Gimme' Something... Anything...

Since I announced that I was leaving on what can only be described as an epic trip, a lot of folks have been e-mailing me and sending me private messages on Facebook asking me where I'll be going.

In all honesty, I know where I'm going to end up, and I know a few places between here and there that I want to stop and shoot. But most of my shooting tends to be off-the-cuff-knee-jerk stuff; I rarely have a plan. Now, that's not to say that I'm just gonna' fly by the seat of my pants for 4,000 miles. I do have my "must see" sights, but I'm also open to suggestion.

As it stands right now, my trip from Portland, Oregon to Poyntelle, Pennsylvania is going to take 25 days, and cover some 4,000 miles. Frankly, I think it would border on gross irresponsibility for a photographer to make such a trip and not have, at least, some things in mind to photograph.

I've been fortunate to have traveled in my life. I've been on five of the seven continents. I've been to dozens of countries. Hell, I've seen more of Canada than most Canadians. But there's an awful lot right here at home that's worth the effort. This trip is going to take me from the Pacific Northwest, to the Northeast and then ultimately, to northern Florida once the summer is over. When all is said and done, I'll have visited the following:

• Oregon
• Washington
• Idaho
• Montana
• Wyoming
• South Dakota
• Nebraska
• Missouri
• Tennessee
• Kentucky
• West Virginia
• Pennsylvania
• New York
• Maryland
• Virginia
• North Carolina
• South Carolina
• Georgia
• Florida

Needless to say, that's a whole buncha' road time. And, with a lot of road time comes the opportunity to pull over and shoot. That's what I'm excited to be able to do on this trip. Yeah, I'll be cruising a lot of freeways. But I'm also going to try to hit the small state routes that go through little towns with names you'll never find on any map.

I envision finding some old gas station somewhere, with the old analog numbers on the pumps, just waiting to be committed to megapixels. My mind reels at the number of old, broken down barns I'm going to see (Has anyone actually seen a new one?). And I can imagine sitting at the counter in a roadside diner, eating the greasiest breakfast within 250 miles, and falling for the imagery of a decor that hasn't been in style since the Johnson administration.

But, yeah, I've got some "definites", too. One of the first places I thought of when I started planning this trip was Mt. Rushmore. I plan on spending two nights in Rapid City, South Dakota because I really want to be able to shoot it at night. Someone mentioned something about the Crazy Horse Memorial, and asked if I was going to go. I had no idea where it was, but a little research reveals that it's not all too far from Mt. Rushmore, so both can be fit into a single day trip.

A friend asked me if I was going to visit Devil's Tower. You might be saying "Hmmm, sounds familiar", and you would be right. Devil's Tower is the site of the final climactic scene from "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind". Richard Dreyfuss went nuts for the place. Well, for whatever reason, I always thought it was somewhere in southwestern Wyoming. Well, come to find out it lies about 30 miles to the north of the main route between Sheridan, Wyoming (where I'm going to spend a night) and Rapid City. Round trip off the freeway, it's only about an hour out of the way.

Had my buddy never mentioned it, though, I wouldn't have even thought about looking for it. A potentially amazing photo opportunity would've skirted by to the north, and I never would've seen it.

The first leg of my trip, at least from Missoula to Sioux Falls, is going to be spend, primarily, on I-90. I'll be passing through some amazing scenery, and I suspect I'll be rolling through some historic small towns when I venture off the Interstate. After that, it'll be a hodgepodge of freeways, State and County roads to get me to where I need to be.

So, with that in mind, if you know of any "must see" things between Portland, Oregon and Poyntelle, Pennsylvania, don't be shy; lemme' hear 'em! I've got 45 gigs of memory just itchin' for a good time!