© jan albers | all rights reserved
© jan albers | all rights reserved
Wyoming
Open Road
January 27, 2012Happy Anniversary
January 23, 2012
© jan albers | all rights reserved
North Ridgeville, Ohio
(Uncle) Fred and (Aunt) Mandy Stobe, on their 50th wedding anniversary. Fred took her out to dinner but refused to pay 50 cents for a cup of coffee afterward, so they came home and made a pot of their own.
In Hot Water
January 20, 2012
© jan albers | all rights reserved
Thermopolis, Wyoming
This city, home to plenty of geothermal hot springs, is aptly named – the word apparently derives from the Greek words for “city” and “hot baths.” Local lodgings take advantage of the waters by featuring hot mineral spas, steam rooms and Jacuzzis along with freshwater pools.
Uncle Fred’s Bucket
September 26, 2011
© karen e. titus | all rights reserved
North Ridgeville, Ohio
Uncle Fred was Jan’s uncle, Karen’s great uncle. He was a successful, rich farmer – and incredibly cheap. It visibly pained him to lose out on any opportunity to make or save money. True, he’d give produce from his farm stand to family members, but only with great reluctance, and after several false starts. He’d pick up a pepper, say, and set it back down, and mumble about what Kroger (“the Kroger’s”) was charging for peppers, and gaze across his fields, repeating this circuit several times before inviting us to take the pepper.
He burnished his reputation in family lore when he made a show of giving Karen a free pumpkin – which, on closer inspection later, turned out to be rotten. He’s probably tossing in his grave right now, wishing he could have charged us a photo fee for shooting his bucket.
Little Red School House
September 13, 2011
© jan albers | all rights reserved
Brothers School
Brothers, Oregon
Recent statistics put the enrollment at this K-8 school at six students, which represents about one-sixth of the town’s population.
Here, U.S. 20 is known as the Central Oregon Highway. Brothers occupies the otherwise empty space between Burns (to the east) and Bend (to the west). The origin of the town’s name is somewhat cloudy. Some say it comes from several families of brothers who settled in the area, and others say it was inspired by three local hills backed by the nearby Three Sisters Mountains.
And yes, farther west on the highway there’s a Sisters, Oregon, named after those same mountains. Among these two “siblings,” Sisters appears to be faring better than Brothers – its four public schools serve some 1,300 students.
Grapes for Sale
September 2, 2011
© jan albers | all rights reserved
Geneva, Ohio
Some 1,500 acres of grapes are grown in the Geneva area. Conditions are ideal in the narrow stretch from the Lake Erie shore to about 10 miles inland, since the lake protects vines from damaging frosts on either end of the growing season.
Checked Out
August 25, 2011
© jan albers | all rights reserved
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
The Checkboard Diner, on Housatonic Street in Pittsfield, Mass., apparently had at least two previous incarnations as diners: Miss Pittsfield and Lizi’s Miss Pittsfield, after being moved to the town from its original location in nearby Dalton. It now appears to be destroyed.
Nebraska Skyline
August 18, 2011
© jan albers | all rights reserved
Hot Wheels
August 15, 2011
© jan albers | all rights reserved
Webster City, Iowa
Cruising downtown Webster City, Iowa.
Diner
August 11, 2011
© karen e. titus | all rights reserved
Idaho Falls, Idaho
When you’re on the road, you often want to pull off for a cup of coffee or a bite to eat. Once you do, the road starts to beckon again almost immediately.
The Accidental Highway 