June 2013

On the first day of summer, for the fifth time in as many years, 
I set out for the American West. 

I finished a project that I’ve dreamed about for more than a decade. 
The 3D visualization is from 2007 but the idea goes back further.

The trip started in Pennsylvania. 

Driving through the beautiful Allegheny mountains on the

Lincoln Highway (US 30), I visited the 9-11 memorial for the victims of

 flight 97 in Schwenksville. In niches in a low wall people leave mementos. 

Besides the powerful significance of the memorial, the site is unremarkable. 

The day was beautiful. The skies as dramatic as the landscape. 

On this trip I visited and photographed the last of the 

state capitols in the lower 48. Now, I guess, the only thing to do is 
revisit them. Madison, WI was one I wanted to reshoot. 

You can see the swarming gnats in this shot.

Traveling across the midwest is monotonous. Endless fields
 of corn and hay and soybeans and 
monumental windmills. What would Don Quixote have thought?

After a long ride across Nebraska, I stopped for the night in Venango, 

walking distance from the Colorado border; self-proclaimed 

‘Buckle of the Wheat Belt.’ A website, freecamping.net, had pointed us in 

that direction with the promise of a free or at least cheap place to camp 

for the night. After driving through town, a dirt street deal, and with no 

campground to be found, I called a second time to ask directions. Oh yeah, 

we saw you go by, they said. We’re at the bar you passed. Come back.

In the morning the cat wished us goodbye.

Denver was the penultimate capitol to photograph. Unfortunately, 

the dome was under repair and completely 

covered with a shroud. I guess I’ll have to go back. 

Cheyenne, Wyoming was my 48th and final continental 
U.S. state capitol and the weather was beautiful.