Photos From My Cross-Country Road Trip
Our move from New Jersey to San Diego is nearly complete — my wife and I are here anyways. We left Jersey on Monday afternoon and arrived in San Diego on Saturday afternoon, making lots of little stops along the way. It was an enjoyable drive, and it's a great experience to see the changing landscapes as you go from east coast to west coast. I probably could've taken a lot more photos than I did, but I had to put the camera down every once in a while to spend some time with my wife. I did manage to get about 500 photos along the way, but most of them are concentrated at a few key stops. The photos in this post are straight out of the camera, but I'll definitely be hitting Photoshop as soon as my desktop computer arrives at our new home.
The first major stop was at the St. Louis Gateway Arch — a really amazing structure. We didn't go up inside of it due to time constraints, but I got some pretty neat shots from the ground with my wide angle lens. After the arch, we headed off to Independence, Missouri to visit my grandfather. We stayed the night and had a good time catching up and talking about photography and blogging. The next morning, his brother came over in one of his “project” cars — let's just say that they're one-of-a-kind. After that, we made a stop in Texas at the western hemisphere's largest cross.
Once we got to Arizona, we went through the painted desert and the petrified forest. The landscape in this area is absolutely stunning — you must stop in if you're ever in the area. We probably spent 3 or 4 hours going through the park and snapping pictures of everything. I even got my wife to take a few shots with my camera (it was her first time using it for things other than snapshots). She ended up getting a few good ones, and we even took an almost identical shot of the same scene. Now I know what to get her for Christmas.
The last major stop we made was at the Grand Canyon. I wanted to get there a little earlier in the day, but we ended up arriving just before sunset. It may have worked out for the better though — we got in for free and I got some pretty nice sunset shots. As soon as the sun went down, it was dark. So we didn't really get to see much of the canyon because we only stopped at one of the lookouts. Next time I suppose…
So now we're here in Southern California and life should return to normal over the next couple of weeks. Things have been so hectic with moving out and getting packed — we desperately needed this road trip to unwind a little.
laanba
July 15, 2007Glad you made it safely. I absolutely hate moving. I hope you can get settled in quickly to your new place. It is so peaceful when you can finally walk into your place without seeing a moving box. 🙂
Trevor Carpenter
July 15, 2007Brian, welcome to California! I’m glad your trip went well, and that all are safe.
Your images a beautiful. I can’t believe that you’ve move your whole family, just to get the chance to shoot a cross-country trip. Ha.
Karl Schuneman
July 15, 2007I have always like everything west of the Mississippi. It’s seems that your photos agree too.
Susheel
July 16, 2007Great stuff there Brian,
Pretty good, considering you were on a mission “moving your family”. But then I guess it was possibly a very enjoyable time together.
Look forward to having you back online in your regular posting schedule.
Andrew Ferguson
July 16, 2007I really like that shot of the St. Louis arch. Your choice of lens gives the photo a surreal perspective.
Ron
July 16, 2007I glad your trip went well and you shot some great pics along the way. Your stop over and visit in Independence made my day. I very much enjoyed it.
Good luck in San Diego.
Rygood
July 16, 2007Welcome to the west coast Brian. Great shots! Looking forward to seeing the rest.