22Jan 2015 by David Kravetz

#TBT Travel: The Mission Days in Japan-1976-78

#TBT, Backroads Discoveries, City Skylines, Farmland, Giant Things, Japan, Landscapes, Large Statues, Throwback Thursday, Travel Blogging, Travel in Japan, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places
[caption id="attachment_12012" align="aligncenter" width="584"] Mt. Fuji and Fuji City  (ca. 1978)[/caption] For this week's edition of #TBT, I take a look back to 1976 when I served as an LDS missionary in Japan. Just a year earlier I had joined the church and, like some of my friends, as a 19 year old I was off to serve in a very foreign country.  (Please forgive the schmutz on the photos...many of these were scanned from 38 year old slides) [caption id="attachment_12026" align="aligncenter" width="584"] Mt. Fuji framed by Japanese flag, (ca. 1978)[/caption] Prior to my trip to Japan, I had never been to a foreign country other than a couple of marching band trips to Alberta in Canada. Therefore, this was a new experience for me. I had to have a…
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15Jan 2015 by David Kravetz

#TBT – Being an Arizona Tour Guide in the 1980s

#TBT, Arizona, Backroads Discoveries, Bucket List Trips, Cross Country Road Trips, Geologic Formations, Landscapes, National Monuments, National Parks, People Shots, Roadside Attractions, Throwback Thursday, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places, US Highway 89, Volcanic Sites, Wildflowers
[caption id="attachment_11948" align="alignleft" width="277"] Sumoflam at Monument Valley on Utah/Arizona border[/caption] In the early 1980s my young family was living in Flagstaff, Arizona and I was going to school full time at Northern Arizona University. During this time, I had a stroke of luck in landing a job as a tour guide/bus driver for a company called Nava-Hopi Tours (The Gray Line of Flagstaff). (Note: After the 9/11 incidents, NHT had troubles as people didn't travel and they went out of business in Oct. 2001) At that time I had already changed my major to History/Geography and this job offered me the opportunity to build on that experience.  It also provided me plenty of time to study as the tourists would be out looking at the sites.  I would drive…
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08Jan 2015 by David Kravetz

Travel #TBT: Jan. 2010 – A Weekend in KC and St. Louis

Antsy McClain, Backroads Discoveries, BBQ Places, Cross Country Road Trips, Eateries, Farmland, Found Metal Sculptures, Giant Things, Indiana, Landscapes, Large Statues, Missouri, Murals, Museums, Roadside Attractions, Route 66, Street Art, Throwback Thursday, Travel Blogging, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places, Vintage Neon, Wall Art, Yard Art
A weekend in St. Louis/Kansas City - Jan. 14-17, 2010 January 14, 2010: ROAD TRIP!!  After quite a hiatus on road trips, I finally took one.  Now that I am working for iHigh.com (was until 2012) I do have occasion to take a trip or two for support.  In this instance I was to travel to Kirkwood High School in St. Louis to Live Stream a basketball tournament on January 15, and then travel to Kansas City to Live Stream a large wrestling tournament at Center High School.  Naturally, along the way both there and back I made some side trips, as is always my custom, but in this case I did not veer too far off the beaten path. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="1145"] Lexington, KY to Santa Claus, IN…
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01Jan 2015 by David Kravetz
#TBT Montana Road Trip: Day 1 – June 15, 2005

#TBT Montana Road Trip: Day 1 – June 15, 2005

#TBT, Backroads Discoveries, BBQ Places, City Skylines, Cross Country Road Trips, Family Travel, Found Metal Sculptures, Giant Things, Giant Twine Balls, Illinois, Indiana, Large Statues, Minnesota, Roadside Attractions, Throwback Thursday, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places, Wisconsin
Montana Road Trip Journal June 15, 2005: Today we departed on our trip to Great Falls, Montana for Amaree's wedding, the second in a string of 3 weddings in 8 weeks. Accompanying me on the trip is Seth, Solomon and Marissa, who will be married on the 25th of June in Louisville, which is in 10 days. Our Road Trip will comprise about 4500 miles as we drive north thru Indiana and Illinois and then across Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and into Montana. Our return will be a similar trip, except thru a corner of Wyoming and then across South Dakota and then Minnesota and Wisconsin. A general map of the trip can be seen below: My goal was to leave at 5:30 AM since we have such a long…
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01Jan 2015 by David Kravetz
Let the 2015 #TBT Posting Begin!

Let the 2015 #TBT Posting Begin!

#TBT, Cross Country Road Trips, Family Travel, National Parks, Roadside Attractions, Throwback Thursday, Unexpected Discoveries, Unique Places
[caption id="attachment_11730" align="aligncenter" width="432"] World's Largest Teapot, Chester, WV (2008)[/caption] Starting with Thursday, January 1, 2015, I will be retrofitting old travel journal articles from the past decade (and perhaps earlier) into my blog.  As many of you know, Thursday has become "Throwback Thursday" (also known as #TBT) on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, etc. [caption id="attachment_11731" align="aligncenter" width="451"] Sumoflam at the USS Enterprise Monument (with Crafty Jack) in Vulcan, Alberta (2007)[/caption] So, for my #TBT weekly posts I will go back to old "Travel Journal" entries that I made before I began this blog in early 2013.  I may also go back to old travel photos and write a quick story about some of the places, especially in Japan and some of our earlier family travels. [caption id="attachment_11732" align="aligncenter" width="474"] With…
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