September 2022 Images will look better full computer screen if you go to the blog.

Our annual trip across the US from Phoenix to Western New York yielded several malfunctions in the van. The first proved to be a hole in the hose to dump the sewage in Springfield, MO, which resulted massive leaks when trying to empty the tanks (a big no/no at RV parks). We eventually had to use a portable potty (not ideal) and pretty much crippled the trip as a whole. RV service centers are notoriously slow in fixing things and we have the van for a week being fixed in Phoenix as I write.

The second malfunction was that main electrical cord shorted out in the plug in end. I think this was partially caused by a tremendous 2 hour thunder and lightning storm in Oklahoma the night before. Luckily we did get this fixed in Springfield, MO. And finally the air conditioning blower fan did not work all the way home, so we had only had a little bit of AC when we traveled at 60-70 mph.

So enough of the troubles. We stopped at several places on Route 66 for a few unusual attractions. The first place was at a restored 1929 Phillips 66 station in McLean, TX. In Arcadia, OK we found the round barn and the tallest coke bottle at a gas station. In Warwick, there is a motorcycle museum.

The next photo stop was south of Springfield, OH at the Clifton Springs Grist Mill which also had a restaurant where we met a college friend. I thought it was interesting that the mill race overflow came out as a waterfall under the building. At Christmas time they string up about a million lights.

We spent a couple weeks visiting relatives in Lockport, South Wales, Holland, and Brockport, New York. We made a day trip to Stoney Brook State Park in Danville, NY. I went on a short half mile hike to photograph waterfalls in the gorge. There was plenty of water and the falls did not disappoint.

I found a small waterfall close to the road in Clarendon, NY that I never knew existed.

Our good friends, Paulie and Jerry, were kind to take us to several covered bridges near Maryville, OH. Several of them were almost identical and were painted red for a nice splash of color.

On the way home, I found Weisinberger Mill in Midway, KY, which is still active, south of Lexington, KY. The mill has been active since 1865 and still makes a variety of flour for sale. The only problem was that the bridge vantage point was on a fairly busy single lane road. I finally decided to climb over the guard rail to be out of the traffic.

I didn’t stop again for photos until on the east side of Amarillo, TX for a route 66 oddity – the Bug Ranch which consisted of old VW cars have buried and covered in graffiti.

The last three photos are my creative interpretations for Phoenix Camera Club competition.