What Can You Buy Here? /  by Dave Hileman

Pie! This is an old Mormon farmstead now in the midst of Capitol Reef National Park in Utah. The area was famous for the fruit trees grown in the canyons and there are many of the orchards still producing fruit. To celebrate that heritage the NPS sells 6” pies out of this house. You can get cherry, blackberry, apple, peach and mixed berry, however, buy cherry. You don’t even have to go far to enjoy as there are picnic tables near by or in the case of light rain, sit in your car. Highly recommended.

And, yes I did!

A View /  by Dave Hileman

This is a shot from one of the many trails crossing the Lakeside Park in Knoxville. There are playgrounds, ball fields, pavilions, an amphitheater, and much more in Knoxville’s nicest park. Not to mention a lot of a trail stretches along the Tennessee River beside a restored meadow. Great place to walk.

On of the stylish picnic places.

Alley Art /  by Dave Hileman

A week or so past I posted a photo of an alley in the early morning. I was back Sunday before a concert a shot a few of the paintings. Starting with Dolly, of course.

Caught this fellow walking past a mural and cropped it to make it seem he is part of the original work.

Nightly Meal /  by Dave Hileman

Located in the Greenfield Village section of The Henry Ford Museum is this old food vender’s wagon used in Dearborn, MI so shift workers, police, and night owls could get some dinner. Here is more of the story: “For years, this lunch wagon was an underemphasized display piece within the mock American town known as "Greenfield Village" at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. However, it caught the eye of Richard “Diner Man” Gutman—the country’s foremost expert on diners—who informed the museum that their wagon was, in fact, the last-known lunch wagon in existence. In the 19th century, "night lunch" wagons like this one served nocturnal foodies their midnight fix. The horse-drawn carriages emerged as the masses slumbered, serving policemen, theatergoers, and night-shift factory workers. One of these workers, an engineer with the Edison Illuminating Company, was a young Henry Ford, who allegedly ate a hot dog and a coffee nightly from this very cart, known as the Owl Night Lunch Wagon. When he later formed the nostalgic Greenfield Village—an outdoor section of his namesake museum stocked with icons of 19th-century Americana—he acquired his favorite wagon and made it part of the landscape.

The wagon’s historical significance slipped through the cracks as it became a little-noticed piece of the museum that sold popcorn to visitors. Gutman’s letter to museum directors in the early 1980s sparked a rigorous restoration campaign, which he oversaw, to return the Owl Night Lunch to its former glory. Today, the renovated wagon boasts a bright veneer, selling hot dogs and coffee once again.

Red Barn Rambler in the Rain /  by Dave Hileman

Somewhere well south of Crossville in the mountains - I really don’t know where I was - I found this old red barn with the. I believe, American Motors product peeking out of the open door. It was raining hard and I had to shoot stopped on the road out of the car window but still a neat place. I might be able to find it again and I would like to as there were other cars nearby and some old machinery as well.

I have been reliably informed that the car in question is not a Rambler Market but a 59 Studebaker Lark. Got it, thanks!

Not True... /  by Dave Hileman

I was told I must have taken this shot by accident as the wave broke perfectly and they rise so nicely in the photo but, no, I shot this photo on porpoise!

Yes it has been a long week but not too long to miss a pun!

Float Time /  by Dave Hileman

Rafting on the Ohiopyle near the falls in South Western Pennsylvania in the Laural Highlands. This is just a short drive from two of Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous homes, Falling Water and Kentuck Knob.

Leap! /  by Dave Hileman

This area is called the Sinks and it is on the park road between Townsend and the Great Smoky Mountain Visitor Center. This is a wonderful ride anytime but can get very crowded at times. On a weekday morning in early September it was not too bad and I even found a parking space at the small lot. I stopped to take a shot of the small water fall but then saw several folks about to leap into the pools just past the falls. Fun watching them enjoy themselves.

Not Ready for Prime Time National Park Unit (five photos) /  by Dave Hileman

This is park number 382 (I will confirm that this week but I believe this is right) the Pullman National Historic Park. It is about 15 miles south of downtown Chicago and once was a planned town, the first industrial one in the US, designed for the Pullman train coach company. They produced standard and luxury sleeper cars for about 100 years, the town lasted for 25 as a project of the company and is today a revitalizing neighborhood. But there is a long way to go for the neighborhood and en even longer road for the NP Service. Right now there is a small museum in the central clock tower building and a church, a stables, a hotel and one house - all being renovated or planned to be done. The site does not even have a Pullman car on display though we are told one is coming. Still good to see the town and the former General Manager’s house is a coffee shop and the home of the original effort to save this community from the wrecking ball. Now they hope the NPS will prevail and save not only their homes but a unique slice of industrial history.

More here: https://www.nps.gov/pull/index.htm

The central clock tower and VC

The old hotel

a nice street

General manager’s house

Always Remember /  by Dave Hileman

Cindy and I traveled across all fifty states - many of them multiple times and often we spent time touring a battlefield. Not her favorite but always willing to go. This one she picked! As if it were not expected for a girl who bought her first record when she was six.

Always loved - ever missed.

September 21st is still a painful day on this side of heaven.

OLD /  by Dave Hileman

In fact, the oldest house in America, (except for the numerous Indian dwellings that are much older, of course) located in Sante Fe, New Mexico. Pretty little home just beside the very old church. More later1

BIG /  by Dave Hileman

In the same museum, The Henry Ford just about 20 feet from yesterday’s Bugatti, is this massive locomotive. It is huge. It is, I believe, a 4-6- 6- 4 and the wheels that make up the two sets of six individually are taller than the Bugatti. This is big.

RARE /  by Dave Hileman

This Bugatti is one of six remaining Royales, or more accurately, Type 41. Only seven were built just before the world wide financial crash of 29 with one lost in an accident. They have been all in the same place only twice the last time 2007. They were sold with out a body and you had that done according to your specs by your coach builder. You do have a coach builder, right? Here is what The Henry Ford Museum says about this one: "1931 Bugatti Royale Type 41 Cabriolet, Ettore Bugatti, Molsheim, France, Body by Weinberger, OHC, in-line 8 cylinder, 300 horsepower, 779 cu.in. displacement, 7,035 lb (3,191 kg). Original price: $43,000, Gift of Charles and Esther Chayne." That price is the body! The Henry Ford is a magnificent museum but they do not do this car justice with the display. Barely able to see the whole car and in mediocre lighting but still, there it is the rarest car in the world.

Night Light /  by Dave Hileman

Lots of interesting neon in Williams, Arizona. It is located along old Route 66 and is a great place to settle for trips to the Grand Canyon, Flagstaff and several smaller National Park Service units.

Hileman Family Farm /  by Dave Hileman

My ancestor, Peter Hileman, began this farm in 1785 though I am sure it looked nothing like the modern farm of today. Still a neat connection that I discovered this past year. Jill and I attended the small Lutheran Church where Peter donated land for the building and the cemetery where not only he but dozens of my ancestors are buried. It is likely that his two sons ,who served in the militia during the American Revolution as Indian scouts in this area, decided that this was a great place to settle after the war when they were given land for their service. As was Peter, who fought three years and in a few battles. I wish I had known about this when I was younger but still glad to have found all these cousins!