my second home

As I am sure most of those out there reading this know I spend a significant amount of my life these days in a state I once so desperately tried to escape. It seems as though despite the best laid plans one might still end up in Texas.  One thing Texas does have in common with the rest of this country is Walmart, and no where are this plague's symptoms more pronounced than in the spiraling economic demise of the small town's traditional economy that once dominated the main streets and down towns of our rural communities.  The first half of this blog is predominately from in and around Amarillo, TX and I think this first shot will be familiar to most of you all ready.

route 66

the view from my motel, not bad eh?

an alley in downtown

a dilapidated warehouse downtown   

stacked concrete highway dividers

 what must be the only gay bar in the texas panhandle: a whole 'nother story

 

These next few shots I took one night while out on a stroll on the outskirts of town and I stumbled across an old abandoned helium plant that I thought might be fun to explore.  The buildings must have been abandoned some time in the sixties based on the remaining office decor.  Not surprisingly, in the years without human interference, nature had reclaimed this creepy place and wildlife scampered all about as I made my way through the buildings.

barbed wire i had to jump

some of the structures 

 some empty shelves

abandoned shop tools

beautiful but neglected leaded glass

a janitors nightmare

A trip to Amarillo would not be complete without a picture of the ant Farm's most famous and constantly changing installation.

 cadillac ranch

 

The rest of these photos come from a series of trips I made to a plant called Limestone in Central Texas. The first six are from an old abandoned liquor store.  I have never seen a more filthy place.  Obviously a popular dumping grounds the interior contained enough half empty containers of illegal pesticides and herbicides that this could have been a superfund site. The floor was covered by a two inch think layer of swollen insulation that had fallen from the rafters, mixed with rain water, and sprouted myriad colored colonies of algae. Murky, dark, and damp inside: this was the stuff of horror movies.   

the wet spot 

  northern profile

someone's unfortunate bedroom

interior 1

interior 2

interior 3 

Below another small town store gone forever.

 

These next couple are from the power plant. Very industrial.

a corridor

number 7 of 2,348

This last one is from the skytrain at DFW international on my way out Texas. I used to ride this train as a kid with my parents, but I don't think I ever appreciated the awesome terminal stations.

great dunes

According to the dent in my bank statement this trip happened about a month ago; so although we are not discussing current events this thing had to get off to a start somehow. A quick apology to the other two bodies not represented in the photos, but nevertheless a part of the trip. The faces you do see below are from left to right: Lindsay, Jayson, and Phil. Perhaps it is obvious from the map and photos but we are camping at Colorado's Great Sand Dunes National Park. Just a short weekend trip but a good excuse to get out of Denver for a couple days. The car ride down there and back was a good part of the fun, as with most traveling the destination plays second fiddle to the journey.

Below the dunes maybe don't look all that great, but that is just because you are lacking perspective.

We are obviously car camping. Phil enjoys a sandwich.

Here is a little perspective. That is Lindsay and Jayson down there like ants. It was quite a thrill playing on the dunes while a thunderstorm rolled around in the nearby mountains.

It seems like sledding on the dunes might be an exhilarating experience, but in reality the stillness of this photograph is not just a an artifact of the medium.

That is me on the right.

On the way home we hiked into a cold cave, ankle deep in ice cold water to view a waterfall. It was pretty neat, but our poor feet were none too pleased with this little excursion.

A little blurry and overexposed, but you get the idea, right?

That is is for now. Next I will take you up a little mountain, called Bison Peak.

Just Getting Reacquainted

Now that I have sort of settled down from my travels last summer and fall I thought perhaps there would be some interest in how my new life in Colorado is shaping up. Two big changes to the style here. First I am going to try and get a little less wordy and stick mostly to photos. Second I am trying out Windows Live Writer, a newish blog writing tool, so bare with me as I figure out the formatting. This will just be a trial run, and for the next one I will get some photos up from my trip to the Great Sand Dunes. Below is through a broken whiskey bottle.