Day-07-Iowa

Today we drove sort of diagonally across much of Iowa. Our GPS unit identified a very interesting route. Not one I’d have found myself. The down side is that it was all on divided limited access roads so not particularly scenic; of course Iowa is not the most scenic state we’ve gone through anyway.

Also,for the first time this trip we hit some nasty weather; rain, wind, just ugly. Fortunately just one storm and less than 30 minutes.

This tourist trap was next door at one of our gas stops.

as was this farm implement dealership.

This photo was left over from yesterday. It is the bridge carrying Rt_12 across the Missouri River

Tom

Day-06-Sunday Drive

Zell, SD

When we are on the road we to MP3-Disks. Music I’ve ripped rom our own music collection so all songs we like and an MP3 CD holds about 5 hours of music so one disk lasts most of a driving day. For Sunday driving we have a few Gospel disks. Think Gaither Homecoming and similar. Pastors have told me that the theology of these old songs and while I agree, I keep listening to them. This is the music of the church of my youth. I’ve tried more modern Christian music with, I suppose, better theology but boring. I love the spirit of the old hymns and spirituals.

A few days back I shared a shot of one of the old time grain elevators which I mentioned are becoming obsolete. Today I’ll share a shot of a modern grain storage facility. State of the art….

Finally, as it is Sunday, here is something sunny 

Tom

Day-05-Eastern Montana

A few days ago we visited an abandoned gold mining town. Today we realized that towns are still dying.

Roundup is not doing really well but the old store building at the corner of 1st and Main has someone with faith in the town’s future; although I think I’d not hold my breath.

In many of the towns all of the commercial buildings are boarded up and abandoned. In at least one case the town seems to have disappeared without a trace except for this old school building. There just must have been other buildings here once….

It is possible, in this country, to drive well over 100 miles without passing a gas station. Occasionally, if you watch, you an catch a glimpse of the frontier. It is quite possible to imagine that this might have been a homesteader’s cabin.

Rt 12 has been improved and relocated several times through its history. At one time today our GPS showed us a full 1/4 mile off what it thought was the road. In an older upgrade it bypassed this old bridge over the Powder River.

Tonight we are in Bowman, ND. Tomorrow evening we have reservations in Watertown, SD.

Tom

Day–04–Billings–Doll Museum

We drove from Butte to Billings but instead of simply driving I-90 we chose to drive Rt-12 which parallels I-90 but 30 – 50 miles North. Our GPS really really wanted us on I-90 so we had to turn it off until we were nearly 1/3 of the way along.

They call Montana “Big Sky Country”

Once we left Rt 12 and started South toward Billings we passed through the little town of Lavina. This is pretty much the whole town.

Approaching Billings we got a really nice view of the city.

We had seen in the doll magazines that there is a doll museum here.Legacy Doll Museum. Not the very best doll museum we’ve ever been in but really a very special place.

Tomorrow we’ll take Rt-10 back North to Rt-12 and follow it to Bowman, ND. Hopefully there will be an antique shop or something there.

Tom

Day–03 Brannack

Bannack was founded in 1862 when John White discovered gold there. It was briefly the territorial capital and was an active mining town until into the 1930s.

This older gentleman and his Newfoundland “Lewis” were visiting today also.

There are nearly 60 old buildings here and most of them are open to visit and empty. Therefore there were several recurring themes in my photos today. I tried to pick 1 of each type.

1 – Exterior views. – This old barn and hitching post made an interesting composition.

2 -Textures – I can always use interesting textures as background elements for graphic work. This wall with it’s water stains is just one example.

3 – Doorways. These old houses were characterized by small rooms and lots of doors. The doors created exciting opportunities to frame other elements. Even other doorways.

Tomorrow we will drive to Billings and hopefully visit a doll museum there.

Tom

Day–02 Clearwater River

Many many years ago we drove Idaho Rt 12 up the Clearwater River to Lolo pass. This trip we decided to do that again as it is really gorgeous country. We picked up Rt 12 yesterday and followed it into Lewiston, ID and Clarkston, WA.

The lower portion of the river is quite tranquil.

This funky old railroad bridge served a large sawmill at Kamiah. It looks as though it might once have swiveled to allow river traffic though we saw no signs that there is any today.

As we followed the river up towards Lolo Pass there was more and more whitewater.

This is a very historic route. Lewis and Clark came this way on their way West and Chief Joseph brought his Nez Perce tribe North through here on their futile attempt to evade the pursuing army unit and escape to Canada.

Tomorrow we plan to visit an old Montana  ghost town.

Tom

Day - 01

On our way out of Portland we stopped briefly at Horsetail Falls in the Columbia River Gorge.

We’re to drive Rt 12 through Lolo Pass in Idaho winding up tomorrow night in Butte MT. We took Rt 730 off I-84 which joined with Rt 12. We went through Pomeroy, WA

Pomeroy is the county seat of Garfield County. This is the courthouse.

Driving through Washington’s wheat country we saw several old grain elevators. Though many are long abandoned this one seems to still be in use.

More tomorrow…..

Tom & Carol