Well, I call it Southern Illinois even though some of this stuff is technically Central Illinois.  That’s just how my atlas splits the state (half and half) so I’m going with it.

Anyhow.  What a day!  Absolutely perfect weather (sunny but much cooler), well-behaved “children” (for the most part), and tons of great photos.  It was hard to choose which ones to use for here and Flickr.  I should definitely be able to wrap up the Illinois stuff and move on to Indiana tomorrow.  Hopefully, it’ll be just as nice and productive then/there.  Only two more days to shoot — panic mode!

On with the show since it’s late and I have so much to post.  The day started out in West Frankfort.  I’d made note to shoot this cute cottage gas station first thing before I left town.  Only to discover this Vess soda machine next to it.  I was still too bleary (lack of sleep) and delighted (never seen a Vess machine before) to check to see whether it was still operational.  50 cents seems cheap for a canned drink — but maybe.

From Johnston City.  Uh-oh, I’m not liking the look of that crumbling base:

I went to Harrisburg to shoot two signs.  Turned out, they were both gone.  No good signs left there now.  At least this is firmly in place so it won’t be sold off or destroyed.  Let’s hope it’s landmarked in some way:

I believe this sign is modern — and part of a chain — but still fun.  Even by day, the neon was on:  barrel outlined in green, text in red:

In DuQuoin, I was humored by this bit of politically incorrect stereotyping:

Only to find out as I got further into town that this Indian is actually the symbol/mascot of the local high school.  Wow, kind of shocking, no?

Another Indian in DuQuoin at Atkins Custom Floors.  A different style since he’s the advertising icon for Mohawk Carpets:

One more place in DuQuoin.  I asked the guy working inside about these red ballies.  He had no idea.  Said the building was a Ford dealership a long, long time ago.  Is it possible that these were globes?  No sign of such detail though.

From Ashley:

This Arch tribute / camping sign is in Mount Vernon.  About an hour and a half from St. Louis but a straight shot:

This is what my rear view mirror view is at least half the day:

At the Restwell Motel in Salem, there were two of these neat neon marker signs.  I’ve not seen these before:

Lots of fun stuff from Centralia (my first time there):

at the Sports Bar & Golf Gallery:

Truth in advertising (still):

One more from Centralia:

And lastly, from Shelbyville.  A gorgeous showroom at Leach Wilson Chevrolet (poke at Flickr if you’re interested) and behind it, three of these nice OK signs (Chevy’s used car seal-of-approval):

The day was spent in this odd little intersection of four states.  Small towns & very little actual picture-taking.  There were destinations here and there that I’ve wanted to see for years — so, done.  The first half of the day we were under a completely grey sky so just as well that we were in Nowhere-Land and the shooting volume was low.  Shooting should be more active now that we’re entrenched in Illinois for probably a couple more days. I’ve decided to focus my efforts here and do some Indiana if there’s time.

Running very late here.  Finishing this up in the AM as the sun is coming up on the horizon.  So let’s dive in.  A couple from Caruthersville, MO.  These freestanding letters appear to be porcelain enamel.  Never seen such a thing — usually these are stainless steel:
 

And another thing new to me — a small square Rx sign.  It’s installed on the side of the building and makes me wonder if it wasn’t part of a larger sign.  A neat plastic under-canopy sign as well — also odd to be on the side of a building. No entrance there.  There’s also an old blue oval Rexall sign at this drug store.

This neon “extension” fishie is installed on top of the White’s Landing sign in Tiptonville, TN which is right on/near Reelfoot Lake.

While the dogs were playing at that lake, we were approached in the distance by three curious local dogs (obviously residents, not feral).  Grem, a fraction of their size, saw them and chased and terrified them for a bit.  The three locals came back about five minutes later but watched us from afar.

I’m glad that we have finally crossed the Mississippi River for the last time.  It’s been hell the past few days with this winding route taking us back and forth over it.  Nik has been screaming his brains out whenever he sees it.  But with the speed that it’s moving, I’ve been refusing to indulge him.  Sticking to smaller streams and lakes.

In Mayfield, KY, I noticed this group of statues in a cemetery from an overpass and had to spin back to investigate it.  I’m glad even the dogs got recognition.  Here’s a bit about this place:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wooldridge_Monuments

Cairo, IL is one depressing town. A few nice neon signs and a great armory amidst the abandoned rubble.  The buildings must have been spectacular at one time.  Here’s a bit about the place:
http://users.stlcc.edu/jangert/cairo/cairo.html
Here’s a bit of the monumental chaos:

From Cape Girardeau, MO.  A nice embossed plastic sign and a three part bulb arrow.  Never seen such an arrow.

From a strip club in East Cape Girardeau, IL (though according to Google, this could be McClure, IL).  I had to do a big U-turn for this one — two bizzaro vehicles.  Tacky but captivating:

One more vehicle.  A delivery truck in Anna, IL at the Home of Bunny Bread.  They also had white Astro vans just like Sparkle with the Bunny logos on them.

Let’s wrap it up with a sign from Metropolis, IL (no, didn’t buy any – they were closed for the day):

It was a low volume day in terms of picturing taking.  High volume in terms of coffee and snack consumption.  Boredom dictated it.  Lots of miles with few stops and plenty of one-photo towns in the southern tips of IL & MO.  Tomorrow, probably more of the same – in pretty much the same type area.  Plus a tiny bit of nearby TN.  Less populated, more rural areas have far fewer of the subjects that I like to shoot.  So this and the next post may be short.  Unless I start shooting landscapes — naaaah. 

Only four days left to shoot — then Sunday will be a hellish interstate day heading home.  I’ll probably focus on southern IL & IN.  No time to be thorough about them either.  The rest of those stops and OH/KY will have to wait until next spring’s trip.

The day pretty much started in Collinsville, IL.  Here are a couple shots from there.  A colorful Independent Order of Odd Fellows sign:

I have a weakness for all things relating to coal mining.  This building detail from the Miner’s Institute:

Although I got no feedback from anybody about the guy I shot with the motorized 4-wheeled bike thing, I will not be discouraged!  In Belleville, IL, I made a big illegal U-turn for this woman and raced to catch up.  She pulled into the McDonald’s and parked which made it easier than a motion shot.  And a far better result with her pose and smile.

A couple signs from Belleville.  Those are painted holes — how strange!  Too bad about the altered text.

This sign has probably seen nine lives.  Still a neat and weird doctor figure:

Snack time!  I have never tried this classic candy.  Although it was way overpriced, I went for it.  How bad could anything with chocolate and marshmallow be?  It turned out to be defective.  I could barely open the wrapper since the contents of one of the candies had leaked out.  The other one was fairly intact but the chocolate tasted stale.  I give this one a D (also for disgusting).  Or maybe I just had a bad batch.
http://www.valomilk.com/

Perhaps equally disgusting to you — though a normal part of my life.  My eager passengers create a lot of window schmear with their noses.  It’s really not as bad-looking as this — I just caught the glare right so you can see it.  My side is perfectly clean.  This is maybe two days worth — that’s what Fantastic and paper towels are for. 

Let’s close with a little bit of a detective story.  I have long wondered if there is anything left of the Greyhound station in Flat River, MO:

Turns out there’s nothing left of Flat River really since it’s become part of Park Hills now.  But I got the scoop on where the building was from the Chamber of Commerce.  So there you go:  now a laundromat — its curved corners are the only thing left (nothing worth mentioning inside).

Here’s the same building design in Waverly, TN that I shot in 2007.   Still there but repurposed as you can see.  More photos & info about the bldg at my site here:
http://agilitynut.com/bus/tn.html

We’re in the home stretch now.  A week from now and I’ll be back at work in Manhattan.  It seems like I’ve been out here for two months already — has it seemed that long to you?  I’m physically drained but there’s still so much to shoot.  The remaining packets for the states between here and home are probably two weeks worth.  Hopefully, I can tack on some of it to the TX/OK trip next spring. 

A few hours in the morning were spent in downtown St. Louis.  If you’re following my Flickr stream as well on this trip, you may recall this photo uploaded a day or two ago of the Sky Bank in Wellston:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/4914617805/

I came across this thing downtown which looks an awful lot like it.  Could there have been two?  Or was this created recently as an homage?

 

This building from the 1920s originally housed the Shell Oil Company:

A random architectural detail shot from a building nearby:

Wonderful Moderne letters:

Before we leave St. Louis, how about a couple shots of the Gateway Arch.  I love it so.  Here are some facts about the structure:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gateway_Arch
I’m trying to think how many 1960s buildings/structures are different cities’ primary emblems.  There’s the Space Needle in Seattle.  What else?

The first stop in Illinois today was to visit the French Village Drive-in sign which is in storage in Sauget.  Here’s a photo of the sign upright:
http://www.eco-absence.org/esl/drivein/025.jpg

A couple signs from Madison:

This building in Alton is perforated with loads of mini windows:

Lately, there’s a whole lot of siesta going on.

Except for the Ever Vigilant One who is perched on my arm 95% of the day — just waiting for the next important thing to manic-ly bark at.  Usually right  in my eardrum.

In Staunton.  Used to be a gas station / truck stop / restaurant. Now nothing.

In Breese — this guy is on the roof of the Dairy King Drive-in.  They’ve been around since 1951 and I had assumed that this guy might have been saved from a previous building.  But after poking around at their website, it seems the building was remodeled in 2002 and this guy is only as old as that.  He conceals the grill exhaust. More businesses should follow suit and do something artistic with those ugly hunks of metal on their roofs. 

And lastly, something refreshing to look at I hope.  It’s been in the 90s lately out here and probably similarly hot wherever you are.  Unless you live in San Francisco which I hear has been chilly.  There’s a Ski soda production plant in Breese — so naturally the Dairy King has all the flavors on tap.  I bought this at a corner grocery store.  I rate it a so-so.  Not enough carbonation for me but I’m a Diet Coke addict.  I’d also expected something a little more tart.  But I love the label and this bottle just might make it home to Brooklyn.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ski_(soda)

Wow, what a whirlwind tour of St. Louis it was today!  I’m beat.  I took a million great photos (thanks Mr. Sun) and have a whole bunch to post here tonight.  There were some ornery clouds now (blocking the sun).  But I’ve learned to be patient a few minutes at times.   I don’t know when I’ll be back in Missouri next — and you never know if the photo you take today might be the very last one taken.  When we least expect it, here comes a natural disaster (tornado, etc.) or human aesthetic error (remodeling / plastic box sign replacement).

Sparkle and the dogs — all A-OK.  Three big grassy romps for them today and then back into the AC which is running flawlessly.  We all miss the lakes and rivers though.  We should be out of the urban jungle tomorrow at some point.  On the agenda:  wrapping up St. Louis downtown stuff, then a big chunk of Illinois just across the river (forgot about that decent-sized chunk), and then hopefully starting another decent stack of stuff for SE corner of Missouri.  I think this could easily be two days now that I think about it. 

Let’s get to it.  Early in the day, I came across this delightful guy.  I’m not sure how his motorized contraption works but it made no noise at all!  Maybe he’s a St. Louis icon for all I know — if not, he should be.  Speeding along near Forest Park:

Lots of old Anheuser-Busch / Budweiser signs in St. Louis.  Including the gigantic one on the interstate which even I am to scared to pull over and shoot.  It looked fantastic as I was driving by at dusk tonight.  Flapping wings and all.  I wonder how many accidents it has caused?  Well, these lesser Bud signs are still damned nice.  Many of them are triangulated two-siders.

Time for a snack!  One of my purchases at a Schnuck’s Super Center last night was this little item.  The lime green color got my attention in the deli case and I was perusing for my usual cheese or meat (dogs) snacks.  It’s called Watergate Salad — and I guess everyone’s heard of it but me.  Watergate?  Like Nixon’s Watergate?  It’s main ingredient is pineapple and then a long list of chemicals.  Reluctant but curious.  I did my on-line research later and it’s supposedly pistachio that gives it that color.  Yeah, right.  The pineapple chunks are dark green like cucumber skin.  It basically tastes like pineapple and whipped cream.  So yeah, sweet, very sweet, and creamy!  Three dogs loved it — Grippie wouldn’t touch it.  The only other thing she won’t eat is citrus.

Your opinion matters.  When shooting signs, I often wonder, particularly with these skeletal types, whether to shoot with clouds — or without.  Sometimes just standing a foot or two away in a different spot produces such different results.  So, would you prefer this guy with a pure blue sky — or the way he is?  Oh, and by the way, this neon martini is at Danno’s Pub:

Simple and serious, neglected but beautiful:

This pile-up of a sign probably started with just the neon, don’t you think?  Nice colorful fins.  But the clock has ancient deco-y fins also — so maybe not — maybe one big silly unit?  Trees.  You love them, you hate them.  They can be real troublemakers.  And I have no plans to do a Midwest trip in the winter just to get bare branches in the way instead.

In the window of Hobby Station in Kirkwood.  I assume this is an oldie:

More fun Bud stuff.  I assume these were mass-produced but I’ve never seen one like it before:

Lest we forget where we are.  I’m surprised there are not more arch-y sign references in town.  Maybe at one time.

A neon & bulb extravaganza.  Something nasty ripped that upper left hand corner of the red sign.  How could that be?  Not the usual truck suspect here:

An example of the triangulated method (although this one is almost flat).  Visible from any direction.  I can’t think of any city that has so many.

More colorful, deco-y frills:

A sort of bizarre mix of shapes.  This just can’t be original trio, right?  To me, it looks like these pieces were moved from another/other sign(s) into this frame.

A shocking reminder to us all to be careful out there.  I hope this impact was a tree not a motorcycle.

Let’s just call this the downward spiral of civilization:

and the architectural atrocity of the day award goes to:

How ’bout that!  A few surviving neon Red Goose Shoe signs out there — but I’ve never seen a plastic one (in life or on-line).  The store is now some artsy thing so I don’t know if this will be sticking around much into the future:

Merb’s.  Just love the name.  Please don’t ruin my fantasy and tell me that it’s a last name.  I want to believe that 80-year old Merb is up on that ladder every month replacing those bulbs when they go out.  A pinky glow tells me the neon works perfectly.  Oh, sure enough — thanks Lynne:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25726169@N03/4555915827/

And I’ll leave you with this one that perplexed the heck out of me.  Strange lights and loudspeaker — but for what?  And this is no artsy-fartsy neighborhood where this could be dismissed as sculpture.

The mid-section of Missouri took far longer than I had planned on.  Slowing me down was dreary grey in the morning, followed by dense clouds, and lots of slow weekend drivers.

Clouds are lovely when there are just a few of them, preferably behind your subject and not blocking the sun.  Too many behind the subject, and it’s a field of icky white making for a flat, lifeless photo.  Today, I found  myself standing around waiting for the sun to peek through the clouds enough to put some light on my subject.  Annoying.  I spent more time looking at the sun’s position in the clouds and waiting for it, then actually taking photos.  Luckily, I didn’t encounter any crazed business owners with clenched fists ready to smash my camera or me while I stood around. 

When the sun would come out in a big way, I’d find myself speeding like a maniac between destinations.  So far, no tickets in Missouri — and just a warning in Kansas.  So the tally so far is:  1 speeding ticket and 2 warnings.   Yes, it could have been worse — it could have remained overcast all day or rained.  I’m hoping the forecasters are right about tomorrow — all sun.  I have an enormous stack of St. Louis stuff to get through. 

Densely urban, I’m not sure how I’ll entertain the dogs.  Yesterday, I found a huge business park lake — no one around since it was a Saturday.  Everybody went for a swim.  It’s been humid and 90s as far back as I can remember.  Resident-looking ducks are an indication to me that the water’s chemicals or pollutants can’t be too toxic for the dogs.  Grass and empty lots I always seem to find anywhere but water is always my goal for them.

On with the photos.  The Gardenway / Diamonds sign is a behemoth.  Sources disagree whether this is in Gray Summit or Villa Ridge.

This photo from Washington.  Very few of these Western Auto signs left.  This one has old-fashioned illuminating lamps above:

A couple more from Washington.  I don’t know if this Parmentier Auto Body sign is new or old. Apparently, they’ve been around since 1939 so perhaps this was an old sign and transferred to a new sign.  The white is neon while the blue (metal or plastic?) supports it.

This chainsaw art is in front of the Pepsi-Cola plant:

Too bad it was a Saturday as I had really wanted to meet David Hutson at Neon Time (repairs and custom work) in St. Charles.  I did manage a couple photos through the windows.  Maybe if this St. Louis stuff take longer than it should, and it might, I can swing back there on Monday to see what other goodies are hiding.

A modern sign but I’m a sucker for penguin signs:
http://www.agilitynut.com/sca/penguins.html
This is at Doozle’s Frozen Custard in Florissant:

Really nice, mid-century modern glass details at this library:

This donut shop in St. Ann is now a daycare center but the sign remains:

I think we’re into St. Louis proper for the remaining photos.  This building has always intrigued me.  The lettering says Progressive Cafeteria but I don’t know the original tenant.  I believe that “development coming soon” sign has been there since at least 2005.

A two-fer:  a nice classic blue porcelain enamel sign and the Sky Bank tower (I posted a separate photo of it at Flickr tonight).  This is from Wellston rather than St. Louis.

I was in Fitz’s to shoot the Houn’ Dog Drive-in sign inside.  This restaurant has a watch-em-work window where you can see root beer being bottled:
http://www.fitzsrootbeer.com/

Dramatic stuff on the East side of town:

Quite often, people have commented at Flickr about how they can’t believe I was in such-and-such an area or that they would never get out of the car there.  After 10 years or so of taking pictures, I can’t think of anyplace that I’m afraid of.  Not to worry — I don’t think I’m stupid about it.  I’m always aware of who’s hanging around.  I’m usually dressed pretty slovenly and Sparkle’s got a nice coating of dirt on her right now.  I hardly look like a tourist or worth the effort of robbing.  Usually the best and most interesting stuff is in the poor parts of town where it’s remained neglected and safe from developers. 

This place is one such find in a not-so-nice neighborhood.  I just park straddling the curb 10 feet away and pop out to shoot & jump back in.  Not enough time for anyone to hardly notice or yell anything at me.

Let’s close with a few photos of one of my new fave St. Louis buildings.  I bumped into the DeBalievere Building today — had never heard of it before.  Stunning detail.  For more, Andrew Raimist has some photos over at Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/search/?s=int&z=t&w=56787592%40N00&q=debaliviere&m=tags&z=t&z=t

Good weather for the most part.  Some sun, some clouds, and then in the afternoon some rain.  Which gave me a good excuse to pull over and SLEEP for a half hour.  Still felt awful when I woke up (general exhaustion) — but I can tell I have way more energy than normal now.  Hoping for lots of sun this weekend as we have a big marathon in St. Louis ahead of us.  The forecast right now is for thunderstorms Saturday and full sun on Sunday.  I think if it rains, I’ll take another nap(s).  I really want to get these photos right.

The day started in Lebanon.  This oldie on old Route 66 advertised for the Satellite Cafe (long gone).  I wish I could find a vintage photo showing whatever was on top of this sign:

Another in Lebanon.  The place appears to still be open:

On to the Lake Ozark region.  I’d never been there before and it was pretty exciting.  Much more exciting than Branson.  Admist all the new development, and there was a LOT, there were still some lingering treasures.  For now.

This one’s from Osage Beach.  Closed now but it has quite a history:
http://www.cmshowcase.org/halloffame/Lee%20Mace/lee_mace.htm

From Lake of the Ozarks:

A couple more from Lake of the Ozarks. The Rebel Arcade has the funkiest, most rundown but still open mini golf course I’ve ever seen.  And Lord knows, I’ve seen many in my pursuits:

I’m glad this sign has been saved — but really, quite the injustice.  At least the bulb arrow hasn’t been stripped:

Oh, and yes, the dogs did take a dip in this Lake Ozark.  They insisted.  I followed the signs to the State Park and after several miles out of my way, finally found a boat launch area which is always an easy solution.  Nik befriended an Amish or Mennonite family and the kids got quite a kick of throwing his ball for him.  Grippie wandered off in some woods and scared the crap out of me for awhile (thinking she might be lost).  As she’s gotten older, there’s a bit of Mr. Magoo attitude developing (wandering off and  responding to my calling her).  I’m not sure how great her distance hearing is right now.

I saw a few of these signs / stations around today.  Had never seen them before so it must be a regional brand.  The stations themselves were pretty boring looking so I didn’t shoot them:

And lastly for today, the Rolla Burger Family saga.  Back in 2006, when I first saw these guys, there was the entire family of four standing on the roof of a tractor-trailer:
http://agilitynut.com/giants/aw.html

The Teen disappeared sometime around 2009.  And now, it would  appear that entire family is gone.  I thought I’d ask what happened with them.  It took me quite a lot of back and forth driving just to find the place since the “Discount Grocery” building is now hidden behind a few well-worn mobile homes.  No one seemed to be around so I took a peek in the building.  Trespassing, me?  Bingo!  There were Mama and Papa amongst all the junk — but no sign of Baby.  More than this, I do not know.

The morning got off to a slow start in Branson which was way tackier in a modern way than I’d imagined (never been there before).  I thought this was nice/fun for a new sign though:

One of the very few oldies in town:

Then we were off for a lot of windy roads and one-stops in small towns.  This one is in Forsyth. That’s a C-152 Lectra on top — like this one (note video in the caption):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/4881474940/

I found an old postcard of the place and it appears they originally had a Neo-Lectra (produced by the same company) in its place:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/huffstutterrobertl/4363978084/sizes/o/in/photostream/

More about Neo-Lectras here:
http://www.agilitynut.com/sca/roto2.html

This sign’s from Cabool:

This soda sign is above an antiques dealer in Ava:

A former Dog N Suds in West Plains:
http://www.agilitynut.com/eateries/dsuds.html

Moving on to a big town now — Springfield where I got to shoot some new stuff (old but new to me) and check on lots of stuff I hadn’t seen in five years.  Anybody know what Anton’s was originally?  Apparently, some sort of drive-in.

Lots of other great signs in Springfield:

These signs are behind the Mexican Villa:

I’ve seen several of these buildings on this trip.  I’m assuming they were initially banks.  This is the first I’ve seen with this plastic ball which appears to be original:

Just wonderful.  From the inflation level of the tires, it doesn’t appear that they drive this Muffler Car around anymore.  Pipes on front and back.

Last one for the day — also from Springfield.  A very sign-heavy posting today — hope you don’t mind.  It’s not that I prefer signs over buildings — it’s just that they tend to be more plentiful and less messed-with than buildings.  While this Danny’s sign appears to be nothing special, take a look at the scroll-y neon surrounding it.  I haven’t seen that before.

Here’s the plan, if you’re interested.  Tomorrow will be more I-44 hugging towns — up to the Lakes region.  Then the weekend should be all St. Louis.  Monday or Tuesday wrapping up SE Missouri.  Then the rest of the trip, hitting a prioritized sampling of the other states en route to home.  Five weeks is a long time away.  My email inbox is bursting.  I’ve got enough photos for the site to keep me busy til spring.  And it would be nice to be getting more sleep and eating more salads.

So I’m about 5 days behind schedule at this point.  But I fully intend to give the lower half of Missouri a thorough go and ditch the rest of the states if I have to.  All is grand here.  Sparkle’s running great.  Clouds in the morning gave way to sunny skies around noon.  I’m writing this the morning after and it looks like another sunny one — not a cloud in the sky.  So I’m thinking hot.  After a couple 70 degree days, yesterday was in the 90s.

Let’s get to it so I don’t waste time writing when I could be shooting.  The morning was spent still in Kansas gathering goodies in the southeast corner.  Just had to stop in at the Six O One Donut Shop just because of the donut on the roof.  Got one donut and a fried cherry pie.  Donut (breakfast) was so-so.  Pie (dinner) was unreal good.

If you’re a sign lover — no, I mean REALLY a sign lover, then this is for you.  I stumbled upon this one in Fort Scott, KS.  It’s a super oldie and I’ve never seen anything like it.  Backlit opal glass letters incorporated into a metal strip flush with the building.  Pre-neon, the letters were let with bulbs behind them.  Backlit opal glass is rare enough — but this format is just incredible.  The very few BOG examples that I know of are on normal, projecting signs — like this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/4434080682/

There’s one of those Egyptian birds (braindead and can’t remember the name right now) at the center of the composition.  Here’s a detail showing a broken letter:

On to Missouri — this crime against architecture was committed in Nevada, MO.  According to CinemaTreasures.com (the best movie theatre site, hands down), this theatre was built in 1910 and remodeled in 1950s. It got this look in 1992.  They spared no expense, huh?  While the bulb “Fox” sign is fine, could they have put those air conditioning units anywhere else — like the roof?  How about those crappy sides on the left side?

But there appear to be some folks in Nevada with aesthetics.  Witness this intelligent (some might say garish) paint job on this stunner of a building:

One more “grab” (a Flickr word that annoys me) from Nevada.  I fear these soda signs will all disappear one night in a nationwide massacre.

This sign in Lamar still looks good despite being denuded of its neon:

This rusty rooftop sign from Jasper.  This ice cream stand is still alive and kicking:

This one’s hard to see, I know, but I’ll include it anyway.   Also from Jasper.  It’s basically a couple painted plywood figures (corncob smoking farmer & dog) installed with tractor. Sweet.

From Joplin, in front of HomePro.  Love this guy.  Love all construction worker type signs.  Okay, maybe any signs with people.  Or animals or things or…  I can’t tell whether this is entirely new — or a replica of an older version — or a combo of the two (same frame, new panels):

The dogs got some good running and some good sleeping today.  Grippie has perfected the art of sleeping standing up:

More from Joplin.  Apparently, a liquor store sign repurposed as a Coke bottle — great!

While at Carousel Park to check out the old mini golf, I noticed this little guy near the entrance. Appears to be a chubby English Bobbie (cop) – do they still call them that?  I’ve never seen this style statue before but imagine they must’ve been mass-produced.

 Another rusty — now missing its business:

And last one for the day — from Sarcoxie.  I have re-entered the Ozark Mountain region so it’s appropriate to include this one.  Although hillbilly imagery has gotten incredibly rare.  This was at a gas station, turned souvenir/fireworks stand, now long closed.  Worth clicking large.

Sun’s up — gotta go!

What a difference 24 hours can make.  Gorgeous skies yesterday = glorious photos.  Today, rain & grey all day until 8:30pm.  Luckily, it was a day when I had relatively unimportant stuff to shoot and lots of little one or two stop towns.  Tomorrow, really hoping for some good sun again since it’s the start of Missouri and high volume shooting planned.

The dogs got some good running and swimming in before the weather went from icky to awful.  I was a bit hungover in the morning — slight headache & woozyish.  Although I probably only had the equivalent of two small drinks from that pitcher, my body is not used to alcohol.  But it was fun nevertheless.  Good to celebrate but not really a rejuvenating night off though. 

 Just 12 more days to go — I think I can pace myself for the rest of the way.  Looking at the stack for Missouri though, I feel a bit of a mad panic to do a thorough job of that chunk.  I’d guess there’s close to a week’s worth right there even working at a rapid clip.

Slim pickins today for Flickr & the blog.  I’m just not motivated to share the grim greyness of it all.

A sign from Independence — washed out white sky.  Yeesh.

A neat entrance gate for the Burlington Veterinary Center (in Burlington):

This sunken relief (what’s the word? my brain is gone)  is at Fairfield Elementary School in Chanute.  It reminded me of the one I uploaded to Flickr a couple days ago — maybe the same artist?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/4892553337/

I uploaded a couple photos tonight at Flickr from Trotnic Recycling in Parsons.  The next couple photos are also from there.  I guess this was an idea that didn’t work out:  a gas station themed mini golf.

Among the gas station related stuff, there was also this neat circus wagon:

Time for a snooze — finally caught up!  And hoping for lots of much prettier photos for you tomorrow.