Teh Car Blogz

The further along we got in our trip (which wound up being around 4800 miles round-trip - a long time to spend in a car!) the more I realized the importance of roadside attractions in the upper midwest. You see, driving through states like Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota - states that a lot of people refer to as “fly-over states,” as in lots of people fly over them but no one lives there - there is literally NOTHING on the highway. Just cornfield after cornfield, with a sprinkle of truckstops, Indian Reservations and weird stuff. So when you’ve been on the road forever and see a sign for a roadside museum or attraction, you’ll probably stop - just to alleviate the boredom of being in I-90 in the middle of a bunch of cornfields for hours on end!

Now sometimes these roadside attractions amount to little more than someone’s garage stuffed full of crap. Sometimes you strike gold. I was lucky enough on this trip to find two very good ones - the museum of military vehicles shown earlier, as well as this auto museum that is literally in the middle of nowhere in South Dakota. It’s in a town called Murdo, which is in southern central South Dakota just off of I-80.

(more…)

I suppose you can consider this article part 2 of my Road Trip Coverage. All these photos were shot at the Heartland Museum of Military Vehicles in Lexington, Nebraska.

As we were making our way out west, our travels took us through central Nebraska on the largely deserted I-80. After miles and miles of cornfields and boredom, a sign appeared on the horizon that promised relief from the starchy monotony of Nebraska: “Military Vehicle Museum, next exit.” I thought to myself: “Well, I’m no Military buff but surely there are some interesting things in there.” Sure enough, it delivered. Who know that a Military Vehicle Museum in the middle of nowhere Nebraska would be full of such completely fascinating stuff? The pictures and descriptions presented here are in roughly chronological order.

The first car you see in the museum, the first one they obtained, and the oldest one is this original Willys Slat-nose Jeep. This was a series 1, the first of the military Jeeps, and was produced both by Willys and Ford. An interesting tidbit about this early Jeeps: all the parts between the Willys and Ford Jeeps were designed to be completely interchangeable. It makes sense, I suppose.

(more…)

So a few week ago, dad and I decided that we both sort of… needed a vacation. A plan was hatched. We would drive northwest (generally) from Raleigh, making a few stops along our way, to our destination of Jackson Hole Wyoming for some peace and quiet in the wilderness. As we planned the trip, the question came up: “What do you want to see along the way?” Without a minute’s hesitation, I blurted out: “Tail Of The Dragon!” This was met with stares of incomprehension and confusion, and so I explained: “318 curves, 11 Miles.”

(more…)