These initial states will go by really quick in these blog posts since the focus of this trip is on Kentucky and Tennessee. I usually have a few dozen planned stops with new stuff and reshoots to break up the monotony of the long interstate slogs on these trips.

Let’s start with this polka dot elephant in Las Cruces, NM at the Elephant Ranch bar:

This Santa statue in Hatch, NM might have come from the Shell Factory in North Fort Myers, FL which was auctioned off just before this statue turned up here:

A couple of mid-century modern churches: the First United Methodist Church in Deming, NM:

and the First Baptist Church in Alamogordo, NM:

The Big Tex BBQ in Willcox, AZ is located inside a former Pullman dining car:

Dot’s Diner is a Valentine diner located at the Shady Dell in Bisbee, AZ:

This pole sign stands next to the diner. I don’t know where it came from or if it originally read “DINER”:

This sign at the Elephant Ranch in Las Cruces, NM appears to be modern:

This bulb arrow is installed at Sparky’s Trading Post in Hatch, NM. These were produced by Superior Electrical Advertising in Long Beach, CA:

Some window signs at the same place:

This sign is now inside Sparky’s restaurant in Hatch, NM. It was originally installed in Springer, NM:

I’ll be back soon with more photos from New Mexico and moving on to Texas.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

I’m back from my five-week summer trip. As I add each day’s photos to my website (roadarch.com), I’ll be chiming in with posts here — often, with photos not “worthy” of the website. I’m also posting some other photos to Flickr (see link bottom of this post). During the trip, I posted about a dozen photos each night that were taken that day to Instagram (link also bottom of this post). So, if you want a sampling/overview of what I shot during the trip, you might want to take a peek there. Keep in mind that I have over 4,000 photos to add to my site so the things I post here and to Flickr & Instragram are just a drop in the bucket.

Let’s start with this cute little playground in Encanto Park in Phoenix that I found by accident (rare) when I was running the dogs first thing in the morning. A sampling of the frogs and hatching turtles — very cute and realistic:

The giant wine bottle in Tucson was repainted since the last time I was there:

A gila monster reading a book in front of the Little Free Library in Tucson:

This cowboy in Tucson at Cummings Plumbing Heating and Cooling now holds a giant plumber’s wrench:

Giant aviator sunglasses inside the Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix:

This former bakery in Tucson now houses a cannabis shop:

Much better weather in Phoenix, so here’s a Deco detail shot from the Title & Trust Building:

This former gas station in Tucson is getting pretty cluttered at this point but its general original shape is still there:

The City Hall building in Tucson:

This modern neon sign in Phoenix is pretty nice — at Flower Child, a shopping center florist:

This sign in Phoenix must have advertised for a camper dealership or some such originally — now a used car dealership. Note my van, Gator, photobombing on the left. That’s often how I park using curb dips when there’s no way otherwise not to hog up a lane. I just about never park or turn off the engine all day since my stops are usually under 30 seconds:

The timing was all wrong to revisit the Ignite Sign Art Museum in Tucson on this trip — but I did grab a few photos from outside. Next time, I’m sure they will have recovered from the fire and there will be even more to see anyway:

This sign in Tucson was repainted and the neon restored since my last visit. The weather was sucky in Tucson on this trip and the tree needs some trimming but anyway:

A nice little neon extension arrow on the top of this one in Tucson that must have been sequentially lit originally:

Much, much more to come — be back soon.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

One more test run to make sure the van and everything else is ready for the five-week summer trip. On the last day of the trip, the shifter on my steering column went: flopped around like a wet noodle instead of engaging in Drive or any gears. So, off to a Firestone in downtown Sacramento for $424 in repairs and then we headed home. A few days ago, I had my mechanic do the annual look-see full inspection to prevent delays & breakdowns during our trip. This is usually fairly uneventful but this time he found brakes, bearings, leaking water pump, etc. for $3400. So, I’m broke before the trip even begins but here we go anyway! And I can only imagine what the gas is gonna cost this year. I usually rack up about $3,000 for that on these trips but I imagine it will be more like $4,000 or worse this time. Donations are always welcome!!

You can follow along for nightly postings of a few photos taken each day at Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roadarch_com/ After this post, you won’t be hearing anything from me at this blog until I get home and start working on each daily batch of photos. The focus this year is on Kentucky & Tennessee but there are lots of stops planned for other states on the way to and from.

Now then — here is a sampling of the photos from my Bay Area/Central California trip last weekend.

This Buddha sculpture faces Highway 101 traffic in Redwood City:

This “Friendship Bench” sculpture is in Calistoga at the Clos Pegase Winery:

This theatre is in Monterey:

The Ice Cream Bar in San Francisco:

The McHenry Library at UC Santa Cruz (in Santa Cruz):

The PG&E Substation in San Francisco:

A smaller, replica welcome arch in downtown Orland:

This sign in Larkspur surely had painted details on those panels originally:

These signs at Dawn Ranch in Guerneville were installed around 2017. They appear to be retro, modern signs:

The Grove Motel in Willows:

A close-up of the Rio Theatre sign in Monte Rio:

And lastly — I was able to shoot this restored Greyhound Bus sign in Redding in the sun this time:

Come tag along virtually at Instagram on my summer roadtrip! The rubber hits the road on May 28.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

Now that I’ve got all of last year’s photos up at the website and all the pages combed for broken links/maps checked (all those recent “news” posts here)… it was good to get away for three days of driving and shooting.

The Lady of the Lake statue in Echo Park (Los Angeles):

This cow statue is in Oceanside. I only know of one other like this on public display (in Iowa):

This bird statue is known as “Pinky” and is installed way up on a pillar at a construction site in Eagle Rock:

The world’s largest (42′ long) surfboard in Huntington Beach:

The Shore Bar in Santa Monica:

The former Callahan’s Restaurant in Santa Monica:

These streamline moderne apartments are on S. Crescent Heights Blvd. in Los Angeles:

The W.D. Longyear Building in Beverly Hills:

The Marriott Hotel near LAX in Los Angeles:

The “Flying Diaper” house in Running Springs:

The Seventh Day Adventist Church in Long Beach:

A former Tastee-Freez in Pomona:

“Neighbors” by John Cerney in Palm Springs:

This sign is in Rialto:

This one is in downtown Los Angeles — most likely opal glass letters on top originally:

This twin YMCA signs are also in downtown Los Angeles:

This recently restored sign is in Burbank:

This one is in Pomona:

The restoration of this sign in South El Monte is nearly done:

This sign in San Bernardino has new panels and bulbs:

This sign in Ontario was restored just a few weeks ago:

Let me introduce this new member of our family: Pivot. She’s about 9 mos. old and joined my pack a couple of mos. ago.

I had to put down Gremlin in December due to health issues. But she had a good long life: 19 years. Here’s the current roadtrip crew which you’ll be seeing more of very soon — L to R: Griz, Orbie, Dilly & Piv:

Just seven weeks from now, we’ll be heading out on this summer’s big adventure focusing on Kentucky and Tennessee with other states on the way there and back. I’ll have one more roadtrip (and post) to Central California/Bay Area. I always take these two local trips to test the van, my camera, laptop, etc. to make sure we are good to go.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

The Wausau Area Visitors Center in Rothschild, WI has been demolished:

This motel (originally the Empire House Hotel) in Bay City, MI has been renovated for student housing (Lux Off Washington) and the canopy is gone:

These buildings at the Bald Mountain Recreation Area in Lake Orion, MI were designed by Gunnar Birkerts. They were demolished last year for new restrooms:

The Ascension Lutheran Church in Paradise Valley, AZ was designed by William Wesley Peters, FL Wright’s son-in-law. It was demolished in 2024 but the spire was saved and gifted to the City:

The Moffat County Courthouse in Craig, CO has been demolished:

The First Baptist Church of Spring Branch in Houston, TX has been demolished:

The Kleberg Bank in Corpus Christi, TX has been demolished. It was one of my favorites in the entire country:

The surviving Florida Wonderland building in Titusville, FL has been demolished:

The Miami Springs Baptist Church in Miami Springs, FL is gone now:

The Rail Splitter Rest Areas (north and south bound) in Springfield, IL on I-55…:

… are being remodeled. They are keeping (or recreating?) the mushroom canopies that were over the restrooms and building behind them:

This building in Costa Mesa, CA was originally built for Hollister’s Nursery. In recent years, it housed used car dealerships. The building is gone now:

These nice tile mosaics on the Bel Air Building in Stockton, CA… :

… are gone now:

And with that, I’m finally done with this winter website project. I’ll be gearing up for the big June/July trip (focus on Tennessee & Kentucky this year) with a couple of California trips to make sure everything is ready (van, laptop, phone apps, dogs, me) for the demanding itinerary. I’ll probably do a little post here with some photos from those trips and then you won’t hear from me until August or so when I start posting photos from the summer.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

Moving on to the biggest section of all and the last one for this winter project.

The former Apex Department Store in Pawtucket, RI has been demolished:

This former car wash canopy in Fort Lauderdale, FL is gone now:

This store in Spirit Lake, IA moved to a new location last year and these signs are gone:

This Lustron house in Peotone, IL is the only one that I know of that has been adapted for commercial use. It now houses the Dolo Miti sandwich shop:

I haven’t shot the one in WaKeeney, KS — but here’s what it looks like at Street View now. Apparently, someone disassembled all the steel panels, inside & out, and moved them to Canada:

This Lustron in Loudonville, NY has been demolished:

This building in Jackson, MS has been demolished. Originally, it was supposed to be included in the new development but that didn’t happen.

The photos of the redeveloped former Sun-n-Sand Motor Hotel in Jackson, MS are up at StreetView now. They actually did a very nice job with restoring the sign and preserving the canopy and building behind it. One of my photos from 2019:

And StreetView from last year just before it opened as the Hen and Egg restaurant. To nitpick, I wish the original, closely-spaced flagpoles in front of the building were still there and they hadn’t gone with the green glass:

This bank and its canopies in Farmington, NM were demolished last year:

The Budget Inn in Kingston, PA has been demolished:

This former Fotomat in Shelton, WA is gone now:

For a while, there were two of them side-by-side, missing their planter bases:

The Sussex County Technical School in Sparta, NJ had two of these geodesic domes. The one over the pool was demolished but this one survives:

This motel in Wildwood Crest, NJ has been rebranded as the Ala Kai North and this sign is gone:

This motel in North Wildwood, NJ…:

…has a new name but thank goodness they left the bird panel:

The Tangiers Motel sign in Wildwood Crest, NJ fell over on the roof and was badly damaged in 2020. It is still missing and I assume it won’t be back:

That’s enough for one post — be back soon with more.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

This sign in St. Louis, MO is gone now. The business had been closed since 2001:

This sign in Kirksville, MO is gone now:

This sign in Lebanon, MO is gone now:

The Spec’s Liquor in Ennis, TX has closed and this sign is gone:

This sign in Dallas, TX is gone now. The company appears to have moved to Carrollton, TX:

This sign in Amarillo, TX is gone now:

This Chicken Shack in Corpus Christi, TX opened in 2006 and this sign was built then. It has closed and this sign is gone now:

This sign in Grand Prairie, TX is gone now:

This sign in Greenville, TX is gone now:

This sign in Stanton, TX is gone now:

This Genie Car Wash in Waco, TX was built in 1964 as the chain’s first location. It was the very last of the vintage signs on display — gone now but I’m hoping someone saved it:

This sign in Oak Lawn, IL is gone now:

Here’s a painful one. This restaurant in Ottawa, IL closed in 2024:

… and now here’s what’s happened to it:

This sign in Quincy, IL is gone now:

This sign in San Leandro, CA is gone now:

These signs in Los Angeles, CA are gone now:

This sign in Anaheim, CA is gone now:

The Pea Soup Anderson’s in Santa Nella, CA has replaced this sign…:

… with this backlit plastic letter version:

This sign in Crockett, CA is gone now. I assume that Bill Concannon who operated his shop, Aargon Neon, there has the sign:

This sign in Daly City, CA is gone now. The restaurant had closed in 2022:

This business and sign in Hawthorne, CA are gone now:

This sign in Inyokern, CA is gone now:

The Vintage Reserve Garage in Lodi, CA has apparently closed and all of the signs there are gone. Here’s just one of the signs that was hung outside:

This sign in Vallejo, CA is gone now:

At long last, that’s a wrap for the Signs section. One more section to go for this annual project: the Mid-Century Modern Buildings. That’s the biggest section with well over 500 pages to go through. Be back soon with another post.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

The Hollywood Bread building in Hollywood, FL was demolished in 2021 just after my photo here:

The letters were supposedly all saved and would be installed on top of the new building. However, that didn’t happen. It looks like all that remains or is displayed are the “Bread” letters in the lobby — restored with LED rope instead of neon. Photo below from this IG post here:
https://www.instagram.com/reels/DSTRiwKiZmR/

The Lorelei Restaurant sign in Islamorada, FL…:

… has been replaced with a more realistic mermaid with a bathing suit top. I’m surprised that the new sign is also painted wood. Personally, I like the older, cruder version. This GSV photo is from December, hence the temporary installation of a Santa hat:

The artist at work from her IG account: https://www.instagram.com/p/C3_V_Q4s5jT/

The Kentucky Motel sign in St. Petersburg, FL is gone now. My photo from 2009 (before the eagle had been painted over):

This sign in Tampa, FL has been replaced with a backlit plastic rectangular box sign:

This sign in Allegan, MI is gone now:

This store in Brighton, MI closed in 2021…:

… and the sign has been adapted with crappy plastic letters:

This business and sign in Grand Rapids, MI are gone now:

This sign in Kaleva, MI is gone now:

This sign in Ephrata, WA is gone now:

This sign in Pasco, WA was adapted for another business and these panels were replaced:

David Webb passed away last year and most or all of his sign collection in Pomeroy, WA was auctioned off a month ago. He had dozens of signs scattered around town and probably hundreds of others stashed away. StreetView doesn’t show them missing yet but I know this one is definitely gone:

The sign panels for this closed business in Bartlesville, OK are gone now:

This sign in Bartlesville, OK…:

has been stripped of its neon and repainted:

The El Charro restaurant in Mesa, AZ closed in 2024 and the signs have been removed. The Mesa Preservation Foundation has the signs and will eventually display them somewhere:

This sign in Miami, AZ is gone now:

This sign in Reno, NV…:

… is now on display in Austin, TX at a bar named after the sign (“Fortune Teller”). Posted to their IG page:

This sign in Lovelock, NV…:

… has been repainted… at least they left the old tin border around the bottom panel:

One more bit of bad sign news — this just happened so it’s not reflected at Google Street View yet. This sign in Chicago, IL just came down. The business was sold and the sign was moved to Industrial Arts in DeKalb, IL. I don’t know if they plan to keep it for a while or will be selling it:

Just 4 more states worth of signs to go through but they are the big sections. Back with another post soon.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

This sign in New Orleans, LA…(my photo from 2019) was removed last year…:

… and has been “restored” (I guess fixed neon & maybe components and cleaned the plexi coverings) — this photo below from Q. Lee’s FB page — link below for photos of the reinstallation a few weeks ago:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/919789933873998

The Tujague’s restaurant moved and that this sign in New Orleans, LAwas removed last year — to be displayed at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum….

… but this sign still remains at the 2025 GSV…:

… and the smaller sign is gone and I don’t know where it went:

This sign in Pratt, KS is gone now:

This sign in Salina, KS is gone now:

This sign in Dodson, MT is gone now:

This sign in Roundup, MT is gone now:

This sign in Nashville, TN…:

… was “updated” last year with plastic panels:

False alarm! These signs in Pulaski, TN were missing at the latest Street View from 2023:

… but their FB post from later that year shows the signs back up and the neon restored:

Miller Paint in Portland, OR has been sold to Rodda Paint. This store closed and the sign is gone now:

Fairley’s Pharmacy in Portland, OR remains open but the signs have gone through unfortunate changes over the years. Here’s a photo I took in 2008 which shows the neon, a great Coca-Cola sign, an applied letter projecting sign:

By 2015 (my photo below), the neon, the projecting and Coca-Cola signs at the entrance was gone. The panels had backlit plastic letters:

… and now the latest StreetView shows the panels had been removed and the business now just has signs painted on the building:

The former V Motel sign in Ontario, OR is gone now:

This sign in Salem, OR is gone now:

14 states to go in the Signs section. Back with another post soon!

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

This sign in Atlanta, GA…:

… might be gone now. Google Street View shows renovations going on last year which had the storefront taken back down to the brick:

This sign in Willacoochee, GA is gone now:

The Colonie Animal Hospital letters in Albany, NY…:

… have unfortunately been replaced with this plastic sign:

This sign in Troy, NY is gone now:

There was also this sign in St. Charles, MO which was removed last year. I thing these were the last two on public display:

I just shot this sign in Louisville, KY in June and it was gone two months later:

This sign in Salt Lake City, UT is gone now:

This motel in Wheatland, WY has been replaced with a Dollar General and this sign is gone:

This sign in Wheatland, WY has been repainted – my photo from 2022:

and at Google Street View from last year:

This sign in Quakertown, PA is gone now:

Finally, some good news: this sign in Pocatello, ID…:

… was restored and installed a couple of weeks ago. Here’s a photo at the relighting from the Idaho Heritage Trust FB account:

This Masonic Lodge sign in Arco, ID appears to be gone. I don’t know if that’s temporary or permanent:

This sign in Blackfoot, ID that was at an antiques store (now closed) has been removed:

This sign in Albert Lea, MN…:

… has been updated with horrible backlit plastic letters:

These two signs in Hermantown, MN are gone now. They were both on the same sign poles:

20 states to go in the Signs section. Back with more soon!

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram