3D Painted Silo mural in Iowa

We saw this 3D painted silo mural on roadsideamerica.com and, as it was on our way across Iowa, decided to stop and see. First off, it is well worth a visit...amazing...as you'll see from the photos below. But, we drove 200 miles, got off the highway and headed through town and, two blocks from the silos, the street was all torn up ! We had to detour on some pretty nasty paved streets to get to it. Plus, the parking lot was way too small for our coach and truck so we had to unhook the truck, turn the coach around, and then hook it up again. Geeeez.

But...check it out.

Now...just so you can see the scale and perspective....

That is our 40-ft motorhome in the parking lot...and it's 13-ft tall!

Some additional photos from around the silos....

In order to do this mural, he did some extensive research on the subject matter. If you're interested, here's the link....plus...there's a great drone fly-around towards the end.

https://www.guidovanhelten.com/projects/fortdodge-ia

Of course to me, its very interesting to see him at work.....

He has some other, even more amazing murals that are worth a peek.

https://www.guidovanhelten.com/projects

We both walked all the way around and took photos. Really worth a stop, even with the detour. 

We go to this site all the time to find some of these sites along our path...

Roadsideamerica.com

steve/kim/katie

Montana-Big Sky Country

A short one this time....

You can see for miles in every direction up here in Montana. 

LOVE the west.

...and some wonderful sunsets...that last for over an hour.

Some wild horses decided to hog our road. Fortunately, this was a slow moving country road.

...and one colt amongst them. A beautiful site. We were in no hurry.

steve/kim/katie

Beautiful Illinois State Capitol

We like touring state capitols...I'll have to count how many we've visited but it's many. This one is in Springfield, Illinois way down in the center of the state which is proper because that's where the state's most population used to be centered. Many, many people were travelling out west and they would come through this city on their way to some future life. Nowadays, it would probably be in Chicago. 

Even though this shot is through the parking lot and some construction cranes are in the way, it still shows the size of the capitol. This is the tallest dome capitol in the U.S. 

The state capitols are always gorgeous with so many details put into them with world-famous architects and designers. Perhaps they want to outdo each other...or show their state at the best....or just wanted to lavish a bunch of money on a project that the state would be proud of. 

Of course, this is where Abraham Lincoln served as a congressman and then ran for President of the United States.

Let's just look at some of the wonderful interior photos before I give my unsolicited thoughts.

Entrance to the center from the north. Painting along the sides represent the history of Illinois.

A view from the ground floor looking up to the three stories and then way up to the top of the dome.

Looking straight up at the interior of the dome. Look at the detail!

The state representatives chambers where they deliberate how to spend you money !!

One of several chandeliers that come down from the ceiling for cleaning. How'd you like that job? They used to lower them by hand but, upon renovation, they are now hydraulically lowered. 

State senate chambers...more money spent!

The original building had a stained glass ceiling in this square spot but it leaked! So....they made a new ceiling and, as of today, they have no money to build the stained glass back to its original shape.

Our guide told that this painting is so inaccurate in many ways he could give enough text to cover it all. Suffice it to say, this event happened but the characters are all wrong. But, the design committee decided to leave it the way it is. But, it's still beautiful and sits in a great space.

Okay, here's one of the best rooms....the Supreme Court room of Illinois..

The ceiling is amazing!

Notice the lady justice has her foot on a number of gold coins? That's to signify that Justice cannot be bought. There's a lot of symbolism in this ceiling painting.

One last shot from behind. Oh, the dome top is covered with tin. We asked about that.

Now....

Even though they're gorgeous and immaculately decorated....why is so much money spent on this building instead of helping people with real problems? This is our question every time we visit a state capitol. Sooooo much money spent for a building!! But, if the people vote for it, and that's what they want, well, that's the right way. After all, it's their money.

We still get to enjoy it...decades and decades later. Thank you Illinois !

steve/kim/katie

We need to take a more recent selfie don't you think?

Don Garlits Dragster Museum

 Well, this one might not be for everyone but, when you are exploring, it's fun to see sights that are out of your interest zone. This one could definitely qualify for some of you.

This is the Don Garlits Dragster Museum outside of Ocala, Florida, where he is from.

This place is HUGE !! Soooo many dragsters, funny cars, photos, trophies...and on and on...

There is even a place for just engines !

There is also another building with just the cars that he's restored over the years when he stopped racing....dozens.

The first Funny Car

LOVE the blue

For the red car above...

He called his dragsters the Swamp Rat, with many "editions". He's had 38 of them !. Here's a link to all of them....

https://garlits.com/swamp-rat-gallery/

If you notice, all the engines were in front of the driver but, Don had a terrible accident where the front of the dragster broke, injured him and ended him in the hospital for months. 

Notice the engine part continuing down the strip while the back, engine part, is looking straight down at the road! That's Don in there.

Here's the video of the dragster coming apart:

https://youtu.be/J1a8ZQxq8EE?t=60

While in the hospital, Don came up with an idea to put the engine BEHIND the driver. This was revolutionary. Here's the result:

Everyone soon copied.

The tires on these dragsters are enormous ....check this out...

...but who's the geez in the front???

This was a very nice stop. We spent only one night in Ocala but it was worth it.

...on to our next top !...

steve/kim/katie