Nerds on the Road » salton sea

Imperial Updates: Videos from Salton Sea area.

Katya — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:42:09 +0000

Pumpkin Bowling at Slab City the morning after Halloween. Last time I was there was Easter when they shot easter eggs off of saw horses the morning after. Fun times.

Me and Lisa took her car to the Dunes to take some photos while Ross was working on the RV at Slab City. Unfortunately the dunes were covered in little kids on ATV’s and big kids in jeeps. On the other side of the highway there was less pure dunes but no people so we hung out on that side.

Shoot Em Up Austin

Katya — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:20:34 +0000

This last week we went out quite a bit and I even got to drop off some rolls of film at a lab that actually cross processes slide film, Precision Camera on North Lamar. Of course they messed up and forgot to cross process one roll – but I’ll forgive them since they’re not going to charge me!

Finally having some film to upload will be nice, and I bought several more rolls of slide 35mm, 120 and even a pack of fuji instant. I haven’t tried it yet but I’m sure its just fine. I don’t really see a need to bring Polaroid back – Fuji bought the formulas from them and presumably makes the exact same thing. The name Polaroid is classic but necessary? No. Seems our cultural hangup on brand identity knows no limits. If Coke sold their formula to Shasta Cola (cheap soda), people would still call Shasta cheap crappy soda, even if its the exact same thing as Coke.

Last week I developed some film in the RV. It was the first time I made the attempt on the road and oddly it went without a single hangup. The film even dried correctly with no water spots or particles all over it. I thought for sure my chemicals would have been bad after all the temperature changes they’ve gone through. I keep them up above in the storage area where the heat and cold aren’t really controlled directly but I tested the fixer, it was fine – and the developer didn’t smell funny so I went on with it. To prepare I only had to turn on the water heater and wait a while for the water tank to heat up. Each roll takes about 20-30 mins altogether to load, develop and rinse, then they were hung in the bathroom on the shower pole with shower curtain hooks and weighed down so they wouldn’t curl with paper clips. I only did 2 rolls and still have 3 more to do but I’m making progress on my backlog of film from the trip.

Here’s a few from those rolls, all taken with my big Pentax 67:

Spokane, WA – Benny & Joon House

Spokane, WA – Railroad Collecting

Spokane, WA – Hillyard Ghost Town

Pecos Texas, Crooked house

West Texas – Gas Station fire

New photos should include ones from Salton Sea, Monahans, Llano River, Catalina State Park and more!

I miss instability

Katya — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 06:25:44 +0000

Just wanted to mention that I find myself remembering fondly the harder times of the trip. Moving fast across the country, boondocking behind the North Shore Yacht Club while it was being renovated, running our generator in a Walmart parking lot so we have electricity to work while transitioning to another spot, staring at google maps for hours trying to figure out where we’re going next while already driving there. Like a band of gypsys, down the highway we would go. RV shaking and noisy, Chena on my lap – and halfway on the cooler. Things and places to photograph. All the while without running water, showers, predictable bathrooms or healthy food. Sometimes without propane in the cold, sometimes without protein for weeks (it seemed). I miss it. I hate being in one place so long (and only 2 weeks) – yet unable to go anywhere really without a car and nothing close to walk to. There’s a city bus but I don’t exactly feel like going downtown alone in the cold. I also have to work almost the same hours as Ross and by the time we’re done its dark and the only place nearby is a mini mart with a grumpy Iranian guy who doesn’t take debit cards. In his defense he did make a joke tonight after seeing my out of state ID, he asked me why I didnt have a drivers lisence “drinking and driving hahahaah?” – hes ok. It’s understandable why its odd to not have a drivers license here. Nowhere so far has a transit system or bike lane system like Portland.

We go to Austin Tomorrow and we’re tying for a place closer to town, The weather should be getting better next week and I plan to do something with it (and blog more) . Stagnation and stability are my ultimate killer, or maybe just boredom and the lack of someone to meet for coffee?

North Shore, CA Boondocking

Katya — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:01:30 +0000

Hiding out at North Shore, CA

We left the Slabs in search of better internet speeds for work and just up the road we found a place to park and work at North Shore. We ended up staying the night and plan to return after some errands in La Quinta. It was a fairly perfect spot aside from the smell of the salt water, dead fish, cat pee and bird poo. The view was worth it. North Shore is on the East side of the Salton Sea, about 14 miles south of Mecca, CA.