wrecks but never really left alone. These are parts of the decoration, atmosphere…the famous route 66, the various traders alongside the road to be precise, needs some cash from tourists to bring life back on that historic road.
these efforts are sometimes quite well thought, and the mood is fine, though perfectly fake.
Route 66 but it could have been shot in many other stunning locations...
I did moan a bit 2 days ago…well here are some more examples of excessive authenticity…
painted! Like every room in that motel. OK it’s funny but authentic….?
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these 2 shops are neighbors and must be competing for some prize…
same place, just another angle.
this one nearly made it sober, just that sign on the dashboard and the car would be better off with a new paint. Then it would look like a real scene from the past.
Route 66…great sceneries especially in the western part. Is it worth doing? Yes but the touristy touch is a bit too heavy to my liking. It’s so “authentic” you’d think… no mostly just cheap but still funny. And then as I said, the landscapes, and the people.
see the thing that was mostly cheap? The number “66” is everywhere, just everywhere. Sickening in the end, that spoils a lot. We fucking know we’re on the 66, there are road signs, notices, ads…every 50m. No need for extra double paintings on wreckages. I bet some owners have their underwear and condoms labelled with something 66.
and 66 again! Or historic 66 just in case you’re really dumb…
see this lovely blue shop would be better off that bunch of yellow signs or the ‘66’ tyre.
finally you see more of authentic America where no one advertise for it. But I’d go again.
Taos, New Mexico, one my favorite vintage cars: a Chevrolet Bel Air ‘56.
Some wrecks in Seligman, Arizona, on Route 66
There were dozens of them alongside that main street crossing Seligman.
A beautiful Corvette Sting Ray. Hackberry, Arizona, Route 66, another area littered with wrecks, except this Corvette, and in the middle lies an old derelict fuel station transformed in a shop selling memorabilia about the Route 66.
Santa Fe, New Mexico, another dream place for vintage cars.
Even a German VW.
I’ve seen much better marketing than that….
those cars had character, right? Look at the ugly shapeless donkey behind the blue Bel Air…
road side letter boxes, unseen in Europe.
pick a US map and pick all the European names, it will keep you busy for a while. Then the identical names will show by dozens. Like Sacramento. We’re here in Arizona, not near San Francisco.
this car wreck must be part of a road safety campaign. Such an old piece of junk must have been left there on purpose. Route 66 near Oatman, Arizona.
Ok I’d change the paint but I wouldn’t mind such a toy in Tanzania.
typical landscapes nearby towns. Billboards all over. The ad for gun is mind blowing for Europeans….
I don’t do advertising on my blog, well if Leica or Nikon wanted to contact me I’d listen…, but I make an exception for this company, SmartSign, and their line on Route 66: www.RoadTrafficSigns.com. I had a pleasant chat with the marketing director, Daniel. So for the Route 66 fans, you might want to have a look at their cool products.
superbly restored Corvette, Route 66. (Leica M6 and Kodachrome film)
a decorative fire truck, Death Valley.
Karine shooting too a rare Chevrolet Bel Air 1956 I think, an unusual mix between coupé and station wagon, Taos, New Mexico. Still bit of work to perform on the paint.
another Bel Air in Taos, fully restored.
Taos again, a Chevrolet Impala I’d say.
Santa Fe was an open museum too for vintage cars.
even if the weather is dead hot in Arizona, cars still rot. So sad for those vintage wrecks. But keep an eye peeled and colors and shapes jump at your camera.
there were Harleys all over the place and on miles and miles on the roads around. A big gathering was going on for bikers. It made the scenery quite interesting. Oatman, on route 66, is not much but on a day like this, it gets very much alive. The western movie decoration was hilarious. Some people are really good at exploring their childhood dreams.
here was a rarity, a Russian side-car. An Ural maybe?
the main street, for a second I thought these dudes were waiting for us to start a duel.
in the past, this couple would have been at risk to come in such a gathering with a Japanese bike. The Hells Angels would have trashed what they considered sissies’ motorbikes. Besides Harleys, few brands were accepted, usually Italian or English. But nowadays real Hells Angels or other tough bikers are not not alone on Harleys.
leaving Oatman on route 66 towards California.
more Bikes kept on coming.
I heard the CIA had been testing LSD on unaware people for studies. I sometimes wonder if some designers were not on the project. I mean, look at this Cadillac with for example fins like a shark…to think of that is one thing, to dare to submit that to your colleagues is another thing…
as much as I love B/W photography, it is sometimes hard to resist colors in America…
Monument valley. The rocks are called ‘3 sisters’. Many wild west movies were shot here.
being a keen amateur photographer while driving on any US roads requires some iron-discipline otherwise the temptation to stop every mile or so will hit big time. Still nothing prevents some shooting while the car is moving. Karine and I did that a lot, like below on route 66, Arizona section.
graphic pictures, it’s about time the same kind of warnings are set on cigarette packs… fucking lobbyists and greedy coward politicians!
then we left the route 66 at Bullhead on the Californian border towards Las Vegas.
We had left Sante Fe, New Mexico early morning, driving west. I don’t know why these 2 bikers chose the exact state line limit to stop, under a no parking sign…whichever way cops would come, the bikers could cross the other side under a different jurisdiction?
Each US state have a nickname, here Grand Canyon state of course. Land of Enchantment applies to New Mexico.
the scenery changed quite drastically from flat desert to this mountainous landscape. No wonder people like to drive on this kind of roads for hours. Just after entering Arizona, we took a north road towards Monument Valley. Rocks are getting redder and more dramatic. Once in a while a homestead lied at the foot of a rock crop. Spectacular scenery but a closer look usually revealed some junk in the yard, and derelict houses or trailers.
this area is under Indian jurisdiction. Here people have been given some autonomy after years of claiming their land back. Poverty seems the rule as it is wildly known and things don’t seem to change much over the years, seen from a tourist point of view that is. Poverty and alcohol were the most striking feats I encountered in a previous trip in the area in 1997. I had just got my flying license in Missouri in a shorter time than planned so a lot of free time and spare cash were available, I had bought an old Dodge to cruise around with no specific plans for a while so I had given a few rides to hitch hikers. Curious to meet people and hear stories.
Monument Valley showing on the horizon! Many films have been shot here. The fabulous Claudia Cardinale was here for Sergio Leone’s “Once Upon in the West”, one example out of many…
I had my stories…quite sad in this area. One hiker, quite drunk at 8am explained a legend about the origin of the beautiful turquoise stones. Some Indian women had preferred to die with their children instead of facing awful treatment under the white man’s rules. So they cried a lot while taking the decision, the tears fell down a river and transformed into turquoise. He was surprised that Custer, Wounded Knee, Little Big Horn, Sitting Bull…were not totally unknown names in Europe.
The man also complained heavily that the government had plundered the country, kicked the native people out, prevented them from living their ancestral way of life, even nowadays that Indians in theory could do it again it became an impossible mission…always 2 sides to a story but sure alcohol doesn’t help.
a healthy vintage Corvette.
old Ford Model A, I guess.
a motel with interesting murals.
Chevrolet Impala…
back of a Chevrolet Bel Air, station wagon.
huh, this one brand will stay a mystery, not enough parts left over to recognise….
car owners in the States have a wide range of freedom to express themselves via their car plates. In Belgium, we can barely choose at high price the letters and digits order. Nothing about color or additions.
historic vehicle plate and the state nickname which is very common. Here Arizona aka Grand canyon state.
positions in armed forces are quite common too. My flight instructor last year, a Korean war navy pilot veteran had is plate labelled NAV8TOR.
backgrounds can be quite colorful, showing full landscapes, sometimes sunsets.
historic characters…
and as if plates didn’t allow enough freedom of expression, a dedicated frame can be added.
not sure what Taylor refer to: the driver’s job or a famous character….
Karine and I loved to cruise on route 66, here in Arizona, without specific plans. We would stop whenever shapes and colors and unusual subjects would call. Well, unusual, that is for a European point of view.
a bit of a Corvette, just before sunset.
bit of a Mercury.
a GMC pick up.
Chevrolet…
Chevrolet Bel Air, station wagon. Numerous souvenirs shops dot the route 66, not always painted and decorated with the best taste…
Ford.
Dodge.
open 24/7, only in the US?
April 2010, Karine and I were cruising along route 66 and arrived in Oatman, Arizona. The little village was invaded by Harleys and some few other brands. A lot of bike equipment and beer were on sale.
Let’s imagine some dedicated music here, like “the Good the Bad and the Ugly”….
Some bikers seemed interesting characters….
seriously there were 1000’s of bikes that day, here in Bullhead on the Californian state line. Too bad we had booked a hotel in Las Vegas that night. One of the very few bookings we had made…
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