Roadside America – RDZ Photography

Bisbee, Arizona – January 2023 – The Shady Dell

Bisbee, Arizona is an eclectic little city that has for more than 100 years been a mining town. In addition for the last 40 years it has been a tourist town focused on their thriving artist community. As a result you get some really funky places like the Shady Dell.

The Shady Dell amazingly dates from 1927, when it was started as a motor court for the traffic that was going across county on U.S. 80, long before the interstates.

Today the Shady Dell is home to a number of permanently parked vintage campers that you can rent out for the night.

The Shady Dell’s environment encourages a sense of community.

If you are hungry Dot’s Diner is part of the setting for breakfast and lunch.

The trailers are scattered about, giving you a peaceful setting.

To add to the atmosphere there are a few old cars and trucks sitting around.

For a bit more luxury they offer a restored bus.

For those who love the water, this 1947 Chris Craft yacht is the ticket. Sorry no water, it’s Arizona.

The Shady Dell is truly one of those funky places that you must make a stop at. If you want to stay overnight, plan ahead, rumor has it they are booked up 6 months in advance.

Vail, Arizona – December 2021 – Views From The New Neighborhood

History, Nature, Transportation, Water Features

Our move to Arizona has found us living in a town called Vail, at the far east end of Tucson. It predates the same named town in Colorado by about 100 years, but for most of it’s time was a small, dusty railroad stop. The Colorado town has nothing on the Arizona one, the mountains here have more vertical gain above the town – just without so much snow (thankfully).

In the last 30 years it has grown tremendously but still has that ‘outpost’ feel, being at the edge of town, next to the mountains and desert. This posting has random views of some sights around Vail and beyond.

While Route 66 is the most famous east-west route in the pre interstate days, in reality more people actually took U.S. 80 west to California. This route made it’s way across Southern Arizona, including a portion between Benson and Vail, on it’s way to Tucson.

U.S. 80 crosses Cienega Creek on a 1921 bridge, next to where two Southern Pacific railroad routes also traverse the creek. A cienega is a wetland unique to the Southwestern U.S., resulting in a landscape unlike the surrounding area because of the constant availability of water, with large trees lining the banks.

Just to the east is the ghost town of Pantano, another railroad stop in the late 1800s, early 1900s. Today only the water tower remains.

About 30 miles south of Vail is the town of Sonoita. As you cross the Empire Mountains the landscape changes yet again, with large fields of tall grasses, instead of the Sonoran Desert look of Vail.

A local propane dealer has a cool collection of decorated tanks.

While Saguaro National Park East has a Tucson address, it is in the Vail area. It was a good day to take the dog for a walk, and take a closer look at the cacti.

The Vail area, and all of Southern Arizona, have spectacular sunsets.

Note the full moon peeking through the clouds.

Central Ohio – September 2020 – Views From Above Part 1

Architecture, History, Nature, Transportation, Water Features

Today’s posting is a collection of drone views from various points around Central Ohio.

We start with a number of Metro Parks.

Below is a smaller one called Homestead Metro Park. The large white bubble in the back right is an indoor tennis court.

There are numerous covered bridges in Central Ohio, and they are popular enough they build new ones on trails as shown in the center here.

Nearby is Prairie Oaks, featuring this lake for fishing.

The northern end of the park crosses Big Darby Creek with a unique bridge (I need a drone with a zoom!). This cable stay suspension bridge has towers 86′ above the creek.

As the name suggests Prairie Oaks is in the middle of fields with some trees.

The late summer colors were vivid.

The last of the Metro Parks for this day is Darby Creek.

Darby Creek is famed for their bison (again – drone with a zoom is needed).

The park was once a massive farm/estate of the Galbraith family, who owned (among other things) race horses.

Closer into town is this interesting view from above. My first thought when I saw the photo is it looks like a graveyard.

From the ground we see the concrete corn cob sculptures – indeed a graveyard for the farmlands of Ohio.

There are a number of abandoned quarries around Columbus. This one is partially filled with water.

Another mystery from above

It is a Native American mound. The natives in this area were prolific mound builders, this one (Shrum) being one of the smaller ones.

The military cemetery portion of Greenlawn Cemetery from the ground.

Much more impressive from 200′ up.

The drone views will continue with part 2 in a day or two.

Across Connecticut – August 2019 – From Yugos to Yale

Architecture, Art, History, Transportation

If you are going from Boston to New York City you have no choice but to pass through Connecticut. We did, and found two very different stops along the way.

At the edge of the town of Middletown we found the Yugo Ranch!

Just 15 miles, but about 2 light years culturally, is Yale University in New Haven.

It seemed much of the university was under construction but we eventually found what we were looking for – Beinecke Library, one of the most amazing libraries in the world.

Enough stops – on to New York City.

Columbus – July 2019 – The Last of Roadside America for This Town

Art, Nature

Those who regularly follow this blog know that the website Roadside America is one of my favorite sources for the strange and unusual. A few years ago we visited most of the Roadside America attractions for Columbus and detailed them in this post

https://rdzphotographyblog.com/2017/01/10/columbus-march-2015-roadside-america-attractions/

Today we finished off the last few, starting with a giant boot outside the LL Bean store.

A pet cemetery from the 1930s – 1960s – you can Googles it (I know really bad pun). Supposedly there are a few military dogs there, but it is large and we were unable to locate them.

A very colorful Buddhist temple in an otherwise nondescript housing neighborhood.

Large cowboy #1

And his twin just down the street – large cowboy #2.

And for the grand finale – the Gates of Hell – otherwise known as a large drainage pipe under High Street, complete with urban legends of hauntings.

While we haven’t seen all of America, we have now seen all of Columbus!

Across America – May 2019 – Random Scenes Part 2

Architecture, Art, History, Nature, Transportation, Water Features

Central Tennessee – Bus Graveyard

Northern Alabama – Rock Zoo

Scottsboro, Alabama – Did you ever lose your luggage on an airplane and never get it back. It likely ended up here, as they buy all of the unclaimed luggage from the airlines and sell it in essentially a thrift store.

Pawhuska, Oklahoma

Bartlesville, Oklahoma – Phillips 66 Petroleum Company Headquarters

Vinita, Oklahoma – Will Rogers Rodeo

Eastern Oklahoma – Pensacola Dam. A mile long and releasing a lot of water because of the recent rains.

Joplin, Missouri – America’s 2nd largest truck stop.

Southern Missouri – Presumed dead armadillo

Somewhere else in Southern Missouri – Coke Machine Graveyard

Scenes around Cairo, Illinois – At the confluence of the Ohio River and Mississippi River – with flooding.

Evansville, Indiana – Restored Greyhound Bus Station, now a hipster hamburger place. Manhattan prices in small town Indiana.

The interior looked nothing like a bus station.

Evansville, Indiana – County Courthouse

Scenes around Louisville, Kentucky

And after 3 weeks of running around the country – back in Ohio (in Cincinnati). Only 2 hours to home.

Across America – May 2019 – Random Scenes Part 1

Architecture, Art, History, Nature, Transportation

The following are interesting scenes that didn’t fit any of the other postings.

Lajitas, Texas – The only place to stay was a golf resort, but it had a great sunset.

Texas border area – We saw a few instances of the border patrol in action, including going through 2 checkpoints along the highway. Strangely the checkpoints were at least 40 miles from the border.

Marfa, Texas – This town is an artist enclave for New York artists. How and why a bunch of New York artists decided to go to a small west Texas town is far too long for this blog.

Fort Davis, Texas is a historic town with a former frontier fort. Today it has a couple of cool re purposed buildings.

Pecos, Texas – For about 100 miles in any direction from Pecos were new fracking oil wells. The landscape was filled with these towers burning off natural gas, as well as truck traffic jams and RVs parked in the desert for the workers. The high pay also caused our most expensive hotel night in Carlsbad, New Mexico as the demand for housing far exceeds supply.

Roswell, New Mexico – While I have a posting for the UFO industry of Roswell, there was also a very cool airplane ‘boneyard’.

Portales, New Mexico – When we were driving into town the billboard for Burger King said ‘next to the airplane’. They weren’t kidding.

Hereford, Texas – Beef capital of the world. I think they are correct.

Canyon, Texas – A Giant Cowboy

Amarillo, Texas – Much cleaner energy source.

Canadian, Texas – Lonesome train blues.

Near Shattuck, Oklahoma – Folk Art along the Highway.

Fairview, Oklahoma – We were looking for some Good Eats, but needed to find somewhere else.

Jet, Oklahoma – One of our disappointments was being unable to check out the Salt Plains National Refuge – where you can dig around for crystals in the salt flats. Much of Oklahoma was flooded, and it flooded the salt flats.

The cows however were making the most of their new beach.

Somewhere in Oklahoma – The Perfect Farm Photo

Part 2 in a second posting.

September 2018 – Auf Wiedersehen to the Audi

Architecture, Art, Festival, History, Nature, Sports, Transportation

Over the last couple of years the cars have become frequent subjects in my photos. After 4 years of loyal service, and fantastic adventures, the Audi S5 was traded in.

This posting highlights the Audi’s trips it took us on.

First trip was to Western Ohio – and a giant fiberglass bull.

Most of the time the birthplace of Presidents are honored locales, but not for Rutherford B Hayes – his is a BP station in Delaware, Ohio.

A covered bridge in Fairfield County, Ohio – The car was not allowed to cross it, but we were.

Utopia has been found (along the Ohio River).

The settling of America – on the right is a famed S bridge of the original National Road. Overhead is US Route 40 – the main route west from the 1910s through the 1960s. A 1/2 mile to the left (not shown) is Interstate 70.

A riverboat in Cincinnati.

867 feet above the Audi the New River Gorge Bridge. They offer tours where they connect you to the beams underneath and you cross – I passed.

Polo anyone. 3 horses in the field and 340 under the hood.

After Utopia, come Paradise – in the Northern Peninsula of Michigan. I find it ironic that somewhere that gets 200 inches of snow a year is considered Paradise…

The Audi is not on a runway – it is an abandoned air force base in Michigan – with some random Jets parked around town.

Welcome to Minnesota doncha ya know.

Big Horn Canyon National Recreation Area Montana/Wyoming.

Yellowstone. That is not the radiator overheating 🙂

One of the funniest moments in our travels was the day we ran into a cattle drive on a road in Idaho – this cow spent 5 minutes licking the bugs off the front of the Audi.

We drove 9 miles out a dirt road at the Golden Spike National Historic Site (where the transcontinental railroad met in the 1800s). Wondering who was dumb enough take an Audi out this dirt road, until a Tesla pulled up.

Devils Rocks Utah

Pagosa Springs, Colorado. The hotel was filled with a Corvette Club and us.

Bonjour from Paris – Texas

We went down to the Crossroads….Clarksdale, Mississippi.

We have seen Utopia and Paradise, and now the Center of the World

The original Model T factory in Detroit. They let my German car go along with all the classic American cars on the Woodward Dream Cruise all the way through the city to the burbs where the other 100,000 cool cars were cruising.

Plymouth, Massachusetts – National Monument to the Fore Fathers.

The Marine Atlantic Ferry to Newfoundland. A 600 car ferry and a 18 hour ride!

Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland, Canada

The Audi and a large basket – but there are larger basket buildings in Ohio.

The historic Cincinnati Observatory and the Audi.

Watkins Glen Race Track. They were having club racing with little Mazdas, etc – if I had the safety equipment to go on the track I could’ve taken them – I think.

Age of Steam Roundhouse in Sugarcreek, Ohio.

The Auburn/Cord/Dusenberg Festival in Indiana. That car is sooo much cooler than mine.

The final road trip for the Audi – Downtown Chicago with the El in the background. While the Audi is gone – the adventures continue…..

Pittsburgh – July 2018 – Bicycle Heaven

Architecture, Art, History, Transportation

Another repeat visit that was totally worth it was a second trip to Bicycle Heaven, located on the North Side of Pittsburgh.

When you collect a few thousands bicycles you also end up with nice collections of parts – the Schwin exhibit.

In addition to the massive used bike inventory – they have some new ones that have unique designs.

There are some nice miniatures along the counter.

Small bike backed up by large banana seats.

There are some true vintage bikes scattered about the collection.

As you walk through you see huge piles of bike parts – need a tire?

Perhaps a chain guard?

This is known as the Groovy Cranky Panky Sprocket Room.

There are a few non bikes features.

A great old peddle airplane.

Bikes high and low.

An 1890 bike mixed in.

Oreo bicycles – must be double stuffed Oreos.

Bicycle Heaven is always worth a visit, or two.

Cincinnati – June 2018 – Lucky Cat Museum

Art, History

Having been working on the Roadside America list for 4 years now we thought we had exhausted the list of those in Ohio, but we had at least one more classic one to see – the Lucky Cat Museum in Cincinnati.

Owned by Micha Robertson, she makes the trip over from nearby Northern Kentucky in her stylish little ride.