First, I deleted this file from my computer, but not before posting it's contents here. I actually bothered to create this. Sad, really.
Overused trip phrases:
"Somebody loves you." (Whenever somebody's cell phone would ring.)
"That's going in the blog." (Whenever something witty was said, and none of these witty things actually made it into any blog.)
"I suppose." (Whenever)
AND THE NUMBER ONE COMPLETELY OVERUSED PHRASE ON THIS TRIP:
"Somethin' like that."
Anyways, I went to Denver, got the VUE, and drove back. Now it looks like this. That's not me in that picture, by the way. I was too lazy to go take a picture of the car, but rest assured that is what the car looks like now.
Exit, stage left. Finally.
Sparks
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
66 Through Panoramic Vision
If you'd like to see bits of Route 66 in ultra-wide goodness, check out our Panoramas.
Sadly, flickr thinks it fun to limit photos by width, so they're all really tiny, due to being super-wide. Get with the panoramic craze, flickr!
Anyway, larger versions will be available later, once I spend more time on them to get out the remaining artifacts (some of these take my computer several hours to figure out, so don't expect anything too quickly). In the mean time, you can get a teaser of an in-progress St. Louis Arch.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Yeah, We're Still Alive
Also, allow me to take this opportunity for a shameless plug.
I'm an awesome lighting designer and front of house guy. If you're a tour manager, please hire me!
That completed, perhaps an actual update is in order.
We made it home in one piece, which is more than I can say for my car. The VUE was totaled, and is still in Vail, Colorado getting repaired. The people at the insurance company (Progressive) are still being huge jerks - not only did they undervalue the vehicle, but for some stupid reason that is completely beyond me, they keep trying to pay off my loan with the money that I'm going to get back from them - which would completely decimate my finances. Even after I told the agent assigned to me multiple times that paying off my loan all in one go was not what I wanted to do, I heard from my credit union that she tried to go ahead and do that anyways. Grr.
It was with great pleasure that I canceled my policy with them the other day.
Anyways, after spending the night in an absolutely decrepit hotel with no bathroom door in our room, we took a Greyhound bus back to Des Moines, Iowa.
Let me tell you about the kinds of people who ride Greyhound buses.
These people are all nut jobs. Every single one of 'em. There was the ex-con sitting across from me who complained loudly about how the bus driver was being a "bitch". There was the tall, bearded, black hippie who graphically described how to please women, and then proceeded to stand in the back of the bus (Right next to me, of course.) and give the entire section his rendition of what a Godly union between a man and a wife was - and he spoke far, far into the night. About halfway into the trip, he realized that he had lost his radio that he had bought earlier that day, and asked the entire bus to look for it. "But if any ya'll take it, just know that Jesus is watching you, and ye will be judged on that day! Ya'll know we need to be kind to our brothers, ya'll hear?". There was the guy traveling with his two young daughters who pulled out a laptop and proceeded to watch violent action movies. And let us not forget the charming fellow who assaulted the first bus driver because we were half and hour late getting to our destination. (In one small act of justice, the universe saw fit that this recalcitrant young hoodlum be hauled away by two massive security guards for his misdeeds. I hope they beat him severely for attacking that old guy.) Not that he didn't have reason to complain, mind you. The first bus driver, while a kindly older gentleman, didn't have any business driving a bus. He wasn't comfortable driving a manual transmission, and due to the fact that he had broken the emergency hatch in the top of the bus earlier, we had to deal with pouring rain throughout half of the passenger compartment for three-quarters of the trip. (Another passenger and myself eventually just took matters into our own hands, and used my pocketknives to cut ropes off of the luggage holding racks to tie the door down.)
And then there was the seats. We might as well have been sitting on milk crates. In fact, they might have been an improvement Though once your butt goes numb, it becomes easier to bear.
Anyways, needless to say, we're glad to be home. And if I hear one more person tell me "You'll look back on this in a few years and laugh!" they will have earned themselves a swift kick administered somewhere soft.
Not that I'm bitter or anything.
Exit, stage left.
Sparks
I'm an awesome lighting designer and front of house guy. If you're a tour manager, please hire me!
That completed, perhaps an actual update is in order.
We made it home in one piece, which is more than I can say for my car. The VUE was totaled, and is still in Vail, Colorado getting repaired. The people at the insurance company (Progressive) are still being huge jerks - not only did they undervalue the vehicle, but for some stupid reason that is completely beyond me, they keep trying to pay off my loan with the money that I'm going to get back from them - which would completely decimate my finances. Even after I told the agent assigned to me multiple times that paying off my loan all in one go was not what I wanted to do, I heard from my credit union that she tried to go ahead and do that anyways. Grr.
It was with great pleasure that I canceled my policy with them the other day.
Anyways, after spending the night in an absolutely decrepit hotel with no bathroom door in our room, we took a Greyhound bus back to Des Moines, Iowa.
Let me tell you about the kinds of people who ride Greyhound buses.
These people are all nut jobs. Every single one of 'em. There was the ex-con sitting across from me who complained loudly about how the bus driver was being a "bitch". There was the tall, bearded, black hippie who graphically described how to please women, and then proceeded to stand in the back of the bus (Right next to me, of course.) and give the entire section his rendition of what a Godly union between a man and a wife was - and he spoke far, far into the night. About halfway into the trip, he realized that he had lost his radio that he had bought earlier that day, and asked the entire bus to look for it. "But if any ya'll take it, just know that Jesus is watching you, and ye will be judged on that day! Ya'll know we need to be kind to our brothers, ya'll hear?". There was the guy traveling with his two young daughters who pulled out a laptop and proceeded to watch violent action movies. And let us not forget the charming fellow who assaulted the first bus driver because we were half and hour late getting to our destination. (In one small act of justice, the universe saw fit that this recalcitrant young hoodlum be hauled away by two massive security guards for his misdeeds. I hope they beat him severely for attacking that old guy.) Not that he didn't have reason to complain, mind you. The first bus driver, while a kindly older gentleman, didn't have any business driving a bus. He wasn't comfortable driving a manual transmission, and due to the fact that he had broken the emergency hatch in the top of the bus earlier, we had to deal with pouring rain throughout half of the passenger compartment for three-quarters of the trip. (Another passenger and myself eventually just took matters into our own hands, and used my pocketknives to cut ropes off of the luggage holding racks to tie the door down.)
And then there was the seats. We might as well have been sitting on milk crates. In fact, they might have been an improvement Though once your butt goes numb, it becomes easier to bear.
Anyways, needless to say, we're glad to be home. And if I hear one more person tell me "You'll look back on this in a few years and laugh!" they will have earned themselves a swift kick administered somewhere soft.
Not that I'm bitter or anything.
Exit, stage left.
Sparks
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
VERY VERY VERY UNHAPPY
So, we (Meaning "I") hit a deer.
What kind of animal sees a bunch of fast-moving objects and thinks "Hey, I should run towards that!"? What a blatheringly stupid animal they must be.
Anyways, the dang thing pretty much totaled the front end of my car - crushed the radiator and smashed everything else all to heck. MJ's dad let us use his AAA to get towed, and I'll have to talk to the insurance agent tomorrow to see about repairs and getting back to Des Moines.
And we're stuck in a stupid tourist mountain town. Our hotel room was $124, and it's the only hotel that was open in town when we got here. And that's cheap around here.
At least the room is nice.
Exit, stage left.
Sparks
What kind of animal sees a bunch of fast-moving objects and thinks "Hey, I should run towards that!"? What a blatheringly stupid animal they must be.
Anyways, the dang thing pretty much totaled the front end of my car - crushed the radiator and smashed everything else all to heck. MJ's dad let us use his AAA to get towed, and I'll have to talk to the insurance agent tomorrow to see about repairs and getting back to Des Moines.
And we're stuck in a stupid tourist mountain town. Our hotel room was $124, and it's the only hotel that was open in town when we got here. And that's cheap around here.
At least the room is nice.
Exit, stage left.
Sparks
Road Trip IV: The Voyage Home
Where, hopefully, we will not be picking up any whales.
Road trips can be a lot of fun, though as Pixel's dad mentioned in the previous entry, spending so much time with one person and you start to see all their little quirks, oddities, absurdities, and basically all the stuff that just plain ticks you off.
First, I would like to state for the record that what normal humans refer to as a "comfortable listening level", Pixel finds "deafeningly loud". Seriously. He listens to the TV on "soft mute", and claims that it's too loud. He would be annoyed by an ant walking across the carpet from 40 feet away.
In addition, he hates bass. And not just bone-rattling concert-level bass. He claims that any sound below about 400hz is "painful". So, listening to Dave Matthews at a comfortable listening level to me (A level where you can use a normal speaking volume and be heard just fine.) makes him complain constantly.
That said, we're both looking forward to going home. I have a great deal of work to do when I get back - preparing to move to Nashville, packing all my stuff, etc. We're both seeing why the interstate system was built to replace roads like Route 66 - as charming as Radiator Springs might be, after you've gone through ten towns that looked exactly like the last ten towns, you start to wonder why you need to slow down at all. The interstates solve this nicely.
Anyways, we're headed home. Godspeed to us both.
Exit, stage left.
Sparks
Road trips can be a lot of fun, though as Pixel's dad mentioned in the previous entry, spending so much time with one person and you start to see all their little quirks, oddities, absurdities, and basically all the stuff that just plain ticks you off.
First, I would like to state for the record that what normal humans refer to as a "comfortable listening level", Pixel finds "deafeningly loud". Seriously. He listens to the TV on "soft mute", and claims that it's too loud. He would be annoyed by an ant walking across the carpet from 40 feet away.
In addition, he hates bass. And not just bone-rattling concert-level bass. He claims that any sound below about 400hz is "painful". So, listening to Dave Matthews at a comfortable listening level to me (A level where you can use a normal speaking volume and be heard just fine.) makes him complain constantly.
That said, we're both looking forward to going home. I have a great deal of work to do when I get back - preparing to move to Nashville, packing all my stuff, etc. We're both seeing why the interstate system was built to replace roads like Route 66 - as charming as Radiator Springs might be, after you've gone through ten towns that looked exactly like the last ten towns, you start to wonder why you need to slow down at all. The interstates solve this nicely.
Anyways, we're headed home. Godspeed to us both.
Exit, stage left.
Sparks
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Route 66 in Retrospect
Road trips, like any long stretch of time with someone, strain relationships, test friendships, and generally reveal all manner of things about a person you are sure to find annoying. I knew going into this trip Sparky wasn't the sort of person I really wanted to be around for long stretches of time, but fortunately our combined enthusiasm for the trip made it fairly easy to get along. Now that we're sick of being on the road, we're starting to get on each other's nerves. A little. I prefer no music or quiet music to Sparky's uncomfortably loud music, he has a list of grievances against me.
But the trip itself was fun. Our enthusiasm waned around the time we started hitting desert, so we missed anything along Route 66 which might have been interesting in Arizona and California, but perhaps another time with another friend--Sparky is not terribly fond of the mountains, and it'll likely be a while before we really want to spend all that much time together again. Certainly there are plenty of things not on Route 66 we won't be seeing which I eventually would like to see: the various Canyons, snow-capped Rocky Mountains, Catalina, and so forth, but you gotta save something for the next trip.
With that said, traveling along a road such as Route 66 you begin to understand just why the modern interstate system was created. Those old roads were so much driving, you get sick of it after a while. And then, when you finally hit LA, you get stuck in traffic. Good times, if you like watching Sparky doing a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde impersonation.
The trip is over, we're winding down, and heading home; if we've gained anything, it's a newfound appreciation for our own state. Corn, soybeans, and absurdly polluted water that it is.
The thing I miss most about home, and the thing I most look forward to once I get back, is cooking my own food. I was quite sick of cooking when I left, but now I think it might just be the most wonderful thing in the world. Blueberry muffins, spaghetti, pancakes that don't suck--mmmmmm.
Pixel's California Favourite
My favourite California photo is classified, so you only get the runner up. As a consolation prize, you get to see Sparky's favorite photo (that's the wall, mine's the bird).
Monday, July 23, 2007
The End (Or, perhaps more accurately, I still hate California)
Our trip officially reached its destination a few days ago, when we pulled into Los Angeles, California. We visited Skippy, who is a very pretty girl, and also a friend of Pixel, for a few days. We quickly came to hate actually driving through California. For starters, there's about two good hours worth of driving to get through the Tehachapi Mountains the eastern edge of the state. You're constantly going up and down thousands of feet, and by the end of the mountains my ears were crying out for mercy. Secondly, the concept of leaving space in between vehicles apparently hasn't reached the good people of Los Angeles yet, and ergo they drive pretty much bumper to bumper to bumper et cetera. They're also entirely too fond of using their horns, and will gladly use them vigorously when even the slightest delay in traffic occurs. Furthermore, there is absolutely no standard for how exit and entrance ramps are placed on the highway...you will often have to quickly cross through four or more lanes of said bumper to bumper traffic to get to your exit, because there are usually no signs for your exit until twenty feet in front of it. Oh, and it's freaky HOT here.
So we've got that going for us.
Combine that with my complete lack of knowledge of the layout of LA and it's no wonder I was on the edge of letting out a string of obscenities most of the time I was on the road.
California does have it's redeeming qualities, however. Namely, Sheila (Pixel's friend) is a very nice girl who is also happens to be very pretty. My interactions with her were quite fun, especially since Pixel is quite obviously smitten with her. (Look for his denial of this in his post.) We went to the fabulous burger join In n' Out, who are known for using super-fresh ingredients and and hand-making just about everything. (You can actually watch them peel and slice their french-fry potatoes.) We went to see the new Harry Potter movie (Order of the Phoenix) which was also very good, and got Pixel to try some new food at a Japanese restaurant. We also went to the beach, where I not only got to see the ocean for the first time, but swim in it too. Also, body surfing is fun. Just watch out for those darn surfboarders. Good times.
Anyways, California is behind us now.
Currently, we're staying at the Las Vegas Hilton, where Star Trek: The Experience is housed. Yes, I'm an uber-nerd, but The Experience is pretty darn cool. They've got three huge ships hanging in the lobby, and the waiting line for the simulated shuttle rides are lined with all sorts of props. There's costumed characters lurking about, too, always in character. During dinner, Pixel happened to glance up at a Klingon who was standing across the room, catching her eye.
Pixel: Oh look, a Klingon.
Klingon lady: (Shouting from across the room) What are you looking at, human? Haven't you ever seen a Klingon before?
That's awesome. Oh, and if anybody wants any Star Trek stuff, this is the time to ask. They have just about everything here, and I'll gladly pick up whatever.
Las Vegas is very cool in and of itself, too. (Amusingly enough, las vegas is Spanish for "The Meadows" or "The Grasslands", of which there are none here. Apparently, it did when it was named in the 1800's.) It's a very pretty city, especially at night, when all the casinos and shops are lit up in the blinky light glory.
Anyways, since bandwidth where we're staying is, frankly, craptacular, I will leave you with only one photograph.
Enjoy.
Exit, stage left.
Sparks
So we've got that going for us.
Combine that with my complete lack of knowledge of the layout of LA and it's no wonder I was on the edge of letting out a string of obscenities most of the time I was on the road.
California does have it's redeeming qualities, however. Namely, Sheila (Pixel's friend) is a very nice girl who is also happens to be very pretty. My interactions with her were quite fun, especially since Pixel is quite obviously smitten with her. (Look for his denial of this in his post.) We went to the fabulous burger join In n' Out, who are known for using super-fresh ingredients and and hand-making just about everything. (You can actually watch them peel and slice their french-fry potatoes.) We went to see the new Harry Potter movie (Order of the Phoenix) which was also very good, and got Pixel to try some new food at a Japanese restaurant. We also went to the beach, where I not only got to see the ocean for the first time, but swim in it too. Also, body surfing is fun. Just watch out for those darn surfboarders. Good times.
Anyways, California is behind us now.
Currently, we're staying at the Las Vegas Hilton, where Star Trek: The Experience is housed. Yes, I'm an uber-nerd, but The Experience is pretty darn cool. They've got three huge ships hanging in the lobby, and the waiting line for the simulated shuttle rides are lined with all sorts of props. There's costumed characters lurking about, too, always in character. During dinner, Pixel happened to glance up at a Klingon who was standing across the room, catching her eye.
Pixel: Oh look, a Klingon.
Klingon lady: (Shouting from across the room) What are you looking at, human? Haven't you ever seen a Klingon before?
That's awesome. Oh, and if anybody wants any Star Trek stuff, this is the time to ask. They have just about everything here, and I'll gladly pick up whatever.
Las Vegas is very cool in and of itself, too. (Amusingly enough, las vegas is Spanish for "The Meadows" or "The Grasslands", of which there are none here. Apparently, it did when it was named in the 1800's.) It's a very pretty city, especially at night, when all the casinos and shops are lit up in the blinky light glory.
Anyways, since bandwidth where we're staying is, frankly, craptacular, I will leave you with only one photograph.
Enjoy.
Exit, stage left.
Sparks
Saturday, July 21, 2007
We Are, in Fact, Alive
And oh dear Lord, I hate California. Hollywood in particular.
But mainly just California.
More info when we have correctly-functioning internet access.
Exit, stage left.
Sparks
But mainly just California.
More info when we have correctly-functioning internet access.
Exit, stage left.
Sparks
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Pixel's Daily Favourite - July 18
When you're sorting through the day's 655 pictures to find the few that don't completely suck, you begin to wonder why, exactly, you took so many. Today's favourite photo is the mixture of sheer dumb luck and perfect timing which answers that question. Next to today's favourite, the runner-up hardly seems worth including.
May We Recommend The Lake City Diner?
Our current location is Albuquerque, New Mexico, relaxing at the Days Inn. I'm feeling quite a bit less sick that I was when our trip began six days ago...antibiotics are a wonderful thing. Pixel and I are still friends, despite a few of our habits occasionally annoying each other: he tends to chew with his mouth open, and I tend to have the radio turned too loud.
Still, we're having quite a bit of fun.
Missouri was nice, and Oklahoma was very scenic, but what we were both really looking forward to and enjoying the most is the desert scenery of the southwestern United States. We've both seen open fields and forests before, so going into an arid environment where tall trees are a rarity and cacti are the most common form of flora was a real treat. The vistas of New Mexico are breathtakingly open and beautiful - we spend the better part of our afternoon exploring a very old, defunct section of Route 66 - originally it climbed a rather large mountain in a series of rather perilous hairpin curves. The road had been completely decimated over time - it's now more loose boulders and and old pieces of wood than actual "road". The VUE wasn't up to the task of going to far, so we got out and hoofed it about halfway up the mountain to take pictures. The pictures we got from the top don't do the view justice...it was truly a gorgeous sight of uncultivated pulchritude.
Searching for a good place to eat in Santa Rosa last night, we stumbled across the Lake City Diner, an unexpectedly wonderful place to eat in town. The building was originally constructed in 1901 and was the home of the First National Bank of Santa Rosa until the 1950's. Our waiter was a very nice, perky lady named Lexi, who served us a delicious meal while offering mirthfully irreverent conversation. If you're ever in Santa Rosa and looking for a place to eat, it's an awesome experience.
As we left the city the next day, we stopped at a site recommended by several residents of the city, the "Blue Hole", an 80-foot deep natural sinkhole with a fresh water spring at the bottom, used as a swimming hole by the local populous. The water is an alluring azure color, and just begs you to dive in. Thing is, it's cold. 61 degrees Fahrenheit year round. We snapped a few photos of the area surrounding the pool, while I contemplated what swimming in such a pool would be like. Pixel didn't want to jump in, but I grabbed my suit and went off the high dive.
Two thoughts ran through my mind as I fell towards the water. 1) I really dislike the sensation of falling. Two: It would be most unfortunate to get a cramp while in the middle of a 60 foot pool, 80 feet deep.
Turns out, I needn't have worried about cramps, although the shock of diving into 61-degree water is something that has to be experienced to be believed. My breath was immediately sucked out of my lungs as I forced myself to tread water over an 80-foot water-filled sinkhole. It took like five minutes to get used to the temperature of the water, though it wasn't so bad after that. The water is so clear that it distorts your view of the bottom in a rather startling way...what looks like maybe five feet below you is actually eighteen feet below you - good to know if you're trying to touch the bottom.
Anyways, tomorrow we're setting out for the last leg of the New Mexico trip, and we'll be heading in Arizona, or at least close to the border, by the end of the day.
Exit, stage left.
Sparks
Still, we're having quite a bit of fun.
Missouri was nice, and Oklahoma was very scenic, but what we were both really looking forward to and enjoying the most is the desert scenery of the southwestern United States. We've both seen open fields and forests before, so going into an arid environment where tall trees are a rarity and cacti are the most common form of flora was a real treat. The vistas of New Mexico are breathtakingly open and beautiful - we spend the better part of our afternoon exploring a very old, defunct section of Route 66 - originally it climbed a rather large mountain in a series of rather perilous hairpin curves. The road had been completely decimated over time - it's now more loose boulders and and old pieces of wood than actual "road". The VUE wasn't up to the task of going to far, so we got out and hoofed it about halfway up the mountain to take pictures. The pictures we got from the top don't do the view justice...it was truly a gorgeous sight of uncultivated pulchritude.
Searching for a good place to eat in Santa Rosa last night, we stumbled across the Lake City Diner, an unexpectedly wonderful place to eat in town. The building was originally constructed in 1901 and was the home of the First National Bank of Santa Rosa until the 1950's. Our waiter was a very nice, perky lady named Lexi, who served us a delicious meal while offering mirthfully irreverent conversation. If you're ever in Santa Rosa and looking for a place to eat, it's an awesome experience.
As we left the city the next day, we stopped at a site recommended by several residents of the city, the "Blue Hole", an 80-foot deep natural sinkhole with a fresh water spring at the bottom, used as a swimming hole by the local populous. The water is an alluring azure color, and just begs you to dive in. Thing is, it's cold. 61 degrees Fahrenheit year round. We snapped a few photos of the area surrounding the pool, while I contemplated what swimming in such a pool would be like. Pixel didn't want to jump in, but I grabbed my suit and went off the high dive.
Two thoughts ran through my mind as I fell towards the water. 1) I really dislike the sensation of falling. Two: It would be most unfortunate to get a cramp while in the middle of a 60 foot pool, 80 feet deep.
Turns out, I needn't have worried about cramps, although the shock of diving into 61-degree water is something that has to be experienced to be believed. My breath was immediately sucked out of my lungs as I forced myself to tread water over an 80-foot water-filled sinkhole. It took like five minutes to get used to the temperature of the water, though it wasn't so bad after that. The water is so clear that it distorts your view of the bottom in a rather startling way...what looks like maybe five feet below you is actually eighteen feet below you - good to know if you're trying to touch the bottom.
Anyways, tomorrow we're setting out for the last leg of the New Mexico trip, and we'll be heading in Arizona, or at least close to the border, by the end of the day.
Exit, stage left.
Sparks
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Pixel's Daily Favourite - July 17
I seem to have been on a close-up kick, so I've included a landscape shot today. It doesn't quite do the view justice, but it gives you an idea of what I was seeing, and how far I had to climb to get it.
Pixel's Daily Favourite - July 16
As if to balance out yesterday's great set of photographs, today's photos sucked. If I were to show you the landscape photos, you'd miss out on the real beauty of it, which we failed to capture. Partially because I was driving and Sparky was manning my camera, partly because windows were rolled up (hello, self portrait), and partly because we just aren't very good at photographing landscapes while driving past them. We really should stop more for pictures.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Your Dog Wants to be a Legislater
So, this morning, our first excursion was out into the downtown area of Oklahoma City, where we visited the capitol building. We were informed, oddly, that we could visit any area in the building that we liked, and take pictures of whatever we wished, with the only exception being that we were not allowed to take pictures of the metal detectors at the front doors. This caused poor Pixel much consternation, and I am certain that he spent much of his time wondering how he was going to surreptitiously photograph the restricted area.
This aside, we proceeded to wander around basically every space in the building that wasn't locked. (Pix found an open networking closet, and was frustrated that I wouldn't let him explore further into it.) We found our way past some locked doors and wound up in the senate chambers, and proceeded to spend the next thirty minutes taking pictures. The fans on the wall were of particular amusement to us...each one had a custom made button in the middle with the great seal of Oklahoma on it. We also wandered past an unlocked door labelled "Press only" and took some photos of the press booth, including a beautifully antique rotary phone. Leaving the chambers, we found our way into the senate lounge, a really nice room where, apparently, members of the Oklahoma government relax in between the grueling sessions of lawmaking. (Alternate pic.)
We left Oklahoma City and somewhere along the way, we found this cool windmill. We also stopped to pet these friendly horses.
We checked in for the night in the small town of Shamrock, home of the famous "U Drop In" gas station, a beautiful art-deco gas station built on Route 66, which will look familiar to Pixar fans - "Ramone’s House Of Body Art" building was based on this gas station. We wandered around town for a bit taking pictures of the place. You start to realize after about the tenth small town that they all look the same, but we got some good pictures nonetheless.
Exit, stage left.
Sparks
This aside, we proceeded to wander around basically every space in the building that wasn't locked. (Pix found an open networking closet, and was frustrated that I wouldn't let him explore further into it.) We found our way past some locked doors and wound up in the senate chambers, and proceeded to spend the next thirty minutes taking pictures. The fans on the wall were of particular amusement to us...each one had a custom made button in the middle with the great seal of Oklahoma on it. We also wandered past an unlocked door labelled "Press only" and took some photos of the press booth, including a beautifully antique rotary phone. Leaving the chambers, we found our way into the senate lounge, a really nice room where, apparently, members of the Oklahoma government relax in between the grueling sessions of lawmaking. (Alternate pic.)
We left Oklahoma City and somewhere along the way, we found this cool windmill. We also stopped to pet these friendly horses.
We checked in for the night in the small town of Shamrock, home of the famous "U Drop In" gas station, a beautiful art-deco gas station built on Route 66, which will look familiar to Pixar fans - "Ramone’s House Of Body Art" building was based on this gas station. We wandered around town for a bit taking pictures of the place. You start to realize after about the tenth small town that they all look the same, but we got some good pictures nonetheless.
Exit, stage left.
Sparks
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Pixel's Daily Favourite - July 15
Unfortunately for me, I had quite a few good pictures to choose from. These were among today's numerable good photographs.
Pixel's Daily Favourite - July 14
Nice composition or excellent close-up, we pick the best of the day's 600 photos, just for you.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Would You Like to Buy This Movie Theatre?
At this point, we've traveled over 1,500 miles. Woo!
We started out the day in Joplin, Missouri, and went straight to Galena, Kansas, where we were happy to meet Mater from the Pixar movie Cars. The section of Route 66 that goes through Kansas is fairly small, so we really didn't see much of that state.
On our way through the state, we stumbled across the The Famous Blue Whale. (Wikipedia article on this phenomenon here.) The creature in question is a large, somewhat stupid-looking cement and plaster whale living in a rather fetid-looking pool in the middle of Oklahoma. The park was apparently quite a bit nicer in it's heyday...these days it's quite broken down and shabby. We did have fun climbing around on and in it, though...there's a ladder in the middle which goes up to a wooden "upstairs" section with windows looking out the sides.
Further on our trek through Oklahoma, we encountered what was probably the coolest and most time-consuming location on our trip...an abandoned drive-in movie theatre in the middle of a huge field. We ignored the white fences meant only to keep vehicles out and wandered inside. Of course, the most obvious feature of the place was the huge screen on which the stars of the day delivered their lines and flaunted their perfectly-coiffed visages from. There was also a small ticket booth, boarded up on three sides but open in the back, a projection booth / concession stand, and a small utility shed. The projection room was the most interesting. We expected to find nothing but cobwebs and decay, but to our great delight we found some of the original projection equipment still sitting in the room as it had been left. There were two or three projectors lying around the room, some in various states of disassembly. Lamps and vacuum tubes littered the floor, and all sorts of very old audio gear sat in some racks. (Funny side note - we did some checking, and the company that used to make the audio distribution systems - still exists. Now they make all sorts of cinema-related stuff, projectors, film platters, lamps, etc.) As we were headed back to the car, a blue pickup truck pulled up next to our Saturn VUE.
Guy (Thick southern drawl): Hi, there.
Us: Hello.
Guy: Whach y'all doin'?
Us: Taking pictures.
Guy: Aaah.
At this point, our companion chose to impress us with that highly attractive and most dignified of all manly ceremonies: he spit his tobacco juice onto the ground.
Charming.
Guy: Well, I was jest wonderin' if maybe you'd like to buy it.
Us: Not today.
Guy: Aight. Ya'll have a good day.
Us: You to.
The natives, I tell ya.
Our last interesting stop appeared as we were heading into Arcadia, Oklahoma. A large....soda bottle...appeared on the horizon, complete with a straw sticking out the top. Further investigation revealed a huge structure, built mostly out of glass and steel, and literally chock-full of bottles of pop. Thousands of bottles of pop stacked on glass shelving. There were also gas pumps in front of the building. An LED sign near the entrance pointed us to POPS66.com, where we learned that this, er, attraction is to be opened in August of 2007. So, pop-lovers, head to Oklahoma this August to be treated to all the pop you can buy, courtesy of the taxpayers of Arcadia.
Pixel is now asleep, and I shall do the same. Good night.
Exit, stage left.
Sparks
We started out the day in Joplin, Missouri, and went straight to Galena, Kansas, where we were happy to meet Mater from the Pixar movie Cars. The section of Route 66 that goes through Kansas is fairly small, so we really didn't see much of that state.
On our way through the state, we stumbled across the The Famous Blue Whale. (Wikipedia article on this phenomenon here.) The creature in question is a large, somewhat stupid-looking cement and plaster whale living in a rather fetid-looking pool in the middle of Oklahoma. The park was apparently quite a bit nicer in it's heyday...these days it's quite broken down and shabby. We did have fun climbing around on and in it, though...there's a ladder in the middle which goes up to a wooden "upstairs" section with windows looking out the sides.
Further on our trek through Oklahoma, we encountered what was probably the coolest and most time-consuming location on our trip...an abandoned drive-in movie theatre in the middle of a huge field. We ignored the white fences meant only to keep vehicles out and wandered inside. Of course, the most obvious feature of the place was the huge screen on which the stars of the day delivered their lines and flaunted their perfectly-coiffed visages from. There was also a small ticket booth, boarded up on three sides but open in the back, a projection booth / concession stand, and a small utility shed. The projection room was the most interesting. We expected to find nothing but cobwebs and decay, but to our great delight we found some of the original projection equipment still sitting in the room as it had been left. There were two or three projectors lying around the room, some in various states of disassembly. Lamps and vacuum tubes littered the floor, and all sorts of very old audio gear sat in some racks. (Funny side note - we did some checking, and the company that used to make the audio distribution systems - still exists. Now they make all sorts of cinema-related stuff, projectors, film platters, lamps, etc.) As we were headed back to the car, a blue pickup truck pulled up next to our Saturn VUE.
Guy (Thick southern drawl): Hi, there.
Us: Hello.
Guy: Whach y'all doin'?
Us: Taking pictures.
Guy: Aaah.
At this point, our companion chose to impress us with that highly attractive and most dignified of all manly ceremonies: he spit his tobacco juice onto the ground.
Charming.
Guy: Well, I was jest wonderin' if maybe you'd like to buy it.
Us: Not today.
Guy: Aight. Ya'll have a good day.
Us: You to.
The natives, I tell ya.
Our last interesting stop appeared as we were heading into Arcadia, Oklahoma. A large....soda bottle...appeared on the horizon, complete with a straw sticking out the top. Further investigation revealed a huge structure, built mostly out of glass and steel, and literally chock-full of bottles of pop. Thousands of bottles of pop stacked on glass shelving. There were also gas pumps in front of the building. An LED sign near the entrance pointed us to POPS66.com, where we learned that this, er, attraction is to be opened in August of 2007. So, pop-lovers, head to Oklahoma this August to be treated to all the pop you can buy, courtesy of the taxpayers of Arcadia.
Pixel is now asleep, and I shall do the same. Good night.
Exit, stage left.
Sparks
Pixel's Daily Favourite - July 13
Pixel's favourites for Friday are a bug, because he was nice enough to pose, and some trees because it was by sheer force of luck the shot even worked.
Pixel's Daily Favourite - Thursday, July 12
Due to technical difficulties, this is a bit late, but here is my favourite photo for July 12, and the runner-up.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
The Road to the World's Best Wal-Mart
So we spent the better part of our day sitting in a doctor's office waiting to see a doctor, who informed me that I had a sinus / upper respiratory infection, and prescribed me some several really big pills. They seemed to work, though, and I'm feeling quite a bit better.
First stop after the doctor's office was the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. From there we went west on highway 44 just enough to get out of the suburbs, and then got off onto 66 proper. We stopped at an abandoned gas station to take pictures, then continued on until we hit Cuba, Missouri and decided to stop for the night in a little town a few miles south of there, Steelville.
We also made a short stop at the world's smallest (See pictures) and possibly best Wal-Mart. This being a small town, the employees knew immediately, and just by looking at us, that we weren't from around their town - they asked where we were staying (We hadn't decided yet, and told them this.), suggested that we not sleep on the sidewalks, and offered us some kittens that were running around outside the front doors.
And they closed the store at 9 o'clock. We declined the kittens.
There's been some extraordinarily pretty scenery on this leg of the trip, and it's barely begun. Tomorrow we plan on making it out of Missouri and into Oklahoma.
First stop after the doctor's office was the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. From there we went west on highway 44 just enough to get out of the suburbs, and then got off onto 66 proper. We stopped at an abandoned gas station to take pictures, then continued on until we hit Cuba, Missouri and decided to stop for the night in a little town a few miles south of there, Steelville.
We also made a short stop at the world's smallest (See pictures) and possibly best Wal-Mart. This being a small town, the employees knew immediately, and just by looking at us, that we weren't from around their town - they asked where we were staying (We hadn't decided yet, and told them this.), suggested that we not sleep on the sidewalks, and offered us some kittens that were running around outside the front doors.
And they closed the store at 9 o'clock. We declined the kittens.
There's been some extraordinarily pretty scenery on this leg of the trip, and it's barely begun. Tomorrow we plan on making it out of Missouri and into Oklahoma.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
The First Hiccup
Now, to be fair, it isn't every day that I get called and asked to be the lighting designer of a tour. And since I had just recently terminated my only way of making money, I reluctantly canceled my trip with Pixel.
So, fate, being the unpleasant mistress that she is, has decided to strike me with some horrible upper respiratory infection...right now I sound like I've been gargling with gravel and drinking molten lava, interspersed with loud, obnoxious bouts of coughing. I'm going to seek the services of a physician this morning to see if there's anything that can be done...at the very least, it'll rule out the possibility of strep throat. Ugh.
We're currently in St. Louis, MO - where we will visit the Arch this morning and then get on Route 66 proper.
So, fate, being the unpleasant mistress that she is, has decided to strike me with some horrible upper respiratory infection...right now I sound like I've been gargling with gravel and drinking molten lava, interspersed with loud, obnoxious bouts of coughing. I'm going to seek the services of a physician this morning to see if there's anything that can be done...at the very least, it'll rule out the possibility of strep throat. Ugh.
We're currently in St. Louis, MO - where we will visit the Arch this morning and then get on Route 66 proper.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
The Preparation
This is the third time we've made plans to travel Route 66. It has managed to be a surprisingly difficult trip to achieve. The first time failed to work out due to scheduling conflicts of prior commitments. The second time we were all set to go and two days before our departure date, Sparky said "Hey, I think I'd rather work. So let's not go, instead.". Third time has been delayed several days so I could finish up a project, and I strongly suspect I'll have to deal with that project at least once during our trip.
So if you've just found out we're going on a trip, don't mistake your lack of knowledge for our lack of planning. We've been planning this trip for six months. By which I mean, we'll figure things out on the way. After all, this isn't a trip about going places, it's a trip about discovering places.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to pack.
Friday, July 6, 2007
The Beginning
The trip will begin.
Soon.
Right now we're focused on getting all our stuff in order, but within days, hours even, Pixel and Sparky shall embark on what is destined to be a fantastic and joyous trip across America, on the old U.S. Route 66, in order to experience all that can be experienced on such a trip.
And the trip will begin.
Soon.
Soon.
Right now we're focused on getting all our stuff in order, but within days, hours even, Pixel and Sparky shall embark on what is destined to be a fantastic and joyous trip across America, on the old U.S. Route 66, in order to experience all that can be experienced on such a trip.
And the trip will begin.
Soon.
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