About CapOnAMap
CapOnAMap came into being way back in 2010. I was driving to Indiana for a wedding (Beth you’re one of the reasons for all of this) and I thought it would be fun to “take the scenic route” and see a few sites along the way. Specifically, the odd & unusual sites that have now become my passion and the main purpose of my travels.
I pulled into a motel, threw down my Rand McNally Road Atlas (GPS was not nearly as good back then), and threw my cap on top of it. Voilà! CapOnAMap was born!
On this site, you will find photos of the many, many, places I have visited. To make my list, they only need to be quirky, weird, odd, unusual, interesting, or just strike my fancy that day. I have passed on many sites after traveling to them because they didn’t pique my interest “in person” like they did when I first heard/read about them. Maybe I’ll get back to them at some point. Who knows?
I hope you find a bit of entertainment, perhaps find the information interesting, maybe even a little new knowledge.
Let’s Get Personal! (and a bit of autobiographical history)
As far as the “About Me” portion, I could go on and on about me and my life, but I probably would lose a few viewers quickly. There is little doubt that I am one of the luckiest guys on earth. I have lived a life based on my own set of rules and rarely followed what others considered normal unless I thought it worthwhile.
First, and most importantly, I am a father and a grandfather!
I am the proud father of two wonderful, smart, beautiful, responsible (didn’t get THAT from me), daughters. The girls are married to wonderful guys and I have four grandkids that are one of the main reasons I continue on! I have seen the quote, “Grandkids are a reward for putting up with your children as teenagers.” Not sure who said it, but in my case it’s SOOOooo untrue. I couldn’t have asked for better kids. And now my grandkids are just icing (and lots of it) on my life’s cake!
The Early (?) Years
I grew up in a very small town in rural East-Central Illinois. The sign at the edge of town read “Population 400” but that was an exaggeration or maybe the benefit of “rounding up.” I had a fairly normal upbringing if your idea of normal is growing up in Mayberry USA, only smaller! (the younger crowd won’t understand. Wikipedia will help!)
At age 21, I moved from my hometown to Los Angeles, California! Talk about a shock to the system! During the late 70s and early 80s I lived the wild and crazy lifestyle of the times. Luckily I didn’t veer too far off the rails and survived unscathed. I worked a variety of jobs, not following any particular career path. I did what seemed right at the time. I also married and divorced, had kids (mentioned above), but continued to live life mostly by my own standards.
My last employment was in the hospitality industry as a “Relief Manager” for a major motel chain. My duties were to travel to properties that didn’t have a “General Manager” (vacation, ill, quit, fired, etc.) and run that property until a permanent replacement took over. I stayed wherever I worked. I did not need an apartment or house, living full time at the various properties. That’s how my life as a full-time nomad began.
Work Life Cut Short (likely a good thing!)
Retirement age has now been “officially” achieved, although I’ve been “disabled” since April 2016 (stroke). Since that time, I’ve lived life as a disabled/retired “cranky old b@stard.” I am enjoying this way too much! LOL
As always, THANK YOU for the visit. I welcome and appreciate comments (at the bottom of every page/post) and/or EMAILS. Please feel free to SUBSCRIBE (free or voluntary donation) to this site. If you enjoyed your visit, learned anything, or feel like helping the site out a little, I would love it if you shared our site with friends and family. If you don’t like this site ***GASP*** then you should spam your enemies with it LOL. Hey, any traffic helps! You can also DONATE to keep this dream alive. I always give 50% of all (net) donations and (net) profits from any source to charity as my way of giving thanks and sharing my good fortune.
Thanks again!
Joe