Rainy days

It's been raining for two days here in Arkansas. Not good for pictures. Keeping busy though, doing laundry, got an oil change a new tire for my car, but I really hope this rain lets up by the evening.

One dud, one dump

I'll use this post to put up the random pictures from two days of driving and to get some random thoughts out of my notebook. Before that though, another my "new" addresses", this time in Wichita, Kansas, was a dud. After a long day from Denver to Wichita, I found what I thought was the address. I was a little iffy on it, and to make a long story short, no 1600 Pennsylvania in Wichita. That's OK since Wichita was right along the way to Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

I landed in Pine Bluff and found the hazardous waste dump, sitting at the corner of 16th and Pennsylvania. I was pretty sure I found my address, but it wasn't marked and after about 20 minutes at the city's street department, I was still unsure. I called 411 and confirmed the address as 1600. Solid. Trouble is it's dark and raining. The complex faces west so it might be an extra day in Arkansas.

Some random notes...

- Listening to a traffic report in an unknown city sounds like a foreign language.

- A lot of self-storage places also hold regular flea markets. Curious.

- I find myself answering the hypothetical questions posed by ads on talk radio.

1600 S Pennsylvania St, Denver, CO

Well, obviously the Polaroid didn't quite come out, but you get the idea. I was frustrated by this one. I think it was due in part to the overwhelming feeling of having a bunch of addresses added to my project. I drove past this house a ton of times and the light was never right, but even if it was, I just wasn't feeling it. I couldn't see the picture. The main side faces north, so on Saturday night I drove back, but just as I got there, so did the clouds. Thick, Rocky Mountain clouds. do I stay another night? Another day waiting to make a picture I really wasn't feeling inspired for at all?

So with clouds rolling in I decided to drive the hour and a half south to Woodland Park, CO to scope out that address. I figured best case, I'd get there and photograph it, gaining a day on the trip. Worst case, it wouldn't be there and I could "spend" the day I would have spent in Woodland Park in Denver waiting on the above. Medium case, at least I did something with my downtime and scouted for my project. It wasn't there. I drove up the side of a mountain, drove down a dirt road named Pennsylvania Avenue and nothing. In the pouring rain I flagged down a woman driving and asked hr about 1600. Nope. Another dud. Back to Denver.

I really couldn't decide about whether or not to stay another night. I even booked a room, but in the end, I decided to move on, leave 1600 S Pennsylvania Ave, Denver unphotographed since I didn't like it. As I was headed north on my way to Kansas, I decided to give it one more look, what the hell right? Then I saw it. The back of the house, a smiling face, almost taunting me like a Cheshire cat, the picture was right there. Most of the address I focused on the front of house, but I never intended to make a series of real estate pictures, my intention has always been to document the structure, but to make an interesting picture somehow. Often, I'm limited to one view. Most of the 1600's are on the corner, so I have two choices, but one side usually prevails. With this address, for some reason, I never noticed, or should I say, failed to notice, the small alley and the rear of the building.

The light is not perfect, like the way the shadow touches the left window. The shadow was really on the window by the time I got to film, but I feel good about it. Maybe the shadow works in breaking up the uniformity of the structure. Maybe.

View from the room (updated)

Comfort Inn, Pine Bluff, Arkansas (note the purple c-roll)

Idaho sunset, Wyoming skies

1600 Pennsylvania St, Denver, CO

This was a little bit of a disappointment. That car just wasn't moving and I battled, almost literally, with the cars on the other side of the street. Cars just kill pictures like this for me. Maybe they'll look good in 2o years, but today, not so much. I stayed until the light was gone and the car was there. Drove past it this morning and it was gone, but replaced by two more. There's another 1600 her in Denver, S. Pennsylvania St and it looks OK. Site on the corner, the door faces north, but the address faces west. I'm just not feeling either one to be honest. Not sure if it's because they were added on after the fact and now I'm a little worried about the length of this trip, or if it's I'm getting a little road weary. For example, when I check-out, I have a hard time remembering which room I'm in, a side affect of three weeks in and out of motels.

View from the room

Sleep Inn, Englewood, Colorado

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, West Sacramento, CA

This one was little tough. A lot of contrast. Either almost full shadow or low direct sun light. Should make an interesting print. Spoke with the home owner for a while, very nice man, retired for about 10 years there. The Polaroid doesn't show it but there's a small American flag on the house as well as 1600 numbers. Since the sun never hit it directly it might just be come out black, but that's okay, a little mystery. The tree in the front yard kept the light from hitting the house until about midday, then the light looked just terrible, so this is what I'm left with. It could work. We'll see.

View from the room

America's Best Value Inn, Evanston, Wyoming

Even more 1600's

Doing a re-search for 1600's and I found five more. Yeah, five. Two are both in Denver, which is okay since I was already planning on stopping in Woodland Park, CO. One in Wichita, KS, not too far off route, one in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, a town I could have easily stopped by on my way west, but wasn't aware of it, and another in Fruitland, Idaho. All of this has me a little rattled in not fully knowing how many addresses I've missed. The two in Denver are Streets, not Avenues, but I think that's close enough, what do you think?

Long story short, there isn't one in Fruitland, Idaho. I found out the hard way, by driving there. So my 1100 mile trip from West Sacramento, CA to Colorado turned into a 1400 mile one via 50 miles north of Boise, ID. Ugh. I ended up driving until about midnight to make up the time, spending the night in Wyoming and making it to Denver. 1400 miles in two days, that's a lot of gas. Here are the pretty pictures.

I wonder what Bliss, Idaho looks like. Potatos of all kinds perhaps.

This is sand in the beaufitul deserts of Nevada.

View from the room

Rodeway Inn, West Sacramento, CA

1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Richmond, CA

I think this came out nice. I got there pretty early as the light was a little iffy and I wasn't sure if it was going to happen. I setup and there were two cars parked in front, which would have been OK, but I also knew I'd probably have to come back the next day and see if the street was clear. And then like magic, a construction truck pulled up to the house next door and 4 guys piled out and into the cars blocking my house. Beautiful. I then spent the next hour pleading with people not to park in front and everyone was very kind about it. The light never got perfect, but the house faces north, maybe a little northeast so the setting sun just barely hit the front of the house. I think it works though.