Four miles west of Lone Pine, California, nestled in the Alabama Hills along the portal road to Mount Whitney, sits Nightmare Rock. The Alabama Hills are a popular filming location for television and movie productions, especially Westerns set in an archetypical “rugged” environment. Since the early 1920s, scores of movies and television shows have been filmed here, including Tom Mix films, Hopalong

loadEmbeds(); For 12 years Scotty's Classic Cars Museum in Arma, Kansas, educated and entertained visitors about the automobile history and its impact on society through the maintenance of exhibitions, publications, collections, records and a library. Sadly the museum was shuttered in 2011 having sold most of the contents to the Central Texas Museum of Automotive History in Rosanky, Texas.As

loadEmbeds(); Rose O'Neill and Kewpie dollsThe Ozarks were my destination while traveling along Route 66 in these past few blog posts. Specifically what I wanted to see was Bonniebrook, the home of Rose O’Neill (1874-1944) an American illustrator, author, artist, poet, sculptor, inventor, suffragette, and creator of the world famous Kewpies.Due to some heavy road construction en route to Bonniebrook,

loadEmbeds(); I was still cruising along Route 66 the day I shot this pano on my way to check out the Hornet Spooklight when I came upon the Giant Praying Hands in Webb City, Missouri. Weighing in at about a 100-tons, these hands were cast in concrete by Jack Dawson, who at the time was a 20 year old college student, back in 1972. Due to the lighting conditions, I attempted to pull out the shadows

loadEmbeds(); It's nearly sunset on Lollipop Row, a section of Chris Barbee's Bowling Ball Yard art in Nowata, Oklahoma. Chris, a widower, welcomed us warmly and gave us a tour of all his creations including the Bowling Ball Fence, the Bowling Ball American Flag, the Bowling Ball Rosary, the Bowling Ball Pink Ribbon (commemorated to his wife who passed from breast cancer in 2006), the Bowling Ball

loadEmbeds(); The Dalton Gang dead in Coffeyville KsIt was in Coffeyville, Kansas where the Dalton Gang was gunned down by the well-armed citizens of the town and shot 'em dead on October 5, 1892, after the outlaws were attempting to rob not one but two local banks.  The town has since erected a self-guided walking tour that culminates with "Death Alley", the exact spot in which the showdown

loadEmbeds(); On the roadside near East 300 Road and South 4130 Road just off of Highway 169 [map it] in Rogers County, Oklahoma, lays what appears to be an old NASA space capsule.The Facebook page of the Winganon Space Capsule elucidates: “The mixer wrecked when the Winganon bridge was being built in 1959. The cement hardened and the truck was hauled away while the mixer was abandoned due to weight.

loadEmbeds(); A year ago a deadly EF-5 tornado ripped through the city of Joplin, Missouri, killing 161 people and damaging or destroying about 7,500 homes and 500 other buildings. Despite it all, the city is well into a significant recovery mode but there is still work to be done. Along the tornado's path at the intersection of East 20th Street and the Kansas City Southern Railway tracks, where

loadEmbeds(); Elmer and Linda Long, Oro Grande, CaliforniaBottle Tree Ranch is a quirky, on-going outsider art installation/domicile located on National Trails Highway (formerly and more famously known as Route 66) in a town called Oro Grande just outside of Victorville. Similar to Hulaville, a defunct roadside attraction that at one time could also be found on Route 66, Bottle Tree Ranch is a collection

A year ago I blogged about my New Year's goal to develop my chops in 360° photography. To that end, throughout the 2011 I explored and photographed spaces that artist's work in and/or find inspirational.This brought me to Salvation Mountain on Easter Sunday where not only did I meet the artist Leonard Knight (see original post) but also had a star sighting: Sean Penn and his gal pal Scarlett Johanssen.

This past Easter I went to visit Leonard Knight, 80, the creator of "Salvation Mountain" an on-going art installation near Slab City in the Salton Sea, California. Just last week, Knight was hospitalized. According to reports, he was suffering from cognitive issues. He was placed in observation for 72 hours and then subsequently released to a long-term care facility with a diagnosis of dementia.Salvation

Entrance to Salvation MountainLeonard Knight, 79, has been building "Salvation Mountain" an on-going art installation near Slab City in the Salton Sea, California, for the past 27 years. Its soul purpose is to convey the simple message "God is love."Because of Knight's dedication, it seemed fitting to see Salvation Mountain on Easter.  So last Sunday along with my sister we set out for a visit