John L's Road Photos

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Having traveled often (weekly in the 21st century) between my real home near Hayward and the University of Wisconsin-Madison during my 43-year employment at the latter, I have amassed many hundreds of slides and prints of interesting subjects along the way. The following just barely scratch the surface, so there should be more to come.

1	2	3	1–2: Heading toward the one and only Waunakee in the world from the south and observing that the end of the rainbow just may be within easy walking distance. 3: The late afternoon sun beaming down on Waunakee. 4: Heading toward Waunakee from the north at 3:15 PM on a December day as the sun set behind an encroaching horizon-raising cloud that soon would end the day early. 5–6: One of the very frequent traffic tie-ups on the southbound lanes of I-90/94 between Lyndon Station and Wisconsin Dells. Normally an overpass such as the one providing my elevated position (click here) would suggest an escape ramp. But there is no escape or turn-around for miles. Best to get on the alternate route at the Lyndon Station exit before encountering this stretch of the interstate unless you enjoy such spontaneous opportunities to rest, socialize or perhaps meet others by accident. 7: A shot through the back window taken by Kopilot Kellie. After all these years, I probably have every quarter-mile of the road memorized coming and going. 8: An early January, 2003 afternoon and still no snow! Holy Schneider truck! 9: Just when you think winter should be about over, this sort of thing comes along several times in March – always on the trip back to work and often around the Rice Lake area. It's probably trying to tell me something like WHY NOT GO BACK HOME AND STAY THERE. But it is always a relief when visibility returns such as what is shown here. 10–12: The southbound rest stop near Rice Lake has some additional seasonal imagery such as thick patches of trilliums in the spring and a forest of many colorful trees in the fall. Sometimes you just can't see the trees for the leaves. 13: One of my favorite pastimes is watching the patches of mulleins develop alongside the highways and railroads over the course of the summer. 14: Another expected and vital part of the Wisconsin landscape are the thousands of animal reproductions that always brighten everyone's day, I am so sure. This Buddy Holly wannabe is near DeForest. 15: This guy provided refreshment on the corner in Lyndon Station for many years. 16–17: Two representations of Black River Falls' distinctive orange moose, one of which is easily visible from the Interstate. Click here for an image reminiscent of the movie "2001." (Cue the music.) 18: The falls at a little town called Cataract. 19: Land for sale! Terrace-farming anyone? 20: An image in the clouds – as if laughing at the devastation it left behind. 21–22: The prelude to a sunset near Spooner. The actual sunset was kinda blah. 23–25: An interesting sunset near Lodi on November 30, 2003. The clouds originated as jet contrails which tend to spread out in their "aging" process. 26: Around 9:00 AM on October 17, 2003, the eastern sky in Eau Claire looked like this. According to meteorologist Dave Anderson at KBJR-TV in Duluth, these are Altostratus clouds, and the undulating appearance is due to wind put into a wavy motion by topographic obstacles, most likely the rolling terrain of the area. A closeup view is shown here, and a larger panorama is seen here. I have been noticing this cloud pattern a lot since then. In this photo taken "in the early morning summertime" (as the song goes), the clouds are moving rapidly en masse from west to east (top to bottom) over the Hayward area. 27: Also in Eau Claire, I awoke to this sunrise on January 7, 2004. Those pesky contrails make for interesting sunrises as well as sunsets (above). 28: Oh, to take the train again – like I did back in the early 1970s for at least part of the trip. The one seen here chugging through the countryside can only go 10-15 mph on the deteriorating tracks. 29: Returning to that stretch of road seen above that is quite prone to traffic stoppage, my favorite billboard of all time graced the roadside on the southbound lanes of I-90/94 just south of Lyndon Station in the early 1990s. The sight of this sign – even on the coldest, snowiest winter days – invigorated me to no end.
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