The dogs and I spent about half the day in Wyoming — and then we moved on to South Dakota.  I feel very sad leaving Wyoming officially with that little doggie probably still wandering around somewhere.  My friend Sue (post a few nights ago) was giving a seminar in Cody just north of there and even stopped to see if she could find him.  No trace of him.  I’ll keep calling the cops every few days for a while but it sounds like this will forever remain a mystery.  He’s so wonderfully cute and I’m still pretty much heartbroken and just plain down about it.

My dogs are all doing splendidly.  They have the routine down now and are sacked out a good part of the day.  Grem’s recall has improved SO much since last year.  She now hops out, looks for prairie dogs or rabbits and then pretty much comes to me waiting for me to throw a ball so she can earn some sausage or cheese.  Fixie got her front feet bit by fire ants yesterday and licked her feet for about 20 minutes.  She now checks the landscaping before she’s willing to jump out of the van.  I always leave the door wide open so she can make the decision.

The weather has gotten about 20 degrees cooler in the past couple days which is a big relief.  And today, it seems like we’ve finally left the hazy forest fires or brush fires behind.  Lots of gorgeous clouds — the type that make photos prettier rather than interfering with the sun.

Let’s start with Dayton, WY:

 

 

Moving on to Sheridan.  This one is gorgeous at night:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/732mpd/6482980047/

 

I’ve never seen bulbs arranged in a rectangle like this before:

 

 

Fun stuff!  Probably so against sign & building codes in most cities:

 

 

Still in Sheridan:

 

A couple of signs from Moorcroft:

 

This one has been crudely painted to represent the Devils Tower National Monument.  I have no idea what this sign originally looked like — or if the name has been changed.  The shape is quite similar to the Pierce Cleaners sign in Columbus, OH:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/7130215899/

 

 

From Sundance, WY.  A single-sided sign with the sun directly behind it forced this funky angle:

 

 

And finally — on to  South Dakota.  I’ve had better light shooting this sign — but here was today’s sun/shadow problem.  But with the back in the shade, I was able to shoot this video to show the way the animated bubbles work.  I don’t know what that irritating click/click/click in the background is.  I’m not doing anything but it seems to happen on all of my videos.  Maybe time to get familiar with the real video camera and stop relying on Dee’s video function:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leYrnKC_zfo&feature=youtu.be

 

 

A couple more signs from Spearfish — this one refurbished recently:

 

 

Neon, plastic, bulbs — and a yes/no –>  this one’s got it all:

 

 

Onward — to Deadwood:

 

 

Such a strange design — probably not “Penny” originally — and who knows what the bottom looked like:

 

 

A novel use of a dead tree — Flowers by Rose in Sturgis:

 

 

While in Sturgis, I went over to the Full Throttle Saloon to get the Muffler Man in better light.  You might be familiar with the place from the TV show?
http://www.fullthrottlesaloon.com/

The place was quiet — not the usual crazy busy biker scene.  So I wandered a bit and discovered some signs:

 

 

Finally, caught up to where we are calling it quits for the night — Rapid City.  I was shocked and disappointed to find the Rapid City Laundry building vacant and this sign was missing:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/2746094344/

 

Apparently, the business closed around 2010 & the owners took the signs with them:
http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/article_0f740664-c2e1-11df-94c7-001cc4c002e0.html

While the article said the sign is believed to be from the 1930s — I think that only the text part is from around then.  The washer woman part appears to be from the 1950s.  This plastic sign remains — with a reminder of what the neon sign looked like:

 

 

Let’s close out with a couple of night shots:

 

 

Unless there are complications, we’ll probably be in South Dakota about a day and a half more.  Most of the stops will be hugging I-90 as we slowly work our way eastward towards home.

 

 

I wish I had good news about the little black doggie.  I started looking for him at 6 am.  Walking back and forth through his territory until 9 am.   No sight of him.  Nobody else had seen him either. Maybe he’s a late sleeper or maybe he moved on to another part of town.  I had to get on down the highway and leave it to the locals.

It doesn’t seem like anybody else cares much about this little guy.  I called the vet in town and they said “There’s nothing we can do.  We can’t get involved.”  Bunch of crap.  I told them maybe they could at least mention it to their clients that were into rescue.  I called the police again to make sure they had my information.  I sent an email off to a contact person in Wyoming for IMPS (MinPin rescue group).  Haven’t heard back.  And today, a cold front had moved in — temps about 20 degrees colder. Reminding me that winter is coming and this guy doesn’t stand a chance if he’s not rescued in a couple of months.  Much  crying during today’s interstate driving.   I’m absolutely devastated.

Trying to put it out of my mind — but can’t.  Back at it though.  Some things from Casper.  This gas station is gone but the sign remains:

 

The Goodstein Building from 1960 has a lot going on.  Including the plastic bubbles over the entry on the right.

 

This building is just across the street:

 

This place was originally a Tastee-Freez.  There is still a T-F menu board there on the far right.  I have never seen a T-F sign like this before — but the company did use diamond shapes in the 1960s:
http://www.agilitynut.com/eateries/tastee4.html

 

Also in Casper:  Sanford’s Grub & Pub.  This place opened a few years ago.  There are a bunch of dinosaurs and oddball fiberglass statues in front including a couple of forty footers of Daffy Duck & Bugs Bunny.  There’s something on-line about Daffy & Bugs coming from Coney Island — but I would think I’d know about that since I live in Brooklyn.

Inside, there are a bunch of signs.  Many of them repros.  And you have to steel yourself since there is much modern Betty Boop, Marilyn Monroe type crap there as well.  Terry’s Turf Club this place ain’t (loyal bloggers may remember all the vintage signs from Cincinnati).  But I believe these signs have enough dings to put them in the “real” category:

 

This one’s a modern sign but interesting since it uses the old Ford design:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/7648198266/

 

From Wheatland.  Obviously repainted, most likely renamed.  But I love that gumball-filled arrow. And anything covered wagon gets my attention:

 

Also from Wheatland.  Love this super funky liquor store — the way those orange letters slant on the 1970s? shingles.  The curvy arrow sign and the mammoth brown sign.  What a freaky letter “A” that is.

From a rock shop in Torrington.  A spinner sign!!  Love the visible pulleys & belts.  Not super fast — but still fun and oh so rare now.  Here’s a little video I made to show you the speed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z58ISL8_5UM&feature=youtu.be

There are also other videos I’ve shot of signs at this YouTube account that you might want to look at when you have the time:
http://www.youtube.com/user/agilitynut

 

A couple from Newcastle to close out this post.  Obviously, neon on the sign originally.  Maybe also a different name.  Love the bisecting giant arrow.  I’ve seen bisectors before — but never this big:

This place is still open — though this skewed sign in a big field might make you think otherwise.  There’s actually a fountain there that looks like this, too.  Aren’t the fonts great — and the water ripples?

 

We should be able to wrap up Wyoming today and move on to South Dakota.  About a day and a half ahead of schedule.  Got through so much of Colorado and Wyoming on this trip.  But with 10 days of shooting to go — it’s not over folks!  Now comes the “sample pack”.  About two days in each of these states:  South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois.  And then the highway home from Chicago.

Turns out I’m both a very good wrangler and a lousy one.  Details to follow.  Hoo boy.

The day started sedately and normal enough.  Except there was this strange haze in the air.  Like smog or fog that wouldn’t burn off.  Yep, turns out there are forest fires somewhere here.  That’d be all over here in northern and central Wyoming.  Hopefully, I won’t be bumping into any up close and personal.  So, that meant that all my photos have a kind of dull rusty horizon background.  And a good part of the day, despite the sun’s trying, it could barely filter through.  By the time I got to Cody, it was sort of ridiculous.  Very thick and irritating to breathe.

Here’s the hazy horizon that I’m talking about — from first thing this morning in Lander:

 

 

More from Lander:

 

 

 

 

On to Jeffrey City for this one — not much else there.  Not even a gas station which I had sort of counted on.  But I had just enough to make it back to Lander.  See that brownish haze on the horizon?

 

 

 

A Sinclair ghost sign in Hudson:

 

 

From Shoshoni.  The motel is gone but this sign remains:

 

 

From Worland.  I believe this was a Neo-Lectra Jr.:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vintageroadside/1536110020/

I don’t know what happened to that arm on the bottom:

 

 

A couple from Greybull, WY as the sun was nearly gone:

 

 

********************

OK then.  Today’s big adventure — or misadventure — depending on how it all turns out.  To be continued tomorrow.  No, Sparkle’s running just fine, day after day, hour after hour.

So, in the metropolis (not) of Thermopolis, it all went down.  As I was shooting the A&W Family, I noticed this little black & tan dog with a red collar, scurrying about.  I watched to see if anyone was paying attention — it crossed the road — 4 lanes — supposedly 25 but lots of cars going faster.  Not good.  I watched for a while, then put the camera in the van and knew what I had to do.  I got some cheese and a leash and followed the dog slowly around through people’s back yards, front yards, a trailer park, a car service place.  Asking folks if they’d seen the dog, anyone knew the dog.  Nope.

So definitely a stray situation — and a very timid dog.  Not overly skinny but I definitely had a feeling he’d been on the streets more than a few days.  And the clincher:  absolutely my type.  One of the cutest dogs I’d ever seen.  A purebred MinPin but longer legs than my Grem.  Narrower face.  Agile and FAST.  I’ll admit, had it been a fat Cocker Spaniel or a big German Shepherd, I would not be as determined.

I managed to bring the dog in to me by lobbing bits of hot dogs and cheese ever closer.  And rather than approaching, I walked away slowly & encouraging the dog to follow me.  Talking softly and praising when he did.  Letting the dog make the choice.  After about an hour, I had the dog nearly taking food from my hand.  Every time I’d move my other hand though, he’d scurry off.  I had a leash looped for a noose if he got close enough.  But the slightest movement of that leash and he’d scamper.  So, finally, I saw my chance, I put my index finger through his red collar (no I.D. by the way) and the wrestling match began.  I had a spinning, flipping, screaming baby gator on my hands.  Quite literally.  I don’t have a photo of the dog but I’ll share the gore with you:

 

Uh, yes, it hurts to type.  Yes, it’s swollen.   About three punctures — one very deep next to the base of my thumb.  But I’ve had worse from Gripper when she was younger.  It’ll be alright.

So, I thought I’d gotten the noose around his neck but it slipped off and that was that.  He won.  Or actually, we both lost.  All in about 3 seconds, everything had changed.  He no longer trusted me and I kicked myself all day about how I’d only made matters worse because there’s NO WAY he was gonna ever get close to a human again.

I continued trying but he was even more frantic.  He even dove in the nearby river and began swimming upstream.  I have never seen a stronger swimmer before, any size, and my lust to catch and own this dog only tripled.  All together, I probably lost about two hours of prime shooting time.  And then I thought about him all day.  When it the road signs said “steep grades ahead” and it was in the direction of all the smoke, I thought better of it.  I looked at the map and decided I would try to catch that damned dog, again.  I worked out a new route that wouldn’t involve mountain passes.

Arrived back in Thermopolis at dusk — asked folks, yep, they’d seen him just a half hour ago.   So at least he wasn’t hit by a car today while I was hauling butt back down here.  His strategy seems to be getting snacks from the A&W and the McDonald’s — and hanging out about mid-distance between.  There’s a river for drinking and some green grass which he seems to like sleeping in.  The cops all know the situation (and me now).  They ARE the animal control in town.  And they seem both uninterested and unskilled at dog-catching.   I’ve spread word with the neighbors who’ve gotten used to my presence on their properties.  Although I saw him a few times when I got here tonight, I didn’t want to push it since cars were driving faster on the road and there was less visibility.  Tomorrow, I’ll give it my best shot for a couple hours.  He’ll be hungrier then.  I’ll set a deadline and then hit the road for Casper, either way.  I think my odds of catching the bugger are very, very slim at this point — but just something I have to try.

 

 

 

 

Most of today was spent up in the mountains.  Rockies, near the Tetons which I had never seen before.  Pine trees, rivers, lakes all that.  The passes were not as steep as the ones in Colorado for which Sparkle and I were grateful.  But there were several of those “wait for the pilot car” road construction delays.  Then, coming back down the east side of the mountains, it was flat and yellow again within minutes.

The morning started with a watermelon party in Evanston.  I’ve been hauling around this melon since Green River, UT which is quite famous for them.  Finally, time to crack it open.  It was the smallest one they had — which was huge — and only about $4.  Juicy and delicious as advertised:

 

I tried to get a doggie & melon photo-op — but just as I started to snap at this park, one of those rotating sprinklers came by.  Fix immediately jumped off the table and ran back into the van.  Nik and Grem closed their eyes but stayed in position.  Grippie didn’t seem to even notice the oddness of the spraying water.

 

Grip wanted no part of the melon.  She and Fix are not fruit eaters.  But I know from experience back home in off-leash Prospect Park where picnic-ers discard banana peels, spare rib bones, birthday cake, papaya pits, etc., that my youngsters would help me out with this thing.  Rind and all.

 

Moving on to Cokeville — the Valley Hi Motel.  I don’t know if those neon bits are meant to be snowflakes or flowers — but I love them.  If you like freestanding neon like this half as much as I do, you might want to check out my Flickr group:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/neonextensions/pool/

 

A quick little sidetrip over to Montpelier, ID.  This has got to be one of the world’s smallest A-frames.  Vacant – I’ve no idea of its original use.  Office?  Seems too tiny for even a bed.

Still Montpelier:

 

And up into the mountains we go.  Lots of stuff in Afton.   There’s a male counterpart to this cowgirl just up the road:

Some fun signs from Afton:

 

I’m pretty sure this circle-with-points was a stock design used by sign shops.  I like the extra effort of the colored letters of “COLOR TV”.

 

On to Jackson — which was far, far too touristy for me.  Mobs of lookie-lous & cars & traffic.  Amazing location though with steep ski mountain declines that just about drop right into town.

xx

 

The other side of this sign has neon – but was facing into the sun.  This is the side that faces away from town.  I prefer this side which reads “Nretsew” instead of “Western”:

 

 

Still in Jackson.  Obviously from the holes and the odd gap after the “r” in Kudar — that this place had another name originally.  Still, I like the shapes and the quadruple bullnose:

 

On to Dubois – quite a fun little town.

A log-shaped sign:

 

And we landed in Lander for the night.

 

Lots of northern & central Wyoming tomorrow.  If there are no hitches, I think we might be done with Wyoming by Friday and be a day ahead of schedule.

First, I should mention — especially since we have a lot of newcomers to this blog — that if you’re not following along with the nightly Flickr uploads on this trip, you’re missing half the show.  That’s where I post the higher quality, website-worthy subjects:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/

Secondly, if you check my blog post in the morning and, say, you’re on the East Coast and the sun is up — and the post isn’t up yet.  Fret not!   It means I just could not keep my eyes open any longer and needed to finish up the post in the morning.  If you are curious where the dogs and I have sacked out for the night — I update the notebox on this map each night with our location.  It’ll put your mind at ease that we weren’t killed and eaten by a bear.  Favorite it if you like:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/7546126074/

The forecasters got it right for a change:  beautiful sun all day long.  Quite different from yesterday’s aggravation.  And it meant I covered a lot of miles today.  Since it was Sunday and we were in remote places, traffic was light.  Still no tickets yet — but I was sure flying down those secondary highways today.  I think I’d better lighten up on the gas pedal tomorrow as my luck is probably running out.

The only bummer today was towards the very end of the day, I discovered that I had my camera on a wrong setting.  Which meant the photos were ALL somewhat overexposed.  Argh!!!  Fixable with Photoshop and you can hardly tell the difference — but I can!  Just not quite the clarity and color I should have had.  This happens to me every time I do a lot of night shooting like last night — and then I forget to reset.  I’m a little stupid with fatigue after 23 days.  Usually, I notice this within the first hour or two — but never the whole day!  I hope I’ve learned my lesson this time.

The shooting started in Laramie — so let’s begin there.  A Moose Lodge — wasn’t the Jackie Gleason character on TV a member?  Shooting directly into the morning sun here — best angle I could get:

More Laramie.  Busted neon projections:

Still Laramie.  A real tragedy.  I was really looking forward to seeing this sign.  What the hell happened?  Could wind or weather do this?  Here’s what the sign looked like originally:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/turbguy/2762911265/

From Saratoga — where the dogs got a nice dip in a big lake til they were all shivering like mad:

Lots of great stuff in Rawlins.  I couldn’t make out the original name of this place from the ghost letters.  Black & white vitrolite:

A comical mid-century updated Elks Lodge:

This eagle has seen some tough times.  Looks like it got banged up, a chunk replaced, repainted crudely — and now almost unrecognizable — without the name, I’d not even be able to make out what it was.  Don’t forget, or if you’re a newbie to this blog, all my photos are clickable (clicking on them takes you to a larger photo):

Moving on to Rock Springs.  Remember film?

A Wonder Bread quonset hut.  Still housing Hostess Foods and a Wonder Bread panel truck nearby.  The quonset hut building is suggestive of a loaf of bread, no?

On to Green River:

An incredible brewery building.  Note the giant chalices on top.   There’s also a keg detail on the side of the building.  More about the place here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweetwater_Brewery

On to Pinedale.  Way out of the way — but I went there for a giant trout.  And was rewarded with several incredible signs.  Here are a couple “junky” ones that don’t rate the Flickr stream or my website — but love them still:

On to La Barge to check out the situation with the Moondance Diner.  I had heard it was closed so I was prepared for that.  Great ambitions but I guess this little town (population ~ 400 people) and the scant amount of tourists couldn’t sustain it.  The diner was moved here a few years ago from my hometown of New York City.  It cost a fortune to transport it and fix it up.  Very sad.  Supposedly, built in the 1930s but you’d never know it now.  It looks so unauthentic inside and out (as it did in NYC before being moved) that  you gotta wonder why they didn’t just start from scratch and put up some modern Starlite diner or some icky fake-o retro build-on-site thing:

Shot thru the window:

Daylight ran out in Kemmerer.  Kinda funny portrait sign:

So that’s a wrap.  And a late one since it’s now 7am and I’m sitting in a grey haze in Evanston.  Not so lucky today maybe.  Although this stuff has a way of burning off.  I’m staring at a bunch of dinosaurs across the street that deserve some sunlight.  At the first glimmer of light, or after an hour, we’ll be off.  Northward and up into the mountains today.

Wyoming gave us quite a greeting:  the weather was changing every five minutes.   Winds, dust, rain, clouds, sun, hot, cold, and repeat.  And mix-it-up, repeat.  I really got to know Cheyenne well as I raced from one end of town to another — just missing the sun, waiting & then getting one of two shots in before it would start raining.  It was just crazy and time-consuming.  But I’m glad I stuck around and got things done right.  I have about a week to do my Wyoming list which doesn’t seem all that thick compared to the one from Colorado.  But I’m sure there will be traffic, weather, mountains, & distances that will get in the way.

The day started with finishing up in Colorado.  There, it was pretty miserable and grey.  But I had no time to wait it out — just had to shoot what I could with the weather I had and will have to make it up one day with sunny shots.

Let’s start with some stuff from Greeley, CO where the day began:

 

This one was lit last night — but I shamefully did not shoot it.  A beautiful turquoise.  I was just. so.  tired:

 

The store below this sign is now unrelated.  I assume the sign advertised for a photography studio:

 

This used car lot has a variation of the “bulb stick” — the red angled metal projects towards the street — now mostly holes where the bulbs would have been:

 

Now on to Wyoming — starting with Pine Bluffs:

 

I always visit this abandoned truck stop when I’m there.  Nothing has changed in forever.  The Valentine diner (not shown) is still there — quite a mess inside.

 

Today was a good day to stop at this place:  Mel Gould’s Buryville in Cheyenne.  All the whirlagigs were spinning like mad in the wind.  More about this place here:
http://detourarttravels.blogspot.com/2009/09/mel-goulds-buryville-in-cheyenne-wy.html

 

 

 

I know I posted a hellish map the other night from Denver.  For contrast, here’s a much more manageable one for Cheyenne.  I’m happy to be in smaller cities for a while.  Must remember to schedule bigger cities first if I have a choice efficiently so that I have the energy for them.  Better to taper down the insanity as the trip progresses:

 

 

On to Cheyenne.  An interesting building — looks like maybe a restaurant before it was a liquor store?  Strange alignment of the roof with the walls — I suspect a lot of altering took place:

 

 

Another oddball — with nicely done faux castle paint job:

 

 

From Wyoming Adventure Mini Golf — a simulation of Devil’s Tower National Monument:

 

 

 

 

And a whole bunch of fun signs from Cheyenne:

 

 

 

A former drive-in restaurant — still there on a used car dealer’s lot:

 

 

At a closed liquor store —

 

 

Now a fireworks stand on the lot.  I don’t know the original business for this lightning bolt sign:

 

 

Sorry to see that a lot of the neon for the Lincoln Popcorn Palace (yes, it’s official icky name)  was not working.  Maybe there was a recent hail storm or something:

 

 

OK — westward at the crack of dawn in the morning — on to more southern Wyoming.  The forecast is for all day sun. We’ve still got 15 more days left on this journey.  The dogs and I have settled into a groove now.  But 15 days will certainly be enough!

 

So, we’re not quite through with Colorado.  There were lots of delays today.  Up in the mountains — all kinds of nonsense with those one-lane-only, follow the pilot car affairs where you’d turn off the engine and wait.  And wait.  Like a half hour.  It happened to me about four times and I wanted to cry and scream.  I tried to doze but it was difficult because you were sure any minute now the person would flip the “stop” to “slow” sign around and you’d get blasted by a horn from the car behind you.

Then more traffic headaches on the interstates since it was Friday getaway day.  Started in the afternoon and crawled on I-25.  Side roads were no better with tons of traffic and lights.  The weather was pretty crummy as well.  Sorta sunny in the afternoon.  Nice sun when I was sitting doing nothing, of course.

And then to compound my fairly miserable mood, I got a few emails from needy, pissy people regarding Flickr & my website.  Really made me question why I’m doing all this.  I could be just hanging out with my dogs & reading or watching TV or going off to shoot neon signs at night.  But I’m saddled with this self-imposed homework of cropping, tweaking, writing, uploading…  I’ll stick it out for this trip.  And mull it over about next year’s trips.  I’m toying with the idea of using the blog for some other purpose — like a once in a while more composed & coherent sort of thing.  I’m sure I have a few fans that like tagging along for these nightly posts but really.  I’ve done this for five years now and maybe enough is enough.  Time to do something different?  Or maybe I’ll feel better in the morning.

Onward.  Let’s start with a sign from Leadville.  There was a nice sign right next to this one that’s gone now — so take those trips & see/shoot them while you can folks!

 

Also Leadville.  Sign-lovers know from that doo-hickey scaffolding on the roof that there was a hanging sign here previously.  I don’t know what it looked like:

 

A downer from Idaho Springs.  The King’s Derby — a landmark with locals and tourists — has been closed at least a year — with the name blanked out.  Here’s what it used to look like:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hyperjet/1230963426/

 

 

Also Idaho Springs.  Another nice example of a “sequin sign” — as described earlier in this trip at this post:
https://roadsidenut.wordpress.com/2012/07/24/day-4-still-stuck-in-chicagoland/

 

 

And last one for the night (hey, I know this was a short one but I did two posts tonight) — from Greeley where we stopped for the day.  I think the rainbow is a nice optimistic way to end it — better luck tomorrow, hopefully some sun and less traffic tie-ups.

 

 

We’ll make it to Wyoming tomorrow for sure!  I think it’ll be flat for a while which I’m really looking forward to.  These countless mountain passes for the past week or more have made me a wreck.

 

OK, let’s go back in time to yesterday.  Then I’ll go away for a couple of hours & prep today’s photos for Flickr & the Day 21 blog post.

Most of the day was pleasantly consumed visiting my friend, Sue, in Utah.

I’ve known her for maybe 15 years but have fallen out of touch since I dropped my agility obsession for this roadside obsession.  Sue Sternberg is a hero, god, inspiration, saint — in the world of dog rescue, behavior, and training.  She’s also gone out on a limb and been controversial at times which has pissed off a lot of people and made some enemies.  Which only makes her more of a heroine because she will always stand up for what’s right and based upon experience.  She deeply cares about ALL dogs and has spent a lifetime studying them and helping people understand and train them.  She’s also incredibly funny.  If she’s ever presenting a lecture or playing the fiddle anywhere near you, you must GO.  Her latest project, Train-to-Adopt™, will mean thousands or millions of more dogs will find good homes.
http://www.traintoadopt.com/

And here’s a typical little training video of Sue working with a random shelter dog at a seminar — showing what positive dog training is all about — and the power of cheese!!  (love you Sue!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDEkBeYiQok

And here’s Sparkle loaded up with my guys and two of Sue’s four dogs.  The big ones are hers — but you knew that.   This was after a big hikie — so their tongues were down to their knees.  It was h-o-t:

 

I did manage to sneak in some shooting afterwards.  I went down to Blanding for a few things — some signs & a Dinosaur Museum.  I’d seen photos of some incredibly detailed dinosaur models — that was enough reason for me.  There were little ones and big ones — the museum founded by the artist and author himself, Steven Czerkas.   Here’s a cute feathery pair of small dinos:

But the place is so much more than just statues.  There’s a big pop culture collection with all things dinosaurian:  comic books, ceramics & plastics, movie posters, etc.

I’d say well worth the schlepp to Blanding if you’re anywhere nearby:
http://www.dinosaur-museum.org/

 

A couple of signs from Blanding — my bet is “DORMS” read “MOTEL” originally (the right number of blocks) — and who knows what the original name was.  What turns me on are the descending triangles going from itty-bitty to big.  Weather was changing her as you can see.  From so-so to worse:

A former drive-in in Blanding:

 

About the only decent vintage sign in situ in Moab (there are two nice neon signs on display at Hole N’ the Rock):

 

Got a little bit of sun in Green River before things got really nasty — so the rest of tonight’s Utah post is from there:

 

Much to admire at Ben’s:

 

 

A chubby arrow — most likely reworked for Ray’s:

 

 

An example of what I call a “bulb stick” a day or two ago in a previous post:

 

And last one for the night, from Green River, this sign was built from an airplane wing:

OK — going away now to work on tonight’s photos for Flickr & blog post Part II from Colorado.

Today was my first and only night off from Flickr & the blog for this marathon trip.  Most of the day was spent visiting with a friend.  In the afternoon, I got some more Utah shots which I’ll share with you in the next post.  Sparkle and I are rested and ready!  Finishing up Colorado today and moving on to Wyoming.

Halfway where?  We’re officially halfway through this trip.  When folks ask me where I’m going on my “vacation”, and I say “Colorado and Wyoming”.  And they ask, “where in Colorado?”  And I reply, “everywhere”.   They look kind of baffled.  Uh, yeah, this insanity is not how most people would spend their vacations.  I guess they have some sort of destination — and then they sit around when they get there.  How boring.  Maybe I’ll learn to relax in a couple of decades.

So, I covered lots of ground today:  the northeast corner of Utah and lots of low-key towns in northern Colorado.  Then all the way back to Grand Junction to set myself up for a Moab visit with a friend tomorrow.  Sparkle deserves a day — or at least part of the day off.  She’s been climbing some killer mountains the past few days.  I’m thinking maybe I should have the brakes checked before we tackle Wyoming.  They feel fine — but jeez, they’ve really been getting a workout on the descents.

The dogs may be begging and screaming when they see or smell rivers.  But I’ve been holding out for lakes.  And there have been plenty.  The rivers are all very fast-moving and I don’t want to take any chances.   Especially with the semi-blind boy who might get disoriented and end up who-knows-where.

On with the photos.  A couple of signs in Vernal, UT that I hadn’t noticed before despite having been here about three times now.  Very distracted by the dinosaurs I think.

 

 

I forgot to upload this photo yesterday from Palisade, CO.  This area is big on fruit orchards — especially peaches.  And since peaches are maybe my favorite fruit, I bought a bunch of them.  This type is called “red globes”:

 

 

I’ve eaten about four of them already — juicy & wonderful:

 

 

A couple great signs in Meeker, CO — and beautiful vitrolite on the drug store.  That swirly marble type.  I talked to the owner a bit and he seemed interested in fixing the broken pieces so I passed along Tim Dunn’s info.   He also hopes to get the neon on the sign working again.  Right now, only the “Drugs” part is lit.

 

The interior is also wonderful:

 

 

Ooops, almost forgot to include this one from Vernal, UT.  Maybe my favorite sign there.  As I was shooting, the manager came out and gave me a postcard.  I took a photo of it for you.   It would probably come out better on a scanner — but the sign part of the image was very small anyway.  Still, I thought it was interesting to see that there was previously a cowboy and Welcome sign here.  The “uh oh” news is that there is a new motel about to go up next door — and the owner of this place may sell out.  Meaning, this sign might disappear soon.

 

 

From Craig, CO:

 

 

Also from Craig — a very abandoned place:

 

 

From Steamboat Springs — this building houses CenturyLink.  The tower houses some sort of satellite stuff.  Sort of like dish TV things but not.  It’s a very quirky building to be right downtown and sort of dominate the low-level skyline.  1960s or 1970s, I’d assume:

 

 

Last one for the night — from Kremmling:

 

 

I’m not sure how much of tomorrow will be consumed by socializing.  I’m torn between taking a real break — and finishing Colorado.  I’ll check in with you tomorrow evening even if very briefly, photos or not.  And then I’ll probably do a double post on Friday night.