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Tag: VV Arizona

Into the Desert Wilderness🌵 Miscellaneous

Just a photo dump of some travel bits… because I am already missing the road. The night shoot attempt. It is not Milky Way season yet, so the beautiful galactic core is not visible in this hemisphere yet. But I am very much looking forward to its arrival! On the Read more…


Into the Desert Wilderness🌵
Wupatki Spirit Totem

On the border of Navajo land referred to as Deadman Flat is the Wupatki Spirit Totem.   Though no one is sure when they were erected and by whom, the land is important to the Hopi & Zuni tribes and is near the Wupatki National Monument, a preserved ancestral pueblo. Read more…


Into the Desert Wilderness🌵
Petrified Forest National Park

Petrified Forest National Park would offer me so much beauty on my short trip. Though I had made this assumption before arriving, I was not prepared to see the range of gorgeousness. I want to return to get out of the car more comfortably, because on this particular visit the Read more…


Into the Desert Wilderness🌵
Stray Decay Along The Way

It’s hard to get anywhere on Route 66 because there is so much abandonment that pulls me over. Even what isn’t abandoned looks abandoned, weather-worn and time-loved… crispy and texturous. To follow, some stray decay along the way.


Into the Desert Wilderness🌵
Abandoned Fort Courage

With several exploration fails, I was happy to peep Fort Courage standing tall from Interstate-40. Braving the harsh temperatures and whipping winds, I made the most of my short stop. Currently for sale, this large collection of structures may soon have new life. Or it may not. Such is one Read more…


Into the Desert Wilderness🌵
Route 66, Holbrook, Arizona

Before I drop a bunch of Route 66 neon, I want to give a big shout out to Chinese eateries across the country who always offer a reliable vegan options. This well needed meal was from Mandarin Beauty Restaurant. Mapo tofu Also, it is a great thing that veg snacks Read more…


Into the Desert Wilderness🌵
Wigwam Village
Holbrook, Arizona

The wigwam villages are a quintessential part of road culture–many registered as historic landmarks. Staying off Route 66 in Holbrook, Arizona, the Wigwam Village was a must for me. A delight upon arrival, the vintage cars that filled the lot. Made for some of my favorite style picture-taking… vintage style. Read more…


Into the Desert Wilderness🌵
Snow & Rainbows in the Desert

Heading north through the mountainous San Carlos and Fort Apache reservations made for a grueling day of driving. The windstorm that shook my vintage tiki bus through the night, whipping songs through it’s crevices, was part of the weather system that rocked travel across the country. Snow and frigid temperatures Read more…


Into the Desert Wilderness🌵
Some Scenes from Bisbee, Arizona

Very close to the Mexican border, within the Mule Mountains, is Bisbee, Arizona, a historic mining town with a charming downtown filled with galleries and eateries. It was a bit of a strenuous drive south as the weather had grown very chilly with wild whipping winds. What I presumed to Read more…


Into the Desert Wilderness🌵
Shady Dell Trailer Park {Pictorial}
Bisbee, Arizona

The Shady Dell Trailer Park in Bisbee, Arizona.


Abandoned Lisa Frank Headquarters
Tucson, Arizona
🦄🌈🐬🐶

Growing up in the 80’s Lisa Frank stickers were the creme de la creme of my sticker book pages. Sticker books, for you young people, were places to show off how your cool taste and cred. So when I learned that the Lisa Frank headquarters sit abandoned in Tucson, Arizona–and Read more…


Into the Desert Wilderness🌵 Quick Vegan Bite in Tucson, Arizona

Reluctantly I left the isolation of the desert wilderness for a quick bite in Tucson. Midtown Vegan Deli & Market is, as it states, an all-vegan shop with pantry and grocery staples along with a deli counter. It would do the trick for a proper vegan meal, one that would Read more…


Into the Desert Wilderness🌵
Old Neon Signs of Yuma, Arizona

If I stopped at every piece of roadside nostalgia then I would not get very far in my travels. So I have reserved early mornings for driving about towns to grab what I can while everyone is asleep. To follow, mostly Yuma, Arizona. This cleaners was still in operation. An Read more…


Into the Desert Wilderness🌵
Yuma Territorial Prison

The ruins of the Yuma Territorial Prison is within a historical state park. Opened in 1876, the prison held 3,040 male and 29 female “outlaws” of the west during its closing in 1909. The park’s museum contains artifacts, many made by prisoners who were given free time for creating beautiful Read more…


Into the Desert Wilderness🌵
Route 66 Roadside Decay

Traveling Route 66 you’ll see evidence of its faded glory–in physical form. The construction of Interstate 40 made it impossible to travel its entirety; it bypassed some of Route 66’s stops leaving them suspended in a dead road, leaving their roadside stops left to decay. To follow, some of that Read more…


Into the Desert Wilderness🌵
On the Road

Though I needed the Kelso Dunes in the Mojave Desert for a backdrop of a special photoshoot, I only stayed briefly. But these hours were my initiation into the road, an offering to wild time… time that exists outside the constructs of tedium–impractical, untainted, and because of these, unsustainable. Its Read more…


Into the Desert Wilderness🌵
Kofa National Wildlife Refuge

Mid-winder recess always aligns with peak wanderlust, a breaking point where draining daily life in New York City grows to a frustration level that pervades and my soul needs a deep spring of wonder, nature and night. Respite. This trip I escape to the desert, a place I assumed would Read more…


Vegan Eats in Flagstaff, Arizona

Local Juicery is the kind of place one craves on the road… fresh, vibrant and healthful. All which is difficult to find roadside. So my arrival in Flagstaff, Arizona, which had the temperature dropping like 30 degrees thankfully, was marked with the seizing of its offerings. I got the Avocado Read more…


Grand Canyon National Park
🌟 International Dark Sky Park #15

I kind of dropped the ball with this night shoot. Though exhaustion and the heat during the day played a part in my not finding the right spot for my shoot, there was also construction, lots of traffic and nonstop visitor action… and my shooting with way too sensitive ISO Read more…


Grand Canyon National Park

My final National Park on this trip is… The Big One.  The Grand Canyon.  One of the natural wonders of the world. On my knees at the glorious altar of geological worship, the Colorado Plateau’s exquisite beauty is the draw for the millions who visit Grand Canyon National Park annually.  Read more…


Abandoned Arizona
Two Guns KOA Campsite

Well right next to Two Arrows is Two Guns, the location of a very colorful abandoned KOA campsite. The roadside attraction contained a campsite, gas station, pool, a small zoo–other such rotating attractions to bring in the road weary. Now it sits abandoned though apparently that are campers who utilize Read more…


Abandoned Arizona
Twin Arrows Trading Post

Built in the 40’s, this old trading post is from the Route 66 hey-day. Route 66 Americana weirdness is one my personal kitsch favorites, being a lover of the road and all things vintage. And as I explored the roadside wreck I decided that I would do a road trip Read more…


The Decay on the Way
Abandoned Roadside Attractions, Part 1

Somewhere in Arizona, a gas station has seen better days, it’s conjoined facilities—abandoned, scrapped, but not vandalized.


Two Abandoned Anasazi Inns
Winslow and Kayenta, Arizona

Of course I took any opportunity to explore roadside abandoned sites. And there have been a lot! First, two Anasazi Inn locations. They are both large complexes within various states of decay. Wide open, I explored without much worry, even meeting a equally excited gal from Wisconsin who had also Read more…


Painting The Desert
Exploring the Outskirts of the Navajo Nation

The Navajo Nation has been hit hard by Covid-19.  In the initial plan of this trip, which was thought up before the pandemic hit, included a stay at a Navajo “Hogan” or yáʼátʼééh–a traditional and primitive home with a dirt floor, no running water and, I am sure, dark undeveloped Read more…


Goosenecks State Park and Horseshoe Canyon
Two Entrenched Meanders

Sometimes river beats rock–with breathtaking results.  In this case it is the San Juan River, a tributary of the Colorado River, that carved several 1,000 foot high curves into the land, creating the main draw for Goosenecks State Park.  It is a primitive site without designated hiking trails–or barriers.  Because Read more…