 |
 |
 |
Today wraps up our 2008 Road Trip photo extravaganza!
It is amazing to look back at everything we crammed into about 11 days of traveling!
The last attraction that we visited right before we flew out of the Denver airport was the "Why I Love Her" map of roadside attractions from across America.
I have also included other various different random photos from previous parts of our trip...
In the morning before we flew out of Denver we headed out to Tiny Town.
Tiny Town started in 1915 when a man named George Turner started making one-sixth sized buildings for his daughter. He opened it to the public in 1920. From 1920 through 1988 Tiny Town was closed and reopened several times and suffered from floods and fire.
In 1988 Tiny Town reopened with new and refurbished buildings. In 1990 the Tiny Town Railway began operation and ever since Tiny Town and it's Railway have been a huge attraction to visitors from around the world...
Ken making some "adjustments" on Barbie
A square dancing hoedown
Cowboys watching dance hall girls (I especially like the guy with the beer in his hand)
I love the way these photos of the interiors look with the sunlight streaming in!
It was neat to see old photos of Tiny Town and what it used to look like...
On the way back to Denver we swung by the Swetsville Zoo.
The Swetsville Zoo is filled with over 160 sculptures made by Bill Swets.
Bill Swets makes his sculptures out of various different types of metal he finds such as: car, truck and farm equipment parts.
With some of the photos posted below I have included the sculpture's "Nickname" and "Scientific Name"...
Willy The Welder, Self-Portrait
Sour Dough Pete, Desperado
The L.A. Super Bug, VW Beetle
Buzzard George, Buzzard
Dinosaur Kit, Parts Is Parts
Vase Of Caps, Center Piece Bouquet
Doggie Rest Area, Fire Hydrants
Thomas, The Tank Engine
The Reverend, Preying Mantis
The Big Easel painting based on van Gogh's Sunflower painting located in Goodland, Kansas is one of three such paintings in existence (there is one in Canada and one in Australia).
The artist Cameron Cross wants for there to be four more Big Easel paintings in other countires to bring the total number up to seven.
The painting and easel can be seen from the freeway- but, I would recommend pulling off the freeway and driving over to it to get a closer look at the scale...
Have you ever heard of Lucas, Kansas before?
We hadn't either until we were planning a roadtrip back in 2005.
Lucas is an amazing little town packed full of art and artists.
Back during our visit in 2005, I even tried to convince Chris to move there for a year so that we could concentrate on making art and being creative (I am always trying to convince Chris to move someplace else for a bit, so far, it has only successfully worked once- when we lived down in San Luis Obispo, California).
This time around we did a whirlwind tour of Lucas because we were trying to get to Hays where we were going to stay the night.
Behold the wonder that is Lucas, Kansas (population 400)...
Make sure to click on the links that I have provided to view more photos of the artwork and destinations...
Ceramicist Eric Abraham's Flying Pig Studio & Gallery.
Eric Abraham creates fun and beautiful art and functional objects out of ceramic.
Unfortunately, this time around we didn't go into his studio because of the fact we had to get to Hays before it got too late.
During our previous visit we met Eric who is a great guy, and he gave us a tour of his gallery/studio/home.
The Grassroots Art Center
On our previous visit Chris and I spent a lot of time looking at and taking pictures of the incredible collection of art that the Grassroots Art Center has.
The Center features painted limestone sculptures, a motorcycle and a car made out of pull tabs and tons of other interesting things.
The Garden of Eden is a fantastical place filled with sculptures that were created by an intriguing man by the name of S.P. Dinsmoor from 1907-1928.
You can go on a tour of the gardens and the home, as well as visit his tomb where you can see him laying inside his coffin!
The World's Largest Collection of the Worlds Smallest Versions of the Worlds Largest Things Traveling Roadside Attraction & Museum
On our visit to Lucas in 2005 we met the creative lady behind the bus pictured above.
As the title says she makes the Worlds Smallest Versions of the Worlds Largest Things.
Check out her list of What's Large Where in the United States
The World's Largest Souvenir Travel Plate painted by the creator of The World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things, Erika Nelson.
We stopped by the town of Cawker City, Kansas to check out the World's Largest Ball of Sisal Twine
While in Cawker City we also looked around at the paintings of twine that were in the windows of local businesses...
Georgia O'Keefe's San Francisco de Asis Mission with balls of twine.
Hailstorm by Thomas Hart Benton with a ball of twine.
Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water with ball of twine.
Andy Warhol's Campbell's "Twine" Soup Can.
Grant Wood's American Gothic with ball of twine.
Van Gogh's Starry Night (the ball of twine is hiding in a field near the village)
On Sunday when we were heading out of town we planned on going to the Electric House, unfortunately it didn't open until 1:00.
We tried to go into the art museums and to Fritz's to pass some time but, all of those destinations were closed as well.
Unsure what to do with our spare time we spotted a family fun center and decided to go there to pass the time.
We had lots of fun playing various different games and taking pictures...
We arrived at The Johnson County Museum of History and scheduled a tour of the Electric House.
While we were waiting for our tour time we wandered around the Museum of History...
We went on our tour of the 1950's All-Electric House
The 1950's ranch was outfitted with all the latest electrical gizmos and technology of the time.
Our favorite feature of the house was the painting that hides a t.v. screen behind it.
Note the traditional 1950's double beds a la I Love Lucy style...
We left St. Louis and began our roadtrip back to Denver.
We spent part of Saturday and part of Sunday in the Kansas City area.
While in the area we visited Leila's Hair Museum, the Shuttlecocks at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and Fritz's Union Station Restaurant...
Leila's Hair Museum wall's are covered in framed antique hair wreaths, and there are display cases full of antique hair jewelry.
Leila's Hair Museum is quite an intriguing place!
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art has huge shuttlecock sculptures out on it's front lawn.
Chris stood inside of one of them for a photo op and we got scolded by a security person's voice coming out of a hidden speaker.
Sunday morning we went to Fritz's Union Station Restaurant to get some food delivered to us by model train, only to find them closed for the 4th of July weekend :(
One evening we quickly stopped by the Missouri Botanical Gardens to say hello to Chris' family who were there for a concert.
When we walked in I saw one Niki de Saint Phalle sculpture and then another and another...
I was so excited because Niki de Saint Phalle is one of my favorite sculptors!
I was introduced to her work by my sculpture teacher Maire Sivak (who happens to be another one of my favorite sculptors- check out her amazing stone sculptures here )
There were a total of 40 Niki de Saint Phalle mosaic sculptures scattered throughout the garden.
We didn't have time to see them all that evening- so we came back another day and were able to take a pleasant stroll around the grounds and enjoy looking at all of them.
I especially like the vibrant, fanciful and exuberant "Nanas" (French slang for "chicks" or "babes").
St. Louis has lots of great old buildings, signs and businesses.
Here's a hodge podge of some of the things we saw and did...
Pretty Art Nouveau style windows.
Fantastic wild cat hand rails.
Martinis and Pancakes?!? Oh my!
We were lucky enough to get a chance to see a screening of The Incredible Shrinking Man at the Schlafly Brewery.
One night we shared a late night snack of pancakes and french fries plus coffee, for the incredibly low price of $4- at the Courtesy Diner.
