U.S.S. Riverside (T.T.V.)

Posted on July 6, 2011 by spilledinkguy

Wow. That was somehow both the longest and the shortest two-day / two-week ‘vacation’ I’ve ever been on. Seems our over-heating car doesn’t feel like boldly going anywhere. Sweet.

Anyway, the above was probably the highlight of the whole ~~ordeal~~ trip. Straight from the ‘Future Home of Captain James T. Kirk’ (Riverside, Iowa), I present to you, the U.S.S. Riverside! Set phasers to fun. Or… something along those lines.

About this image: digital photograph taken though viewfinder of Kodak Duaflex II twin lens reflex camera – lightly modified

51 thoughts on “U.S.S. Riverside (T.T.V.)”

astrawally on July 6, 2011 at 1:27 pm said:

That is one of the best things I have ever seen on a trailer. This may rank in my top ten of ‘most excellent things ever seen on a trailer’. Very cool photo. I hope you had a good trip.
Astra Wally

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- spilledinkguy on July 6, 2011 at 2:07 pm said:
  
  Thanks very much, sir!
  Honestly the trip kinda’ stunk. We were supposed to be gone for 2 weeks, but the car got in the way of that. This trailer was pretty entertaining, though! 🙂
  
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  - astrawally on July 7, 2011 at 6:04 am said:
    
    I hope you striped it and sold it for parts or a the very least smashed it a little, you know as revenge on the beast!
    Astra Wally
    
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    - spilledinkguy on July 7, 2011 at 9:32 am said:
      
      Hahaha… I have a million times (in my mind, anyway).
      We’re hoping to get some kind of trade-in value from it, so I’ve had to try to restrain myself. Which has not been easy!
      🙂
      
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FS Photography on July 6, 2011 at 1:33 pm said:

LOL.. What a great find… Maybe you should have stowed away on board somewhere if the car was messing you around… “Scotty, I need more power !!”… 😉

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- spilledinkguy on July 6, 2011 at 2:08 pm said:
  
  Hahaha…
  There you go! Or maybe we could have used it to pull us a bit further down the road! 🙂
  
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youngamericanwisdom.com on July 6, 2011 at 1:44 pm said:

That’s definitely worth the trip! 😉 Welcome back!

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- spilledinkguy on July 6, 2011 at 2:09 pm said:
  
  I was not expecting to come across anything like this (which made it even more entertaining).
  Thanks very much, Y.A.W.!
  🙂
  
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conspiracyofravens on July 6, 2011 at 2:57 pm said:

so, the car was homesick. 🙂
welcome back anyway! are you sure that’s not the real thing? 🙂

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- spilledinkguy on July 6, 2011 at 3:05 pm said:
  
  Hahaha… either that or the engine had been struck with a photon torpedo!
  Thanks, C.O.R… It might have been (I think I saw a tiny William Shatner peering out from one of the little windows…) 🙂
  
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Tony McGurk on July 6, 2011 at 3:40 pm said:

Good Grief, are they allowed to park that thing there??? Surely they would need a special permit due to the possible outer-space radioactivity or something. Illegal aliens on board could pose a National Security threat too. It’d be awesome to see it cruise through McDonald’s drive thru

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- spilledinkguy on July 6, 2011 at 3:53 pm said:
  
  Hahaha!
  Well, I think they did have all the proper space-parking permits filled out, because it was in the parking lot of a quasi science fiction museum.
  I’d love to order a Big Mac meal from this thing! Or even without it! Man, now I’ve made myself so hungry I’m going to have to make it a large, too! 🙂
  
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greysqrl on July 6, 2011 at 4:05 pm said:

cool!!!!

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- spilledinkguy on July 6, 2011 at 4:08 pm said:
  
  Hahaha… thank you!
  I don’t know it this is one I’d hang on my wall, but I thought everyone might get a bit of a kick out of it! 🙂
  
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Bearman on July 6, 2011 at 4:05 pm said:

People vacation in Iowa?

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- spilledinkguy on July 6, 2011 at 4:10 pm said:
  
  Well…
  they turn around there, at least. Upon their friendly mechanic’s advice. 🙂
  
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Laura on July 6, 2011 at 4:25 pm said:

Sorry the trip didn’t work out, but getting that picture was probably worth it.

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- Laura on July 6, 2011 at 4:28 pm said:
  
  One thing I like about the picture is that it has kind of a ’60s feel to it, so it looks like it could have been taken around the time that they were making the original Star Trek series.
  
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  - spilledinkguy on July 6, 2011 at 4:32 pm said:
    
    Thanks so much, Laura! Most of that is thanks to the camera I was shooting through (which was manufactured in 1953-54). It’s a pretty cool box! 🙂
    
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- spilledinkguy on July 6, 2011 at 4:29 pm said:
  
  Thanks, Laura!
  Well… I got some strange looks, anyway. But who could pass this up?! Right?! 🙂
  
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Classic NYer on July 6, 2011 at 4:37 pm said:

Wait… I’m so confused… what is it, haha?

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- spilledinkguy on July 6, 2011 at 4:42 pm said:
  
  Hahaha…
  why, this is photographic evidence of the voyages of the Starship Enterprise, CNY! I can tell you’re impressed! Really! Honest! 🙂
  
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Syncopated Eyeball on July 6, 2011 at 4:53 pm said:

Very cool, SIG. Sorry about your curtailed holiday.

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- spilledinkguy on July 6, 2011 at 5:00 pm said:
  
  Thanks, S.E.! This one’s not my all-time favorite, but I thought it was fun.
  
  Yeah, these things (continue to) happen. What can you do, right?!
  🙂
  
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frigginloon on July 6, 2011 at 8:11 pm said:

So we are not alone? Hmm, I wonder who aliens call when they need roadside assistance?

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- spilledinkguy on July 6, 2011 at 8:25 pm said:
  
  Hahaha…
  Maybe the first A in triple A really stands for Alien(s)?! 🙂
  
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Binky on July 6, 2011 at 8:27 pm said:

Sorry to hear about your trip. Hope you can get the car fixed and fixed and finish the trip soon.

Neat shot. You were on the ground for this one, weren’t you?

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- spilledinkguy on July 6, 2011 at 8:32 pm said:
  
  Thanks, Binky… this is some serious mechanical failure…
  it might actually be more economical to look into a ‘new’ used car at this point. Blah.
  
  Hahaha… busted! 🙂
  
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Robert X. Jones on July 6, 2011 at 9:22 pm said:

Nice, at least you weren’t wearing a red tunic…you know where that leads. 😉

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- spilledinkguy on July 6, 2011 at 9:48 pm said:
  
  Ha!
  I think I might have sampled some Kool-aid though…
  the details are a bit hazy…
  🙂
  
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Unapologetically Mundane on July 6, 2011 at 9:28 pm said:

I love the things small towns have to be proud of! In my hometown, it’s our blue water tower. Which happens to be in my great-aunt’s backyard. LOCAL CELEBRITY!

I hope the little scratches are your doing.

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- spilledinkguy on July 6, 2011 at 9:53 pm said:
  
  I spent quite a few years in/near a town ‘famous’ for it’s winking smile face water tower (I could see it from my apartment at one point).
  I can’t take much credit for that this time. Sometimes I ‘distress’ an image, but this time you’re seeing dust and scratches in the optics of the viewfinder I’m shooting through. Kinda’ cool, eh?! 🙂
  
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elmediat on July 6, 2011 at 11:04 pm said:

Wonderful ! Right up there with the Wawa Goose (Ontario) . They should take it for a spin and visit Vulcan, Alberta Ca. .

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- spilledinkguy on July 6, 2011 at 11:08 pm said:
  
  That’s an idea! I think we should pitch that idea to the good folks of Riverside! 🙂
  
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Scholar Mel on July 7, 2011 at 1:04 am said:

Wow, you just made Iowa fun 😉

When I drove through Iowa two summers back all I saw was corn. Actually I thought the cornfields on rolling hills looked very picturesque.

Set phasers to fun. Would that include some kind of laughing gas that is injecting from the phaser?

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- spilledinkguy on July 7, 2011 at 9:34 am said:
  
  Ha!
  From what I saw of Iowa there was quite a bit of corn, and it was very picturesque… unfortunately I spent a lot of my time staring at the temperature gauge.
  
  Ha again! That’s the thing about this technology, Mel… I don’t have the first clue how it works. Just that it’s amazing stuff! 🙂
  
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Jayne on July 7, 2011 at 3:34 am said:

‘Set phasers to fun’ ::snort::
Sorry after all the pre-trip aggro it all went pear shaped. I hope you can sort something out.

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- spilledinkguy on July 7, 2011 at 9:36 am said:
  
  It was either that or load the fun-time torpedoes.
  I appreciate that, Jayne… thank you!
  🙂
  
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Juana on July 7, 2011 at 8:39 am said:

I had to look twice at this photo!! I cracked up when I realized someone was towing that space ship around. Please!! These are the things worth going out on a long-short weekend in an overheated car!! Thanks for sharing it- I needed some fun this morning!

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- spilledinkguy on July 7, 2011 at 9:37 am said:
  
  It was pretty amusing, Juana (and the photo doesn’t do it justice). I can imagine some of the things it’s been pulled around with, too… plenty of riding lawn mowers I suspect…
  🙂
  
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ramoncito17 on July 7, 2011 at 3:39 pm said:

Welcome back from your short vacation. Too bad your car did not cooperate! Interesting picture here. Very Sci Fi!

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- spilledinkguy on July 7, 2011 at 3:50 pm said:
  
  Thank you, sir! Yeah, I wish the car had a bit more futuristic technology in it (or at least stuff that was in better condition)!
  🙂
  
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Jillsy Girl on July 8, 2011 at 11:18 am said:

The trip itself was worth it for this dandy!

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- spilledinkguy on July 8, 2011 at 11:23 am said:
  
  Hahaha…
  thanks, J.G… I thought it was pretty amusing!
  🙂
  
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Derrick on July 8, 2011 at 8:19 pm said:

Well, that sucks!! But I gather you were at least able to make it home in one piece, without having to be teleported, or anything like that??

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- spilledinkguy on July 8, 2011 at 10:17 pm said:
  
  Hahaha…
  yeah, we lucked out as far as that goes…
  I was afraid we might be taking a LONG, LONG walk…
  🙂
  
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Lenore Diane on July 10, 2011 at 9:04 am said:

Japecake has caused me to be self-conscious still I have to confess… I ‘LIKE’ this!!

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thedailydish on July 10, 2011 at 11:02 am said:

Sorry to hear about your (lack of) vaca – but LOVE the trekky pic. It sounds like you’re not upset though — so I am happy for you. LOL

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- spilledinkguy on July 10, 2011 at 6:13 pm said:
  
  Yeah. At some point you have to just laugh. What else can you do?
  Hahaha… I was getting some unusual looks when I took this one… but I’m getting used to that…
  🙂
  
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Annabelle on July 11, 2011 at 12:05 am said:

Worst. Vacation. Ever.

Ever.

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- spilledinkguy on July 11, 2011 at 12:06 am said:
  
  It really wasn’t too much fun, was it?!
  😦
  
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