Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Guatay

One of my favorite things to do on a road trip, is to look around in small rural towns. I especially like the fact that many of the people living on the edges of these towns use their property as a warehouse, junk yard, trash dump, gallery, etc.  I'm not presenting the following photos as art, but as examples of what I'm talking about.  I hope you find them as interesting as I do.

Based on the crank starter, this pile 'o junk must be pretty old.

Talk about "curb appeal."

Nobody is walking to their mailbox in this area.

Not something I'd have sitting in my yard, but who am I to critique this guy's "art?"

Occasionally you run across that gold nugget. This truck is one of them.

So is this Chevy panel truck.

I wanted so badly to look inside of this Quonset hut.

Some sort of a tractor that doesn't have wheels.

One of these days there will be people chasing me out of their little towns with clubs and pitchforks. Oh wait, that has already happened. A long time ago, me and some of my friends went to see a haunted house in a very small rural town. It actually did end up with angry townsfolk "escorting" us out of town. I'll post that story another day...

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43 comments:

  1. great finds!
    thanks for sharing these interesting shots!

    have a great day!

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  3. GREAT pix! These remind me of sights I see everyday, down here in Georgia. And, looking forward to the story about the angry mob running you out of town. :))

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  4. What the heck is that first one. I enlarged it and still couldn't figure it out.

    Hey, wait... You can't just casually mention being chased out of town by a pitchfork carrying mob and then end the post! What's that about?

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  5. Wow! Those are quite the photos. I want the story!

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  6. I love driving through small towns and rural areas. There are so many interesting sights like the ones you are sharing. Whenever I see a really old car or truck I wish I could have it and fix it up.

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  7. ...looking forward to the story about the haunted house and the...rest! lol!

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  8. ...looking forward to the story about the haunted house and the...rest! lol!

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  9. I'd like to hear that last story! Hey, in the south, you see that stuff every day.

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  10. You do find the most interesting things, Pat!

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  11. When my husband was alive, he and I loved to go out on drives like this and find places we'd never been. I wish he was still here to do this with me.

    Kay

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  12. Intriguing photos, Pat .... I'm looking forward to reading about you getting chased out of town :-)

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  13. My Favorite: Mailbox Row.
    I wonder how often the mail carrier gets their letters mixed up....

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  14. Now that sounds like a very intriguing story.

    I enjoy poking around little towns, too. On the way out to the observatory, this one guy has these incredible old cars in his yard.

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  15. This looks A LOT like my new neighborhood, Pat. That's why I keep having to pull over and take pictures. The shots are always rather interesting.
    xoRobyn

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  16. Great finds Pat. I like the one with the panel truck...since there is also the obligatory pick up truck camper top sitting on the ground...I pronounce it Redneck heaven!

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  17. These are awesome! I have alway been drawn to and intrigued by all the old, broken down oddities you come across on a good road trip.

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  18. Unfortunately, I don't have to drive very far to see stuff like this.

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  19. Love this series.. usually I just get drive by shots of this stuff..
    Too many shotgun junkies and
    bad dogs in this area.

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  20. The black & whites are way cool! Color ones work too ...

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  21. Betty M - Thanks and my pleasure! I'll start writing the story.

    Nicole - Thanks! There is plenty of places like that here, but we have to drive a bit to get to them.

    Tim - I have no idea, but it just hit me that it might be a generator of some type.

    Talli - Thanks Talli! I'll start on the story soon.

    Belle - Me too! My favorites are the fringe areas around the desert communities. A different breed settles there.

    Alex - The story will be on here soon. I'm in the south. Southern California, that is...

    Marlene - Other people are looking at all the tourist stuff and I'm looking at the oddball stuff.

    Kay - I'm sorry Kay. I wish he was also.

    Nat - Thanks Nat! I'm going to email an old friend first, I'm pretty sure he was there also.

    Dawn - Thanks! I like that one also. I would have loved to gotten out of the car to take it.

    M Pax - Intriguing and a bit scary.

    Robyn - That's a great reason to always keep your camera handy.

    Chuck - Oh yeah! I'll bet there are more camper shells sitting in peoples yards than there are actually on pick-up trucks.

    Erika - Thanks! I agree, that is half the fun for me.

    Ms A - I understand, My family is rural, so I'm sure there are some Tillett yards looking just like this.

    faye - Thanks faye. I total understand. There were a couple more I wanted to take in this this, but it was of people and they didn't look all that friendly.

    Blue Wave - Thanks! I like them both, but alway perfer b&w.

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  22. Love the photos! The mailboxes are great!

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  23. Great photos, I love those snooping treasures too!

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  24. Send out the Pickers--thars GOLD in them thar photos!!!!

    Great stuff Pat!!!

    John

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  25. Oh dear, some of these photos look too familiar. I think I have one of those tractors in our front pasture...we also have a rusting hulk of a MGB. So, if I see a guy stopped by the road taking pictures, I'll just step outside and invite you in for a visit!

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  26. One mans trash is anothers treasure. Mike and Frank from the 'American Pickers' tv show would love this stuff, Pat.
    be happy,
    Pam

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  27. Pat these could definitely be art! I think they are! And they could definitely be postcards or large prints with captions. Each one tells a story, or at least hints at what the story could be, about the place and the people who live there. I love photos like this. I especially love the mail box one.

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  28. we see these moldy oldies everywhere in Maine. Loved too much to let go, they molder over decades in fields, beside roads, slowly being overtaken by nature, becoming part of the landscape. Now we would cry if they disappeared!!
    Rosemary

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  29. You and William Least Heat-Moon. Okay, and me. I had to google Quonset hut... and I think it would be brutal to live in a corrugated prefab in hot weather!

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  30. stuff like that has always been one of my favorite things to take pictures of.

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  31. Very interesting! This is a reminder for me to slow down and enjoy the journey as well as the destination.

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  32. Have you been to Texas? You don't have to go very far out for those finds. Actually I used to know what kind of tractor that one is, but it is beyond me now. I'm not that old, but had a friend who knew all sorts of stuff about tractors.

    I enjoyed my visit very much.

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  33. You could send your tractor pix here http://www.retiredtractors.com/Popper/ID.html
    and they could prolly tell you which ones these are.

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  34. Now you're talking! I love old sheds and broken down cars etc. Some good shots in there.

    Excellent stuff.

    And definetly love to hear the story. With photos I hope!

    =]

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  35. Nice use of B&W imagery, Pat! Oh the trees hide 'stuff', don't they?

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  36. I share your fascination, and I too have been caught more than once.

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  37. OMG! You're like me...another American Picker Wannabe! Love that kind of stuff! I want to go explore everything, too!

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  38. One old tractor may be art, but I will not forget how sickened I felt driving through some of Colorado's most amazing countryside only to find that every single homestead was a trash heap. I love trash like that on its own sometimes, so I don't know how you isolate the beauty in the trash from the trashy look it gave to the stunning megaliths on a road like the one through that particular corner of Colorado, basically from Grand Junction to Utah heading southwest. That hour stretch is incredible, and so is the trash.

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  39. that would be a tough inning in mailbox baseball.

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  40. This is the kind of stuff I love to see. We live in a farming community and see lots of old tractor and such driving around the countryside. Those old tractors are totally cool.

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  41. Wow. Some of those look pretty cool.

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