 Mon, Oct 18, 2004 |
 Mon, Oct 18, 2004 |
 Mon, Oct 18, 2004 |
| ...and if even that isn't enough, maybe the bathroom shot will. | This building was more striking in person. Draplin liked the woman standing outside. | Crazy futuristic A-frame restaurant (abandoned) on Hwy 51, Tennessee |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Mon, Oct 18, 2004 |
| Short video of pretty train cars, many of which appeared to be from Canadia. | This is how Draplin spent much of Tennessee | The Chief gets some shuteye in the shotgun chair. |
 Mon, Oct 18, 2004 |
 Mon, Oct 18, 2004 |
 Mon, Oct 18, 2004 |
| Root Beer Drive-In, Tennessee. | Q Mart Food Store had a lovely sign with good type, sorry the photo is blurry and small. | Mobile Homes by dusk, near border of Tennessee and Kaintuck. |
 Mon, Oct 18, 2004 |
 Mon, Oct 18, 2004 |
 Mon, Oct 18, 2004 |
| Sunset clouds | Main Street, all abandoned, Cairo (kay'-ro), Illinois. Really eerie and disturbing to see such what was obviously a good town all deserted. | I reckoned that the film Children of the Corn had been filmed in Cairo, it was almost a dead ringer for Gatlin...just missing the corn stalks all over everything. And Malachai. |
 Mon, Oct 18, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Mon, Oct 18, 2004 |
| Charlie's Place and some other buildings, downtown Cairo, Ill. | 40-second or so video of a slow drive down main street Cairo at night. Sorry for the jumpy and ill-lit quality, but it's a digital camera, not Hollywood. | Turf Pizza and Liquors, downtown Cairo, Ill. Check the grass growing through the sidewalk. Just depressing. |
 Mon, Oct 18, 2004 |
 Mon, Oct 18, 2004 |
 Mon, Oct 18, 2004 |
| Belvedere Motel on the main highway in Cairo. Outstanding specimen of neon signage. | Tried taking some photos of a lightning storm; wasted a lot of batteries trying. Got some better shots on Draplin's camera after my batteries crapped out. | Lightning on long exposure from moving car. |
 Mon, Oct 18, 2004 |
 Mon, Oct 18, 2004 |
 Mon, Oct 18, 2004 |
| So we rolled into Cape Girardeau and settled on this motel, based mostly on this heroic example of early 80s-style signage, like a beacon in the night. | After settling into our filthy and wholly unsatisfactory room, we went "uptown" (near a college I think) for some rations. This was a linguini with roasted peppers and sun dried tomato vinaigrette. Decent, but nothing to write home about. | Our room at the Town House Inn commanded a view to the east of the greater Cape G. area; that's Big Miss and stuff in the distance. Really shitty room though, let's step inside. |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
| A view of the bathroom, this one taken mostly for color. Check out that jade green bathtub...where the hell did that come from? | Even more impressive than the color is the care and pride taken in the caulking work. Fine attention to detail and cleanliness was a consistent theme at the Town House Inn in Cape Girardeau, MO. | Notice the stains in the carpet, which extended to just about everything in the room. I didn't DARE take my shoes off when walking across that fucker. |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
| Not to be outdone, the chairs also had their own impressive smatterings of stain. Draplin sat in one to do his work, next to an open (cracked) window, since there was no AC. We also had sketchy rowdy neighbors, and he was stoked about that. | Morning shot of the room overall, Town House Inn. | Outside the improvements continued, it looked like they were doing a bunch of welding of guardrails from some salvage material from another hotel. |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
| Some of the quality welding work is evident in this shot up towards our room (305). Draplin said of this place:"Death Hole. I think I'm gonna throw the key in the woods, as a humanitarian gesture." He also referred to it as "Shit-Hog." | Took a byway called "C" up the river between the Cape and St. Mary or so. Some nice rolling hills and scenery. | More of those rolling hills. The road had a lot of places where it went to one lane over a little bridge. |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
| Hwy C, Missoura. This landscape reminded me a lot of the <a href="http://www.pjchmiel.com/feat/poland/pictures/121-2151_img.html">rural parts of Poland</a> that I saw. | Cows grazing, Hwy C near Pocahontas, MO. | Young & Sons East Perry Chapel, probably near Perryville, MO. |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
| Brazeau, MO had a master sign painter and lettering artist among the ranks. The town wasn't even a wide spot in the road, but the only two visible businesses had signs in this style. Ano official "town typeface," it seems. Genius. | Brazeau Blacksmith Shop, Brazeau, MO. Same signpainter, presumably. | I think this was a field of dead sunflowers, at least that's what it looked like driving by at speed. Hard to drive and photograph you know. |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
| The intersection of my initials...which way to "J?" | Looks like that sign says Hwy 352...more pretty winding little hills. | Same as last, near Farrar, MO. |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
| Menfro, MO. A rough crossing at best. | Some tilled land at speed, some fall colors. Some nondescript junk sitting out. | Draplin wears the new hat with pride. I believe this was a self-portrait. Great design and colors on those new hats my friend. |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
| Portrait of yours truly at the wheel of Big S, by Draplin. On our way to Ste. Genevieve. | More Missoura hills. | Okay, here we are, a town of lore, made famous to us by the Son Volt song "Tear Stained Eye," which goes: Walkin' down Main Street...Gettin' to know the concrete... |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
| ..."Looking for a purpose from a neon sign. I would meet you anywhere, the western sun meets the air...We'll hit the road, never looking behind... | Can you deny, there's nothing greater...Nothing more than the traveling hands of time? Sainte Genevieve can hold back the water...But saints don't bother, with a tear stained eye." | So we walked down main street, got to know the concrete, chatted with a lovely lady in a jewelry/art shop, gawked at antiques we couldn't buy because the place wasn't open, and more. |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
 Tue, Oct 19, 2004 |
| Trembling leaves, fall, Ste. Genevieve, MO. | Draplin in Ste. Genevieve. | No Visitors, nice type on a door. |