I Don't Normally Tout Hotels Or Hotel Rooms Unless They Are Vintage Mom And Pop Places That Exceed Expectations...But This "Sleep Inn" Room In Provo Utah Just Floored Us. Status: Less Than $100 Before Taxes!

We booked this room from the road just using our "smart" phones.  Ain't it amazing what can be accomplished while driving these days?  They only had a couple rooms still available at this Sleep Inn in Provo Utah and we were lucky enough to snag this one...and for about $95!

Check Off Another National Monument...Or As Edward Abbey Coined - National Money-Mint. Getting In Is Actually Free...But Ya Gotta Pay To Park. Still, It's Very Impressive And Highly Recommended. Status: Visited.

Mr. Modtomic was never taken anywhere like this as a kid.  That's why the Mr. and the Girlfriend are visiting all these places now!  Mount Rushmore was never a big priority but I am a fairly patriotic fella so no way would I skip it since we were in the area anyway.

Sorry I'm Not Getting These Posts Out Daily Right Now...I'm In The Middle Of The Northwest And Have ZERO Cell Coverage. But It's What's Up Here That Makes The Inconvenience Worth It! Ever Been To Devil's Tower, Wyoming? Status: Visited!

I've wanted to be here since I was 7 years old.  Childhood dream accomplished.  I recently watched Close Encounters Of The Third Kind again on Netflix to see if it holds up and realized that it just couldn't be made today and hope to compete.

A Couple Nights Ago We Had To Find A Place To Stay For The Night After Visiting Mount Rushmore. We Got Lucky And Scored The Last Available Room At The Battle Creek Lodge. No Great Sign But It Was A Lovely Place To Rest Our Weary Bones! Status: Stayed.

While waiting for the Girlfriend to secure the room I noticed this amazing sunset and just had to jump out of the car to shoot some pics.  We probably should have stuck around Mount Rushmore to see this but might have missed out on this last room.

We're Taking The Girlfriend's New (To Us) GTI On Our Annual Summer Roadtrip And I Find Myself Taking More Pics Of Him (We Named Him Jack - 'Cuz He's A Rabbit...Get It?) Than I Have Of Us! Status: The Golf.

Just a quick note from the road.  We have ZERO cell coverage out here in the wild west, otherwise I'd be posting more often.  Rest assured, I'm taking plenty of pics and will be sharing our experience in full eventually.  In the mean time, enjoy these pics of Jack the GTI Rabbit!

The Girlfriend And I Spent The Afternoon Out At Spirit Of St. Louis Airport Attending The St. Louis County Fair And Air Show. I Didn't Really Plan On Doing A Blog Post On Anything There But This Beechcraft Model 18 Was Just Too Pretty To Ignore! Status: Polished Deco Dreamliner.

Yes, Mr. Modtomic is still a little boy at heart.  I likes me some big powerful airplanes just like any other man on the planet!  There were plenty of interesting flying machines on hand at the County Air Show today, but this vintage Model 18 Beechcraft was the only one that made me pull out the camera phone and snap some pics.

I Don't Really Hunt For Vintage BMX, But When I Find A Good Bike It's Hard To Resist. The Wentzville Flea Offered Up This Jem Of A Late '70s Schwinn Mag Scrambler And The Cash Was Exchanged. Status: Available.

What was it when YOU were 8 years old?  For Mr. Modtomic it was the equipment surrounding the budding sport of BMX just up the street from my home being sold at Maplewood Bicycle.  Could I somehow manage to procure one of these machines at a suggested retail price of $119.95 in 1978?  No way.  It only took 36 years, but I finally fulfilled that 8 year old's starry eyed dream.

After An Early Morning Wake Up Call (OK, Alarm On Phone) At The Golden Door Motel Today And Some Craigslist Shopping In Springfield Mo. We Stopped At The Cave Restaurant In Richland Mo. Yup, A Restaurant IN A CAVE! Status: Well Fed!

According to The Cave Restaurant website this is the ONLY restaurant in the good ol' USofA that is located Inside a cave.  And it SO is in a cave!  And the steak is SO good.  The road there sucks for sure but it's actually part of the rural charm.  I highly recommend stopping by if you are ever headed down interstate 44 near Lebanon Mo.

Got Some Goodies In The Mail Yesterday! Mod Betty From Retro Roadmap Sent The Girlfriend And Myself A Logo T-Shirt As Well As A Sticker Each. It's Good To Be Famous! Status: Fully Covered

Mod Betty of Retro Roadmap has featured some of the places and joints we've stayed at on her web page Retroroadmap.com a couple of times over the years I've been blogging.  I'm always willing to share any good leads on places to visit or stay when we find them.  Now I can share her web page whenever I'm out and about!

Ok, So This Has Nothing To Do With Vintage Modern, But It Does Have Plenty To Do With The Mr. Modtomic Blog! Today I Splurged On A New Laptop...Of Sorts. It's a Dell Convertible, And I've Been Waiting On This For Years! Status: Flip Flop.

Flip flop is right, I "waffled" on buying one of these for about the last Three or Four years!  Technology finally caught up to my wants and desires, a random junk mail ad from a local electronics store found its way into my span of attention and my hesitation was done for.

Snow Day. Didn't Get Nothin' Done Today, Save Shoveling The Driveway. Geezus...A Dozen Plus Inches. Status: Day Off.

Yup, took advantage of the first snowstorm of the new year to do every bit of nothin'! I coulda' / shoulda' pulled a project out of the garage and gotten to work on it, but I just wasn't able to muster the energy. After shoveling all that snow in the driveway...I'm glad I saved it.

It....Is....PARTY....Time! Have You Ever Clicked That Little Link On The Right Side Bar Labled "Tiki Bar TV"? No? Well, Here's Your Chance To Party With The Cast And Learn To Make A New Cocktail! Status: Good Times!

My buddy Kevin showed me this site ages ago and it's been one of my favorites ever since.  This team put together these entertaining shorts that are centered around the mixing of one cocktail for each episode.  You'll not only be laughing your @ss off, you'll learn how to make a fantastic new drink every show!

Guess Who's Got Wood? This Guy! That is...I Got A Wood Butcher Block By Boos And A Vintage Wood Coca Cola Crate Too. Just A Couple Of Wooden Items I Found At The Thrifts This Weekend. Status: For The Booth.

You know those carts the Goodwill rolls out hoping the hoarders (you know 'em, they're the ones who grab a cart as soon as they walk in the front door) clean off so they won't have to find a place on the shelves for the stuff.  That's were I found both of these items!  But relax, I didn't fill up a cart...or block all the aisles with it either.

A Few Weeks Ago The Girlfriend, Some Other Friends And I Went To The Theater To See Ender's Game. Yeah, I Read The Book (The Girlfreind Made Me A While Back) But I'm Cool With It Being Different. Status: Can't Wait For The DVD.

I Love big block buster movies!  Yeah, there's a lot of haters out there who quote all differences but c'mon...  Truth is, I didn't exactly memorize the book, so I don't even know what they are going on about.  I just thought it was a freakin' cool flick!  But what was even cooler...

Ahhh...Remember VCRs? You Could Set Them To Record Your Favorite Show And Watch It Later. Tried To Hook One Up To Your New Flat TV And Record A Program? Good Luck. Not With DTV. Status: Next Gen. Goodwill Score!

While digging around the wares at a South County Goodwill I found this Magnavox Digital Video Recorder / DVD player - recorder...with a built in DTV tuner!  This means that I can finally record Antenna TV again!  And so much more.

This Afternoon We Took Advantage Of A Beautiful Day To Drive Up The River Road To The Grafton Flea. Didn't Find Anything To Bring Home Except Some Photos Of Great Design And Classic Cars. Status: Bust.

Whirlygigs wouldn't generally press me to get out the camera but something about this one got me.  I've looked around the net to see if this is maybe a knockoff of some famous design but I can't really find much.  Doesn't it smack of George Nelson or something?  Sadly, it wasn't for sale.

Six Random Photos Plucked From Those Taken On My Phone During The Last Couple Weeks. Status: Look For A "Real" Post Later.

After the Estate FAIL (well, to some extent anyway) yesterday I went ahead and stopped at the South County antique mall since it was pretty much Right There. I managed to further salvage the morning by picking up a few more good items there but this Molested Italian Gio Ponti style dining chair just made me sad all over again. Why? At least it was just one and not a whole set.

It's Not Vintage But It's Certainly Modern. I Snatched Up This Great Herman Miller Aeron Chair Off C-list Last Evening After Work For A Song. It's Not Perfect But Certainly Serviceable. Status: Ohhh...The Comfort!

If you've never had the pleasure of sitting in one you are probably scratching your head right about now wondering why I'm showing off my plastic office chair.  The thing is, this is a future classic.  I can't really even remember where I first heard of the Herman Miller Aeron chair but a friend of ours had one years ago and when he moved we got to "baby set" his...we still have it.  It's sweet.  Last night I found another.

Guess Who's Sooo In Love With The Kai Kristiansen "Z" Chairs? The Ham. This, Of Course Has Nothing To Do With The Latest Thrift Scores...But He's Just So Cute! Status: Happy Cat.

He just made himself at home when I was getting ready to shoot pics.  How could I resist?  King Larry (McDuff) was all, "Look at me! Look how cute I'm being!"  Fine.  But then I had to get down to business.  I put some flicker bulbs in the Sputnik.  Wanna check it out?

Ya Know...Halloween Is Coming Up And A Great Place To Spend It - If You Can - Is New Orleans! I've Been A Number Of Times And Can Highly Recommend Hanging At Turtle Bay. Status: You'll See Plenty!

New Orleans is always a bit....strange.  It's a city built on a swamp...below sea level...full of vampires.  But on and around Halloween?  Well, that's when it get's real.  If you you've ever fancied a visit during Marti Gras, you should consider trying out Halloween instead.  It won't be so crazy crowded....and it's easier to spot the vampires.