Wednesday, August 17, 2016
Freedom Tour -- Some Didn't Make the Cut
On one of the roads at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, traffic was stopped for about 20 minutes due to street repair, so we all just waited patiently in our cars and tour buses. At one point, seeing some movement in my peripheral vision, I looked to my right and saw the bison above just settling in to relax in a clearing next to the road, not caring one whit about the crazy human animals in the hulking steel contraptions.
I love this shot at Yellowstone because I had pulled over and strolled quite a way along this spot, taking in the wondrous sights of mountains, the river, the dramatic sky and the open plains as well as the sounds of wildlife and rushing water.
In Shamrock, Texas, with a population of just 2,029 residents, this incredible art deco-style former cafe and service station has been beautifully preserved and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It has a particular pop culture claim to fame: It was the inspiration for Ramone's Body Shop in the fictitious town of Radiator Springs in the Disney film "Cars." I was pleased to see vintage cars and trucks parked at the real location. The building was donated in the late 1990s to the City of Shamrock, which restored it to its former glory with the help of a major grant. The city planners and the city council found a good adaptive reuse for it: It is now the home of the Shamrock Chamber of Commerce.
Deadwood is in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Many structures are built into steep hillsides, including this private residence.
I had no idea the U.S. Marine Corps has a mountain warfare training site in the Eastern Sierras. Oo-rah!
This Civil War mural is on the side of a building in Munfordville, the county seat of Hart County, Kentucky. The population of Munfordville is 1,615. Kentucky was a critically important state during the Civil War.
I bought most of my food in grocery stores. My go-to lunch almost daily was a Nutzo and organic honey sandwich on seed bread with a piece of fruit. (I'm salivating as I write this!)
To get from Elko, Nevada, to Ely, Nevada, it's a three-hour drive down lonesome and winding Highway 93. I added a couple of extra hours to that trek because I wanted to see the remote Lamoille Canyon, known as the Grand Canyon of Nevada. I'm so glad I did!
I'll leave you with one last photo -- Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, where no racing was taking place that day but tours were being conducted. I took a backstage tour of sorts, then drove around the outskirts of Churchill Downs and was awestruck by the beauty of all the stables and training areas for thoroughbreds. What magnificent beasts (and I say beasts in a good way!)
I loved my Freedom Tour!
I have one final Freedom Tour adventure to tell you about -- a quite unusual one, full of mystery and intrigue. I'll try and get to that next week. Stay tuned...
"Cars" image courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures.
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I loved watching your pictures of your Freedom Tour on Facebook, Ann - these are great, too! I'm crazy about peanut butter and honey, too, it was my favorite snack as a kid!
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