Our 2006 Road Trip Photos, Part 17: the Season Finale and the Lost Outtakes

Piggies!

Outtake #1 of 5: baby piggies napping at the Minnesota Zoo. When we arrived home late at the end of our drive, this is how peacefully we slept that night.

[The very special miniseries concludes! See Part One for the official intro and context to this MCC remastered edition.

Fun trivia: the original 2006 version of this entry was posted entirely without visuals because neither of us took a single photo on Day 7. As a special bonus to break up the monotony for today’s readers, especially for anyone who craves photos but couldn’t care less about my writing, this evening my wife and I delved into the deep end of our closet and disinterred the rest of her 35mm hard-copy photos from 2006. Previous entries used a combination of excerpts from her scrapbooks and saved files from my first year as a digital camera owner. The five unrelated photos seen here, each of which reference activities from previous chapters, have never been scanned or shared online until now. Nothing fancy or disappointing about them; we basically forgot they existed.]

Right this way for the extended epilogue!

Our Annual Family Reunion Adventure

Turkey Run!

For fifty-seven years my wife’s family has held their annual reunions at Turkey Run State Park, a ninety-minute drive from our suburban HQ and well outside the range of my phone carrier’s disappointing 4G coverage. For the space of one Sunday afternoon it’s an opportunity to unplug from the internet and all its problems, experience fresh air, enjoy good weather live and in person (Lord willing), catch up with loved ones that we’ve been too preoccupied to visit, exchange pleasantries with distant relatives whose names we’ll never remember, test which family members will still commit to a long drive for any of these purposes, and remember how to mingle in large, awkward groups without access to Words with Friends as our consolation playmate.

Or, while everyone else is talking, you can escape the shindig for a while and go explore the best part of Turkey Run, the beautiful forests crisscrossed with several miles of nature-trail adventure.

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Indiana State Fair 2014 Photos, Part 2: Normal-Gator vs. Manasaurus

Man v. Gator!

Steel wading pool exhibition match. Two vertebrates enter; two vertebrates leave.


Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

It’s that time again! The Indiana State Fair is an annual celebration of Hoosier pride, farming, food, and 4-H, with amusement park rides and big-ticket concerts by musicians that other people love. My wife and I attend each year as a date-day to seek new forms of creativity and imagination within a local context.

The State Fair also brings in entertainers from around the globe at various levels. Top-40 musicians play at the Coliseum; former Top-40 musicians play the large, free main stage; local acts play an even smaller stage; and a few touring entertainers perform in the farm-equipment areas, around the animal-education section, or near the 4-H Building. The latter charge no admission, earning only the intake from whatever merchandise they sell after their performance.

One of this year’s freebies was a traveling roadshow called “Kachunga and the Alligator”. The basic premise was several minutes of stage patter about swampland conservation and animal rights, followed by a few minutes of a man tussling with a modest alligator.

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Wizard World Chicago 2014 Photos, Part 7 of 7: the Geek Stuff

Rocket Cookie!

Rocket Raccoon: the Cookie! Northbrook bakery Max and Benny’s had a booth selling cookies shaped like numerous characters and personalities. My wife and I split a cookie shaped like Star-Lord’s head. It was great and I wish we’d bought a few dozen more.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

This weekend was that time again: our annual excursion to Rosemont, IL, for Wizard World Chicago. My wife and I took plenty of photos as usual, many of them usable. We’ll be sharing those over the next several entries…

…blah blah blah blah blah. And now it all comes down to this, Part Seven, the not-really-grand finale: non-living objects and items that caught our eyes on the premises.

Right this way for random objects of power!

Wizard World Chicago 2014 Photos, Part 5 of 7: Last Call for Costumes

Grootbusters!

Who ya gonna call? GROOTBUSTERS!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

This weekend was that time again: our annual excursion to Rosemont, IL, for Wizard World Chicago. My wife and I took plenty of photos as usual, many of them usable. We’ll be sharing those over the next several entries, but I’m still too fatigued from the experience to figure out how many entries these will take.

Later we determined the correct number is seven entries in all. Part Five is two smaller subsets combined. Half of these photos are “pot luck” miscellaneous characters. The rest each contain at least one mystery character that defied my knowledge base and all research attempts, both personal and outsourced. The MCC standing plea of thumb as always is: if you recognize someone I don’t, pretty-please feel free to chime in and teach this old guy something new. (Prime example: at far right in the above photo is an original character named Kattosha. That was new learning for me. See the comments below for more of her story.)

Right this way for our last, best hopes for Wizard World Chicago 2014 heroes of cosplay!…

Wizard World Chicago 2014 Photos, Part 4 of 7: Animation Costumes!

Team Rocket!

Jesse and James fire Meowth, welcome new sidekick Ash. Meet the all-new, all-different Team Rocket!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

This weekend was that time again: our annual excursion to Rosemont, IL, for Wizard World Chicago. My wife and I took plenty of photos as usual, many of them usable. We’ll be sharing those over the next several entries, but I’m still too fatigued from the experience to figure out how many entries these will take.

I’ve been dealing with con crud all week long and struggling to reactivate all portions of my brain, but the math finally came together for me: we’re looking at seven entries in all for the WWC 2014 photo parade. Part four of those, then: characters from cartoons and anime. Enjoy!

Right this way for your favorites from Japan and/or Saturday morning…

Wizard World Chicago 2014 Photos, Part 3: Marvel and Dark Horse Costumes!

The Avengers!

The Avengers! Classic lineup, different take.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

This weekend was that time again: our annual excursion to Rosemont, IL, for Wizard World Chicago. My wife and I took plenty of photos as usual, many of them usable. We’ll be sharing those over the next several entries, but I’m still too fatigued from the experience to figure out how many entries these will take.

Part three, then: representatives from the Marvel Universe, along with a few folks from other comic-book companies. Enjoy!

Right this way, True Believer!

Wizard World Chicago 2014 Photos, Part 2: DC Comics Costumes!

Batman!

…BECAUSE I’M BATMAN!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

This weekend was that time again: our annual excursion to Rosemont, IL, for Wizard World Chicago. My wife and I took plenty of photos as usual, many of them usable. We’ll be sharing those over the next several entries, but I’m still too fatigued from the experience to figure out how many entries these will take.

Part two, then: the amazing world of DC Comics. Enjoy!

Right this way for heroes and villains from the Distinguished Competition…

Wizard World Chicago 2014 Photos, Part 1: Costumes! (Movies, Games, Doctor Who)

Sephiroth!

Personal fave of the entire show: 8-bit Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII.

This weekend was that time again: our annual excursion to Rosemont, IL, for Wizard World Chicago, a four-day entertainment convention packed with tens of thousands of attendees seeking actor autographs, viewing the panoply of cosplayers demonstrating their sartorial talents, wandering Artists Alley in search of new comics and art, or hoarding merchandise from the dealers and exhibitors. The big-name comics publishers haven’t attended in years, but WWC seems to be doing well nonetheless, playing to their strengths and not paying total lip service to their comic-con roots.

My wife and I took plenty of photos as usual, many of them usable. We’ll be sharing those over the next several entries, but I’m still too fatigued from the experience to figure out how many entries these will take. Part One begins arbitrarily with costumes from movies, video games, and from Doctor Who, because arbitrary categorization helps me organize my thoughts more clearly. I’m not the kind of guy to upload fifty random cosplay photos and yell, “HERE!” Hence, themes.

Enjoy! Right this way for Round 1…

Our 2006 Road Trip, Part 15: Superior!

Lake Superior!

[The very special miniseries continues! See Part One for the official intro and context.]

Day 5: Wednesday, July 26th (continued)

After the aquarium and our glimpses of the Aerial Lift Bridge, we walked a few blocks along the bay to the quaint mom-‘n’-pop business section of Duluth, on the isthmus between Superior Bay and Lake Superior.

Right this way for scenes from a Great Lake!

Gen Con 2014 Photos, Part 6 of 6: Things Besides Costumes

Gaming!

Gamers gaming with games. The costumes are incidental.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover: my wife and I attended Gen Con 2014 and took pictures as usual.

The first five parts were all costumes, costumes, costumes. In this, the final chapter in the Gen Con 2014 saga: slightly fewer costumes. Because there are other persons, places, and things at entertainment conventions besides costumes. Yes, really.

Right this way for one last roundup!

Indiana State Fair 2014 Photos, Part 1: the Year in Food

It’s that time again! The Indiana State Fair is an annual celebration of Hoosier pride, farming, food, and 4-H, with amusement park rides and big-ticket concerts by musicians that other people love. My wife and I attend each year as a date-day to seek new forms of creativity and imagination within a local context. Usually, 70% of our quest is food.

Each year the State Fair announces the annual theme of a single ingredient and holds a contest daring all the vendors to create a new dish around it, like a sort of Food Network cooking show except I think the grand prize is just “for exposure”. Recent history has brought us the Year of the Tomato, the Year of Corn, the Year of Soy, the Year of Popcorn, and so on. This year’s theme was the disappointingly non-food-based Year of the Coliseum, in honor of the longtime event venue that reopened this year after a two-year closure for major, modernizing renovations. Some reverence is to be expected for the Pepsi Coliseum as an integral part of the fairground experience for many attendees. Just the same, this break from thematic tradition left the vendors a bit directionless and less inspired to whip up new concoctions for us. We managed to find a couple.

Meet the donut that killed me.

Giant Amish Donut!

Right this way for more food, if you have any appetite left!

Granny Driving in Tractor Parade (experiment #2)

Granny on tractor

Sample image from our day spent strolling around the 2014 Indiana State Fair. As you might expect from a state fair, there were unhealthy new food items and small entertainment spectacles and amateur art and general Hoosier happenings all around, such as the driver seen here, one of several participants in a midday parade around the fairgrounds’ long racetrack alongside numerous other farmers on tractors.

More photos to come in the next couple days, here on MCC…

Terracotta War Comes to the Heartland

Terra Cotta Warriors

Here’s something we never thought we’d see visiting the American Midwest: real Terracotta Warriors, straight out of the world-famous Shaanxi province collection. They seemed a fascinating thing, but we were surprised that their current caretakers would allow the collection to be split up.

Rare are the opportunities to see such unique creations up close, to examine the once-painted clay surfaces, the cracks from erosion and light restoration, the intricate textures of these sculptures carved over two millennia ago. Other artifacts exist from the same century, circa 200-odd B.C., as shown below. They’re interesting in their own way, but they’re hardly the stars of the show.

Terra Cotta Warriors

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Our 2006 Road Trip, Part 14: the Road to Superior

[The very special miniseries continues! See Part One for the official intro and context.]

Day 5: Wednesday, July 26th

A second round at the same breakfast buffet was a precursor to our long drive down I-35 North to the northern end of Minnesota. Along the way we zoomed past the official campaign tour bus of one Rod Grams. The Internet tells me in retrospect that he’s a former anchorman turned construction company president turned US Congressman who’s up for reelection this year, but at the time we didn’t know Rod Grams from Rod Flanders. Had I known, maybe we could’ve run him off the road and asked for an autograph. For want of a monster truck, a brush with greatness was lost.

Once again thanks to Roadside America, we didn’t stop till two hours down the road, a bit out of our way in the town of Cloquet, home of the only gas station ever designed by the one and only Frank Lloyd Wright.

Wright Gas!

Suggested motto: “Get the right gas for your car at Wright Gas!”

Right this way for stuff that’s not quite Lake Superior…

Our 2006 Road Trip, Part 13: Like the Minnesota Zoo, But Stiffer

Rhinos!

Painted elephants in 2-D; rhinos in 3-D!

[The very special miniseries continues! See Part One for the official intro and context.]

Day 4: Tuesday, July 25th (continued)

Before leaving Austin, I stopped at a gas station across the street, filled up on cheap gas, then sat for several minutes waiting for an old lady in her jalopy to sloooowly finish her business with the air pump so I could refill our leaky rear driver’s-side tire. After our interminable stakeout, we took care of the tire and retreated back in the direction of Minneapolis, stopping for supper on the way in the town of Owatonna at a chain joint called the Happy Chef. To be honest, I didn’t realize it was part of a chain until I saw others like it along the same stretch of freeway. With a name like “Happy Chef”, I’d hoped it was either a cornball buffet or an earnest Chinese restaurant. The reality was a standard diner, competent and low-priced but otherwise unremarkable.

While in town, on yet another recommendation from Roadside America (who likewise tipped us off to the Rock in the House and the Spam Museum), we stopped in Owatonna at a sporting goods store called Cabela’s. Like Happy Chef, it’s a chain we don’t have back in Indiana. Unlike Happy Chef, this franchise offers a special attraction: the largest collection of action-posed taxidermy you’re likely to see in a sporting goods store.

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Our 2006 Road Trip, Part 12: Spam! Spam! Spam! Spam!

Spammy!

Spammy bids you welcome! Enter freely and of your own craving!

[The very special miniseries continues! See Part One for the official intro and context.]

Day 4: Tuesday, July 25th (continued)

After several hours of gawking and photographing the animals, then a few minutes of fairly priced zoo cafeteria lunch, two more hours of driving took us southeast to the town of Austin, home of Hormel Foods and the world-famous Spam Museum.

Does this really need an introduction?

Our 2006 Road Trip, Part 11: Mandatory Zoo Visit

[The very special miniseries continues! See Part One for the official intro and context.]

Day 4: Tuesday, July 25th

Our hotel in Bloomington rewarded us with the largest breakfast buffet of the whole trip. The offerings weren’t all that different, with the notable exception of a positively luxurious three waffle-makers. Their buffet was much more spread out and streamlined, rather than crammed into a leftover nook like those of the previous hotels. Although they offered three times as many tables and chairs as we were used to, they were also just as crowded as the pool had been the previous night.

Once we were tanked up on too much sugar — I know I was, at least — we drove due south to Apple Valley, home of the Minnesota Zoo. This part was a concession on behalf of my son, the wildlife lover. We always schedule one vacation stop for his appeasement, though a zoo was a welcome change of pace from the ride-alike amusement parks of previous years. (Fun opinion I wish I didn’t hold: Six Flags parks are as interchangeable as McDonald’s franchises.)

Birdie on Lake!

Lakes and birdies, hand in hand: Minnesota’s nature scene in a nutshell.

Right this way to walk with the animals!

Our 2006 Road Trip, Part 8: the Rock in the House

[The very special miniseries continues! See Part One for the official intro and context.]

Day 3: Monday, July 24th (continued)

Eventually, after the dashboard downshifted from Red Alert, and after one missed turnoff along the Minnesota side of the Mississippi River, we skipped back into Wisconsin and reached Highway 35, a.k.a. the Great River Byway, a stretch of road that follows along the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi through several small towns all the way to Minnesota. We were unaware until we reached it that the byway was an attraction unto itself, but it was a beautiful surprise. The river on your left is gorgeous, but the ridges and rock formations on your right are intimidating yet impressive.

Wisconsin scenery!

Yes, this photo again. But hours away from the Dells, we eventually remembered that we like nature.

Our first intentional stop on the Byway was in Fountain City, home of a roadside attraction called the Rock in the House. From the front, it’s just another home near a cliffside. As you approach from the modest parking area, it appears ordinary, even quaint.

Just a house.

Just a house….or IS IT?

From the rear, it looks like this:

The Rock in the House

You’re not helping, boy.

Right this way for exactly what it looks like!

A Muted Moment with a Meaningless Muffin

Muffin!

Sometimes a lazy summer strikes when you least expect it. For a few random days at a time, you’re surrounded by quiet, relaxing doldrums. Your TV schedule loses its pulse. Theater screens are usurped by movies clearly rated NFY (Not For You). Headline news is, if not slow per se, more irrelevant to you than usual. Sometimes a muffin with too many ingredients is the most exciting thing that’s happened to you.

Right this way for upcoming plans after the calm…