Ginger Proofs: More From The Road... August 2010

Hey everyone!

     Sorry I have not updated in quite a while. I realized that I haven't posted in about three months and figured I needed to change that.
     I have officially hit every state east of the Mississippi since February except for three. Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire. I have also hit a few states west of the Mississippi. Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota. In the past 8 days I have gone from Clarksville, TN to Hopkinsville Kentucky, on up to Evansville Indiana, then over to Des Moines Iowa, then up to Rock Rapids Iowa, back to Des Moines, up to a suburb of Chicago, then down to Decatur Illinois and now I am currently in Missouri just south of St. Louis and have a 1'200' tower to climb tomorrow.
     I have spent the majority of the past few months in Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, and Texas. I never want to go to any of these places in the summer time again. It has been miserably hot down there.
     Anyways, I have been getting requests for new photos and here they are. If anyone ever has a question about the towers, climbing or anything please ask. I will answer them to the best of my knowledge.
Thanks for following along and Enjoy!

This is called a landmark tower. This one is right outside Cincinnati, OH. and is 1,000' tall

It was built to be pretty as well as functional, but because it is pretty it has its drawbacks.

It is scary as hell to climb, and the top 200 feet is some of the hardest climbing I have ever done on a tower. This one is not on my list of towers I would like to climb again. Oh and we started working on this tower at 10 p.m.. We had just gotten off the tower when I took these pictures.

This is on a tower a little ways northeast of Roanoke, VA. Beautiful view from this tower.

A fairly large house out in the middle of no where. Really in the middle of no where. I bet my father would love to be in that house.

Another view of the mountains.

The next few are from the top of a 300' tower in Lima, OH.

It looks so nice and comfortable outside, but I remember it quite differently.. VERY HOT!!

Very cool little red barn.

We did an install at this power plant and this is the view from our hotel room at the end of the day. This was at Duke Energy in Indiana. All the smoke from the stacks looks really cool in the evening light. I don't even want to think about what is in that.

Some very cool clouds as the sun is setting.

I think this is Atlanta from about 1'500'.

This tower has a candelabra on it and this is looking down from the end of the candelabra.

This is what a TV antenna looks like. This one is probably 60' tall and the stuff at the top is lightning protection.

This is called a Bat Wing antenna. I'm pretty sure this is another type of T.V. antenna.

This photo was accidental but it kinda shows how cramped the inside of a tower elevator is.

Another shot of Atlanta from a little closer to the ground.

Looking down on a pond. It had hundreds of lily pads on it.

This was part of a nursery. This was the tree and shrub part... Obviously.

The lake just past the nursery. These photos were taken just outside of Jacksonville, FL.

Byrd working on a light trying to beat the approaching rain clouds. We are about 30 miles south of Orlando here.

This was the rain just as it started forming.

This is how it looked just before it dumped buckets of water on us for a good 15-20 minutes.

This was the next storm that started firing up. Luckily it missed us. Gotta love Florida in the summer time.

This was the next place I worked. Grand Haven, MI. I flew from FL to Kansas City, then drove from Kansas City to Grand Haven, Michigan. It made for a very long two days.

This place was beautiful and at a pleasant 75 degrees, it sure beat Florida. Can't go wrong with Lake Michigan right next to you.

This was a small pond where the water is recirculated to cool the turbines of the power plant we were on. Could make for an interesting abstract art piece.

From 300' up this looks like a toy..

I like to look at this and imagine that one of those houses are mine and that I am cruising by in my yacht.

I eventually made it home from Michigan and then I was sent back to Florida. I think this may be around Orlando... I think..

Another form of lightning protection. If I were lightning I wouldn't want to strike that, it looks painful.

This is an F.M. antenna.

Marcus resting and waiting for me to finish taking pictures. The platforms don't look that big from the ground.

Sunrise from the west side of Houston, TX.

The sun is still rising.

The top of this tower had a big plate on top of it and it was very interesting getting on and then off of it. In this photo you can see the top of the beacon at the bottom left and the lightning protection sticking up around it.

Self portrait from 2,000' at about 7 a.m. in the morning. I think the lightning protection wanted to say "hi" as well.

Oh yes another sunrise photo.

This is a panel antenna and it is another type of T.V. antenna. The trees and houses look tiny from 2,000'.

The wide angle lens distorts and makes everything look further away and much smaller.

I think this is either central Mississippi or somewhere in Texas.

This was sitting next to the tower at a site in Mt. Selman, TX.

No real story. I just like the texture and color tones.

Pretty good sized garden spider and her babies.

It looks to me like this door has seen better days.

Marcus climbing up a 300' tall A.M. tower. The small towers are scarier to climb because they move a lot more and you are out in the open rather than climbing inside them.

Marcus right at the top.

He has the beacon open and is replacing the bulbs now. These are about the only type of lights that use bulbs and not flash tubes. In this style light you are literaly screwing in a light bulb.