Travel update…and a pick-up. Now, when I was growing up, a “pick-up” meant an impromptu athletic game of some type. Or a chance “date”, as in picking up a girl while dragging Yakima Avenue (how I met my wife, BTW). Or, in some western parlance, a pick-up truck. However, I now have an additional meaning, which I will put to good use in today’s “Travel Update.” In the film-making industry, a pick-up is a small, relatively minor shot filmed after the fact to augment footage already shot. This usually occurs after continuity or quality issues are identified during the film editing process. Such shots usually occur months after sets are struck, costumes/props stored, and cast and crew have moved on to other projects. Since bringing cast/crew back onto a set obviously costs money, the director and producer carefully balance costs against whether the pick-ups are absolutely necessary to fix plot holes in the final cut. I found this out while recently watching the Director’s Cut of the Hobbit (all three films, with additional footage and outtakes), directed by Peter Jackson. All three Hobbit films were filmed back-to- back-to-back, and so used pick-up shots for primarily continuity sakes, but once in a while just for logical sequences. BTW, the Hobbit DC is loaded with extras. Two discs for each film, plus three discs for EACH move, with outtakes and behind-the-scenes of “how they did it.” Very enjoyable.
So, how does “pick-up” fit in with my Travel Update for today, you ask? Well, in yesterday’s TU, I forgot to include the mention of a “side trip” we took off I-64 in Illinois. As we were headed east on I-64, and passing thru the Urbana-Champaign area (home to the Fighting Illini, as several road signs made rather obvious), we encountered heavy construction. Paving the interstate – our tax dollars at work. I quickly checked a state map that I’d just picked up at a rest stop, and made a snap decision to leave the interstate, head north on a couple back roads, and bypass most of the construction. We were actually heading east to Bloomington where we’d pick up I-39 and head north into Wisconsin (which is where we are tonight, in the Wisconsin Dells area). So, it was an exit onto SR 47, north for about 40 miles, passing thru some neat little towns. It was almost surreal, like something right out of the 1950’s. Gibson City (pop. 3500), a quaint little town with several blocks of brick streets; and Sibley (300), to name two that I can remember. When we got as far north as Forrest (1250) and US Highway 24, we turned west in search of I-39, passing thru several more little burgs such as Fairbury (3500); Chenoa (1800), where we saw several signs advertising the famous US Route 66 that parallels I-55 in Illinois; Gridley (1300); and finally El Paso (Illinois, not the one in Texas, pop. 2800), where we picked up I-39 north of Bloomington -- and where we continued our northward journey toward Wisconsin.
After a peaceful night’s sleep in Hickory Hollow Campground, we jumped on I-39 again and sped toward tonight’s destination, Wisconsin Dells, one of the oldest resort areas in the state. An easy drive of 190 miles, around Rockford, IL, part of it via a toll road (only cost us $4.30 for the motorhome and the car – not bad at all). Then thru Madison, where we joined with I-94 coming out of Milwaukee, and finally to Stand Rock Campground. We got in an afternoon swim (this part of the country is under a Severe Heat Advisory today and tomorrow) and partook of a couple soft ice cream sundaes, all before 5pm when a huge rain storm hit this area. Only lasted for about 45 minutes, but it was noisy in the motorhome – Gabby goes crazy during this type of storm.
The only drawback to an otherwise pretty good travel day is that our one long slide on the motorhome won’t extend outward. Not sure why, although I’m getting an error light on the control panel. Since we can easy still live inside (just a bit more cramped), think I’ll wait till we get to our next stop in Wisconsin where we stay for three days and do a more thorough check of the system. May have to make that call to CoachNet, our roadside assistance service while traveling. They’ve been able to help us out several times just chatting over the phone with a Winnebago-smart technician. Keeping my fingers crossed.
One last tidbit, in the world of “for what it’s worth” department, here’s some trivia for the day. Native Americans have long played a considerable role in the history of the Wisconsin Dells and are still a factor in the economic life of the region. The Winnebago, for example, hunted buffalo and raised crops on the nearby plains and also fished in the river, which either they or the Chippewa named “Meskousing,” meaning “where the waters gather”. From the French spelling of this Native American term – “Ouisconsin” – came the present name of the river and the state. Like I said, for what it’s worth.
So, how does “pick-up” fit in with my Travel Update for today, you ask? Well, in yesterday’s TU, I forgot to include the mention of a “side trip” we took off I-64 in Illinois. As we were headed east on I-64, and passing thru the Urbana-Champaign area (home to the Fighting Illini, as several road signs made rather obvious), we encountered heavy construction. Paving the interstate – our tax dollars at work. I quickly checked a state map that I’d just picked up at a rest stop, and made a snap decision to leave the interstate, head north on a couple back roads, and bypass most of the construction. We were actually heading east to Bloomington where we’d pick up I-39 and head north into Wisconsin (which is where we are tonight, in the Wisconsin Dells area). So, it was an exit onto SR 47, north for about 40 miles, passing thru some neat little towns. It was almost surreal, like something right out of the 1950’s. Gibson City (pop. 3500), a quaint little town with several blocks of brick streets; and Sibley (300), to name two that I can remember. When we got as far north as Forrest (1250) and US Highway 24, we turned west in search of I-39, passing thru several more little burgs such as Fairbury (3500); Chenoa (1800), where we saw several signs advertising the famous US Route 66 that parallels I-55 in Illinois; Gridley (1300); and finally El Paso (Illinois, not the one in Texas, pop. 2800), where we picked up I-39 north of Bloomington -- and where we continued our northward journey toward Wisconsin.
After a peaceful night’s sleep in Hickory Hollow Campground, we jumped on I-39 again and sped toward tonight’s destination, Wisconsin Dells, one of the oldest resort areas in the state. An easy drive of 190 miles, around Rockford, IL, part of it via a toll road (only cost us $4.30 for the motorhome and the car – not bad at all). Then thru Madison, where we joined with I-94 coming out of Milwaukee, and finally to Stand Rock Campground. We got in an afternoon swim (this part of the country is under a Severe Heat Advisory today and tomorrow) and partook of a couple soft ice cream sundaes, all before 5pm when a huge rain storm hit this area. Only lasted for about 45 minutes, but it was noisy in the motorhome – Gabby goes crazy during this type of storm.
The only drawback to an otherwise pretty good travel day is that our one long slide on the motorhome won’t extend outward. Not sure why, although I’m getting an error light on the control panel. Since we can easy still live inside (just a bit more cramped), think I’ll wait till we get to our next stop in Wisconsin where we stay for three days and do a more thorough check of the system. May have to make that call to CoachNet, our roadside assistance service while traveling. They’ve been able to help us out several times just chatting over the phone with a Winnebago-smart technician. Keeping my fingers crossed.
One last tidbit, in the world of “for what it’s worth” department, here’s some trivia for the day. Native Americans have long played a considerable role in the history of the Wisconsin Dells and are still a factor in the economic life of the region. The Winnebago, for example, hunted buffalo and raised crops on the nearby plains and also fished in the river, which either they or the Chippewa named “Meskousing,” meaning “where the waters gather”. From the French spelling of this Native American term – “Ouisconsin” – came the present name of the river and the state. Like I said, for what it’s worth.
Oh, extra credit trivia. What's up with the name of our campground, Stand Rock, you ask? It’s named for a famous sandstone rock formation, one of several in the Wisconsin River Dells gorge. Stand Rock was made famous by a man named H. H. Bennett in the late 1800’s who became quite famous for his pictures of the Dells. Bennett set his sights on landscape photography early on and thought the Dells would make great photos. He loaded a boat with his photographic equipment and took many pictures of the Dells. Realizing that the three-dimensional aspect of the rock formations would be lost in two-dimensional photographs, he began creating stereoscopic images that allowed viewers to see the Dells in three dimensions. Bennett made his first stereoscopic photo in 1868, and they soon became very popular, being sold in cities across the US. He continued to innovate in the field of photography by inventing a stop action shutter which allowed him to take photographs of instantaneous events. Previously, it took several minutes for a camera to take a picture, and any movement of the subject being photographed over this time caused the picture to become blurry. After Bennett created the new shutter, he was able to take clear pictures of moving subjects. The best known photograph taken by Bennett with this device was an 1886 image of his son Ashley jumping between two rock formations (Stand Rock) in the Dells. The attached pic shows Ashley, leaping across Stand Rock and was used as proof that Bennett's advanced shutter technology worked.
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