Big Things In Indianapolis — Inflatables
2001 Midwest Big Things Road Trip
2004 Visit to Dinosaurland in Virginia
2005 Big Things In Louisville, Kentucky
2006 Big Things Road Trip to Kansas
In the spring of 2001, I took a massive four-day road trip through the Midwest United States (Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois) to photograph "Big Things" as well as to visit my Grandparents on both sides of the family and to photograph my childhood hometown. I planned my trip using RoadSideAmerica.com to plot out tourist attractions listed in their database, and I attempted to visit some sites they didn't have photos for as well.
My parents were living in this apartment in West Des Moines, Iowa when I was born, so I grabbed photos of it for my "All the Places I've Ever Lived" photo gallery when I got to Des Moines, Iowa, where I stayed the night.
This is the town of Ankeny, Iowa, where I grew up. Highlights are my childhood homes, the elementary and junior high schools I attended, my favorite library, the park I used to play in, and the Catholic church I went to.
One of the elementary schools I went to as a kid
The town hall that used to be my favorite library
The very first memory I have is of my dad carrying me up to this house when I was three.
The first house I lived in. 810 SE Belmont.
My backyard.
This is the house that was hit by a tornado.
The patio my Dad poured. Somewhere my handprints are in the cement.
Kay Kaufmann's house.
We used to ride our big wheels here.
This used to be the HyVee store.
I went to Elementary school here, too. My brother designed that logo on the sign.
The second house I lived in. 917 SE Fourth.
Volkamer's house.
Kloberdanz's House.
Sunrise Park where I used to play as a kid.
Our Lady's Immaculate Heart Church, where we used to attend.
It looks very different, but the statues are the same.
My Junior High School.
Home of the annual Tulip Festival and the Jaarsma Bakery that makes Dutch Letters. When I was a kid, we used to drive through this town on the way to Grandma's house every year, and it was always one of our favorite stops. I've always wanted to live in a windmill because of this town.
Brighton, Iowa, where my grandparents live, and where my Dad grew up. We used to love coming here when I was a kid, so this town still has a Shangri-La quality to it. The watertower, until recently had a weathervane my grandfather made. The bridge is over the Skunk River.
