Rocking Chair

I was working down in Missouri in November and had a chance to do a little site seeing. The highlight of my sightseeing ventures was visiting the Worlds Largest Rocking Chair. The rocking chair is located in Fanning, MO, along the old historic Route 66. The chair stands a towering 42 ft 4 in tall, and is 20 ft wide, and weighs in at 27,500 lbs.

If you happen to be driving through central Missouri on Interstate 44. I would recommend making a pit stop in Fanning and checking out the Worlds Largest Rocking Chair.

And for the tree people check out the nicely topped silver maples behind the chair!

Random Travel Photo

Random travel picture.

Denver Airport, November 2008.

Hotel Review - Lark Inn, Tomah, WI

I have decided to start giving reviews of all the hotels I stay in. I stay in some pretty random cities, which leads to some random hotels.

I am currently staying in the Lark Inn, which is located in Tomah, Wisconsin. The Lark Inn is a pretty unique hotel, I have never stayed in a hotel like it before.

As soon as you check in you notice that this hotel is a little different. The front office is actually a gas station. They have a little area for a continental breakfast, and some kitchen tables to eat at, I have to admit that it is a little weird eating breakfast in a gas station.

Front Office

The Lark Inn has a few choices of rooms to stay in. They have regular motel rooms, little log cabins, and extended stay condos. I have not stayed in the motel rooms, I have only stayed in the cabins. I really like the cabins, they are small but comfortable, very homey feeling. The cabins come with a small refrigerator, microwave, tv, and dvd player. The cabin is decorated with antiques, and a handmade quilt on the bed.

Motel Rooms

Cabins

The inside of my cabin

I would recommend this motel to anyone who is staying the the Tomah area. Staying at the Lark Inn reminds me of staying at my grandparents house, its clean, quiet, and everyone here is very friendly. It is not luxury, but its comfortable. Two Thumbs Up.

Sideview

I have started a new photography project. I am taking pictures of sights that I see in the sideview mirror of my car. I have been trying to come up with a name for the project like, "Pictures from the Sideview" or some other play on words. Let me know if you have any ideas.

Pinus ponderosa

Trees and Photography are two passions in my life. I try to combine the two as much as possible, mostly by incorporating trees into my photographs. Sometimes the trees may be subtle or they are the main subject in the photos.

Pinus ponderosa (ponderosa pine)

Talking Squirrels

While I am working I talk to a variety of different people. Some of them are friendly, some of them are angry, some of them are interesting, and some of them are just plain crazy. I was reminiscing about some encounters I have had the past few years I have had at work. This story happened back in 2006 while working in Lakeland, Florida ( I have plenty of Florida stories to share!).

I was looking at some trees one morning in a cul-de-sac and this old lady in a night gown comes out to see what I am up to. I told her what I was doing and answered some questions about her trees. I cannot remember how we got on the topic of squirrels, but she started telling me about the squirrels in her yard. The nice old lady was friends with the squirrels, they would watch her cook through the kitchen window, and she would have conversations with them quite frequently! The one story she told me was that one day she saw a squirrel sitting out on the fence just outside her window, and the squirrel was shaking pretty bad and looked really scared. The old lady knew that the squirrel was scared and wanted to come into the house because there was a snake in the back yard, but she told him he could not come in the house because he might bite her! After our conversation was over she was walking back up her driveway and there was a squirrel in her neighbors yard, and she started talking to it, "I see you there in the garden, what are you doing over there?" It was one of the most amusing conversations I have had at work to this day!

Pit stops along the way

I took a road trip for work in July. I was working in four National Cemeteries in the Plain States. The four cemeteries were Black Hills National Cemetery (South Dakota), Fort McPherson National Cemetery (Nebraska), Fort Sill National Cemetery (Oklahoma), and Fort Gibson National Cemetery (Oklahoma). I spent a day at each cemetery creating an inventory of all of their trees. I made a few pit stops while driving to each cemetery, and snapped a few pictures at each one.

The Corn Palace, South Dakota

Badlands National Park, South Dakota (and the hail storm I drove through)

Butte Mountain, South Dakota

Devils Tower, Wyoming

Chimney Rock, NE

Old Cemetery at Chimney Rock, Nebraska

A random windmill, Kansas