Fifteen Days On The Road - Part 1

b&w film to develop

color film to scan

Lots of film to process, lots of film to scan!  I shot 35 rolls on this trip, and used every camera that I brought.  I decided to send out the C-41 and E-6 rolls to The Darkroom for processing while I was on the trip, which meant that some arrived home before I returned.  I am just getting started on scanning those.

A few days ago, I returned from my first lengthy road trip since COVID-19 took over.  The ultimate goal was spending a week in Tucson, AZ, and visiting our daughter.  I planned the westward trip trip pretty well, allowing plenty of time for me to finally visit some places along Route 66.  This was our first trip West starting from western North Carolina, so naturally, Route 40 was the main Interstate that we drove.  We elected to drive my wife's Toyota Corolla Hybrid, since it's been proven to be comfortable for long trips, and at worst, it gets over 50 mpg.  

We left October 5, and our first night was in Forrest City, AR, not too far past Memphis, TN.  Our mileage for the day was 557 miles, with just rest stops along along the way.  Forrest City was named for Nathan Bedford Forrest, who used the location as a campsite for a construction crew completing a railroad between Memphis and Little Rock, shortly after the Civil War.  As we know, Forrest was a Confederate Army general, who said "If we ain't fightin' to keep slavery, then what the hell are we fightin' for?"  Leaving little doubt about his feelings, he was the Grand Wizard of the KKK after the Civil war.  While Forrest City is just a spot on the map,  I think about the history of places that we visit, and the reasons for place names being what they are.  

We made good time on Day 2, traveling 512 miles, to spend the night in Clinton, Oklahoma, which is right on the old Route 66.    Once I-40 hits Oklahoma City, it joins/replaces the old Route 66.  Clinton was formed in 1902, and was originally called Washita Junction (railroads play a big part in its formation), but the U.S. Post Office would not accept Washita Junction as a name, so it was changed to Clinton, the first name of Judge Clinton Irwin.  Unlike many places along Route 66, Clinton is a thriving community, and is the largest city along Route 66 between Oklahoma City and Amarillo, TX.  We stayed at a La Quinta motel which was really nice, and it even had a bar.    I took some time to see some of the Route 66 business area, and found the Glancy Motor Hotel, which was in sad shape.  The Oklahoma Route 66 Museum is located in Clinton, but as we got there late in the day it was not open.   Nonetheless, I got some pretty good shots of the places we visited.  

Day 3 was the fewest miles traveled, because it involved a lot of stops along Rt. 66, but it also covered three states, as we left Oklahoma to pass through the Texas Panhandle (the absolute shortest path across Texas) and enter New Mexico, where we planned to stay the night in Tucumcari, NM.  I had originally planned to spend the night in Erick, OK, and am glad we stayed in Clinton.  Erick marks the 100th Meridian, which essentially marks anything beyond as "the West."  There is a 100th Meridian Museum in Erick, and it was closed.  It's probably more famous as being the hometown of singer/songwriter/performer Roger Miller. "King of the Road" was in my head was too often.  There is a terrific mural featuring him on what may have been the Roger Miller Museum, which closed long ago. The mural is in excellent shape, but I can't say that for the rest of Erick.  A casualty of Interstate  40, and the ceaseless loss of residents to more urban areas, Erick has certainly seen better days.  Those people staying there now are hardy folks.

We traveled for a bit on the old Rt. 66 which at times is an I-40 business route and at others, a parallel service road that is barely maintained. It was great to be on the two-lane, grasshoppers smashing into our grille, the grasses whizzing by.  Our first stop in Texas was in Shamrock, a town that has wholeheartedly embraced the Route 66 theme.  I primarily wanted to see the famous Conoco gas station, and was not disappointed.  The U-Drop Inn and gas station is an Art Deco wonder, and was saved from ruin and disrepair by he First National Bank of Shamrock, which gave it to the city. After a $1.7 million federal grant, they restored the building to its original condition and adapted it into a museum, visitors' center, gift shop, and the city's chamber of commerce.  We enjoyed a very tasty chocolate milkshake there.  

We hit the Texas Visitor's Center and rest area that's on I-40 east of Amarillo, and it was definitely photo-worthy.  After that, we drove past Amarillo (Had we chosen to stop there, it might have been another day before we left!) and across the rest of the panhandle.  I was amazed to see the hundreds of wind turbines there.  It's obvious that not all the money in Texas is being made on petroleum-based energy.  Also struck by the huge expanses of cotton and sorghum fields.  We stopped briefly in Adrian, TX, which marks the mid-point of Route 66.   The most impressive thing I photographed there was the grain elevator.

Adrian, TX

Texas Panhandle

We made it to Tucumcari, NM with plenty of daylight left, and found a lovely room at the Roadrunner Lodge Motel, an original Route 66 motel that's been lovingly restored/maintained by its current owners.    Tucumcari is one of those Route 66 destinations that you really have to visit.  There's a lot of period architectural and neon eye-candy to keep one occupied.  While I-40 bypasses it, Tucumcari is big enough and charming to make you want to explore it a lot further.  I'll end this travelogue here, as New Mexico is an adventure by itself.

Clinton, OK

Quick Trip - One Camera

Last weekend I drove to Ann Arbor, Michigan from Weaverville, NC. It's about 11 hrs on the road, including rest stops, etc.  The purpose was to drive Beverley's vehicle with her to Michigan, and then I would return by air to NC the next day, and Bev would continue on to her parents in Ontario.  I knew that there wouldn't be a lot of time for photography, and I felt that digital would prevent any missteps at the TSA check in. I have flown many times before with film cameras, but I felt that a DSLR would be the easiest course this time.  However, I wanted something light, inexpensive, and not bulky.  The best candidate that I had was this Canon EOS Rebel XSi with the 24mm f/2.8 EFS STM lens.  I could have just used my iPhone XR, but there are times when a DSLR is so much better.

The Canon EOS Rebel XSi, a 12 MP DSLR introduced in 2008.

Now you probably are thinking "what's going on with Mark, I thought he was a dedicated Nikon user?" If you know me well, you'd know that I like to have a big toolbox, and I chose this combo because - lightweight, compact, good results - 12.8 MP, sensor, sharp lens, and it barely extends beyond the flash/mirror box. The Rebel XSi certainly isn't the latest (introduced in 2008), but you know what? It doesn't need to be. In fact, the lens costs more than a used body. The Rebel XSi is still a pretty decent entry-level DSLR with a cropped sensor, hence the EF-S lenses.  For a pretty thorough review from 2008 go to: http://www.digitalcamerareview.com/camerareview/canon-rebel-xsi-review/

side view. Compact, eh?

With the 24mm pancake lens, the Rebel XSi is really lightweight and a lot of fun to shoot with. While the entry-level Nikons have a more refined feel and familiar user experience for me, I didn't have a DSLR that matched the Canon's attributes for this trip.  In fact, Nikon has nothing like the 24mm STM lens.  

I didn't shoot much on the road on the Saturday driving towards Michigan, but on Sunday I had some time to do some shooting in Ann Arbor.  I had breakfast at Zingerman's Road House on Maple Road, which was a real treat. The Nichols Arboretum Peony Garden was at its peak, and since Adrienne used to be the person in charge of it, I knew that she would love to see some images of it this year.  The 24mm lens (36 mm equivalent in full-frame) did a great job with closeups as well as the bigger picture.  A bit of a walk at the edge of campus, and then it was time for me to go to Detroit Metro (DTW) to get on a flight to Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport. I don't think I have ever seen so few people at DTW, and the line through the TSA checkpoint was very short.    It was my first time walking to the B concourse, and the big tunnel with the "light show" was new to me.  My flight back was uneventful, and Adrienne picked me up at the airport (which has all of 10 gates).  We then went back into Greenville for some dinner and a walk in the lovely Reedy River Falls Park.  Then it was back home to Weaverville!

It was a bit of a surreal weekend, driving N to Michigan and flying home the next day. On the way into Michigan along US-23, we were greeted by a number of new billboards adverstising the pot dispensaries in Ann Arbor. That was perhaps the biggest change since we left Michigan.  The images that follow are all from the Canon Rebel XSi. Some were shot on b&w, the rest shot in color.

I always loved the artwork associated with Zingerman's

The Circle-K station was built  just about the time we left in 2019.

Just say high!

Peony Garden Entrance

so many great peony flowers

UM School of Public Health

Observatory Lodge. I stayed there for a few days 1in 1981.

You can find some stark compositions at DTW

almost Hockney-ized

Really a cool spot

some parts are purer than others

PSA 

Reedy River Falls in Greenville, SC

The Blue Waters of Port Huron

Almost a month ago I went on a road trip to Port Huron, MI and Sarnia, Ontario with my buddies John Baird and Marc Akemann. I finally have scanned in the second roll of Ektar 100 shot with my Minolta X700 from that day. Early April isn't the most summery weather, and it had cooled down from the record-setting March warmth of a few weeks earlier. However, it was a beautiful cloudless sky and just warm enough to not feel cold. We traipsed around the downtown a bit, and hit some of the areas along the St. Clair River. If you don't know much about Michigan, you should at least know that aside from the southern border of the lower peninsula and the south-western border of the Upper Peninsula, it is a state defined by the Great Lakes. Port Huron sits at the bottom of Lake Huron, and the St. Clair River flows S into Lake Erie. Across the water to the east is Canada. Fishing and boating are big along this corridor, and it was apparent in Port Huron. Of course, the St. Clair River is also a commercial waterway, with Great Lakes freighters coming through, and industrial areas along the shorelines of both countries near the urban centers. Like many small cities, Port Huron is not the place it was a century ago, but it seems to have held its own pretty well, and the downtown is a mix of old and new, with only a few empty storefronts. We had lunch at the Cavis Grill (really, it is more of a diner), and enjoyed our meal there.

Enough of reading. Here are some images from the morning there. All were shot with my Minolta X700 and a 24-70 lens or the 135mm lens on Kodak Ektar 100, which is a superb color print film that reminds me a great deal of Ektachrome.

Looking over towards Sarnia, Ontario. The St. Clair River really was a opalesque turquiose blue.

Waterfront property is waterfront property. You don't need a mansion to feel rich when you have a place on the waterfront.

Ring-billed gulls are ubiquitous in the Great Lakes. Yet, I love watching them and their adroit flying skills. The ones that hang around the Bridge to Bay Trail (see following images) are probably quite vigilant in watching what the people fishing are doing. There are a series of sculptures along this sidewalk, and each one had a couple of attending gulls.

There were a number of people fishing along the river, and each person had multiple rigs set up on jigs to hold them on the railing. I am not familiar with fishing laws, but I know that when I did fish, I thought one was limited to no more than two rods in the water at the same time. I asked the guys what they caught, and said they got all kinds of fish there. I didn't see any activity while we were there, but fishing is like the ultimate test of patience in my book.

No bites yet.

This guy was actually casting.

There are lots of channels and docks around Port Huron, and it is obviously a busier place in the summer months.

Well, that's it for this photo essay. It's always a different feeling when shooting film instead of digital. One is more economical with the shots, for one, and two, I think I generally put more care into the composition. Three, every film has a different characteristic, and that's what makes using it so much fun. Try some Ektar 100.