Road Trip

[LePetomane]

I took a road trip last week to Minnesota to help my son prepare for a move. He will be moving to Wyoming to continue his studies in nursing and also has a part time construction job. I left Saturday after a grueling doubles tennis match (won in three sets) and made it to Chamberlain SD. I stopped at Badlands National Park and took some shots.

Badlands NP



A shadow of the photographer



Water Lily



Abandoned schoolhouse, ND



Bison at Theodore Roosevelt NP



Shots from TRNP





Old abandoned structures between Custer, MT and Hardin MT on the way home to Sheridan.







I had a good time. I would like to have taken my BMW but I towed a trailer with a loaded pickup truck full of my sons stuff.

[Wavelength]

Except the last one, i like all other images!!!

[LePetomane]

Nandakumar, thanks. The area in the last photo was posted so that is the best shot I could get without trespassing.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park is a beautiful place. I didn't see people doing stupid things like they do in Yellowstone.

[zen]

Ahhhh, Paul. The west is rich in targets of opportunity. And I love Sheridan and environs! Wish I lived there instead of this goofy old New York! But alas, too old to make a move now . . .

Zen

[LePetomane]

Zen, an area that was a favorite of mine when we lived in NY was the Finger Lakes. We would stay at B&B's there. Loved it but it is not the west.

[pepper]

wonderful set of images. i love badlands np. and north dakota has some of the best abandoned buildings in the country. is the school house in crystal springs? sorta looks like the same one.

[LePetomane]

Pepper, you are correct about the location of the schoolhouse.

[pepper]

Pepper, you are correct about the location of the schoolhouse.

i stopped in and shot it and the brick schoolhouse a few years ago. the light wasn't all that great that day and i never did anything with the photos. the ghosts of north dakota website is a great resource to finding old sites around the state.

[LePetomane]

i stopped in and shot it and the brick schoolhouse a few years ago. the light wasn't all that great that day and i never did anything with the photos. the ghosts of north dakota website is a great resource to finding old sites around the state.

A photographer named John Gregor out of Grand Marais, Minnesota does a photo tour of the 49th parallel in ND and Montana. A lot of old abandoned homesteads, ghost towns, etc. It looks like a lot of fun.

[pepper]

that sounds like a pretty sweet tour. i've done everything but the northeastern section of the state. i've hit a few things around montana, but it's more difficult to look up locations.

[zen]

Zen, an area that was a favorite of mine when we lived in NY was the Finger Lakes. We would stay at B&B's there. Loved it but it is not the west.

Clarence is a suburb of Buffalo, so we're only about 1 1/2 hrs from Canandaigua, which as you probably recall, is considered the western edge of Finger Lakes region. My favorite wine is a Finger Lakes Chardonnay from a winery just 2 hrs away . . .

Doesn't hold a candle to the high Rockies, though!

Zen

[Shadowman]

Nice series, even the slightly dull (only in colors) non-trespassing shot. Did you have flash available, could've given some warmth to the exterior?

[LePetomane]

Nice series, even the slightly dull (only in colors) non-trespassing shot. Did you have flash available, could've given some warmth to the exterior?

John, thanks for the suggestions. I didn't have a flash with me. It as at the end of the trip. The last day was a rotten drive. Eastern Montana and northern Wyoming are always windy. I was driving through the reservation and the patrol there are pretty fussy. 1 mph over and you are theirs. I was 2 1/1 hours from home in the middle of nowhere, tired and I just wanted to get home.

[katto]

Third picture is too beautiful

[rpcrowe]

Nice images. I often wonder about the people who lived in the abandoned homes; what their life was like and what caused them to abandon the houses that they were living in.

I agree with Paul David that the American West is special. I was born and grew up in New York City but, left there when I was 21. I ended up in the West at age 24 and have lived here since (except for some regular jaunts to the Western Pacific and Vietnam). I seldom visit the East, yet always get a cramped feeling when I do! Not to cast any criticism of the East - it's just that I prefer the West. My mother who always lived in New York City felt just opposite in that she liked the tightly confined spaces of the East Coast.

[LePetomane]

Manoj, thank you.

[lovelife65]

wonderful series ... the rural stuff is fascinating.

[LePetomane]

Lillyann, thanks for the kind words. Where in our beautiful country do you live?