Travel Blog 2023 #1: West Coast National Parks

This year was our last big hurrah for National Parks West of the Mississippi. We’ve now hit most of the major parks, and it’s time to start looking East. The excitement of any trip starts with the tempering experience of a long drive. Going from Michigan to Southern California for us was going to be about 32 hours driving, and everyone handled it like a champ. We do not drive straight through like our parents did when we were kids. We like to take a few days and stop to see interesting things on the way. There wasn’t a lot to stop for to be honest, but all the signs for Uranus Fudge Factory in Missouri was a highlight. We didn’t stop, but they’ve definitely adopted to a Wall Drug billboard plan effectively.

For this trip I chose two cameras, a Nikon F2 and a Leica M2. Both were built in the 1960s and I did remember to test them ahead of time. There were plenty of times I had wished I brought a different camera for one reason or another, but the purpose of using just these was to force myself to be a little uncomfortable and not rely entirely on technology. These ones are just small, light, tight boxes and a lens. So far, I’ve gotten just a few rolls of film back and I hope the other ones I sent out are better. The Leica did not perform as well as I was expecting, but the Nikon worked perfectly. Fortunately, I did take my digital camera along and used it in times there were photos I wanted to guarantee a good copy of. In that case too, though, I only brought one small travel lens. Limiting myself on this trip has really made me realize how much I rely on a variety of equipment for different occasions. I don’t think I will be doing this intentionally in the future if I don’t absolutely need to.

The first two days of travel were not super interesting beyond the previously mentioned Fudge Factory signs. The first thing I saw and wanted to shoot was a makeshift military display with a very good condition tank. It made me nostalgic for the VFW near my childhood home with a full-size tank we could climb in. my parents weren’t a huge fan of me dropping into that tin can but occasionally they wouldn’t tell me no. We ended up making it to Tulsa, OK at the end of day one. Not a lot happening there, but I thought maybe we could stay in the same hotel Chandler Bing from FRIENDS stayed in. Guess what? It doesn’t exist.

Day two was slightly better as we were near Route 66 for most of it. If you ever consider traveling Route 66 for some of the cool stuff, make sure you research it beforehand. For the most part we just discovered stuff as we were zooming by on the expressway with no exit ramp anywhere within 20 miles. It felt very much like the scene in Cars when they explain what happened to Lightning McQueen and why nobody visits anymore. We did see the Cadillac Ranch at 70 MPH though, and I didn’t feel like we missed anything. There is a neat little abandoned town a couple miles west of that but overall, the Texas panhandle was just a pass through for us. Lots of dust devils and a few days after we passed through, they had a tornado that was on the news. Getting into Arizona and the Navajo Nation was a relief for the night. After the longest day of driving for the trip we made it to Flagstaff to a hotel we had stayed in before and it was a well needed rest.

Finally, day three started to be worth shooting film and taking time to enjoy what we were seeing. Beginning a day with a drive through the canyon on our way to Sedona was even more amazing than the first time we went through in 2020. It was also a little better because now I don’t mind driving slow when people are behind me, and they can just wait until I find the next turnout. It was also a Monday, and most stores were either closed or didn’t open for a while. It was a beautiful distraction for an hour.

We ended up taking a more scenic drive off the expressway near Phoenix and took Route 60 on the way to Joshua Tree. It was a very cool trip but there was such a drastic contrast between the abject poverty of one tiny town and then a few miles down the road a packed RV park full of hundred-thousand-dollar campers. The highlight of this stretch was easily the “SUNSET MOTEL” converted to a home. I was a little nervous as I had no idea if they were OK with me shooting it, but I took a chance and got a couple cool shots. If we ever end up in this area I would like to stop and take some time in several of the abandoned motels, restaurants and what I think was a general store. By the end of this day, we made it to Coachella, CA and I finally felt like vacation was started.

These first several days were defined for me by shots I wanted to take for myself but couldn’t reasonably stop to take. One in New Mexico I wanted bad enough I made a quick sketch of how I remembered it so if I ever take up painting someday, I can recreate it.

At the time of publishing this blog, I have been notified by the new photo lab I am using, thedarkroom.com, got my film and I really hope I have some usable images.