No glitches with camera, van or dogs today.  Even the clouds went somewhere else to play today.  The heat is back — lots of river time for the dogs.  Being careful because these rivers are all fast-moving.  Maybe from the rain the other day.  But Grem could be swept away like a leaf if I’m not paying attention and keeping things close to shore.  Nik is powerful enough and experienced enough that he would just drift with the current and paddle towards shore if necessary.  And Fixie — no way she’s putting a toe in moving water.  Grip, the blind gal, stays on leash right next to me whenever there’s water present.

It was all little towns today — most of them only for one or two photos.  But all worthwhile to me.  I think nothing of driving three or four hours for one building or sign.  So, twice as many photos for the blog today as Flickr.  Let’s get to it.

From Jamestown, ND (the giant buffalo quite impressive, the fake Conestoga wagon blocked a lot by tractor trailers).  This sign goes to show it doesn’t take much extra work or money to make a clever and memorable sign:

 

A few signs from Valley City, ND:

Regular followers of my blog know I’m nuts about opal glass signs.  This one’s pretty rusted-up.  I couldn’t tell if the “Shoe” and “Repairing” were made of some other translucenty material — but probably.  The shoe store still in business:

Lots to look at here:

The Art Deco fan details on this one have been repainted.  “Auto Supply” probably had neon originally — or the entire sign might have been a re-work:

 

Moving on to Wahpeton, ND:

 

Make that three Art Deco era signs in a row here.  The sunny side of this one was even more paint-blasted — so I went with the shady side:

 

Still Wahpeton.  This one has bubble type plastic that I’ve never seen before:

 

A couple next-door neighbors.  The Good Luck must have been another restaurant originally.

This sign is on top of the liquor store’s canopy (the building is a former gas station).  Neat tail on the arrow:

 

Back in Minnesota — in Pelican Rapids.  An old creamery building had this nice pelican detail:

Over to Fergus Falls — one of my favorite vitrolite storefronts.  The letters are incised:

Another angle:

And, yes, I did.  This is a treehugger scone (dinner, very filling) and a peach crispie (like pie but smaller and easier to eat):

 

Also Fergus Falls.  The letters on this sign are made of glass.  Not a style I’ve seen before with the heavy outlining and pretty much flush with the sign panel:

Some stained glass above the Lundeen’s storefront:

 

Over in Vining — there’s a sculpture park with about a dozen of these sculptures by Ken Nyberg.  I’ll include just a couple of photos and this link for more:
http://thebigstuffproject.blogspot.com/2008/07/vining-sculpture-park.html

 

A couple of beer signs at Madsen’s Resort in Battle Lake.  I’ve seen a bunch of these plastic Grain Belt signs — but the paint is always super faded.  This one is mint:

The Hamm’s sign was really hard to shoot under a tree — but it’s faded but nice with the top of the beer glass in high relief.  This faded example in NV shows better what I mean:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/polyman/24809028/

 

From Wadena:

 

From Clarissa — simple and effective:

 

Hauer Brothers Electric in Little Falls:

 

Tomorrow, I’ll be in Paul Bunyan territory — so brace yourselves for lots of photos of him.  I’ve debated about whether to start skimming and get closer to home (Wisconsin) by Friday.  But I think I’ll just plod along following my list and see where I end up here in MN.  Three more days to shoot.

Got rolling again at 2pm.   Cost me $400-something for three frayed wires, new transmission gasket thingie & replacing transmission fluid (again), an evap something or nother.  And hopefully, that’s that — no more trouble rest of trip.

On the way out of Grand Forks, ND, I shot this one for you.  I think those disks cover earlier neon tubing holes — indicating that this sign must have been retexted at least once:

On to West Fargo — a roundie building housing a liquor store:

Lots of stuff from Fargo proper.  Nodak is an appliance, clothing, etc. store.  It’s also the nickname for North Dakota, of course:

Super cute, no?

This is a replica of the original sign — part of a building renovation around 2000.  While I applaud the effort — and it’s a nice big sign which cost quite a lot I’m sure — but I think that channel lettering (metal surround the letters) looks kinda cheesy:

I’m betting there was another name before “Metro”, matching the green color, font, and embossing of the “Drug” portion.  The arrow was probably bulbs or neon.  But I’m grateful that this is still here:

Back to Minnesota for some things.  This one’s in Dilworth:

Also in Dilworth.  I like how the sign is integrated into the building.  And the way those drainage pipes extend way, way out to the edge of the sidewalk:

Out of daylight but Dee came through for this one in Detroit Lakes:

One more from Detroit Lakes before hitting the highway back to ND.  A bar with some decorative glass block:

It was a very long journey back to ND.  I wanted to get to Jamestown to get set up to shoot the giant buffalo, a faux Conestoga wagon, etc.  Should have been a couple of hours from Detroit Lakes but torrential crazy rain with sideways lightening made it a real white knuckle journey.  Had to drive 25 and 30 mph most of the way because I could barely see in front of me and was worried about flash flooding.  But we made it.  Not much sleep but I’ll get by with coffee and knowing I only have four more days to shoot.  From Central MN back to Brooklyn, it’s a 21 hour drive — so there will be no messing around — must hit the interstate on Friday night.

9am CST here at Rydell Chevrolet in Grand Forks, ND.  Looks like the transmission thing is any easy fix — a cracked washer.  Whew!  The stalling thing sounds like an “evap sensor”.  Or something to that effect.  So, crossing fingers & toes that we’ll be out of here sometime this afternoon & I can start shooting again.

I banged through lots of long-distance driving,remote locations, even got thru the border city on the western edge of MN — Grand Forks.  Just as I was about to hit the interstate for Fargo at about 6pm, the fuse blew.  No big deal, right?  Changed it and then drove about 10 blocks til the fuse blew again.  Immediately again and again — Sparkle just plain would not start.  So I let her sit about a half hour & tried again.  Blew immediately.  So that’s that.  We’re stranded in Grand Forks for the night.  But at least I got a full day’s shooting in.  And of all the remote, nowhere towns or vast spaces between towns, this was excellent timing.  The Chevy dealer opens at 7am and I’ll be waiting.  I’ve got a long list of symptoms — related or unrelated to this fuse thing.  And hopefully, we can get rolling again at some point tomorrow.

Otherwise, all good — weather fantastic, cool with pretty non-interfering clouds.  No doggie problems.  As I waited for the tow truck (90 mins), I took them for a good walk.  I noticed I have new critters to watch for:  lots of prairie dog holes.  I had forgotten about them.  I could lose Grem & Nik for hours or weeks if they take off after those things.

I’m sparing you lots of fiberglass statue photos tonight at Flickr and here.  Personally, I love them and I need every last one of them for my website.  Sometimes there’s an hour or more drive between them.  But I know most of you are here for signs and buildings.

From International Falls.   This place and the TeePee Motel (night-time photo at Flickr last night) are both for sale.  The chains are starting to move into this area so I think it’s just a matter of time before these signs are gone.

Also in International Falls:

Moving on to Northome.  These pay phones must be very rare now.  I can’t remember seeing one before.  Yes, the dial tone worked when I picked up the phone:

Another King Koin sign (one previously posted to this blog a few days ago).  This one from Blackduck:

Just one of a dozen or two doggie breaks.  Something wonderful in the grass — I don’t know what.  But Nik is always just a waiting for the ballies to be thrown:

From East Grand Forks (the Minnesota side).  No other way to shoot this because of the tree:

 

I love the Hugo’s Market mascot.  Such a delirious shopper!  I saw a plastic sign today with this guy and didn’t shoot it.  Been regretting it ever since.  I did at least get this side of a truck shot in Grand Forks:

 

The rest of the photos from Grand Forks.  Wish I’d had wheels to see if any of the nice neon signs were lit at night.  But it was also Sunday night so that would rule out all or most of them.  Maybe if I’m still stranded here tomorrow night I’ll see what I can find.

Simonson gas stations — new to me — also have a goofy mascot.  This is the only sign I’ve seen of theirs so far that wasn’t modern.  Most likely this one was adapted from another station — and the Simonson parts were all porcelain & neon like the “gas for less” arrow:

Another fun, former station, let me count the ways.  The “people going places” motto, the stop sign shaped sign, the checkerboard bay doors:

 

Love the bulbs used as the horseshoe nails:

 

And last one for the night — surely this monster sign had neon originally.  What mostly intrigued me was the monthly “Sleeping Rooms”.  Meaning, what, you rent by the month and can only use the room for sleeping?

 

So, hopefully tomorrow, we’ll get rolling and I’ll be able to get some photos.  This trip has really been an emotional roller coaster.  Lots of great photos & places & natural beauty — but oh so much stress at the same time.

It’s the little things in life — that can make such a huge impact.  That’s one of my 20 amp fuses — and the dreaded transmission fluid drops on the ground:

No fuse blowing — or “check engine” light at all today.  A little bit of dripping in the morning — but then nothing at all the rest of the day.  Really confusing — and sometimes stressful – but what-ev-er.  All I can do is keep driving — or possibly stop at a transmission place and spend three days there for possible rebuilding — or big life/death decisions re: Sparkle’s future.  I remember my mother used to drive a big Thunderbird that went thru tons of transmission fluid — she’d just nonchalantly refill it when it started grinding or something.  And I had MG Midgets back in California that guzzled & spilled oil like crazy.  I went thru quarts of oil weekly with them and thought nothing of puddles on the ground.  So, I’m just gonna try to ignore these mechanical issues, although I’m at least a thousand miles from home — unless I hear noises, feel something weird, or see more than drips.

Nik is definitely all better.  And everybody got lots of lakes and grass today.  Being extra careful about locations since up here there’s probably more to worry about than ducks — things like bears, moose, etc.  And my little munchkins would think nothing about chasing and confronting them.

Photo-time.  Let’s start out in Virginia.  Neither I nor Dee screwed this one up — this is really that faded:

 

 

The building below this one now houses, ironically, an Anytime Fitness.  I’m guessing this was originally a cleaners since they typically had these funky type clocks.  But maybe something else:

 

 

Cool little supermarket:

The context:

 

 

Moving on to Chisholm:

 

 

Plastic signs really don’t get as much respect as their steel counterparts.  And since they’re not as durable, I bet in another ten years, they’ll really be rare.  This one is a nice example of plastic and steel/neon.  The plastic panels might have been later substitutes for steel & neon.  Really hard to tell.

 

 

I’ve never seen a neon sign exclusively announcing “Off Sale”.  Which means a bar / liquor store that’s licensed to sell bottles or cans of beer (to be taken “off” the premises).

 

 

On to Hibbing.  Surely, not a Chinese restaurant originally with that facade:

 

 

I’m thinking from this building’s position on the lot and the tacked on building behind it, that this may have been a gas station originally:

 

In addition to all the lakes and pine trees, we’ve definitely been in iron mining country the past couple days.  Lots of underground tours, gouged up mountains, etc.  This gas station uses local rocks as landscaping:

 

 

I stopped in Nashwauk to see if this building was still there.  I assumed it wouldn’t be.   This photo from an old postcard on eBay:

But when I showed this photo to a local, he recognized it immediately and directed me to this building.  What a shame.  It just goes to show you how much buildings can be remodeled into nothingness:

 

 

This place is in Grand Rapids:  huge sign (probably all neon originally)…

and a neat sign, log cabin, chimney (faux I assume) on the side of the building:

 

 

A giant pike in Deer River.
“Look kids — a giant fish!  Time for some photos!”
“Oh mom, do we HAVE to?”
“If you want sausage, then you have to.”

So this fish had small fin platforms — probably to park you kids’ butts on — or have them stand on.  And I just had to have all four dogs up there so… it was pretty much a balancing act.  I thought the biggest (Fix) with the smallest (Grem) and then the two mediums (Nik & Grip) would work.  But turns out Nik was a leaner and knocked poor blind Grippie off the perch (landing on her feet though).  So I switched the order.  Poor Grippie hanging on with toenails for dear life.  Nik not giving Grem hardly an inch to stand on.  Fixie smirking like hell.  But, there, I got my shot, though clearly nobody happy about it.

Another photo from Deer River:

 

 

Almost to International Falls — my long run of good weather got sucky.  I had thought about a photo-op for the kids with the famous Lake Kabetogama saddled-up fish.  But the saddle was so small and slippery — from a million tourist butts I guess.  So I decided to let Gremlin handle this one alone.  Still, she could barely find any traction — and she was about 20 feet up there — so I just got a couple of shots and ran up the stairs in back to get her:

 

Tomorrow, moving on to the more western half of northern Minnesota.

 

A trouble-free day with spectacular scenery:  forests, bays, lakes — and all-day blue skies.  I felt a bit apprehensive this morning when I saw the little transmission fluid puddle that had accumulated overnight.  But I kept checking all day, sticking my head under the frame, backing up and inspecting.  Not a single drop on the ground all day long.  Is it possible that the mechanics at Jiffy Lube had overfilled it — and this past two days has been gradual seeping of overflow?  I’ll keep my eye on the situation.  Engine light remained on all day — but no problems.  No blown fuses.  It took some courage to take on the foresty nowhere territory, surely out of AAA cell phone range should something have happened.  But I feel a bit more confident for more of the same tomorrow.

Nik, also, seems to have healed overnight.  He’s about 90% himself.  Just a little ouchy with a front foot but no more body tremors.  The more I think about it, the more likely he suffered some major bruises, etc. from his fall — maybe shock to his system as a result.  Less likely that he ate something toxic since he’s usually not a scavenger like the other dogs.  When I poked around on-line last night I was fearing the worst:  kidney failure, etc.  But no vomiting, normal poop — so I just held my breath.

So, full speed ahead with a week of shooting to go.  Will try to bang through the northern half of MN.  Many of the cities today were first times for me — and tomorrow’s stops I think are all completely new.  I don’t think I’ve been north of Two Harbors before so this is exciting!  At this point, wherever I go in the country, about half of what I shoot are reshoots of stuff I’ve seen before.

Started the day in Pine City:

 

Gail is looking a bit faded at this point.  In fact, she appears to be a tack-on to the sign.  Maybe a  replacement of a similar figure or covering up a symbol or word?

 

On to Duluth — where there’s no shortage of bars and liquor stores:

Even the polar bears drink up here:

 

From Hermantown — these King Koin Laundry signs were mass-produced — a few versions of them scattered here and there — but very rare now:

 

Across the bridge from Duluth for some quick stops in Superior, WI.   A fun and interesting town — new one for me.  I don’t know the original bar name but glad they kept this guy.  This repaint looks more like a woman in drag to me:

 

Must be an adapted sign, no?

 

The storefront of this building is a yucky coverup — but the details on top are great:

 

I asked a local about this rocket ship shaped thing.  It’s a microwave communications tower.  Built in the 1980s, cost a fortune and was only used about three years.  The technology changed and made this thing irrelevant.  Sure hope they leave it alone — it’s fantastic!  FL Wright would give it a thumbs up:

More signs from Superior, WI:

Lots of ICO gas stations around these parts — a new brand to me.  Nothing remarkable about their stations but I liked this life-preserver entrance.  This station’s closed though — so this will probably be gone soon:

 

Moving on to Two Harbors.  I had heard that the Pierre the Voyageur statue had been moved.  Sure enough!  I arrived to find him being fitted with spotlights.  This is a very happy ending.  The statue had been abandoned for years and was soon to be bulldozed when this hotel stepped forward to offer him a home.  He was restored and relocated — no easy task since he’s concrete not fiberglass — and twenty feet tall:
http://www.agilitynut.com/giants/mn.html
The Earthwood Inn (where he’s located now) has made a new paddle for his right hand that’s been gone for many years.  He’s now at the entrance to town — and will be a town symbol.  Makes me so, SO happy!

 

Also from Two Harbors — a bit of neon and wood.  Note the building is simply painted to look log cabin-y:

 

On to Ely where I was running out of light — but luckily some neon there just being turned on:

Last one for the night also from Ely.  This one’s not lit any more — except for the one light bulb on the bottom.  But you can visualize the beaker on top with neon drops pouring into the glass below.  And the stars sequencing on the left:

 

Before I forget — got word from Diner Larry last night that the building in last night’s post was probably not a “real” diner.  Also, I wanted to mention that the Valentine diner in Minneapolis that was abandoned for years is gone now — nothing but an empty lot:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/842286672/

 

Tomorrow, on to Hibbing, International Falls, etc.  Maybe I’ll throw in some nature shots in the next post as proof of how gorgeous it is up here.

I pushed on through the Minneapolis stops and started the ascent to the far northern portion of the state.  The check engine light came on around noon and stayed on for the day.  Otherwise, no other problems.  Yes, there is a slow transmission fluid leak.  Funny, I don’t think it was there before it was “serviced”.  I spoke with a couple of mechanics today and they said it’s such an insignificant amount that it can wait til I get home.  That when I get about a quart low, there will be stiffness in shifting and I’ll notice that before any harm can be done.  So it sounds like as long as I keep checking the level every day or two, adding some if needed, we should be fine.  And it sounds like the check engine thingie is unrelated.  As is the fuse thingie.  So, all rather stressful — but I’ll deal.

The forecast was wrong — nothing but fantastic sun.  Hoping for the same on Friday.  The dogs were awfully quiet — strangely so.  I’d guessed that they were just wiped out from all that running at the Minnehaha / Mississippi River place.  And it was close to 90 today.  Nik had a little limp which I didn’t worry too much about.  These things usually last about half the day and then disappear.  But he seemed extra subdued.  Tonight, I noticed that he’s shivering a bit.  Terrified that it could be poisoning or internal damage.  Although more than 24 hours ago, he did disappear down a VERY steep hill at one point.  Some hikers saw him way, way below — but he managed to work his way back up.  But I’m thinking maybe he fell?  So I’m holding my breath and ready to rush him to the vet if he gets any worse.  Just one more stressful item for the list.  This has been a helluva trip!   Somehow, managing to get lots of great photos between catastrophic events.

Let’s start this batch in St. Louis Park.  The Roller Garden opened in 1943 in this mammoth building.  It turns out it was built as a horse-riding arena in 1930:
http://www.slphistory.org/history/pastime.asp

But the reason I was here was for the dinosaur — which was installed on the roof but I’d been told had been moved inside.  There’s a painted tribute to him outside:

And sure enough, there he was perched inside.  A Sinclair dinosaur it turned out.  I’ve got a bunch of these guys at this page:
http://www.agilitynut.com/dinos/sinclair.html

I don’t know the connection with dinosaurs and skating — but there are other dinosaurs lurking in the background in these cool painted murals:

On to Minneapolis:

Victor’s 1959 Cafe sure looks like a concealed “real” diner from the outside:

It’s the right dimensions:

And inside, those look like Worcester oak booths to me (though horribly defaced) and the barrel-shaped roof.  I don’t see any mentions of this place on-line — but I think this is the real deal, just all kinds of remodeling and covering up:

Maybe art supplies store originally?  Minneapolites, do you know what this was?

A massive dry cleaning sign.  And “Uggs” — must be a real winter time necessity in these parts with miserably long winters:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugg_boots

These bulbs must be wonderfully carnival-like at night:

A colorful mish-mash:

Just as I was about to leave Minneapolis, I was treated to this eyeful.  A pedal pub.  Everyone was pedaling like crazy because the light had changed and they were in the middle of the intersection.  Gosh, it looked like so much fun — and apparently people ARE drinking on this thing.  Not sure how this is legal — would not be allowed in NYC I’m sure.  So here’s a video to show you how these things work:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXsGP1-DwJ4&feature=related

Last one for the day from Hilltop.  I could not find any angle that worked without that hideous power line in the way.  Poking around on-line, turns out there was another location in 1955.  And there is another location left in Little Canada.  That’s all I know.  Their sign gets three stars from me:  chubby chef, flames, depiction of food.

So, moving northward to Duluth and beyond tomorrow.  I’ve got dampened confidence what with Sparkle’s and now Nik’s ailments but I’m determined to get us all through the next 10 days somehow.

The weather was stunningly great today.  But lots of road closures, traffic, etc. limited productivity a bit.  Sparkle is apparently not over her “cold”.  Around 10:30 am, the fuse blew.  I was just steadily moving along at about 35 mph and there went the power.  I coasted off the main road, turning onto a residential side street.  Replaced the fuse and we were on our way again.  My nerves were still frazzled though — trying to notice the slightest change in anything, waiting for it to happen again — but it didn’t.

In the afternoon, I thought I’d treat the dogs to a legit dog park since on-line there it was described as 4.2 acres with river access — the Minnehaha Off-Leash Recreation Area in Minneapolis.  At the entrance, there was a giant warning sign about how you might be being watched — to lock up your valuables or bring them with you to the park.  I guess cars have been broken into and that made me a lot nervous with the computer, camera, etc. all right there.  (Not to worry, nothing happens with that.)  So we walked, and walked, and walked and eventually came to the Mississippi River which was moving  dangerously fast for a 15 pound Terrier.  Nik is a fantastic swimmer and I know he likes swimming against currents but I thought it best to keep things short.

As I walked back to the van, I noticed a little puddle on the ground under the engine.  I backed up to inspect.  About a three-inch wide, fresh, reddish color liquid.  I assumed it had come from Sparkle.  I seemed to remember something about red being transmission fluid – and I had just had that changed (“transmission service”) yesterday.  So I found another Jiffy Lube about 15 minutes later and had it checked out.  Yes, red would be transmission fluid — not oil.  But all the fluids were where they should be.  So maybe that puddle wasn’t ours.  Relieved and on my way.  Not five minutes later, the old familiar “service engine soon” light came on.  Which has been off, on its own, for nearly a week.   And which I should know means nothing by now.  But after the other two events, it just made me completely fried with stress.  Like just packing it in and heading for the closest interstate home.  But no, of course not, and nothing else happened the rest of the day.  Everything ran normally, with the light on.  So I’ll be checking for any puddles tomorrow.  And I guess I should stock up on fuses.  I sure hope my mechanic back home can figure this out — and that we can limp along til then.

Let’s start with a couple Maplewood signs — next door neighbors:

 

The Maplewood Wine Cellar with a barrel-shaped sign and ziggy-zaggy roof:

 

This sign in St. Paul appears to be new.   I love all those piles of hair!

 

Love car wash huts — also St. Paul:

 

Another contemporary sign from Axel’s Bonfire in St. Paul:

 

This was the Chalet Lounge & Restaurant until March.  The crappy cover-up sign already ripped up.   I hope they won’t be replacing the original sign now.

The funky fun building — gotta be 1960s:

The cute icon:

 

 

From South St. Paul — at Don Madland’s Used Cars (where the Whale Car is that I posted at Flickr tonight):

 

 

I went all the way to Lakeville to check out a giant guitar at Hot Sam’s Antiques.  Never did find the guitar.  Nobody around to ask.  Maybe it was actually around the backside facing I-35?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kailiraven_pen-e-layne/3869265276/

But there was a lot of other “stuff”.  I know nothing about this giant sign:

Can’t resist rockets:

There were loads of old cars:

And my personal favorite:

 

Way out west of the Twin Cities towards dark — Shep’s Bar is in Cologne.  Sign on the door says “thanks for 57 years of patronage”.  I asked a kid on a bike and he said it had been closed a year or two.  Let’s pray someone reopens it and keeps the name & sign:

And way out in the tiny town of Plato for a gas station — came across a mega monster truck:

 

 

My good luck with the weather might be over for a bit.  Tomorrow, the forecast is for a mix of sun, clouds and afternoon thunderstorms.  Friday about the same.

I polished off the Northwest part of Wisconsin today and got us into Minnesota in the late afternoon.  Too bad that as soon as we got here, the weather went from spectacular to dark grey and obviously a huge storm coming.  I took Sparkle in for another oil change.  Then I took the dogs off to a legit dog park in Otter Lake to hopefully take some wind out of their sails for a mega day of shooting tomorrow.  Supposed to be gorgeous here in St. Paul / Minneapolis where we’ll be for at least a couple of days.

No bad news or annoyances to report.  No problems with Dee or Sparkle.  I’m proud to say that I made it through the entire state of Wisconsin with no speeding tickets (just that one verbal warning).  The dogs are getting lots of water time.  Loads of lakes and rivers in this area and easy access to them thanks to all the well-marked “canoe launches”.  A few short steps from the parking lot and you’re in gorgeous, pristine water.  Sure beats some of the questionable spots that I take my guys with factories and sewage treatment buildings looming in the background.  Nobody gets sick though so I must be a decent judge of water quality or they’ve just become immune.

It was close to 90 today and I’m being stingy with the A/C.  Trying to use it only when it’s truly miserable (dogs’ tongues come out).  Sparkle’s working hard enough.  And I don’t want anything else breaking in this home stretch of the trip.

Let’s start with a few photos from Chetek.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Walgreen Agency plastic sign before — only the red and white neon signs like this one:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/4452419045/

The Chetek Cafe has one in front of the building:

and one on the side:

Lots of nice signs in Rice Lake.  There’s also this pawn shop gorilla .  I’d love to know his story (what business put him there and why):

A couple of signs from Rice Lake:

This one at Stump Lake Liquor:

On to Hayward.  I’m glad West’s Hayward Dairy kept this old sign:

Even though they have a new one in front.  Bordering on tacky:

They also have a very nice giant cone.  And, no, I didn’t get to have ice cream here — it was before noon, not that hot, and I’d just had a yogurt.  One of my staples on these trips — easy to eat behind the wheel — and almost ice cream anyway.

A couple of signs from Spooner:

From Cumberland:

From Hudson.  Very few signs with guns out there.  I’m always looking for more of them.  I’ve never seen one with a scope before:

So for those of you that are curious about how these trips are put together….  This is what a “State Stack” looks like.  This is what’s left of the trip — 4 chunks for Minnesota and a chunk for the SW corner of Wisconsin.  I’ll probably only get through half of this stuff in the remaining 10 days (technically, 12 days but I’ll be interstate-ing back to NY for probably two of those days).  Within this stack, roughly the same size pile that I already worked through for MI & WI, are four binder-clipped chunks.  Roughly all the same size with splits usually for logical quadrants of the state — or sometimes big cities with suburbs will get an entire chunk.  The list in the front of all the destinations is usually about 20 pages or so.  Clipped behind that — the maps for each place or maps with clumps of places.  Each chunk usually takes about four days — depending on traffic, weather, etc.

More about all this process at the “How to Plan a Roadtrip” page here at this blog (see links on the right side).

Anyway, to celebrate the completion of the Wisconsin, I fueled up and grabbed a snack.  These Freedom gas stations have all kinds of produce and healthy stuff — but I went with just about the lowest of the low — seasoned potato wedges.  Practically no nutritional value but a fun road food.   Hey, they’re not fried!  Oh, and that 500 label — don’t know what that is (freshness dating?) — I think this box was about a buck.  And since I’ve never had Faygo soda — I chose the brightest of the bunch:  Diet Orange.  Far better than expected but I won’t be giving up my DC (Diet Coke).

Hopefully, lots of sunny Twin Cities photos for you tomorrow night.  Early to bed!

If all goes according to plan, today was the last full day in Wisconsin.  Moving on to Minnesota tomorrow.  I thought we’d never get there!  My stops were a bit further apart — had to resort to radio and coffee to make it through the long stretches.  No problems whatsoever with camera, van or dogs.  Lots of irritating road detours.   Weather — absolutely gorgeous all day.

Let’s start where we left off last night — in Wisconsin Rapids — with a day shot of the Kelly’s bottle:

I was anxious to shoot one of the remaining two Chip’s:
http://www.agilitynut.com/eateries/aframechips.html
I posted a couple of photos of the one in Merrill at Flickr tonight.
When I arrived at this one in Wisconsin Rapids, there had just been a fire minutes beforehand.  Luckily, the meat delivery person (truck rear right) was making a delivery and smelled smoke and called the fire dept.  Must have been electrical since the place was not open at 9am when I was there.  I didn’t see any damage so hopefully reopening won’t be a problem.

The building still in fine shape — peering through the doors, I didn’t see any damage to the interior:

Seems to be the original sign:

A close-up of the character at the bottom of the sign:

There were statues of this guy — here’s an example from SC (not sure if he’s still there):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/434519599/

And another one that’s been altered from NC:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/1632242434/

From Stevens Point — the Blue Top Supper Club and Motel:

Also in Stevens Point:

I knew that shape looked familiar and checked for it at my site — sure enough — it’s an adapted Chevrolet OK used car sign:

An irresistible contemporary sign from Mosinee:

Although this building in Mosinee sure looked 1960s/1970s to me, the woman I spoke with inside swore it was built in the 1990s.  It’s always housed a combo visitors center and retail space.  It was a meat market before it was Subway.  The visitors center has now moved out and that part of the building is vacant.

From Wausau — the Ponderosa Motel.  I got mightily screamed at by the owner for the 2 seconds that I pulled in to take this photo.  Sheesh!

Just south of Merrill.  I don’t normally pay close attention to painted barn signs.   Faded remnants of Mail Pouch and the like – sweet but not normally the sort of thing I shoot.  But this caught my eye.  Do you see it?

A close-up?  Do you see it yet?

Sure enough — that’s a painted Chip’s sign over a previous King Midas Flour sign:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/latitudes/95388209/
http://home.swipnet.se/roland/kingmidas.html 

I have never heard of Chip’s painted barn signs before!  I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the only one.  I asked the farmer on his tractor about it.  He said it was painted there shortly after they opened the Merrill location.  He said when he retires, no immediate plans but I’m guessing the guy is in his 70s, he’s going to tear the barn down.  “When I get too old to mow hay.”

Moving on to Abbotsford:

From Spencer — this one has me puzzled.  So, if you add more romance to your life, the lights will be off and you’ll save energy and money.  Am I understanding this correctly?  Or maybe they just mean candlelight instead of sex?  Or deliberately ambiguous?

And last one for the night from Eau Claire.  I just love the name and the graphic.  I’d much rather stay at an Antlers Motel than a Red Roof or Motel 6.  But these types of places normally don’t allow dogs.  And I’m a little fussy about new & clean when it comes to accommodations.  I hope some of you are braver and not so picky so that places like this will survive.

Tomorrow — should be in Minnesota by mid-afternoon.  Lots of Minneapolis/St. Paul stuff and then focusing on the upper half of MN.  More than likely, run out of time midway through the state.  Only about a week and a half left.