is number 1337 out of 1670 participating blogs. This year my A to Z posts will take you across the back roads of America to many unique towns. To see what other bloggers will be posting about, check out the link: A to Z Theme Reveal List for 2016 The V Towns Vulcan, Alberta [caption id="attachment_161" align="alignnone" width="239"] Welcome to Vulcan Plaque[/caption] [caption id="attachment_13531" align="alignnone" width="300"] Welcome to Vulcan in Klingon[/caption] [caption id="attachment_12634" align="alignnone" width="300"] At the Starship Enterprise in Vulcan, Alberta 2007[/caption] [caption id="attachment_163" align="alignnone"…
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A to Z Challenge: The U Towns #atozchallenge

A to Z Challenge, Backroads Discoveries, California, Connecticut, Cross Country Road Trips, Kentucky, Landscapes, Large Statues, Place Names, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, Texas, Town Names, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Houses, Unique Places, US Highway 101, Yard Art
During the month of April I am participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. The challenge has each blogger select a theme and then do a post thematically from A to Z during each day of April , except Sundays. My blog is number 1337 out of 1670 participating blogs. This year my A to Z posts will take you across the back roads of America to many unique towns. To see what other bloggers will be posting about, check out the link: A to Z Theme Reveal List for 2016 The U Towns Uncertain, Texas [caption id="attachment_826" align="alignnone" width="300"] Uncertain, TX[/caption] [caption id="attachment_50" align="alignnone" width="300"] Uncertain Department of Tourism[/caption] [caption id="attachment_47" align="alignnone" width="300"] The Uncertain General Store and Grill[/caption] [caption id="attachment_51" align="alignnone" width="300"] The Spanish moss draped…
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A to Z Challenge: The G Towns #atozchallenge

A to Z Challenge, Amish Country, Animals, Antsy McClain, Backroads Discoveries, BBQ Places, Big John, Bucket List Trips, Cross Country Road Trips, Eateries, Family Travel, Found Metal Sculptures, Giant Things, Giraffe, Kentucky, Large Statues, Montana, Muffler Man, Murals, Museums, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Place Names, Random Thoughts, Roadside Attractions, Selfies, South Dakota, Street Art, Texas, Town Names, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places, Uniroyal Gal, US Highway 2, US Highway 31, US Highway 41, US Highway 68, US Highway 79, US Highway 89, Vintage Neon, Wall Art, Water Towers, Wyoming, Yard Art, Zoos
During the month of April I am participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. The challenge has each blogger select a theme and then do a post thematically from A to Z during each day of April , except Sundays. My blog is number 1337 out of 1670 participating blogs. This year my A to Z posts will take you across the back roads of America to many unique what other bloggers will be posting about, check out the link: A to Z Theme Reveal List for 2016 The G Towns Gainesville, Texas [caption id="attachment_12525" align="alignnone" width="300"] Sumoflam at Glen Goode's Big People in Gainesville, TX[/caption] [caption id="attachment_496" align="alignnone" width="300"] Glen Goode's Big People[/caption] [caption id="attachment_493" align="alignnone" width="300"] Glen Goode's Big People[/caption] Across this great country there are…
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A Trip to New England – Part II: September 2015

Backroads Discoveries, Bucket List Trips, Connecticut, Cross Country Road Trips, Eateries, Family Travel, Found Metal Sculptures, Large Statues, Maine, Massachusetts, Murals, Museums, New Hampshire, Place Names, Roadside Attractions, Travel Blogging, Travel with grandchildren, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places, Yard Art
This is Part II of my posts about our visit to New England, most specifically Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont (with a drive through Massachusetts).  Day 2 was a nice day of travel south to Mystic, CT and then north all the way to Maine.  Following is a map with our basic route [caption id="attachment_15083" align="aligncenter" width="670"] Map of Connecticut to Maine[/caption] We took a fairly easy morning and went over to pickup our grandson Rockwell, who would join us on this two day adventure and off we went. [caption id="attachment_14706" align="aligncenter" width="474"] Wells Dinosaur Haven in Uncasville, CT[/caption] Our first stop was at Wells Dinosaur Haven in Uncasville, CT.  This is actually a person's house with a huge backyard full of self-sculpted dinosaurs.  The brainchild and creation of…
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Top Ten Travel Photos for 2014

Alligators, Animals, Backroads Discoveries, Bucket List Trips, Car Art, Cross Country Road Trips, Dream Highways, Eateries, Family Travel, Found Metal Sculptures, Ghost Signs, Giant Things, Graffiti Walls, Illinois, Kentucky, Large Statues, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Murals, National Monuments, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Place Names, Roadside Attractions, Route 66, Street Art, Tennessee, Texas, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Houses, Unique Places, US Highway 2, US Highway 212, US Highway 89, Vintage Neon, Wall Art, Water Towers, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Yard Art
Throughout my travels I drove over 10,000 miles and took over 3000 photos in 2014. I have numerous shots from the road of quirky places, offbeat sites and some nice looking places.  If you missed my "nature photos", some of which are from my travels, please check them out on my Sumoflam's Singlewide Site.  Following are my ten favorite travel shots from 2014 and the stories behind them (and a number of honorable mentions). NUMBER 1 - OLD PRAIRIE SCHOOL HOUSE [caption id="attachment_9237" align="aligncenter" width="474"] Old Prairie School House on Smith-Frisno Road west of Havre, Montana. I wanted this one in black and white...more authentic feel[/caption] I once saw a photo of this old school house and knew that I had to get to this relic of the past.  So,…
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Montana Trip: US Highway 89 thru Montana – North 89

Animals, Backroads Discoveries, Birds, Bridges, Bucket List Trips, Cross Country Road Trips, Dream Highways, Family Travel, Farmland, Found Metal Sculptures, Geologic Formations, Ghost Signs, Giant Things, Graffiti Walls, Horses, Landscapes, Large Statues, Montana, Murals, Museums, National Monuments, National Parks, Place Names, prairie dogs, Roadside Attractions, Rocky Mountains, States and Provinces, Train Bridges, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places, US Highway 2, US Highway 212, US Highway 287, US Highway 89, US Highways, Vintage Neon
[caption id="attachment_9398" align="aligncenter" width="474"] Snow covered mountains of Glacier National Park as seen from US 89 just south of US Route 2 near Browning, MT[/caption] As I continued my trip in Montana, I spent some time with my daughter and her children in Shelby.  From there I proceeded to head back to Kentucky the "back roads" way over a number of US Highways and State Highways. [caption id="attachment_9399" align="aligncenter" width="474"] US Route 2 and US Route 89[/caption] My goal was to travel the majority of Montana's US 89 during this trip.  I did not hit the portion north of Browning to Alberta on this trip, though I have traveled it in the past.  In fact, over the years I have traveled US 89 from the Canadian border all the way…
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Montana Roadtrip: Taking the Hi-Line Across Northern Montana

Backroads Discoveries, Bridges, Bucket List Trips, Cross Country Road Trips, Dream Highways, Eateries, Family Travel, Found Metal Sculptures, Giant Things, Montana, Museums, National Parks, Place Names, prairie dogs, Roadside Attractions, States and Provinces, Train Bridges, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Houses, Unique Places, Vintage Neon, Wall Art, Yard Art
[caption id="attachment_9159" align="aligncenter" width="474"] US Route 2 Montana - The Hi-Line[/caption] My trip along Route 2 continued from Glasgow, Montana westward along what is known as the Montana Hi-Line (See my May 2013 post about a previous drive on a portion of the Hi-Line).  Back in May last year I drove through to Glasgow and then south.  On this trip I tried to spend a little more time in some of the smaller towns on the road and capture the essence of what I feel is a dieing breed hanging on.  In fact, to proclaim their existence, many of the towns have a big sign on the highway to proclaim "Hey, we're here!" [caption id="attachment_2970" align="aligncenter" width="474"] Chester, Montana welcome sign on West side of town - one of many…
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A 5 Day Midwest Adventure – Day 1: Lexington, KY to Walcott, IA

Backroads Discoveries, Bridges, Car Art, Cross Country Road Trips, Eateries, Giant Things, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Large Statues, Roadside Attractions, States and Provinces, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Eatery, Unique Places, Yard Art
[caption id="attachment_5990" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Danville, Illinois[/caption] On September 9, 2013 I had the opportunity to accompany my daughter and three grand kids on a an adventure across the midwest from Kentucky to Omaha, Nebraska.  She wanted to visit her close friend there and needed a "tour planner and driver."  I was free and able to make the journey.  All totaled, we spent 5 days on the road visiting spots in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri.  This post covers our adventures on Day 1 as we made our way to Walcott, Iowa, home of the World's Largest Truck Stop. View Larger Map - Lexington, KY to Walcott, IA We left plenty early so that we could hit Indianapolis by early morning with the intent to surprise the three grand kids…
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