Day 2: north of Albany

This weather blows! No, I don’t mean that it’s been windy. It’s just grey, greyer than grey. Eternal dusk. And I’m bummed about it. So much for the weather forecast of sun all weekend. Okay, so it didn’t rain or snow — but it just as well might have since it means I’ll have to do a repeat trip of this one to get everything in proper sunlight.

To compound my misery, I was in very familiar territory today. I used to come up to Saratoga Springs once or twice a year for agility trials. Memories all over the place, round every corner. I do miss the courses, some of the people, the obsessiveness, etc. But right now, I don’t have teammate that’s enthusiastic enough to compete with. Grippie was an incredible champion and loved the sport. Nik and Grem have other obsessions (toys and critters, respectively). Fixie has never been into sports — as someone said once “she’s a reader”. So for now, I just “practice” once a week — which is fun — but seems kind of pointless at times. And it isn’t such a bad thing as it means all that time and money go to the website and traveling, respectively. (word for the day: “respectively” – kind of obnoxious, no?)

Speaking of dogs, they got tons of running, sniffing, peeing, swimming, rolling time today since I was not exactly motivated today to squeeze in as many shots as possible before sundown. After all, the entire day was sundown. A few squirrels were chased. A few squeaky toys no longer squeak. Good times. Respectively.

So, despite my melancholy and the lack of sun, I still have a big batch of photos for you. Let’s get on with it —

Central Ave. in Albany used to have tons of neon signs. I’ve seen quite a lot of them replaced with plastic box versions — and I’ve only been coming up here for about ten years or so. Here’s one hanging on — but maybe not for long. It looked like construction workers were “doing stuff” to the property:

This sweet drive-in has been closed for years now. I remember when it was open. I always hold my breath when I approach it — never sure if it will still be there:

The main reason I stuck around Albany a bit this morning was to finally shoot the restored Dare carousel at the State Museum. A couple blogworthy things inside en route: the Rocket Car built in 1929:

an Automat display:

If you want to read the items available, click on the photo:

Another rusty crusty with wire mesh like the Olympic sign from yesterday. I guess this was a pre-plexiglass method of protecting neon?

A residential (I think) window display. Is this scene depicting anything in particular — cowboys, cowgirls, Indians… Are these famous figures that I’m clueless about?

This sign from Watervliet – business still open:

In Troy. Ever have that feeling that you were being watched? Look up. Way up. Lounging on the precipice of death. Like he owns the place. Wishing nothing but pure evil on me and my van full of barking dogs.

A few more shots from Troy. Just lovely despite the rust:

Rudy’s is having (or had) a going out of business sale. I bet this sign could be had for the asking. Unless Rudy has some personal affection for it. Both sides had some crunched plastic — but still, plastic integrity here. These signs were mass-produced with the different biz name at the bottom:

Maybe a different sign here originally judging from the metal roof support? Still open:

A few of these brick column signs in Saratoga Springs and environs:

Late afternoon, the sun came out for about 10 minutes. Hallelujah! So I had to quick grab this one. As you’ve probably noticed if you’re a fan of this blog or the site, I’m a compulsive cropper. But I’ve left this one large because of the sunflowers and winding road scene:

And lastly, here’s one from Warrensburg. The lodge is indeed a big white house. Which is now for sale. So this sign might be gone soon. Like the fall leaves. If I wasn’t so tired, I could probably come up with something more philosophical about it. Something about the changing times and the passing of all these great roadside treasures. I’ll let you fill in your own nostalgic, conclusive verse here.