adventures in missouri

this old one-lane bridge brought us to miles of winding road alongside cornfields.

on day two i drove from tulsa, ok to st.louis, mo to see my dear friend paulette. i was only in stl for a couple days but the adventures had were amazing, nonetheless.

on saturday myself, polly, dan, adam and chris decided to venture out to pacific, mo (about thirty minutes outside of stl) in search of an abandoned mansion polly's father had mentioned. we knew it was kinda a long shot but we pressed on with determination. when we first arrived in pacific we took a slight detour to explore some old caves off the main road. after climbing over some suspicious sandy material we headed to an old one-lane bridge where polly said we could see the house and from there devise a plan to get to it. we saw a large white house amongst some trees up on a hill and figured we just needed to find a way up to it. we found an old deserted road and followed it to its end. from there we climbed a steep and slippery hill to get to the top. once we got up dan and adam walked further to see how to get to the house. chris, polly and i waited at the foot of the cliff. they returned with sad news: the house we were after was, in fact, not abandoned. you can imagine our disappointment.

we considered it an adventure despite our lack of success. after we climbed back down we got pulled over by the cops and then got ice cream. the day ended with the three stellar polaroids and ticks for polly and dan . . .


dan reports the bad news.


adam and dan: sweaty, sexy woodsmen.

picher, ok

my cross country journey took me from the west end of the oklahoma panhandle all the way across to the northeast corner of the state. just as i was about to cross the oklahoma-kansas border i passed through a little town called picher.

something felt off as i entered the town. and as i got further in i noticed a whole grouping of damaged homes to my right, with a no-trespassing sign loftily staked at the main road entrance. i, of course, indulged my curiosity and ventured into the neighborhood. i anticipated finding a couple arsoned homes or something of the like. but what i discovered was so much more. a whole neighborhood of of picher had been completely desecrated. homes with roofs torn off and on the ground beside them, furniture strewn about the streets, entire trees ripped from the earth now lay with their roots facing the sky. it soon sank in that this town suffered a severe natural disaster. later research confirmed this town was hit by a tornado in may 2008.

the following polaroids were all i could capture of the left-behind town. the whole experience was simultaneously unsettling, beautiful and sad.


a tree lies, its roots exposed.


'dear jon's archery supply'
one of the less-damaged homes sits amongst storm trash and debris.


this home reads 'SEATO'. im not exactly sure what it means.
the sentiment to the left reads 'what's left of it'.


an abandoned home sits still while the wind moves the curtains in and out of the shattered windows.


it was so bright out that i wasn't able to totally capture this street sign.
it reads '7th street' above a pile of debris that includes a home, a tree and some left behind toys.

driving through this town was incredibly intense. what was so crazy about it was that driving in, through and out took less than an hour. this town was so small yet i can't imagine the magnitude of effect this tornado had on the people who lived there. as i drove out of the town i noticed all the store fronts and businesses were closed and abandoned. how can you run businesses in a town if no one lives there anymore?

and picher is just one example of small town america being fought and defeated by natural disaster. i cant help wonder where all these people went and what is going to happen to this little town.

** further research indicates that the town of picher was already undergoing abandonment after many residents left due to poor air and water conditions. this was the result of years of underground lead and zinc mining. **

on the road to tulsa

the abandoned chelsea motel off the old route 66.


she's a child. not a choice!
pro-life propaganda on a rural route road.
i wasn't able to really capture the best part of this sign which is the totally bizarre 'child' represented.


oklahoma corn. i saw a lot of this on my drive.


as high as an elephant's eye.

west to east

my trip home from alamosa took me through, across and over nine different states in only four days. colorado to new mexico to oklahoma to kansas to missouri to illinois to kentucky to tennessee to georgia.

it was a wonderful drive; a fantastic adventure. i took many polaroids along the way and over the next couple of days will post the images and stories of my journeys. . .


i found this old abandoned farmhouse off of route 412 in oklahoma.


as always i am drawn to window frames.


this is my favorite. interiors and exteriors co-exist in abandoned bliss.

14 states in 10 days

sorry for this delayed post. after charity ball and the outreach christmas party i high-tailed it out of colorado for a whirlwind adventure that left me with little blogging time. and now the new year is settling it. time for an update.
originally i had just planned on a week long trip in st.louis to visit ms.polly and friends. but after some serious deliberation i decided to drive down to atlanta to see my family for christmas. so i drove 17 hours in one day to st.louis from alamosa. then 8 hours from st.louis to atlanta. and then a two day journey across the south from atlanta to alamosa. probably the most driving ive ever done in that amount of time. it was fun but exhausting. also, winter road trips are not nearly as fun as summer road trips. and the state of kansas is big and uneventful. some painful moments, needless to say.
i had an awesome time in st.louis. polly, patrick and i made time for some crazy adventures. and of course i got the royal treatment from the omura family.
one afternoon polly, jenny and i explored an old abandoned building in the north part of the city. here are some highlight polaroids:


a corner of the building's exterior. dead trees and a spiral staircase.

jenny claimed that the building had at one point been a homeless shelter. these boxes of hotel soap and stuffed animals confirmed it.

this is a toliet.


jenny rocks out on the rooftop.

road trip polaroids

below are a few polaroids from my journey across the country.
some more recent alamosa 'roids are on their way.



an abandoned motel in mclean, texas.


an old house with a car faced tree.



a couple abandoned trucks off the old route 66.


oklahoma


at an oklahoma rest stop

the big trail

for the past two days i've been on the road heading towards alamosa, colorado where i'll begin my work for la puente home as an americorps volunteer. saturday i drove from atlanta, georgia to shawnee, oklahoma. the 14 hour drive was mostly uneventful with not a lot of visual stimuli through alabama, mississippi, tennessee and arkansas. but sunday morning i woke with the sun allowing me to see beautiful oklahoma, bad ass texas and 'enchanting' new mexico. i feel like john wayne in the big trail; the west is unfolding before me and it's fucking awesome.
right now i sit in my hotel room in albuquerque, new mexico looking at maps and planning my last leg tomorrow. i will be driving through santa fe and then a little detour through taos.
i took lots of sweet polaroids today, including many of the mostly deserted town of mclean, texas which lies on the former route 66. unfortunately, i do not have a scanner for the polaroids. i hope to have some access when i get to colorado. below are some digital fotos. not as awesome as the roids but they'll do for now.


there were many many such stores in oklahoma: native america.


in the panhandle: at a texas roadstop not far from amarillo.


mclean, texas was home to many abandoned buildings
and homes. this gas station is just one example.


p.s. this is my new tattoo. i kinda love it.

stay tuned for more road trip fotos, digital and polaroid. also, stories of my new life in alamosa will unfold shortly. wish me luck and call me often!

more canada

below are more shots from canada.
collages to come soon.

the lighthouse in kincardine, ontario.

colleen and andres fish with the sun in their eyes.

my cousin colleen casts off to catch some big ones.
however, the timing of this photo makes it look more
like she's shooting a gun than trying to fish.

my uncle j.j. captain of the fishing expedition.


view of the tip of michigan from the blue water bridge
which connects sarnia, ontario to the great u.s.a.

oh canada

i just returned from an adventurous journey to the great land of canada. my family and i stayed in a rustic, fifty year old cottage. i was there with my mother, brother, four cousins and aunt and uncle. nine people in one little cottage. it was way fun.
the cottage is located in tobermory, ontario on the very tip of the bruce peninsula which lays between lake huron and the georgian bay.
(see heart on map)

it's a beautiful place with all sorts of wildlife and awesome vistas. the cottage is right on lake huron where we bathed, swam and fished.
i was able to snap a few polaroids during the visit. check them out below:

my brother and i in front of an old lighthouse in kincardine, ontario.

the back of the family cottage.

entrance to the dunks bay cemetery where my grandparents, 2 uncles and aunt are buried.


the grotto on the georgia bay. below the rocky cliffs lays a deep cavern full of tourists and rocks.

more canada polaroids to come . . .

beautiful western massachusetts

i spent the last four years living in the pioneer valley, 2 hours or so west of boston. the valley is one of the most beautiful places i have been and i felt seriously fortunate to have lived there. it's a bit of a treasure trove with tons of obscure hidden routes that, when taken, guide you through some of america's most breathtaking landscapes. in my last few weeks in the valley i went on many a day trip, taking photos and hanging out with my friends. below are some of the best shots of various day drive findingz.

after a tour of the berkshire brewing company in
deerfield, mass my friends and i discovered this
caterpillar nest.

the mohawk trail, just south of north adams,
is home to this "big indian shop", where the
realities of history are forgotten and the novelties
consumed.

on our way to the mohawk trail ruby, ilyssa and i
happened upon an abandoned garage full of old
industrial tools. this press was one amongst many
rusty, forgotten machinez.

roadtripz

there's nothing i love more than driving up and around this beautiful country. i recently drove from massachusetts to georgia. then to chattanooga, then to st.louis and back. soon i'll be heading to south carolina and then to tobermory, ontario. and then my last and most foward moving journey of the summer will be from georgia to colorado where i'll be settling for a year.
traveling is great for artistic inspiration. the immediacy of on the spot documentation is exciting and provides instant nostalgia. i love being on the road. just me, my wheelz, my jamz, my ladiez and my polaroid cameraz. below are some polaroids from my mass - georgia journey with my dear friend and partner in crime, kitty.

kitty & i before leaving smith college.

a rocky stream along the blue ridge parkway.

kitty observing the blue ridge mountainz.
she's got a little captain in her.

truth - justice - the american way

i recently journied out to st.louis, missouri, home of the st.louis arch and museum of westward expansion. on my drive back to atlanta i grabbed an opportunity to experience one of the many "largest ________ in america" tourism spots. in metropolis, illinois i stopped to see the one and only "giant superman statue" in honor of the great american hero who was apparently "born" in metropolis, illinois. i found this monument fascinating as it honors a fictional person with a fictional fame fictionally from a factual place. needless to say, it was amazing. below are some sweet polaroids i took depicting the glorious statue:



the second one is my favorite because of the engraving on the bottom:
TRUTH - JUSTICE - THE AMERICAN WAY

that's what i think of when i watch cartoons. american identity.
fuck the democrats. who's running for the superhero party?