100 Mile Capture Utah

Our 100 mile capture continues with a trip through Utah and a stop to see more family.  I will be posting an addendum for all of the states of things that didn't fall into the 100 mile mark but really needed to have their photos taken, here are the links for Arizona  Side Notes of Arizona part 1  and Side Notes of Arizona Part 2   SO much to see there!
If you aren't familiar with the 100 Mile capture go take a look at how it started here http://brickroadphoto.blogspot.com/2013/08/100-mile-capture.html

Mile 1500  The southern part of Utah has gorgeous red dirt and rocks.  Such a beautiful contrast with the amazing blue Utah sky!

 

Mile 1600 After our detour in Arizona we decided to cut across to Cedar City, UT through Duck Creek Pass.  What a beautiful mountain drive!  I was surprised to see large lava beds along the road,  they seemed so out of place at this elevation.  We stopped at a scenic overlook for Markagunt Plateau and Navajo Lava Lake.  From the Volcano Discovery website "Markagunt Plateau volcanic field, located east of Cedar Breaks National Monument in SW Utah, is a group of cinder cones and lava vents on Markagunt Plateau. The youngest cinder cones are located near Panguitch Lake in the north and Navajo Lake in the south."    Like a lot of the western states, this part of Utah has seen drought and has a lot of standing dead timber. Fire would be devastating to this beautiful area.   

Mile 1700  Interstate 15 somewhere near Filmore Utah.  We exited off of the freeway to try to find SOMETHING to take a pic of and saw this sign about "shed hunters".  Shed hunters are people looking for horns from elk and deer that have been shed in the spring.  There is quite a market and competition for the sheds.  Everything from chandeliers to  aphrodisiac's in Chinese medicine. Trespassing for shed hunting is an issue in many states.

See that arrow??? It is pointing to our next stop and a very special little person we are about to meet.

 Mile 1800  is in Payson, UT.  Seems odd to show you a 7-11 sign but we hit 1800 miles just as we turned into the gas station.  I went to high school in UT and when our little town got a 7-11 it was a BIG deal! During that time it seemed like there was a 7-11 in every town in Utah.  7-11 (Southland Corporation) was founded in 1927 in Dallas, TX. At one time there were more than 50,000 7--11 stores in the US (that's A LOT of Slurpees and Big Gulps!)  Now there are approx. 7000.  I have never seen one in Texas but they still seem to be going strong in Utah!   Kind of a nostalgic picture for me

Mile 1900 is my favorite mile marker so far!!  You need to know I stretched this a bit, it was taken at mile 1905 but it was SO special I just had to wait.  Our beautiful niece and her brand new little one.  What an honor to get to take this little ones newborn pictures. The hardest part of living so far away from family is missing those little things.  What a special memory.    

Mile 2000 is on Daniels Summit   Elevation 8020   We stopped at a turnout to take this when this ATV pulled up.  There were 3 occupants, a man and two boys.  They all got out and immediately got on their phones.  Cell reception in the mountains is so bad, this must have been the only hotspot.  Kind of made me sad knowing they drove miles from nature and their campsite to check their emails, texts and calls.

Mile 2100   Last but not least a true blast from my past!  Meet Dinah the Dinosaur.  This was taken in Vernal, UT.  My dad was in the oilfield, so most of my childhood was spent in Vernal, UT.  Dinah has been a regular fixture for as long as I remember.  Vernal is home to the Dinosaur National Monument and the Dinosaur Museum.  My job in high school was at the Dinosaur Motel and Gift Shop. We sold little pink "Dinah the Dinosaurs"   It always makes me smile to see Miss Dinah!

 

We are off to Colorado!

   

 

 

Side Notes of Arizona Part 2

Hi!  Welcome to Part 2 of Side Notes of Arizona!  We had such a great time traveling through the northern part of this state.   Hope you have enjoyed our trip so far.

We are both Route 66 fans.  I have a grandfather who owned a filling station on Historic Route 66 in Stroud, OK.  It's kind of in our blood.  Love the nostalgia.
During the Route 66 days Winslow, AZ was a pretty happening place, then I 40 was built and the town kind of dried up like many other Route 66 towns did.   The towns people of Winslow have come up with a great idea to breathe a little life back into their community. We drove to Winslow just to see what they had done.

"Standin' on a Corner in Winslow Arizona"

"Such a fine site to see...there's a girl my Lord in a flatbed Ford slowin' down to take a look at me"

Ring any bells?  We love this song by the Eagles and Winslow Arizona has done a great job bringing tourism and tourism dollars in to help revitalize their downtown area with this great tribute to "Take it Easy"   See the Eagle and the couple painted in the window??  On the other side of this tribute is a very nice park, yup that's not a building, just a wall.  How cool is that?

 See I told you there would be an Eagle(s) that you would never forget! *wink* you are humming that song right now aren't you....  Glen Frye and Jackson Browne would be so proud

The next big stop for unscheduled pictures was at Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell.   

 What a beautiful place. 

Glen Canyon Dam, Colorado River Storage Project

Dedicated by the First Lady Mrs. Lyndon B Johnson

September 22, 1966

named for Major John Wesley Powell

Looking down from the damn. 

Zoom in  a bit on this photo, see all the perforations in the canyon wall from blasting during construction??   Too see a bigger version of any these photo's just click on them

 

SO what did you think of Arizona???

 

It's on to Utah!

 

Keep snappin'

Jeanne

 

Side Notes of Arizona part 1

Hello Arizona!!

Thought I would share more than a few photo's of Arizona that weren't a part of the 100 Mile Capture.   So many things out there that need their photograph taken and not everything I think is photo worthy is spaced 100 miles apart.  I have broken them in to Part 1 and Part 2, too many pictures to put in one post, don't want to bore the socks off of you all at once!  OH!  and remember the "Eagle you won't forget" I mentioned in the last post??? Look for it in Part 2.  
I warned you I took a TON of photos.

Arizona started off a bit bumpy with a road construction delay that lasted long enough to get out of the car and (what else) take pictures!!  Thank you ADOT!

We were surprised to see how green it was in Arizona this time of year. Stunning!

The wildflowers were in full bloom on the mountain

We went up on the ridge at sunset and looked down into the valley where our family's home is.  There is s sign on their wall that says

"If you are lucky enough to have a cabin in the mountains, you are lucky enough"   

Very lucky indeed

We got to meet a few of their neighbors

 The Grinning Goat

 Fitz the Alpaca

This guy was so curious and so friendly.  He kept coming right up to my camera lens and touching it with his nose.  They have such great personalities!

 Russian Sage

I love the textures on this Palm. 

Thanks for looking!  Don't  miss Arizona part 2  (especially the Eagles photo)

 

Keep Snappin'

Jeanne

 

 

100 Mile Capture Arizona

Our 100 mile capture continues with a trip through Arizona.  I will be posting an addendum for all of the states of things that didn't fall into the 100 mile mark but really needed to have their photos taken, here is the one for New Mexico  Side Notes of New Mexico  
If you aren't familiar with the 100 Mile capture go take a look at how it started here http://brickroadphoto.blogspot.com/2013/08/100-mile-capture.html

Mile 900 It only seems fitting that our first 100 mile stop in Arizona would be the State Line! I love it when things work like that! 

.....and beyond that sign, the road to our first family stop

Mile 1000  Was lunch with two of my favorite people at Charlie Clarks Steakhouse in Pine Top, AZ.  Charlie Clarks has great food and great history.  I love the antlers on the chimney. 

This is Elk country in the gorgeous White Mountains of Arizona. 

SO great to see family for a couple of days.

Mile 1100  On the road again and this time just outside of Payson, AZ.  Gorgeous!

Here is a little blurb from the Payson Chamber of Commerce website.

"Nestled among the majestic mountains of the Mogollon Rim-a 7,000-foot, 200-mile-long escarpment, lays the breathtaking and serene town of Payson, Arizona.  Graced with spectacular natural beauty, this small town is located between the Sierra Ancha and the Mazatzal Mountain Ranges.  Giant saguaros march up the low hill, forests cover their higher slopes, and rivers run rampantly through surrounding canyons.  Residents like to brag that their town is situated in one of only three, pure air ozone belts in the world".

Watching for big Elk on their highways is a must!

Mile 1200 When we would start to get within a couple miles of the "100 mile mark" we would start looking.  I was looking at mountains and hillsides and all of a sudden my  husband turns the car around in the middle of the road and says "you gotta see this, I think it might be picture worthy".  Down in the ditch along the road was this roadside memorial for a man and a woman.  Definitely picture worthy!!! No one has bothered the hats perched there or the flowers and trinkets alongside them, very touching.    I liked the sepia color treatment because I felt like it fit the solemnness of the subject.  If you would like to see it in color go here  

I'm sure about now you are simply in awe of my record keeping *wink*  "How can she possibly remember what town is closest to each photo she has taken out in the middle of nowhere" you ask.  WELL....my secret??? a photo of the nav screen in my car after each stop! I love gadgets!

We turned off of I40 onto AZ89 in Flagstaff headed for Page, AZ and ultimately Utah when things got a bit tricky.  About 50 miles down the road we were detoured. Apparently in Feb there was a slide that destroyed the road.  We had two choices, go back 50 miles to I40  (in the rain) and circle around the Grand Canyon to Vegas then up to UT OR  the detour through the reservation up to Page.  It added about 150 miles to the trip but we were already part way there so we decided to keep going.   Vegas sounded like the most fun but we had places to go and some very special people to see.

.

Mile 1300 Somewhere outside of Flagstaff but before entering the reservation this was our view.   It was raining hard!  This 100 mile shot is a windshield shot, the road sign just to the right says "elev 7000 ft"  

Mile 1400 was taken somewhere on  the detour through Arizona almost to Page and Lake Powell.

The Shonto Trading Post  Shonto, AZ  Very cool little place.  Here is their website and info

Arizona has such a diverse landscape.   Everything from the  mountains to the desert.  Beautiful!

Be sure to visit Side Notes of Arizona with additional photos of our stops in this beautiful state, including a shot of an Eagle you will never forget. 

Utah here we come!



Side notes of New Mexico

Ready for some more vacay pictures?? 

Aunt Judy would be so proud.

Thought I would share a few photo's of New Mexico that weren't a part of the 100 Mile Capture.   So many things out there that need their photograph taken and not everything I think is photo worthy is spaced 100 miles apart.
What trip to New Mexico would be complete without a picture of an alien taken in Roswell???
This is my photo assistant Nik posing with the only alien we could find.  More pictures of Nik to come.  He had a great trip and he sure smiled a lot! 

 When we planned this trip we decided to take a different route than we had in the past and would try to take secondary roads instead of the Interstate.  What a bonus!! How cool to just happen on to something you had no idea was where you are going!  We came across the coolest place in Lincoln County New Mexico.  Sound familiar??  Ever seen the movie Young Guns?  Heard of the Lincoln County wars?  WELL we were there! No not in the Young Guns movie silly, in the place where the actual Lincoln County Cattle Wars took place.  I had no idea Young Guns was based on true event.
This is a Torrean and was one of the first structures in Lincoln County.  It was built in the 1850's.  Its thick walls protected the Spanish Americans from the Apaches.  In the Lincoln County War it is where  Murphy's sharpshooters were stationed.

A little history blurb for you

The perfect way to end a trip to New Mexico??

A stop in Pie Town.  This little 'Pie Place" was recently featured on the Discovery Channel.  Very quaint and the pie was ok.  They must spell "strategic" different in New Mexico than they do in Texas.  Interesting....

AND yes they had pie.........

........................and some very cool old rusting things in the field next door. 

Ok not sure why this makes me laugh when I see it but...  The sign says STOP so that's what they did, and it looks like they never got started again.  That's one powerful sign!

Its no secret I adore all things old and rusty.  The locals sure looked at me funny when I took pictures of the rusting signs and cars next door.  I could almost hear them saying "Those city folk ain't right in the head". 

 

Five more states to go!!

 

Keep snappin'

Jeanne

100 Mile Capture New Mexico

Our 100 mile capture continues with a trip through New Mexico.  I will be posting an addendum for some of the states of things that didn't fall into the 100 mile mark but really needed to have its' photo taken, here is the one for Texas  Side Notes of West Texas    

Somewhere between mile 400 and mile 500  Texas was in our rearview mirror

 Mile 500 found us in Tatum, New Mexico.  Almost every merchant in town has a custom metal sign like the one here saying Howdy and Welcome, the street signs are also similar.  Tatum has a population of less than 700 people and occupies 1.2 acres of land.  Probably safe to say the sign maker is related to everyone someone in town.

 Mile 600 was about 3 miles west of Roswell, New Mexico.  We expected a quaint little town with funky alien shops etc.  (Too much TV  and Hollywood for us I assume)  What we found was a small developed city.  In the middle of it all was the Roswell UFO Museum and a few well placed gift shops selling little green men.  This photo is of the most interesting thing outside of Roswell.  See that mountain in the distance?? That's where we are headed, its like the light at the end of the tunnel.

 Mile 700  This big Yucca plants was kind of a bright spot along the road near Socorro, New Mexico.  I took several shots of them but liked this one for the road trip picture because it shows what the roads in this part of NM are really like. See that unlevel guardrail?  That is exactly how level the road was.  I would have loved a shot of the Yucca from down in the ditch looking up at that beautiful blue sky but since there was a snake in that brush, the roadway seemed like a better choice.   This picture is a true representation of this part of New Mexico.

 Mile 800  As we approached our 800th mile mark and Magdalena, New Mexico we could see these huge saucer shaped discs in the distance.  I have to admit UFO did cross my mind. (again, too much TV)  Turns out they are radio antennas and are part of a HUGE observatory called The National Radio Astronomy Observatory, The Very Large Array  The VLA is a multi-purpose instrument designed to allow investigations of many astronomical objects, including radio galaxies, quasars, pulsars, supernova remnants, gamma ray bursts, radio-emitting stars, the sun and planets, astrophysical masers, black holes, and the hydrogen gas that constitutes a large portion of the Milky Way galaxy as well as external galaxies. In 1989 the VLA was used to receive radio communications from the Voyager 2 spacecraft as it flew by Neptune. It is not, despite depictions in popular culture, used to assist in the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. (see I told you, too much TV)
If you have time follow the link to their site.  I had a zoom lens but these are a LONG way away and this is as close as we were allowed.  They are HUGE!! Amazing the things you find in the middle of nowhere.

 

Next stop..... Arizona!

Side notes of West Texas

Thought I would share a few photo's of Texas that weren't a part of the 100 Mile Capture.   So many beautiful things out there that need their photograph taken and not everything has been spaced 100 miles apart.

One of my favorites was of course The Shackleford County Courthouse in Albany, Texas.  It's stunning! Texas has some of the most amazing historic courthouses.  I plan on visiting each and everyone in time.
We stopped at this beauty on our way through West Texas.  It has a very nice Veterans tribute on the grounds. If you would like to see more detailed shots of this gorgeous courthouse you can click on the picture or follow this link  http://brickroadphoto.smugmug.com/History/Shackleford-County-Courthouse

Built 1883-84 from plans by J. E. Flanders of Dallas, architect for several other 1880s Texas courthouses. Edgar Rye of Albany was construction superintendent. Kilted Scottish Masons erected the walls of stone quarried a few miles southwest of town. The foundations rest two feet deep on "natural concrete" (caliche). Budgeted at $27,000.00; final cost was $49,433.75. Clock tower was added at public's request. 

Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1962

 

 

So how cool is this?  The rock that pulled the tower clock for over 53 years.  360 lbs!  It is sitting outside one of the courthouse entrances.  The odd thing about this courthouse is there are four entrances, one on each side, however there doesn't seem to be a MAIN entrance as they all looked the same at the time of their construction.  The entrance pictured above has a newly constructed handicapped ramp and seems to be the most used entrance now. However, the side entrance has more wear on the antique door knobs.  Interesting!
To see detail shots of those gorgeous doorknobs and the very cool stone carving pieces inlaid in the stone work of the structure, visit here   Very cool detail pictures

Right across the street from the courthouse is this wonderfully restored Sinclair station.  Complete with lubrication and washing bays.  Love the gorgeous old truck.  This Sinclair Station is on the northwest side of the square at Albany, Texas and it was built in 1935 and restored by brothers Hank and Ted Paup in 2004

 Remember the days when your neighbors went on vacation and when they returned home you were invited to come over, have pie and watch their vacation slides?  I remember seeing slides of someone's Aunt Judy with her head cut off and a little blur next to her that was cousin Jimmy....you know... the one who never holds still.   If it wasn't for the brownies they served it would have been unbearable. 

 SOOO here I am 40 years later showing my vacation pictures to anyone who will look, yikes! Thanks for humoring me while I share. I hope you enjoy them and I promise NO pictures of Aunt Judy, mostly because I don't even have an Aunt Judy!   *wink*   I will try to keep them as painless as possible.  FYI  I did bake brownies today so if you want the full experience come on over!

Keep snappin'
Jeanne

100 Mile Capture, part 1

The 100 Mile Capture

Last year New York photographer Brian DeFrees traveled coast to coast and back.  He strapped a camera on his car and took over 200,000 time lapse photo's.  He compiled them into a 5 minute video called Drive Across America in 5 minutes.  I warn you if you get motion sick take a few Dramamine before you click and watch, it moves pretty fast  
After his video went viral on YouTube, a friend (thanks Diane) and I started discussing how cool it would be do something similar.  Basically, our idea was that every 100 miles you stop and take one photo regardless of what is at that 100 mile mark.  Since she lives in Washington and I am across the country in Texas we knew a girls "100 mile road trip" was not in our near future so I decided to do a test drive (if you will) on our vacation and....

SO the "100 Mile Capture" was born
  
Here was the reasoning behind choosing the 100 mile mark

1. NO way was I strapping my camera to a car NO matter how cool a time lapse would be AND no one was willing to provide funding for a new fancy smancy time lapse camera and equipment.
2. I felt reasonably confident I could talk the  hubby into stopping every 100 miles, HEY it's better then every 50 right?? 
3. Stopping the car every 100 miles seemed like a good excuse to "take a break" if you know what I mean.
4. Posting every 100 miles would give me time to edit and post live.  

Here is what I found out after we got started...

• Stopping the car every 100 miles sounds easy but sometimes it is just not possible or even safe, but I assure you all of the photos were taken at 100+/- within 4 miles. 
•  "Taking a Break" NEVER syncs with the 100 mile mark.  
• I thought if I took a photo every 100 miles I could edit in between  stops and post live...WRONG!  There are several parts of the western states that need some serious tech upgrades.  3G 4G LTE are strangers to this land.
•  Even though there were a few grumbles about stopping so much when we started, by the end of the first day my driver/hubby was better at spotting things than I was. 
• Taking photo's for me is like eating potato chips....I simply can NOT stop at one 
• Stopping and stretching/shooting every hundred miles really broke the trip up nicely.  We saw things we would have never seen and learned quite a bit about the areas we were traveling through.    

SO here we go.... 7 states, 14 days,  3485.4 miles and  65 hours 15 minutes in the car!  We saw tons of family and beautiful scenery, and more than a few quirky things a long the way.  Hope you enjoy our road trip 100 miles at a time.

Mile 000
The last thing we saw before we pulled out of our driveway.  The sun was coming up and the light was beautiful.

   

Mile 100 turned out to be on the Dallas/ Ft Worth Freeway during rush hour (oh joy) This is the point in the trip I realized EXACTLY 100 miles was just not going to work.  These shots had to be a drive by...well it was really a roll by since we were in Dallas traffic.  One shot to the left, one to the right...so much to see. I'm telling you taking photos for me is like eating potato chips, I simply can't stop at one.

 

 

  Mile 200 let us experience West Texas.  Ooooh Baby it was hot outside 100 degrees and rising.  These horses had the right idea finding the only available shade for miles in Palo Pinto, Texas

Mile 300  Quail Ridge Ranch,   Anson, TX    

West Texas is hot and windy,  the perfect place for windmills!  They seem so looming and graceful against the open sky.

Mile 400  Tahoka, TX 

This Texas road sign and open field pretty much says it all about West Texas.  If you look closely the sign says FARM ROAD.  They refer to them as "F.M. Roads or Farm to Market roads.

I took the photo at about 1/10 a mile over the 100 mile mark

 ...and then just a bit further   *sigh*

Now don't get me wrong, I am all for progress and improving roads but this truck is behind the truck spraying the new pretty yellow lines on the road....my new car is black...patience is a virtue right???

Tomorrow we will see New Mexico

Thanks for looking I hope you are enjoying the trip

Keep snappin'
Jeanne

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page"