Reports From the Road #7: Suitcase Full of Memories

Our long drive began yesterday morning in Pittsburg, Kansas, and it. ended as we turned into our designated parking spot at our condo building in downtown Chattanooga. And with that, our Summer 2020 vacation adventure also came to an end. It had been a lovely day driving the backroads of Kansas, Missouri, and western Tennessee, winding around farm fields on roads named M, B, EE, and J, being up close and personal with golden fields of corn, wheat, and soybean, and truly, truly feel that we were seeing America in a way that can only be done by driving the backroads. What a magnificent way to end a vacation.

We are bringing a suitcase full of memories home with us, and Debbie and I talked about an relive many of them during our drive home. We got to spend time with both of our daughters and sons-in-law, play with our granddog, play games, hike amazing trails, eat and drink together in memorable settings, paddle board, enjoy live music, and laugh together endlessly.  Because they live so far away, these moments with family are more precious than gold.

We unloaded the car and got everything on the elevator in one trip, brought it all into our condo and began unpacking. I found the rolls of film I had shot and put them in the refrigerator. Both cameras still have rolls in them as well. I will develop the black and white film right away. The Ektachrome color slide film will go to a lab (The Darkroom). Or maybe not. I’m considering ordering an E-6 developing kit and doing it myself. In addition to the two rolls of Ektachrome I shot on the trip, I had another exposed roll plus two fresh roll. That’s five rolls of Ektachrome altogether, and I could really save some money by doing it myself. I’ve done E-6 before; it’s really not any more difficult than doing C-41 for color negative film, which I do all the time.

I hope you have enjoyed reading these Reports From the Road. I certainly enjoyed writing them, as the process of writing them helped to sharpen the experiences of our trip in my mind and heart. And yes, I will share the photographs when I have those finished as well.

Thank you for coming along for the ride.

Kevin

Reports From the Road #6 Homeward Bound

The worst thing about vacations is that they must come to an end eventually. The trick is to make as memories as you can while you have the chance, so that when the vacation does conclude itself, it will continue to live on in cherished memories that, unlike the vacation itself, never ends. Make hay while the sun shines, as they say.

Lake Chatfield

With that in mind, we set out to make a our last full day with Megan and Devin a day for the memories. To this end, we went stand-up paddle boarding at Chatfield State Park, which is south of Denver. Debbie and I first tried paddle boarding a year ago in Daytona Beach, Florida, and fell in love with it, so much so we be bought our own boards. Chatfield Lake is a large man-made reservoir that is perfect for SUP, due to the fact that no boats are allowed. This means no wake, and standing on the paddle boards is much easier. We we paddled around the lake, we were treated to a great view of the front range of the Rockies. Not a bad way to spend your last day of vacation.

When we were done paddle boarding, we drove back to Megan and Devin's home to get ready for supper. Once again, Devin was the chef, and his tacos and his quacamole was outstanding.
While the meal was being prepared, I made an effort to spend some time with Megan and Devin's dog, Darlin'. Darlin’ Dog became our granddog ten and a half years ago when Megan rescued her from a shelter in Nashville. I will never forget meeting her for the first time when Megan came to visit us shortly after, and we fell in love with her straightway. Darlin’ is a mix of two breeds:  Rhodesian ridgeback and beagle, 

and she is totally devoted to Megan and to anyone Megan loves, which includes us. Debbie is “G Mommy,” and I am “G Daddy.” While a bit nervous around strangers, with us she is the ultimate herder and protector. Even though she is approaches her tenth birthday and is slowing down some, she still has such great love for the people who love her. I love her as much as I would a grandchild, and I cherish every minute I get to spend with her. She’s a good dog indeed!

When this morning (Tuesday) came, we got up early and said our goodbyes to Megan and Darlin’ (Devin, who has to work late tonight, was having a sleep-in, and we said our goodbyes last night), and we Point per our little Volkswagen Rabbit toward I-70 East and set out for home, sad for the departure but happy for the many memories we carry home with us. Hopefully, I will have some good photographs as well. We stayed on the interstate until just past Hayes, Kansas, when we turned south on US 281 and drove until we came to US 400. There we turned left and drove eastward through golden fields of Kansas corn and wheat and skies bigger than I have ever before seen.

Quite coincidentally, we came upon Parsons, Kansas, in the southeastern part of the state. Although I have never been there before, Parsons has a special significance to me, as it is the home of Dwayne's Photo Services. Since 1956 Dwayne's Photo has operated as a film lab, and in late 2010 they processed the last roll of Kodachrome ever, and processing had ceased everywhere else. Just a couple of weeks before developing that last roll, they processed my last roll of Kodachrome. Beginning in September 1980 when I purchased my first real camera new in the box (a Minolta XG-1) with my first teacher paycheck, I was a devoted Kodachrome shooter. I have hundreds and hundreds of Kodachrome slides stored away, slides that documented mine and my families's lives for thirty years before Kodak discontinued making the film.

Tomorrow, home. Stay tuned.

Reports From the Road #5: Trail Magic

We woke up Saturday morning a bit late tired from our hike up to St. Mary's Glacier, so we took it a bit easier for the day, spending the day at or near our oldest daughter and her mate, Devin's home in Denver. Our one excursion was to Banded Oak Brewery to enjoy some local Denver-crafted beer while hearing some live music. Like most food and drink venues in these pandemic days, everything happens outside with tables widely distances and everyone wearing masks when not eating or drinking. The beer was good indeed, and so was the music from the local honky tonk band, Extra Gold. 

Extra Gold in 2019, Minolta 7s on Fomapan 100

Honky tonk style music is very popular in Denver, but I think Extra Gold stands out with its breezy, almost psychedelic style. Ironically, we saw them play live about this same time last year when we were in Denver to visit the girls, and it was then that I made one of my favorite concert photographs. This time, however, I used my Minolta XE-5 SLR with the 28mm lens and both finished up a roll of Ultrafine Extreme 100 and started a roll of Kodak Tri-X 400. The band played underneath a small canopy in the parking of of the brewery, so I was able to get quite close while still keeping all the musicians in the frame.

Both Megan and Devin are avid outdoor adventurers, and Debbie and I also love a good hike. So, Sunday saw us driving north on US 34 along the front range of the Rockies to a place between Longmont and Loveland called Sullivan's Gulch, where a strenuous two mile out and back trail climbs almost 1000 to a mostly level open field that allows breath-taking views of Long's Peak. Debbie and I have found that walking sticks are essential for trails that ascend and descend, and they sure came in handy on this trial. We picnicked at the trailhead first and then set off underneath a lightly overcast sky, for which I was very thankful.

Long's Peak, one of Colorado's 14,000 ft peaks.

The clouds not only made for cooler temperatures, but also for less contrast and more color saturation. I carried both SLR's with me, as I planned to shoot both color and black and white along the way. We encountered lots of colorful wildflowers and plenty of rock outcrops, but one of the best aspects of this trail is that it is lightly traveled. We only saw three other hikers on the way up and only four on the way down, so it was fairly easy to remain socially distant. When we reached the top, day had changed, and we were greeted with a beautiful partly sunny Rocky Mountain vista! It always amazes me how much clouds will improve a photograph. I decided to try out my 135mm Minolta Celtic lens to get a good shot of Long's Peak. I rarely used this lens; it’s simply too telephoto for me, and it really should be used with a tripod for best results. I didn’t carry my tripod up this steep climb, but I did have my walking stick which just so happens to have a tripod mount on it, which is accessed by flipping open the top of the stick Handel. I don’t actually use the screw mount; instead I just rested the camera on the stick for steadiness and gently squeeze the shutter.

Using my walking stick as a monopod.

Debbie and I at the top of Sulivan's Gulch.

Hikes like this one do not come along very often for me, and a was quite sincere when I told Debbie that today had been one of the best days of my life. However, it was not over yet. Megan and Devin took us to Ironton Distillery and Crafthouse for supper and spirits. Ironton crafts a number of spirits such as vodka, gin, whisky, rum, and others with great attention to detail. They also make fine thin crust pizzas and serve their products in a lovely outdoor patio setting that is maintained by the landscaping company for which Megan works. We were awed by her colorfully artistic barrel plantings that are carefully placed throughout the patio. I made a few shots of the patio before it got too dark, and then we all enjoyed a great meal and time together.

Monday will be our last full day in Denver, so stay tuned to hear about our adventures before we begin our journey home.

Reports From the Road #4: All Gonna Meet Down at the Cadillac Ranch

After spending the night in Amarillo, we began the day with a visit to the iconic Cadillac Ranch just west of town. In case you don’t know, Cadillac Ranch is “sculptor” art installation that consists of ten vintage Cadillac automobiles in a row with their front ends buried in the Texas soil and their tail fins jutted upward into the sky, all at the same angle. The installation is considered interactive, and each colorful car has been painted over many times by visitors and artists. I didn’t actually know where Cadillac Ranch was until I researched hotels for Wednesday night and found that it was only about two miles away. Although we did not get up and out at the crack of dawn, we did check out quickly and set out for it in the bright cloudless morning sun. I stupidly thought that we might be the only people there and that I would have the opportunity to make some photographs of the famous monument with no one else around.

However, as we approached the site, I saw dozens of parked cars along the side of the road. We parked our car and walked through the gate toward the site, and I could see a large number of people gathered around the cars, all actively painting the cars with cans of spray paint. I realized that this probably happens everyday and that, unlike most art, the appearance of Cadillac Ranch is never static. I shot several frames of  Ektachrome E100 color slide film with my Minolta X-700, and while I tried to isolate a single car to show off its bright colors, I also made some shots that included the “artistic” activity that was going on. It was fun, and now I’ve been to Cadillac Ranch.

Next, it was time for a long Thursday drive through west Texas and northeaster New Mexico to reach Colorado and eventually Denver, where our oldest, Megan, and her mate, Devin, live. I loved that the road was all state and US highways until shortly before Colorado. Driving the backroads puts you up close and personal with the landscape and the places where people live, work, and farm. I was amazed at how often the landscaped in Texas, changing from the flattest farmland I have ever seen to rocky hilly prairie to almost desert-like conditions with cactus all around. We stopped once to photograph a church, but we could have stopped again and again if we weren’t on a schedule. I also kept on eye on the car thermometer and watched it climb upward, eventually reaching 102°F in southern Colorado. Suddenly, as we drove north along Interstate 25, the Rocky Mountains came into view. High heat and high peaks!

We finally reached Megan and Devin's warm and comfortable home in the afternoon and spent the rest of the day relaxing in her colorful flower garden. Megan is a very talented landscaper who aspires to have her own landscaping business someday. Because she also is a talented visual artist, she is building a reputation for her creative flower plantings, and this is clearly evidenced by her own beautiful and thriving flower garden. You can feel her love of beauty and nature there, and we had a wonderful evening catching up with lots of laughter and love.

The next day we had a tasty breakfast of breakfast burritos crafted by Devin. Devin works in the restaurant industry and is a master of burrito making; his burritos are rolled perfectly, and they are a joy to eat. Actually, Devin has many talents, but none so pronounced as his musical talents. He is a fine guitarist who also gets around well on bass and drums. As a singer and songwriter, he spends a lot of time crafting his music in his studio, which he has fashioned in the garage. I got to jam with Devin after breakfast, me on drums and Devin on guitar. Fun!

Next, we drove into Clear Creek Canyon and climbed until we reached St. Mary's Glacier. The air was clear, and the Rockies were sharp, present, and beautiful. We walked up to the snow, and I carefully walked out onto the glacier, trying desperately to not fall (unsuccessfully, of course.) I shot a lot of color and black and white film, as I managed to carry both the XE-5 and the X-700 with both a 50mm and a 28mm lens. In a landscape situation like the Colorado Rockies, a wide angle lens is a must. The bright sunny conditions made for a sunny f16 day. Once we had enough of the snow, we set up hammocks and had a great picnic lunch. That with a home-cooked meal back at Megan and Devin's made for a truly great day.

Stay tuned.

Reports From the Road #3: Still in Texas

This morning we said goodbye to our youngest daughter, Amber, and her mate, Matthew, as they began their journey back to their home in Seattle. We had a great time together, but now it was time for us to begin our journey to Denver to visit our oldest daughter, Megan, and her mate, Devin. We decided to break the trip into two days with a pn overnight stop in Amarillo, which is where I am as I type this.

Texas is a big state; you can seemingly drive forever and still be in Texas, which is what we did today. We did enjoy the US and state highways that took us most of the way. The landscape changed from slightly rolling hills to prairie to flat flat farmland. We love taking the backroads that take you through the land rather that above it.

No time for photography today, but tomorrow we visit Cadillac Ranch in the morning. I’m looking forward to seeing what magic the early morning sun angles perform. After that, it’s on to Denver.  Stay tuned.

Kevin

Reports From the Road #2: Hot Hot Heat

Today was a great day of spending time with our younger daughter, Amber,  and her mate, Matthew, in Austin, Texas. We had lunch out at a restaurant that had outdoor seating, played some games, fixed a wonderful supper in our AirBnB, and laughed a lot. I shot some photos of them together with my Minolta X-700 on Ektachrome E100 slide film, and I also wondered around the neighborhood with my Minolta XE-5 loaded with Ultrafine Extreme 100.

My cameras on the shelf in our rental.

I’ve never been to this part of Texas before, and I have to tell you that I have two impressions. First, it is unbelievably hot, much more so that I was prepared for. Officially, the heat index reached 98°F, but it seemed like being on the inside of an oven. It was hard to enjoy all the city of Austin has to offer when all I wanted to do was to get back inside. Second, the mosquitos are as oppressive as the heat. Mosquitoes seem to like me anyway, but here they were just too much. When I did venture out, I has to keep moving to keep from being eaten up. The mosquitoes also delighted in feasting on Amber. I’m sure that Austin is a fun place to visit in normal times and not in the middle of summer, but these are not normal times. Perhaps when COVID is over someday, we will come back. Perhaps in December . . .

Tomorrow we are hitting the road again, taking two days to get to Denver to visit our oldest daughter, Megan, and her mate, Devin. Our plans are to stop in Amarillo for the night, and while I was researching Amarillo, I discovered that Amarillo is the where the Cadillac Ranch is. Ah, I’ve always wanted to photograph Cadillac Ranch! This should be fun! Stay tuned.

Kevin

Reports From The Road #1: Long Drives

Our vacation is underway, as Debbie and I set out from our Chattanooga home Sunday morning about 8:30 am EDT. We reached our first day goal of Shreveport, Louisiana, some nine hours later, and after finding a decent hotel room, settled in for the night. It was all interstate driving, something we avoid usually. To us, taking the “backroads” (meaning US and state highways) is worth the additional travel time, because seeing the ever-changing landscapes, farms, towns, or even cities of America is the real reward. However, COVID-19 has changed our usual vacation approach, and we stayed on the interstate. Even choosing a hotel is affected. We usually book our hotel rooms “on the fly” using smartphone apps, and Sunday was no exception. However, our first hotel in Shreveport was unacceptably dirty - it was clear that it had not been occupied or cleaned in quite some time. We asked for and received our money back and found a different hotel - cleaner than the first but still far from ideal. We spent the night there anyway and set out for Austin, Texas, this morning.

For today’s trip, we decided to take backroads to get to Austin. The reason for this was to avoid traveling anywhere near Dallas, which is a very hot “hotspot for COVID-19. Obviously, we are nervous about being in Texas at all right now, so anything we can do to take precautions is a good idea. The drive was quite enjoyable vent with some intermittent rain. Both the rolling plains and the flat prairies of Texas are a joy to see from the backroads. Our road, US 79, was both flat and straight with little traffic - a fun drive in our 2007 VW Rabbit.

We arrived safely at our AirBnb about 3:00 pm and have settled in nicely. We went out for dinner at an Italian restaurant that had outdoor seating and braved the mid 90° heat. There was a market adjacent to the restaurant that had an interesting sign that demanded to be captured, so I took out my Minolta XE-5 on shot two frames of Ultrafine Extreme 100.

Tomorrow will have adventures of its own, so stay tuned.

Kevin

Vacation Camera Choices

Both Debbie and I are K-5 public school teachers, so a couple of months off during the summer is a cherished blessing for which we are very grateful. Now experienced empty nesters, we use this time for extended travel that usually involves visiting our daughters and also some amount of camping. We have just returned from a camping trip along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina and Virginia that we enjoyed very much despite spending two of the three nights in a motel due to weather concerns. Tent camping and rain to not play well together.

Our next journey begins this Friday and will take us to the American southwest to visit both daughters, neither of whom actually live in that part of the country but instead are joining us for visits. Our youngest will be with us in Austin, Texas, while our oldest will join us in Taos, New Mexico. Because they actually live in Seattle and Denver, respectively, we do not get to see them very much, so we are very excited about this trip indeed. Sadly, Texas is seeing significant increases in COVID-19, so we are going to take all precautions as we go, just as we have been doing here at home in Chattanooga.

Because I have "too many cameras," choosing what cameras and film to take on a trip like this can be stressful. I try to involve most, if not all of my favorite cameras over time, and my interests in shooting them shifts constantly from one to another. Sometimes I am greatly influenced by what others are shooting through a blog post I have read or a podcast episode I have listened to. I can be very impressionable. However, this time I have made my choices - choices that I think will both be enjoyable and will work well for me. Let me give you some insight into how I arrived at my decision.

My Minolta XE-5 (L) and my Minolta X-700, about to go west.

I am taking two manual focus SLR's, and they are both Minoltas (no surprise there, of course). I am taking my beloved X-700 (with the Minolta Motor Drive 1) and my Minolta XE-5. The X-700 is an old favorite, being only the second (and last) film camera I ever purchased new in the box. It feels so good in my hand, and I am so familiar with the controls that I feel at one with the camera. I replaced the seals and the mirror bumper on this one last year, so it fires silky smooth. Even though the Motor Drive 1 adds weight, I love the grip and the two auxiliary shutter buttons. And speaking of the shutter buttons, this camera features the touch-sensitive buttons that turn on the meter when touched. The meter will go off again in a few second, saving battery power. All the batteries in the camera and motor drive are fresh and can be replaced easily on the road. In my experience, the X-700's meter is highly accurate, which is a factor because of the film I will be shooting in it (more on that later).

The XE-5 is a fairly new camera to me. I found mine in a local Facebook Marketplace ad for a very good price, considering that it came with a Minolta MC Rokkor-X f1.4 50mm lens, a lens I had always wanted. I have two Minolta f1.7 lenses already, and both of them are good. However, this f1.4 has a stellar reputation. I've had it cleaned, so it's ready to go. The XE-5 camera itself is one of several interesting results of the collaboration between Minolta and Leitz Camera of Germany, makers of the famous Leica rangefinder cameras. Much of the Minolta XE came from Leitz, especially the extremely smooth Leitz-Copal shutter. I can attest that it rivals my Nikon FE for the smoothest, vibration-less shutter. The design of the XE is very much like Minolta SRT-202 (Uncle Jonesy's, of course), so my fingers know where everything is on it. It's solid and dependable, and unlike the SRT-202 it takes the same batteries as my X-700 and are easily found. The meter on mine seems to be accurate as well. The only significant difference between the XE-5 and it's more expensive brother, the XE-7, is the lack of information in the viewfinder. You do not see your aperture selection, and you only see the suggested shutter speed (via a needle). I am not worried by this, as I tend to look at the dials anyway whether they can be seen in the viewfinder or not.

I should also point out that I originally bought the XE-5 to "rescue it" - that is to clean it up, test it out, and sell it to someone looking for a working film camera. I have only begun to test it, having taken it on our Blue Ridge Parkway trip last week. I have not yet seen the resulting photographs, so I suppose using it on this trip out west is some level of risk. Nevertheless, I want to see what it can do. Again, I'm not worried. These cameras have been found to be reliable.

Obviously, one of the main reasons for choosing two Minolta SLR's is so that I can use whatever lenses I bring on both camera bodies. Aside from the above-mentioned 50mm f1.4 lens, I will bring two more lenses:  my Minolta Celtic 28mm f2.8 and my Minolta Celtic 135mm f3.5. The 28mm f2.8 is one of my favorite lenses, even though it is a "Celtic" lens, which was Minolta's line of budget lenses. Despite its "budget" status, I have found mine to be a solid performer with good resolution and contrast. Sometimes I go out on a photowalk with this lens only and adapt my "vision" to its perspective. The 135mm f3.5, also a Celtic lens, is a lens I seldom use, because it's just too long for me. I got a good deal on it when I purchased it, but I really wished I had found an 85mm or a 100mm Minolta lens at such a good deal. Using a 135mm lens without a tripod is risky at best. Nevertheless, I am taking this lens with the intent of finding uses for it, and I will have a tripod with me as well.

Because I am taking two SLR bodies with me, my plan is to shoot black and white film in one (the XE-5) and color film in the other (the X-700). As for color film, I chose to shoot the newly re-introduced Kodak Ektachrome V100 slide film. My experience with this film since Kodak brought it back last year have been very positive, and I think it will be the perfect film on which to capture the colors of both Austin, Texas and the desert of Taos, New Mexico. Slide film requires accurate exposure, and I am confident that my X-700 will be up to the task. I won't be developing the Ektachrome, but instead I will be sending it to The Darkroom lab in San Clemente, California for development. I've had good experience with the rolls of Fuji Provia slide film I sent them recently.

As for black and white film. the XE-5 already has some Ultrafine Extreme 100 in it, and I have plenty more of that in the form of a bulk roll. However, there is a part of me that wants to shoot a lot of Kodak Tri-X 400 on this trip, and I have a lot of it as well. I also am intrigued by the idea of limiting oneself to a single black and white film for a trip or project. Tri-X 400 is a magical film to me, especially when it is developed in Kodak D-76 diluted 1:1 with distilled water. I love making darkroom prints from Tri-X negatives as well.

I will take more film than I probably will need for a very important reason:  I want to force myself to shoot a lot on this trip. I tend to be "thrifty' when it comes to shooting film, and I try to make every shot count. However, when I look at all the photographs I took while on a particular trip, more often than not I will ask myself, "Is this all the photographs I took of this trip? Why didn't I shoot more?" I am determined to come away with lots of photographic souvenirs and not have regrets over not shooting more.

Vacations for Debbie and me are all about experiences and memories, and they are the perfect opportunities to apply the craft of photography. Trips like this do not happen very often; we don't get to see our daughters and their mates often either. I want to experience all the good parts of such a trip and capture as much of it on film as I can. Stay tuned for updates from the road.

Kevin

UPDATE:  We've just learned that the governor of New Mexico has issued an executive order requiring all out-of-state visitors to self-quarantine for fourteen days, so we probably will not be going to New Mexico after all. Instead, we will visit our oldest daughter in Denver.