The Volleyball Trophy (The Girls Have To Play!)

Talk about a blast from the past! My mind doesn't normally drift back to my teenage years very often but I came across an old trophy while searching old boxes that brought back a flood of old memories. The high school years for me provided many less-than-stellar memories that have affected my life in negative ways but there were at least a few that belong on my highlight reel. This would be one of them.

From the 20th Century Fox movie "Cast Away"

You might think of many things when you hear the word "volleyball." You might be thinking of the name of the volleyball in the movie "Cast Away" with Tom Hanks. Fun fact, the Wilson brand volleyball was used in honor of his wife Rita Wilson, and that same ball sold for $308,565 USD back in 2021. (Good Housekeeping online, November 24, 2021). You may have a family member who plays volleyball. Or you may have just had one around with which to play soccer. For me it was a church volleyball league during my Joliet years that stands out as a highlight event for me and my friends.

Our church youth group was contacted about joining a weekly volleyball tournament over several months' time and it sounded like fun so we said yes. It would be held at one of the participating churches and there was really only one rule that we all had to follow that some of the church youth groups didn't like. You were required to use at least three girls all the time, which was no problem for us since our group was about half girls and half guys. I may have given a speech about how this was supposed to be a fun event for everyone whether we won or lost. We really had no expectation of winning considering our lack of playing experience as a team. Fun for everyone, that was our motto. But some of the other teams were playing for blood and determined to win at any cost.

The first half of the season we simply played volleyball. We figured out where each one played best and that's where we lined up. Other teams were surprised how many girls we had playing as they had decided to play the minimum. We ignored them and kept playing because we were just having fun. But we also turned out to be a very good team because in the first half of ten games our team was 10 and 0. Undefeated! Smiles all around. There was one other team who was 9 and 1 and they were quite a cutthroat team. They were not happy to have lost to a bunch of schmucks who were having a good time. They told us to watch out for them in the second half as they needed to be have a better record than us to win the whole thing.

The Winner's Trophy

The second half was a little more nerve-wracking as we were now the team to beat, but we kept reminding each other that we were in it to have fun and fun we were having. We kept using all the girls and we were doing well. When it came to the game between us and the other top 9-1 team we all had butterflies. We played our hearts out and, despite our best effort, lost that game and we were the team who went 9 and 1 while the other team was undefeated. No tears, just congratulations to the other team for doing so well. But there was one more game that needed to be played because now there were two teams with 19 wins and 1 loss overall. There would need to be a playoff game. I know this was only high school and it was just supposed to be fun but this had turned into a "winner takes all" scenario that made us all very nervous. But I remember we all stuck to our guns to keep doing the same thing we'd done all the way through, which was just to relax and enjoy the game. And wouldn't you know, we beat them fair and square and got the trophy to prove it! We were recognized at our church service the following Sunday and basked in the winner's circle. As much as a bunch of schmucks can bask.

First Place for our volleyball team

Those events occurred in the middle of the 1970's and I think I had just gotten my first car for driving to all those games. Fast forward forty years and I thought about that story enough to finally do something about it. I contacted the church and asked them if they might still have that trophy lying somewhere in a storage room. I knew it was a long shot but I'm always willing to try. Sure enough, a few weeks later I get a box in the mail and it's a volleyball trophy. But taped over the brass plaque that was meant for a more recent and long-forgotten tournament was a piece of paper that says "David's Trophy Memory" or something amusing like that. But not to worry, I buzzed on down to the local trophy store and had a proper brass plate engraved with the details I remembered. It is still perched up on a shelf in my office with other memories of elephants and Precious Moments figurines.

It's still a good memory

Life seems to teach us that we can't have everything or that we may never win. But then I look at that trophy and realize that sometimes it's us who wins. And for every child of God, we understand that we all win in the end.

Until next time,

Arktander

(aka David Andreasen)

Televisions Thru The Years (How Much Do They Cost?)

Television has been an integral part of human life in a practical way from the late 1940's. I started to do some research on that subject in order to find out when the first TV arrived, but that turned into a serious rabbit hole that was unlikely to produce an answer that everyone liked. I did find some agreement by different sources that 1934 was the year that the Telefunken company introduced the first commercially manufactured electronic televisions with cathode ray tubes in Germany. As the technology transitioned to electronic circuits it was Sony that that has been credited with the first fully-transistorized solid-state 8-inch television set in 1960. 

A 1960's era black and white television 

I remember as a kid watching the 1969 Apollo 11 spaceflight and moon landing with the rest of our family, all huddled around a small black and white television perched on a little TV stand (like the one above). Actually, we probably just called those things stands until we started setting up little televisions on them. Either way, the enormity of that event was hampered by the small size of the screen and the low resolution of 480 dpi (dots per inch). I just remember it being fuzzy, much like a photo print of a small-sized film negative tended to be. But I also remember that, officially, said television was mine. Grandpa always entered his grandkids in raffles for various items and the entry he made in my name won the TV. Not that I got to put it in my bedroom and watch it all hours of the night. These were the days of family television which meant that everybody watched the same thing, and mom and dad did the choosing. There were times that all us kids could watch "The Brady Bunch" or something like that but it was still tough getting four kids to agree. Those knobs in the photo above? The bottom one gave us a dozen VHF channels (2-13) and then the one above it clicked through the numerous UHF channels. Few actually showed any picture. Remote control was when dad told you to change the channel. There was not a lot to choose from on those few channels. Television was not the all-consuming event of our lives like it has become. It would be decades until cable television brought hundreds of channels to choose from.

During my teen years my parents added a Magnavox console television system to their living room. The TV was in the middle with a record player and controls areas off to the sides. The photo below is similar to what they had, as I haven't found a photo with theirs in it yet. It probably weighed at least 300 pounds and I can't remember all the times we ended up moving it. When the television quit working I removed it for them and they set a portable TV in the space. They liked how it looked. It seemed that society was starting to put greater emphasis on the importance of the television instead of the record player.

The console TV era

When I started married life we now had to get our own television set as there were no spares available in our families. As I said before, there was usually just one per household. We purchased our first TV together from JCPenney's as they had everything in their stores at that time. It was a 19 inch color TV that cost us about $500 (remember that number as it will come up later) and it had those same two knobs along with the rabbit ear antennas. There were favorite shows we watched together in the living room where it occupied the space of honor where all seats could view it. When we got one of the first VCR's (also at JCPenney's) which cost us $1000 on sale, we would host get-together where friends would come and watch some of the latest movies on VHS tape that were rented for $5 at the video store. Oh, and don't forget to rewind the tape before you bring it back! (I realize this paragraph has a lot of words and concepts not in general use right now but just search the internet if you're interested in any of them.)

Our first color television set and VCR

A few years later I had a friend who was quite handy with wood projects (this was before I owned tools or knew how to use them) and he suggested we could build a television cabinet to enclose the TV and make it look like a small console. Apparently that poor little television just looked naked all alone up on that stand so I took him up on his offer. It was a custom job with routed edges and decorative cuts. It had a stand with a ball-bearing swivel base, hinged doors, and knobs. The whole project cost me about $50 give or take. I had that TV for many years, somewhere around eight or so, and I was quite proud of that project. It was a foreshadowing of things to come in my DIY journey. 

Our 19 inch television in a hand-build cabinet

I remember having a Toshiba and a Magnavox television over the next few years, the Toshiba only lasting maybe three years or so. If I remember correctly our second television was somewhere around 25 inches (diagonally of course) but it wouldn't fit in this hand-built cabinet and I was sad. The third was about 27 inches and we were now in the era of remote controls which was great. There was probably one or two more of these kinds of televisions after that but life got busier and they didn't stand out as much. But after decades of the curved television tubes there was a shift to the flat tube set that came in even larger sizes. Somewhere along the way I got handed down to me one of those flat tube sets and it was a huge 32 inches in size. That was an instant hit for me as it was larger and more immersive in viewing. As you can see below the corners were squared off instead of rounded off and, though the screen was not perfectly flat, it was flatter than the original curved tubes. This one now was nearly a couple feet deep and nearly 200 pounds! You needed a good friend or two if you were to have any success in moving it.

"Huge" TV that weighed almost 200 pounds

I purchased the chest below to use as a TV cabinet and that 32 inch set fit in there perfectly. That way the ugly television (my wife has yet to find a "cute" one) could be hidden from sight when company came over. But there was a momentous shift taking place in the television world that changed all our perceptions of what it would be to watch television.

A bedroom armoire we used for a TV cabinet

Our even larger TV cabinet, super heavy

I might interject right here with a mention of the projection screen television system. In no way were these things portable nor did they have great brightness and contrast. But since the cathode-ray tube (CRT) televisions were topping out at 40 inches there needed to be another way to get larger sized screen images. With this rear projection TV the lower section enclosed three RBG (red-green-blue) cylinders projecting their images on a mirror that then showed on the front screen. As you might imagine it was sometimes a nightmare to focus all three of these images together to form one correct image, plus there were keystone adjustments to be made. While most of those produced were the rear projection type, you could also find front projection models that put all the inner workings out in front of the screen. This might have explained why there were not so popular. The photo below is probably a screen of 65 or 75 inches but the entire unit weighed up to 500 pounds depending on the size. I had access to one of these in the late 1980's though it was a smaller unit. In the late 1990's I had a friend who owned a much larger one like the one below and it was quite the spectacle to watch. Thankfully I never had to move one.

Rear Projection Screen TV

They were called flat-screen televisions and they sounded the death-knell for the future of CRT and projection technology. The first ones to arrive were 40 inch models which picked up where the CRT televisions left off. These screens were perfectly flat and relatively thin and used plasma ionized display technology to make the images. The early models also had bulky frames around the screens and came on hefty pedestals. But they were still lighter at 25 pounds or so which made them easier to move and set up. Plasma screens were brighter and had more contrast than the LCD/LED models that followed and garnered a loyal following. I remember going into Sears and being amazed at the clarity and brightness of the screens, so much better than I was used to. Resolution jumped from 480 dpi to 720 dpi (or dots per inch vertically). Resolution was improved to 1080 dpi although both 720 and 1080 were considered HD or high definition. Normally 720 is referred to as HD and 1080 as full HD to differentiate the two as 1080 does have more pixels and produces higher definition. I had to have one of these.

Our first flat screen 46" Panasonic plasma television

My wife and I are not always on the same page when it comes to technology. Seeing these big hulking sets did not fit her sense of "cuteness" and so it took some time for her to come around, if indeed she ever did. Nonetheless, in 2010 I found a deal at Sears that was selling a 46 inch Panasonic plasma television set for $500, one that had originally retailed at $1200. She relented as she did like the beautiful screen images and I set it up in the living room (above). When she came to check it out she let out a shriek and was horrified at the "big black hole" in the room when she saw it with the screen off. She asked if we could spray paint it white. Yes, she really said that. I said it doesn't work that way. I'm not sure if she's ever come to terms with such a big black window in the house but she does enjoy the picture. The next year I found another good deal at Sears on a 50 inch Panasonic plasma for $500 and bought it for my man room.

My 50" Panasonic plasma TV

When I bought both of these plasmas the salesperson tried to sell me on an extended warranty should anything happen to the TV. Since these were so new and they cost a good amount of money, people were not sure of how long they would last. I was told by the salesperson that they might die at three years and I told them that would be a ridiculous item to sell. They wanted $500 for a five year warranty and I said no. When they asked what I would do if it broke within five years I said I would use the $500 I saved by not paying the warranty to buy a new TV. They did not think that was funny. No matter. We had each of these plasma televisions for about 11 years. In the meantime I continued to enjoy my own plasma, whether in another man room (on the second floor) with a couple computer systems, or in the man cave in the basement for quiet retreat. I never considered it a black hole.

Screens galore

Man cave getaway

My wife's TV screen died first since we bought it first and I hated to see it go. I had always been happy to have these Panasonic bright screens that seemed to be better than all the others. However, technology had been marching on and it turns out the new LED screens were even brighter and have more contrast than the plasma televisions. Who knew? So my son sent me info on another deal for an RCA 65 inch QLED 4K display television that cost.....$500! These 4K sets now had a resolution four times that of the standard 1080 resolution. Numerically they are 2160 dpi. She was not happy when she discovered how big this one was but she wouldn't trade it for my plasma when I offered. I think it's too small for the room and she thinks it's too big so I guess it's just right!

The 65 inch RCA QLED 4K Roku TV

I was still happy with my Panasonic plasma but I could see that my perceptions of the plasma being better than anything else were no longer correct. Six months after getting the RCA TV for my wife I found a deal I couldn't pass up, which was a 55 inch TCL model for just $200. I actually held off setting it up for four months because I thought the plasma was on its last legs, but eventually I just caved and switched it out for the new one. I gave the plasma away and hope it lasts a bit longer for them, but this new TCL QLED 4K HDR TV is so much better than the plasma, which surprised me a lot. And it was no longer the room heater like the plasma tended to be. I continue to be amazed at the high resolution detail and the bright screen real estate. And it came with another technology that the CRT did not have, which was internet connected apps which could be used to find content instead of paying for 500 cable channels you never watched. Cord cutting would soon become a common term.

The 55 inch TCL QLED 4K Google TV

If you go back to some of the first televisions as they came on the market you might find that they cost about $15.00 per square inch of television real estate. Taking my 55 inch model (above) as an example of newest technology you are looking at only $0.15 or 15 cents per square inch. That's 1% of the cost per square inch! 

ChatGPT (AI) was asked how much a color television cost in the 1960's. The answer? "According to my sources, the average price of a color television in the 1960s was around $500. This was a significant investment at the time, and color televisions were considered a luxury item for many households. However, as technology advanced and production costs decreased, the price of color televisions dropped, making them more affordable for the average consumer." (from Quora.com at https://www.quora.com/How-much-did-a-colour-television-cost-in-the-1960s). That has seemed to be a popular price point for me. My first television purchase was the 19 inch color TV that cost $500. The two major purchases of plasma television were $500 each. The replacement RCA television was also $500. There were some other sets we had, like TV/VCR combos, that I'm sure were below that price threshold because they were very budget products, but at least four of my television sets came in around that price level. While many other items we buy today continue to go up in price (like automobiles) I find it interesting that a television purchase from 1980 and a purchase from 2022 cost the same, even though the technology changed immensely.

So maybe I'll be able to buy a bigger OLED TV someday for $500. OLED is probably the best screen technology on the market right now. If you think your LED screen looks really good, just take a look at an LG OLED the next time you're in Best Buy. You can't even imagine the difference. High end 55 inch OLED sets have come down to about $1500 so that's still a very significant sum. And if you're looking for the largest OLED set for your media room, right now that LG OLED 97M3 will set you back $30,000! (as of August 8, 2023 as reported by CNET here). Yikes!

I guess I'll just be happy with my $200 bargain.

Until next time,

Arktander

(aka David Andreasen)

Visiting All Fifty U.S. States (A bit of an introduction)

In my younger years I never much thought about such a goal seeing as how there was far too much to do in life with work and family. But as time went along and my list of states visited grew longer I at least allowed myself the thought of dreaming about the possibilities. While I have made it to forty-one states out of fifty it is the remaining nine that have become a lofty stretch of the imagination. I can somewhat imagine putting together a trip that meanders through the eight states out west that are all connected, hitting the high points and taking lots of pictures. But it will always be that final one—Hawaii—that may be the roadblock to attaining victory over all fifty states. While we know friends out there who would be glad to see us, the cost of even the airfare is definitely not in the budget. But we do still think about it.

Wanting to see what others have done with such a quest, I was surprised to find all kinds of websites and stories about what it means to different people. One such website is The All Fifty Club (http://www.allfiftyclub.com) which gives special recognition to those who had reached that milestone. They also allow people to become members after reaching thirty-five states, so that's something I may do. CNN Travel once did a story (https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/50-state-travelers-what-counts/index.html) about travelers and their thoughts in what constitutes a "visit" to a state:

"To “visit” a state, a person has to step outside the airport and breathe the air, according to the organization’s website. Airport layovers mean nothing. Those who are truly passionate about making it to all 50 states often have their own criteria for crossing them off the list, from a hard-core requirement of staying in a state for more than a month to simply hopping out of the car to snap a picture at the border."

Airport in Los Angeles

It is for that reason above that some say I should be at forty states and not forty-one. In my own mind I had a lengthy layover in California while traveling to and from the Philippines. I still think it counts in my book of reasoning but that would eventually be moot should I take the aforementioned trip out west or an abbreviated form of it. Yet the CNN article also mentions that everybody has their own criteria for this and mine is that I be physically in the state. So I am going to consider myself as having visited forty-one states since I was fully and truly in the state. And no, I wouldn't count a flyover. At least you'll understand the dilemma many people go through in getting themselves to the full fifty.

Yes, this is how I spent my time in the LA airport, but I was there

My life's journey started in New York, moved on to Illinois for the teen years, then Minnesota for college, back to Illinois for much of my life, and now on to Georgia to be with family. That alone would account for quite a number of states but moving to the Midwest did propel me further in that goal for as many states as possible. It I had happened to move to the West Coast instead of the East Coast I may have been able to have a higher number than I do now.

My wife started in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and went on family trips. After we married we were together on our trips most of the time. Since I am looking at this project as a personal one I am only trying to put together those trips I knew I took, whether or not she was in them. It will be clear in most of these stories when I talk about her and I as us. I am often reminded by her that I did not deviate into side trips like we do today. I simply drove straight through in as quick at time as possible.

On another note, we have been to Washington DC several times. Though it's not on the list of states it is a matter of national interest so I simply add that info as a plus for me. So, it is my plan to make a blog page of all fifty states and start filling them out as quickly and briefly as possible. I can always go back and add some extra stories later.

Until next time,

Arktander

(aka David Andreasen)

#50, Wyoming WY (Not Yet)

Wyoming is squashed in the middle of all those western states with Utah. I really don't know anything about Wyoming except that it must be freezing in the winter and there must be a lot of mountains and rivers. Wyoming is one of those states that is not at all on my radar.

Generated by AI

Until next time,

Arktander

(aka David Andreasen)

#49, Wisconsin WI (Been There)

Since my wife's family was in the Upper Peninsula we visited them during the holidays. Christmas wasn't Christmas unless there was snow on the ground, in her mind. So off we went, most of the trip taking place in Wisconsin. For seven years we lived a mile from the Wisconsin border and so we did our shopping in Monroe, Wisconsin, and made big trips to Madison now and then. We also had family strewn around the state and so we took trips to Milwaukee, Appleton, and Janesville to name a few. Lots of memories in Wisconsin.

The Sausage Races at Miller Park (Now American Family Field)

As a fan of the St. Louis Cardinals with family in Wisconsin being Brewers fans the 2006 postseason was a family rivalry for who who be the National League champs, with the Cardinals taking the crown over the Brewers 4 games to 2. The Cardinals went on to win the World Series over the Texas Rangers. Some years later we were able to go to a Milwaukee to watch the Cardinals play the Brewers with same family, only this time the Brewers won the game. You can't win them all.

Boating on Pine Lake

My wife's aunt and uncle had a little house on Pine Lake, which was in northern Wisconsin, and many family members took vacations there over the years. The one time I remember well was the week we went there with the aunt and uncle as I was asked if I might help them update their one bathroom. That was not a problem, except that we were told the toilet needed some special care, though specifics were not given. Turns out that that old cast iron drain was in the wrong place with it sticking up through the floor. Try as we may there was no way around an unusual solution, and that was to place the toilet on a raised platform in order to connect to the drain. We laughed a lot about that project and that became known as "The Throne" and it really lived up to that name. But we also got to enjoy water skiing and tubing and had a great time on the water.

Until next time,

Arktander

(aka David Andreasen)

#48, West Virginia WV (Been There)

Other than maybe driving through West Virginia, that state's claim to fame as far as I'm concerned was that my cousin lived there. We spent a Thanksgiving there one year and took the day trip to Washington D.C. That was the first time I had ever been to the Capitol, though my wife had done a family trip during her teens. So she had a little knowledge of the place before I saw it. Now my cousin lives in Springfield, Missouri, and I've gotten to see her more there.

We ended up spending most of our time in Morgantown, at the northern edge of the state. It was a very picturesque ride through the state, no doubt as about 78.1% of the state is a forest (Most Forested States 2023). I thought Georgia had a lot of trees but it is only 8th on the list with 66.5% whereas West Virginia is third on the list. So even if you're only driving through it you will enjoy the drive.

Until next time,

Arktander

(aka David Andreasen)

#47, Washington WA (Been There)

We flew out to Seattle in 2004 in order to get through the trip quicker. We had planned to do our big trip out West trip at the same time we were going on our cruise. But then our home sold earlier than we figured and we had to make our trip and get back in time for the closing. The day we flew into Seattle was blue skies and white clouds, a picture perfect day. We took the bus into town and checked out downtown. The day we returned from our cruise it was dreary and rainy. According to our experience it rains in Seattle half the year! That trip was a great break from reality.

Coffee shop scene created by AI

It was May of 2004 and we were selling our updated home and buying a dilapidated house that my dear wife said I could remodel. Now here's the deal about this planned trip out West. My plan was to drive through all those states I hadn't been to yet in 2004, which is pretty much the nine still on my list plus maybe three or four down in the South I hadn't gotten to since I was still in Illinois. I would go up through Nebraska and the Dakotas, then Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. We'd take our week cruise and then head back down to California, on to Arizona, and then hit what we could on our way back to Illinois. I'm not saying it was a great plan but we'd be doing a lot of driving. But it didn't matter anyway since we got a call that our "new" house was closing earlier and we needed to get the paperwork done and move in. That was the end of our "Westward Ho!" vacation. In the end we flew out to Seattle on a Friday, stayed overnight, then took a bus up to Vancouver Saturday which dropped us off at the cruise ship. The cruise concluded the next Saturday and we did the whole trip in reverse. Then we got back to the house that would take me seven years to remodel "in my spare time."

While we were in Seattle that Friday afternoon we took a bus downtown and walked around to see what it was like. We saw a Seattle's Best Coffee and went in for a look, probably getting a coffee. Across the street was a Seattle's Coffee Works and I am told there are dozens more throughout the city. We took the bus back to our hotel and got a good nights sleep before the hubbub of the cruise. With almost 3,500 guests and crew onboard it was busy busy busy.

What was the weather like you ask? The day we flew there are walked around the downtown was as perfect a day as you would ever find anywhere. The day we got back on the bus from Vancouver was the most miserable dreary rainy day you could ever imagine. So I guess we got to see the two extremes on the Seattle West Coast, so maybe most days are just average.

Until next time,

Arktander

(aka David Andreasen)

#46, Virginia VA (Been There)

Virginia is one of the states I remember going to as a kid. Skyline Caverns was a place we were taken to and it was always breathtaking. We parked along the highway that had tables and a standing grill, where dad would set up the charcoal and make hot dogs. That was a great time for young ones. And if you count the Washington D.C. area with Virginia then we've been to the sights there. We have silent movie snippets from the Capitol and the Washington Monument but I was only a couple years old at the time.

Shenandoah National Park

Skyline Caverns

Inside the Caverns (in a suit!)

Roadside picnics

I know this is mostly my list, but my wife took a girls trip with her mom and sisters and visited Williamsburg and the surrounding areas. They went on tours, at in nice places, and stayed in a decent hotel. Sounded pretty average to me.

A Jamestown Settlement monument

As I don't have the District of Columbia listed as one of the states (since it isn't) I'll mention that when we visited Morgantown, West Virginia, we took a day trip into Washington D.C. and took in a number of the sites. I probably have photos of that somewhere but haven't found it yet. I know our kids went to the Smithsonian and we hit the Lincoln and Washington Monuments, so I'll add those if I ever can find them.

Until next time,

Arktander

(aka David Andreasen)

#45, Vermont VT (Been There)

This sign says it all. The "Birthplace of Vermont" description of the town means that the Constitution of Vermont was adopted here in 1777 as the founding of the Vermont Republic, which was a sovereign state until 1791 when Vermont joined the United States.

Here's where it all began—for Vermont anyway

Our first foray into Vermont was a brief one, in 1990 as we celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. We spent most of the day in Massachusetts but on the way home we came to Bennington which was a small town on the Walloomsac River (don't look at me, I didn't name it). As it was on the Silk Road (no, not the one in China) the covered bridge we came upon was called the Silk Road Bridge. That's what the sign on it says, plus the year 1840, but it's been painted and new signs added since. I imagine we were in Vermont for less than an hour and then we were on our way. It would be a harbinger of things to come two decades hence.

The Silk Road Bridge, 1840

Do you remember Hurricane Irene in August 2011? Wikipedia lists it as the 18th most destructive hurricane in terms of damage, so it wasn't the worst one. But it did damage up the coast and struck Long Island and on into New England with great force. We had already put our reservation in for one full week in Vermont because all our friends in Illinois talked about their trips to New England in the fall and we wanted to take a look see. Unfortunately the ocean water that got swirled up into the forests stunted all the color changing and leaves either stayed green or turned brown. Plus we had to work our way around the roads that caved in. I turned the trip into finding all the covered bridges I could locate but we may never see a Vermont fall.

Flood Destruction on the Queechee Covered Bridge, 1970

We headed out from Illinois for the rather long trip to Brownsville, Vermont, for a resort that was at the bottom of a mountain. It was set up with a chair lift so you would be correct in assuming this was a great place to go skiing in the winter. And one would probably be correct in believing that the landscape of trees would be a color kaleidoscope in the Fall. We were sorely disappointed that such would not be the case this year as the weather had dealt a horrific blow to the area but we did our best to find as many colorful leaves as we could. And certainly the views were amazing.

All the pretty leave were on the ground

We made a few side trips around the state. Montpelier was over an hour away and we saw the State Capitol. Further up the road was Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream location in Waterbury and we took a tour. I was particularly fascinated by the "Flavor Graveyard" out back with shared the sad news of those flavors that were no longer with us. Here's the one with a tie-in to Georgia:

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Tour

Flavor Graveyard

One goal I had before leaving the area was to find the location from where the town photo was taken. It had been in all the promotional materials and all were from the same direction so I figured there must be a special lookout to take pictures. But no matter where I went I just couldn't see the same sight. As I zeroed in on the closest view of this particular town church I saw a house up on the right and decided I'd go ask the homeowners if there knew where I could find this place. Turns out it was actually their back yard which looks down on this view and they graciously allowed me all the time I wanted to savor the moment and take a bunch of pictures. That coup was probably the highlight of the trip for me!

The quintessential photo shot

Even as we drove out of the state I was still stopping along the way to take some more pictures of the covered bridges. This was below was quite nice in its handmade construction and solid feel.

Inside View of a Covered Bridge

The 10 Foot 16 Ton Covered Bridge

The Brown Bridge, 1871

The Creamery Bridge, 1979

So, in the end, we saw glimpses of the color we came to see but also found other sights we had not thought we'd see. That's the great thing about travelling. You try to make plans so that the trip is worth the effort but you've got to be willing to be flexible and ready to find new things.

The hurricane turned this in a mightier Queechee River

So, by all means, plan yourself a trip to Vermont some fall and you will likely see a sight that will take your breath away. Find yourselves all the covered bridges you possibly can take a ridiculous amount of photos. And all the while be sure to keep your eyes open for whatever surprises you might find along the way. You won't be disappointed!

Until next time,

Arktander

(aka David Andreasen)

#44, Utah UT (Not Yet)

Utah is scrunched up in between all the others in the West and it would not have been that far a trip while at the Grand Canyon, probably under two hours. Missed opportunity. 

AI Generated Image

Until next time,

Arktander

(aka David Andreasen)

#43, Texas TX (Been There)

The first time I made it to Texas was the trip with my siblings mentioned below. The first time we got to Texas together was a sad occasion, the funeral of a family member. But there was a lot of family in that area near Dallas and Houston and we made so more trips over the years for more joyful occasions. We have just discovered Galveston Beach and enjoy being on the ocean and checking out the town. We've made the trip there twice and no doubt will do it again.

Not a care in the world

We very much enjoy just sitting on the beach, listening to the water and watching the world go by. We've gone with family and it's a time to catch up on each other's lives and not have a care in the world. This location for us is right on the beach and there's no driving around to get there. Just watching the waves and the skies is the best.

The view from our balcony

Fun stuff to do along the main road

We also have found a favorite little cafe in town where everything on the menu is terrific. We sometimes go there every day since we haven't tried everything on the menu yet. They also have a bakery so that is a double whammy depending on how you look at it. My wife can't get enough but my wallet takes the hit. Ah well, it's just vacation. On our spring trip last year we had other family come down from Dallas and Houston and we all met in our resort for constant snacking and conversation.

This was a pretty great view as well

These have been our recent trips to Texas. The original trip was back one summer when I was around twenty years old, during college. The four of us siblings drove from Illinois to Houston, Texas, to visit our aunt and uncle for a couple weeks. That time had been a blast for us. We did take a day trip to Galveston Beach and I remember I got completely burned but I was a kid so who cared? We went to AstroWorld, played a round of golf with our uncle, played tennis till we were soaking wet (did I mention it was August and into the triple digits?), visited our grandmother, and played hide-and-go-seek in a dark house at night with the entire house at our disposal. It was an amazing couple of weeks as was the drive down and back in dad's new car.

Dad let his four teenagers drive his car

After that trip I told my dad to give me first shot at buying the car whenever he decided to trade it in. I kept it clean and changed the oil as I was taking care of my future car. A few years later we made the deal and I had the car for when I met my girlfriend/future wife. Ah, to be young.

Until next time,

Arktander

(aka David Andreasen)

#42, Tennessee TN (Been There)

Ah, Tennessee. This is one of my top four vacation destinations, the others being South Carolina (Myrtle Beach), Texas (Galveston Beach), and Florida (Orlando and any of the beaches). Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge are terrific places to relax as long as you pick the right time of the year. Otherwise it can be crazy busy like the one time we made the mistake of going at spring break. What were we thinking? The drive from Atlanta to Gatlinburg through the forest is delightful as well.

Tennessee, The Volunteer State

Gatlinburg is at the eastern side of the state. Mostly we head to Gatlinburg from Atlanta, park the vehicle, and walk everywhere we need to go. The first time we drove to Gatlinburg the various websites suggested a convoluted way to get there during the summer when it's crazy busy. I didn't believe them and came through Pigeon Forge and found out it would take three hours to make the fifteen mile drive. My bad. Basically we don't go to Pigeon Forge anymore as it's not worth the aggravation. Since we were there that first time we ended up seeing a car show up and down the strip, and took in Dolly Parton's Stampede which I liked a lot because they served great iced tea.

In Gatlinburg we have our favorite restaurants and have taken in a day of the Ober Gatlinburg Chairlift and all the events of the Adventure Park. We've done the Cade's Cove drive, Gatlinburg Bypass, and the Blue Ridge Parkway. I'd love to ride the Tail Of The Dragon but I've yet to convince my wife of that one.

Downtown Gatlinburg

Log cabin off the beaten path

On the west side of Tennessee is Memphis and I have been there a few times. I enjoyed dinner at a couple restaurants for Memphis BBQ and it was amazing. Went by the home of Elvis Presley. Took a tour through the Corvette Museum south of Memphis. 

Graceland, as far as I could go without paying a fortune

While we were in the area around Memphis we took a quick detour to the National Corvette Museum, mainly for me. We happened to get there a month or two after the floor of the yellow building of the museum opened up because of a 60 foot deep sinkhole, that swallowed up eight Corvettes. Most of those cars were irreplaceable classics. They had gotten most of the cars out by this time but I appreciated getting a photo of the sight and the opportunity to get a photo of the hole.

I'm a car guy

The National Corvette Museum

A sinkhole opened up and swallowed eight Corvettes in 2014

You could have your Corvette delivered here for special pickup

In the middle of the state is Nashville and my son and daughter-in-law lived there for many years Since they lived less than four hours from Atlanta we'd see them a few times a year. Then in between Nashville and Gatlinburg is Chattanooga on the southern border of Tennessee. We've been up there a few times and have to drive through there whenever heading to Nashville, or on the way up to Illinois.

Creative Discovery Museum in Chattanooga

Interestingly enough we've had more reasons to go to Tennessee while living in Georgia, and it's a beautiful state. The drive to Nashville goes up the mountains and then down the other side. There's always something interesting to see.

Until next time,

Arktander

(aka David Andreasen)