I am trying to distract myself from staring at Charlotte all day, she has SEVEN days to go before we can even think about expecting any piglets after all. Pigs are usually farrow quite close to their dates and I hope she goes all the way so we get nice fat healthy babies.
So another tiny ride West on Route 66 was just the ticket for a lazy Sunday.
The land stretched out for miles yesterday, with clear air and cloudy skies.
Two things that have struck me in this small exploration of the Mid West along Route 66. This area is not wealthy. There is money to be made by the big croppers and the people who have saved from the boom times. But just about everyone else struggles along.
And the lack of population. There are so few people in these towns, there are houses, and trees and vegetables gardens, but where are the people on a Sunday afternoon.
Here is another block of empty shops.
Speaking of people I was framing this shot, intrigued by being able to shoot through an empty building to the Fire Station and retain the reflection of the empty buildings behind me, when a car pulled up. An older gentleman rolled down his window and said. “I am sure you are perfectly harmless but that does look strange.”
Having never been called harmless before I raised my eyebrows and told him what I was doing. Because I spoke with an accent his suspicion deepened. There is a growing paranoia amongst some people out here that they are being spied on as they cast about for an excuse to rattle the doors of their gun cabinets. Why anyone would think they are important enough for some spy ring to be investigating them is beyond me. And what are they hiding? He smiled in the end though and said he supposed it was alright then, and drove away. As a parting shot I took a photo of his car as he watched me in his rear view mirror, just to prod his paranoia with a stick. I know, it was naughty. If I put it on Facebook Google would monitor it for me. They are the biggest spiers around if you ask me. So avoid the internet if that bothers you, I tell them. Just look at the word – Inter Net.
This was an old ice cream shop. As we drove further West we saw that a few local towns had turned the abandoned side of Route 66 into a bicycle and walking path, there were trees planted and little resting benches dotted along the paths. People were out with their kids and bikes and roller skates and walking shoes strolling along. This was lovely to see. They were using the road again. I could see the people.
Powerlines are the enemy of the photographer.
A railway station.
I wonder if there was ever a hold up in this little bank below.
Then home again, home again, jiggedy jig. Time to look at my big fat pig… Still fat.
We will continue our search later in the summer. If only to document the old empty store fronts – they intrigue me. All those fast moving dreams.
Here is one more post I created quite some time ago that has another set of Route 66 images on it. Pop over Marcia.. here are the burros we saw! I took that shot around the back of the shops!
We had some rain in the night but nothing dramatic. And today is dawning clear and loud with birds. Time for work. I wonder what today will bring. i will show you tomorrow.
Have a lovely day.
your friend on Route 66, celi.
The Kitchen's Garden 
43 responses to “Another Peek at Route 66 – Just for Kicks”
Wonderful Pictures!! Raining cats and dogs here. Still managed to mow all four lawns yesterday, so that’s out of the way for another week.
what an interesting post. there sure are lots of paronoid people out there these days. we are going back into paraonoid 50’s mode where people built bomb shelters, stocked food, feared communism, had air raid drills, etc.. this is what happens when people fear losing their liberty.
As always, great photos! Thanks for the AZ shots.
You’re welcome, your comment yesterday reminded me that they were there! c
These are wonderful, so evocative of many old films. It is said to see the end of the good years, though – some of the empty shops look quite recent.
Charlotte: the last week of any pregnancy is the worst, but 7 days go by very quickly.
Amazing. A bit depressing. I wonder if people who have caused the decline in such little towns by leaving them realise that they have all contributed to the demise of a way of life which was probably far more pleasant than the one the average city dweller doesn’t particularly enjoy.
This is how I think too, if you do not shop in your local store, you will lose it. You can’t blame Walmart for causing the collapse when you CHOOSE to shop in Walmart. The only way to save anything you love is to take responsibility for the saving of it. Blaming someone else just gives your power away. Anyway… time for coffee! c
Indeed; most of the people who long for the good old days actually helped destroy them.
Although I, too, like photographing old buildings, to see them in neglect and disrepair truly saddens me. And so many beautiful buildings with wonderful bone structure. Like you, I often see few people in these small towns and wonder, “Where are they?”
I can recall being approached only once by a suspicious woman wondering why I was photographing buildings in the town. Usually I am free to explore. But who knows who might be spying from behind a curtain?
I think because there was no-one but me on the street, I kind of stood out, maybe he was just lonely in town all by himself! c
Beautiful, Miss Troublemaking Spy.
Were you wearing your long dark mac and your dark glasses again – you know it makes people twitchy?!
Great pictures! As to baby pigs….will you have to place some kind of barriers to keep Charlotte from squishing her piglets?
She has piles of room, so she should be OK. There is a hatch down the side of the big pen that they can hide in if they need to. If she is the type of pig mother who squashes her piglets then she will not be bred again. So I hope she is a good mother… c
I love the historical look about all the photos… seems an interesting ride down route 66 now…
I was all set for a charming conversation with the old gent–knowing you, Cecilia– and here he turns out to be a cranky old suspicious man.
Thanks Celi for all the pictures of Route 66. I had NO idea that much of the roadway had been decommissioned – I thought that Route 66 was an American icon like the constitution or something! I can’t believe that those poor towns were just left on their own to survive…..
You’ve done a really important job of letting us know the true state of affairs of Route 66. Thank you.
Lovely photography. I think power lines are part of the landscape of France and I liked the look of yours. The emptiness is so reminiscent of here. You should check out Christian Harkness’ site – http://chrislh.wordpress.com/ – who does, amongst other things, great pictures of empty buildings down in the Keys.
Thank you Roger, i shall! c
Yes, I quite liked the powerlines in that shot, I thought they added to that one. 🙂 Though I wasn’t so keen a couple of days ago when trying to take a picture of the view from our house across the valley. 🙂
I know what you are saying!! c
Wonderful post, thanks so much: sometimes connections (like Route 66 AND the internet) are destructive, sometimes not, sometimes both.
Great pictures – I found a little wooden gas station in Alabama, quite similar to your picture above. It was still open and they sold the most amazing barbecue sandwiches 🙂