Homeward bound

Until today, the weather had been near perfect for my travels. The closer I got to Nebraska, the worse the weather got. I woke up to 30 degree temperatures and a dull gray sky in Goodland, Kansas. It didn't take long for a persistent cold mist and fog to develop. By the time I got across the state line to McCook, there was a nasty mix of what appeared to be rain, ice and snow all at once. Maybe Nebraska is trying to tell me something.

Both photographs today come from Goodland before the weather really went south. The small city boasts what they claim to be the world's largest Van Gogh painting. As I stood there, shivering from the cold, I couldn't help but wonder what ol' Vincent would have made of the spectacle. Some little town in middle-of-nowhere western Kansas with an eighty-foot tall easel next to a Pizza Hut displaying a copy of a piece of art made by a long dead Dutch schizophrenic that may have ate a little too much lead paint.

The photograph below is from downtown. I'm not sure what Caldwell's is or was, but there sure is an interesting array of imagery posted in the window.

detail from photograph of Caldwell's

Colorado

I'm really going to miss the mountains. While I only saw what amounts to a small fraction of the state today, Colorado was fantastic. Pictured above is the Arkansas River along US Highway 50 near Cañon City.

It comes as a surprise to people that I don't really plan out my travels very much. I choose an eventual destination, which sometimes manages to change by the end of the day, and head in that general direction. Most of the time, and especially in my experience on this trip, the best roads are not the ones that Mapquest or your Garmin will recommend. For example: Today I made a last second decision to take Colorado Highway 69 north from Walsenburg. The highway follows the Sangre De Cristo Mountains up to canyons of the Arkansas River. It was a great drive and took me right near a place I had never even considered for this trip: the Royal Gorge Bridge.

Unfortunately, they now charge $29 for a single adult admission to the bridge, so, being a poor college student at the moment, I was only able to peer down into the gorge from the rather makeshift overlook outside the gates. This horse by the west entrance didn't seem concerned.

I headed back east through Colorado Springs towards Kansas. It's not long after a person leaves the shadow of Pike's Peak that they are confronted with miles and miles of flat grasslands that seem to stretch on forever. Soon I'll be back in the croplands of the corn belt, home in Omaha once again.

The last image is of a bar along US Highway 24 in Peyton. A guy got out of a pickup while I was taking the photograph and just stood there, dumbfounded. I said hello and got back in my car.

Also visited: Trinidad, Gardner, Westcliffe, Calhan, Ramah, Simla, Limon and Arriba, Colorado.

A Land Of Enchantment

The drive from Cimarron to Taos twists and turns through canyons and over mountain passes. Pictured above is part of Cimarron Canyon, a state park that US Highway 64 meanders slowly through. I enjoyed pretty much every moment of the drive to Taos and back. What I've seen of New Mexico thus far really does live up to its state motto.

Taos, however, was congested with stupid amounts of traffic. While I had romantic visions of Taos, thanks to photographers like Paul Strand, I found a place where everything had that look, even the hardware store. It just didn't do it for me.

downtown Springer

grasslands near Ocate

Also visited: Raton, Eagle Nest, Angel Fire, Holman, Cleveland, La Cueva, Wagon Mound and Sugarite Canyon, New Mexico

Ohhhhhklahoma

Some thoughts from today..

Dodge City will talk up its wild history, stories of lawlessness and a time when multiple saloons were on one block of its main street. And if that's what you go there looking for, you'll find yourself disappointed, just like me, by how that past is celebrated in the present. The "historic" Front Street is nothing more than a canned attraction, fenced off with an admission charge to come inside, with an Applebee's next door. So much for the wild west.

Liberal, Kansas is very conservative and has Dorothy's house from the Wizard Of Oz in a public park. There were also swastikas carved on the wall in the gas station bathroom.

The very northwestern corner of Oklahoma's panhandle is completely isolated and absolutely gorgeous. I would have never guessed that such scenery could be found in the state. If I ever get around to making a list of my favorite drives, Oklahoma state highway 325 west of Boise City will be there.

Unfortunately, Capulin Volcano National Monument in New Mexico closes long before sunset, but it was worth the brief side trip. I'm still like a child when I see the mountains in the distance. I get all excited and can't stop looking. Taos tomorrow!

And editing raw files on a netbook with Google Picasa leaves a lot to be desired. Pardon any lack of quality in the imagery.

Also visited: Minneola, Fowler, Meade and Kismet, Kansas. Tyrone, Hooker, Guymon and Kenton, Oklahoma. Clayton and Des Moines, New Mexico.

Omaha to Dodge City

With a break from school and work, I've hit the road in search of a new project to obsess over. I was getting to the point that I felt the urge to just keep going whenever I was driving on the interstate. As you might imagine, this need for exploration isn't exactly conducive to a productive workday. I miss the open highways and the little towns, clear nights full of stars, and the challenge of creating something worth mentioning.

I'm heading southwest towards Taos and Santa Fe, exploring the vast great plains that stretch for hundreds of miles before rising to the edge of the Rocky Mountains. Tomorrow will mark my first time in Oklahoma and New Mexico (aside from placing a foot on the southeast portion of the Four Corners when I was twelve).

The photograph above is from a little roadside attraction called Rock City near Minneapolis, Kansas. Rock City is a small park full of.. large rocks just like this. Very strange.

Also visited: Fairmont, Bruning, Hebron and Chester, Nebraska. Belleville, Salina, Brookville, Kannapolis Lake, Geneseo and Great Bend, Kansas.

A few details from Valentines Day

The first two photographs are from Boyer Chute National Wildlife Refuge. The third is the southern end of a frozen DeSoto Lake.

Two more from yesterday

Both photographs are from Glenwood, Iowa.

Fifty degrees

Winter's grip is slowly lessening, this weekend being the first real break we've had from cold, ice and snow since last fall. I couldn't resist the opportunity to get out and spend some time making photographs. The following images are from the Loess Hills just west of Omaha near Glenwood, Iowa.

It's amazing how a few hours spent putting the brain through its creative paces can make a person feel so much more at ease.

A second look: 93 in 2010

February finds Nebraska still stuck in the midst of the winter doldrums. Tuesday was the coldest day of the winter with daytime temperatures barely climbing above zero. While I enjoy winter, it's nice to know that the end is in sight. Just a few more weeks until spring break and (hopefully) some warmer temperatures.

Just another evening spent occupying my time by looking back at last year and making plans for the coming one. I'm anxious to hit the road.

near Bassett, Nebraska

State Fair Park in Lincoln, Nebraska

near Long Pine, Nebraska

near Fordyce, Nebraska

A second look: The Platte

While I've been busy with school and hiding from the cold, there hasn't been a much to report on this blog about my activities. January, as it tends to do, finds me looking through photographs I've made during the last year.

The following details were created along the Platte River near Louisville, Nebraska in July. It was an incredibly hot day and, with all the flooding we had received, the river was running higher than it usually would in the heat of summer. At one point, I stepped into the thickest mud I may have ever seen. My shoe very nearly disappeared and I spent a good half an hour trying to get the dark mud off before I dragged it into the car.

I need to get out on a fan boat one of these days.

The Ol' Subaru

As most everyone I know can attest, I have a strange obsession with everything Subaru. I've had a handful of them over the years. The '99 Impreza pictured above was with me for nearly ten years before I passed it on and was my companion for much of my travels throughout the state of Nebraska. I drove confidently on gravel and dirt, sometimes in areas without any people around for many miles and it never let me down. Unfortunately, the car died an early death this year, the victim of a timing belt failure at 160,000 some odd miles.

The photograph above was submitted to a Subaru photo contest. It was taken in the summer of 2007 on Panorama Point, the highest point in the state of Nebraska. As you can see, the Point isn't all that much taller than its surroundings. It's not all that easy to get to, either. The only way to get there involves many miles of gravel roads and a pasture path.

Since the photograph never was published by Subaru, I thought I'd put it here in honor of all of our travels together.

Another year gone by...

2010 has been a good year, all in all. My first solo exhibition was a success and I am finally able to call ninety-three completely finished. There were some ups and downs, as there are with every year, but I'm closer to earning my degree and am happy to say that I'm convinced 2011 will be even better.

As for my current projects, I'm in roughly the same place I was a year ago. Still undecided on what direction to go with the yet-untitled family project, with a couple other ideas in the earliest stages of development. I'm hoping an idea will reach out and grab me like Nebraska did.

To make up for the lack of photographs of late, here are a few yet-unseen images from the family project...

Montezuma, Iowa

Wahoo, Nebraska

Barnes City, Iowa

Belle Plaine, Iowa

Searsboro, Iowa