The trip continues — scurrying through a few states that I’ve covered pretty thoroughly more recently before to get to the states that I haven’t been to in about 10 years (MT, WY, SD, ND, NE, etc.). The weather was sucky for a couple of days — mostly clouds but there would be sunny days to come.
There’s been a lots of restoration and recreation in Helper lately so I definitely wanted to get some shots there. I’ll have to go back in a few years in the sun.
The neon on the Hillcrest Motel sign has been restored but the patina left intact. Look at that lovely beaded border! The neon at the Strand Theatre next door was also restored. Here’s a night photo:
Some new stuff was also added to this little strip of Main Street:
and:
I’m pretty sure these ghost signs are “imaginative” rather than restorations:
Some of the other rusty vintage signs have been left as-is:
It was certainly the wrong time of day and weather for this one but I’ll share it anyway. This is on the roof of a long closed restaurant in Wanship:
This place (AAA Lakeside Storage) in Provo has one of the largest gas station sign collections that I’ve ever seen — this is just a sampling:
The nicest sign in Echo (the Kozy Motel & Cafe) is gone now but I’m glad these two are still there:
The Riverside Ranch RV Park Motel & Campground in Hatch has an adapted Best Western crown sign on top of its box sign. They’ve added the little snowy mountain with a river (at least that’s what I think it is):
This sign which I shot in Springfield, MO shows you the original look:
I should mention my traveling companions (four lucky terriers). They got to run all over the place but they also greatly enjoyed watching the wildlife from the confines of the van: bison, elk, moose, deer, and, of course, cows. I was on the lookout for prairie dogs since that’s one of their favorite sports. But I only saw one field of them in Colorado so I let the dogs run their asses off trying to catch them. Honestly, I think the prairie dogs enjoy it just as much since they always “win” knowing where all their hidey holes are. Here’s Orbit and Dilly:
That’s it for now. I’ll be back with Day 3 soon which covers more Utah and some Wyoming.
Happy trails,
dj & the dogs
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