Oct 31 - Illinois

Found a brochure for Amish country and headed that way. Most tours have closed for winter but I was told I could do an audio tour. Went to the local store and "rented" a CD for $10 and a map. The CD gave me instructions and described what I was looking at and a history of Amish people. It was great!!!! It said they dont believe in having their photo taken so I avoided pics of them.

You dont see this often in USA. Clothes on the line drying.

Notice no power lines going into houses. They dont use electricity.

Oct 31 - Dana-Thomas House

Arrived in Springfield (the capitol of Illinois) at the Dana Thomas house just in time for the last tour of the day 4pm. Because it was so quiet they started the tour a few minutes early and I missed the beginning. They were so nice they said I could come back in the morning and do it again. The next morning I was the only one on the tour :-) and saw so much more than the night before. Its a good tip to do the tours more than once as there is so much to take in especially with this house. It has been beautifully restored and intact with the FLW furniture.
This house is magnificent. Its owned by the city and has been restored. During its life it was owned by a publishing company that stored all the FLW furnituire and kept it in pristine condition. So many FLW houses are in a raw condition inside. This house is complete and is a much better example of his work than all the houses in Chicago. If it wasnt in Springfield it would be well known. The art glass on every window is fabulous. I thought it was lead but learnt it was zinc so it was stronger and not as heavy.
Rear of house.

Front of house. The green edging is not copper but painted plaster so they didnt have to wait for it to turn green and could get the colour they wanted.

These outside pics dont show the detail inside. Its a must see house.

Oct 31 - Springfield, IL

Hadn't planned trip in detail past Chicago, that is, which road I was going to take to get to Fallingwater in Pensylvania. Had heard about three other FLW homes I could visit. They were in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Planned my route to match up with when they were open.

Click on map to make bigger.

So glad I did as they were a highlight. Detail coming in next few entries.

Said goodbye to Chicago and drove in the worst weather ever, heavy rain, lots of trucks and road spray. The wipers could not keep up. It was a huge relief when I was out of the rain. What is missing from this photo is all the other cars and trucks on the road. Look how dark the sky is...its 11am!!!

Sunset that night in Springfield.

Oct 29 - Chicago & FLW

Frank Lloyd Wright's Home and Studio in Oak Park, Chicago.
Did the in-depth tour. You can see he used this home and studio to try out ideas that you see in his houses. The Ginko Tree outside the vistors centre.

I wish they would let you take photos inside. Some houses let you and others dont.

One of my favourite things has the huge childrens play room. There was a piano that looks built in, then you discover when you go down the stairs that it is a grand piano with the back of the piano canterleavered over the stair well!!
 

The Robie House, built in the around 1906. Looks similar to the Martin house in Buffalo that was built around the same time.

If the weather was better, I probably would have checked out more FLW houses.

Oct 24 - Chicago

The weather has been overcast and wet for the last week. Driving into Chicago I noticed the traffic speed up. Consistantly 10-15 mph over the speed limit even in heavy rain.
Saw blue sky on the Sunday and rushed out to do the sights as the forecast showed more rain.
I love this thing. Cloud Gate in Millenium Park

On my way to Architectural Boat Tour on the wednesday. Luckily the rain held off and visibility was great.

Even with not perfect weather, had a great time. Plenty to do in Chicago.

The color of the river is a beautiful green.  More Chicago photos here.

Got to play board games with 4 different groups. Lots of fun :-)

Oct 23 - Racine, WI

Visited the S.C. Johnston Wax building that was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright (FLW)in the late 1930's. He also designed all the furniture and office chairs. The interior is of the administration buiulding is awesome and is still used today. There were no windows for staff to look out of and daydream. Natural light comes in through the ceiling and a band of windows near the ceiling but it doesnt feel like you are trapped. The columns which represent "trees" give the place a magical feeling. All the windows are not plate glass but glass tubes about 1" in diameter stacked on each other. The illuminted area at the back is a mezzanine level that surrounds the open space. It conatins walled off (glass) offices and more desks. I wish I was allowed to take photos inside. this is from a book. It was great just standing in there... like a magic forest.

City engineers tried to stop it being built as they thought the "trees" couldnt support the building. FLW set up tests by stacking sacks of sand on them. He proved they were capable of supporting much more than the engineers specified and the plans were approved.

I wish they would let us take photos. The detail in the building is like an oppulent hotel,

The weather was really bad. This is a the lake. Waves crashing on the bank were even highr than this.

Oct 22 - Pumpkins

Pumpkins everywhere getting ready for halloween

They keep the biggest one for the seeds to grow bigger ones next year. They sell the other big ones for around $400!!

Oct 22 - Taliesin :-)

This has been on my bucket list forever. I learnt that Frank Lloyd Wright (FLW) said that you never build on top of a hill because then you dont have the top of the hill. So simple. Some sections of the house need major reconstruction for safety reasons. The parts we saw we fabulous.

The architecture school that is still running. This is the Summer location. The students had already located to the Arizona location for Winter. I will be seeing that on my way back.

Lots more photos here

Taliesin album

Oct 21 - Spring Green, WI

It was a beautiful drive on Hwy 14 from La Crosse to Spring Green but the weather was overcast and raining on and off. If I get a chance I would go back and do this section again. Rolling green hills dotted with red barns.
Spring Green is one of the homes of Frank Lloyd Wright (FLW). Stayed in a hotel in the style of FLW.

The corrugated plastic panels let the light in. Yes, like we would use as a sky light on a pergola but this was back in the 50's or was it 30's? They look tragic but back then they would have looked modern and futuristic

simple wardrobe with mirror

Oct 20 - Minnesota

Drove accross the bottom of Minnesota on I-90 and stopped at the SPAM factory in Austin. What a hoot and setup! You watch a short movie on the history of SPAM and then the museum is huge.

The kids get a chance to pack SPAM  and beat the time set by the factory.

and here something useful, how to read the bottom of the can

I love wind farms, sorry about the audio but it was blowing a gale

Oct 19 - South Dakota

This is the famous Wall Drug store in South Dakota that offered free ice water to those travelling to Mt Rushmore. They put signs on either side of town saying how far to go. I think they started billboard advertising without realising it.

Its huge and sells lots of tourist stuff.

3 more good ideas by cheap hotels but have only seen them in Wyoming and South Dakota

save on all those little packets of soap, shampp and conditioner

a recliner, yes i know its a cheap looking room, but more

comfortable than one where I have paid 3 times the price.

Oct 18 - Mt Rushmore

First glimpse from public road

love my 10 x zoom

some more presidents

There is a lot of tourist stuff down in the town but most of it had closed for "the season". Starting to get the message that travel in the north has to be done before October.

Oct 18 - South Dakota - pics from the road

Red dirt is not only in Central Australia....

What the...?

Oct 17 - Wyoming

Decided not to go to Yellowstone (even though it was still open) as there had been a few road closures and a lot of the places where shut in preparation for Winter. Thought if it's time for the locals to get out then I didnt want to risk getting caught in bad weather. You can see a webcam of Old Faithful here

Drove through the North East corner of Wyoming and stayed at a quaint place in Buffalo. Yes, that is what you think it is. Every second store offers a place to process your kill. This hotel was a popular place for hunters.  They werent there when I drove in. I felt out of place in a car instead of a truck.

Set up in front of the pool for skinning the animals