Organized Chaos at the Galeria Alameda, Cali (Colombia 04)

2021

Dear Readers, 2020, a truly horrifying year, for which we Americans should be overwhelmingly ashamed and contrite, is behind us. The presidential freak show will be over by late January, and maybe the MAGA malignancy will fade, like a pestilence that has run its course through a population or a toxic scum that sinks back into the cesspool. 

Let us start a new and more hopeful year with a colorful food market. As you Urban Decay readers know, farmers' or food markets are always fun. They are colorful, odoriferous, noisy, cheerful, and full of photographic opportunities. The Galeria Alameda between Carrera 24 and 26 in Cali, Colombia, is a good one. The Cali Adventurer summarizes it as 

"It’s organized chaos. Imagine a place where buyers and sellers of herbs, flowers, exotic fruits, veggies, meat and fish mingle and haggle. A place where a pound of cow eyes are just as likely to be sold as a bag of potatoes. A place where indigenous women sell hand-woven baskets next to “snake oil salesmen” selling alternative medicines." 

I am not sure about the chaos part. Compared to markets I have visited in Africa and Asia, this one looked pretty clean and sanitary, but don't let that make you think it was boring, by any means. 

Note, these photographs are from January 2019, obviously pre-virus; it seems like another lifetime.

Want to test a pepper? Snacking available; have some ice water available to cool off your tongue.

 Some of these goodies were wrapped in banana or plantain leaves.

 The cheese vendor checking his phone. Everyone in Colombia checks their phone....

The chickens were refrigerated and trimmed - no live ones running around. And this employee was already wearing her mask.

Lunchtime! Our charming guide, Vivian, knew exactly where to eat and knew the staff at the cafeteria. The serving gents in the orange shirts were pleased to have some foreigners chowing out. Top it off with a strong Colombian coffee - it does not get much better than this.

These photographs are from Kodak Ektar 100 film from my little Yashica Electro 35CC camera. I used it on auto-exposure, and the little electric eye calculated most exposures as well as I would with a hand-held meter. The color balance was a bit funny with various types of lighting, but that is one downside of film as opposed to digital. I scanned these negatives on a Plustek 7600i film scanner.

On the Dixie Overland Highway, Historic US 80 - Vicksburg area (MS-04)

R.H. Henry Bridge, Big Black River, Bovina, Mississippi (Fomapan 100 Classic film, Hasselblad 501CM camera, 50mm Distagon lens) 

In the previous article, I explored US 80 (formerly the Dixie Overland Highway) in west Jackson. Proceeding west, US 80 went through the town of Clinton and eventually to Vicksburg. It then crossed the Mississippi on the old Mississippi River bridge (now closed to traffic). Once Interstate 20 was built in the 1970s, part of 80 disappeared, and the route is no longer continuous west of Clinton. But from Edwards west, you can still drive on 80 as it crosses the Big Black River and cuts straight through the loess bluffs. Here are some photographs from US 80 east of Vicksburg.

Colored Motel, US 80 east of Mount Albans Road (expired Kodak Ektar 25 film, Hasselblad 501 CM camera, 50mm Distagon lens)

This is the former Colored Motel on US 80. In the 1980s, a sign above the building still showed the name, and somewhere I may have a Kodachrome slide. Regardless, the motel has been unused for 4 decades and the jungle is slowly engulfing the buildings. The pink paint on the stucco walls was rather cheerful and warranted some color frames.

Aluminum Fiberglass lady, somewhere on US 80, Vicksburg (4×5" Tri-X film, 180 ƒ/5.6 Caltar IIN lens) 

The aluminum fiberglass lady was so sweet. She was always impeccably dressed. She never objected to having her portrait taken. She was quiet. And then she went away without a word. I did not record the address in 1989 and do not know exactly where she stood, but I hope she proudly graces another home now. If any of you readers recognize her, please let me know.

UPDATE: This may be the former Miss Uniroyal, also known as the Uniroyal Gal. Amazing, she once lived in Vicksburg! Please see the last comment from a reader below. 

Oops, minor problem, US 80 (Kodak Panatomic-X film, Hasselblad 501CM camera, 50mm ƒ/4 Distagon lens, yellow filter)

Just west of Mount Albans Road, the soil under part of the roadbed washed out during the January 2020 rains (rain fell for a solid month). As of May 2020, the MSDOT highway department is in the process of purchasing land and settling contracts for the repair.

Pinewood Motel, US 80, Vicksburg (Tri-X film, 180mm ƒ/5.6 Caltar IIN lens)

A short distance west, closer to Vicksburg, was the former Pinewood Motor Court. I took pictures there over the years and wrote an article about the Pinewood in 2019. Preservation Mississippi covered the Pinewood in a 2014 article. I included a 2006 photograph to remind you what the old motel looked like. As of early 2020, all the buildings have been demolished because the site may be used for a new Warren County jail.

No more pecans here, Hwy 80, Vicksburg (Panatomic-X film, Hasselblad 501CM, 50mm ƒ/4 Distagon lens)

A long-unused steel warehouse sat on the south side of the road adjacent to the Pinewood. At one time, it may have been a car repair shop as well as a pecan shed.

The junk pile was pretty trashy. A few friends like the pickup truck perched on top of a Honda.

Some abandoned houses/trailers are in the woods south of the road. Once the foliage comes out in spring, they are hard to see.

A driveway drops down into a gully and leads off to a house somewhere. I liked the old real pickup truck.

Shed off US 80 near Anderson Road, Vicksburg (Kodak Panatomic-X film, Hasselblad 501 CM camera, 80mm ƒ/2.8 Planar-CB lens, green filter)

Once you reach the junction of 80 and MS 27, the scene becomes totally boring strip America, with gas stations and cheesy strip malls. It is un-photogenic. From here, Clay Street leads downtown, but there is no real US 80 connection to the old Mississippi River Bridge any more.

We will close with a photograph of the old Mississippi River Bridge in 1993 during construction of the Ameristar Casino. The company had to install a serious amount of geotechnical protection to reinforce the bluff and stabilize the road leading down to the casino. By 1993, the old bridge was already closed to car traffic. It may, one day, become a walk and bike trail. I wrote about 80 in east Louisiana in an earlier article (please click the link).

This ends our survey of US 80, the former Dixie Overland Highway, in Mississippi. Thank you all for riding along. Standby for more coverage of 80 in Louisiana.

Travels on the Mother Road, Route 66: Part 14b, San Jon, New Mexico (2019)

On my 2016 Route 66 trip, I completely missed San Jon, a small town (village) in Quay County, New Mexico. According to Wikipedia, "The village was founded in 1902 and grew after the arrival of the railroad in 1904. It was once an important local commercial center and stop on U.S. Route 66 and home to numerous tourist-oriented businesses, such as gasoline service stations, cafes and motels. However, when Interstate 40 bypassed the village in 1981, the local economy went into a decline, leading most of those businesses to shut down. Today, only one motel is still in operation and all of the gas stations and dining establishments are centered around the I-40 interchange on the north side of town."

Today, San Jon is a superb dump - the quintessential fading Route 66 small rural American town.

The Route 66 handbook claimed that the Western Motel was open for business. Not any more....

San Jon was definitely a "buy gas here" type of town in the old days. We saw at least three now-defunct filling stations on the main drag.

These are all post-WWII nondescript cinder block construction, and I cannot tell what brands were once sold at these stations.

Another station of unknown branding.

The mural on this building looked fresh and was a memorial to some townsman who, I assume, died. I love the curved glass brick at the corner. Note how the curb curves to match the building. I wonder if this was once a car dealership?

Ceramics shoppe, San Jon, New Mexico (Kodak Ektar 25 film, Yashica Electro 35CC camera)

There were a few stores in town - once.

The temperature that morning was skirting freezing and the wind was howling. We left San Jon and headed east at high speed to zip through Amarillo to beat an impending ice storm. 

Room with a view: approaching winter storm, Childress, Texas (Moto G5 digital image)

We stayed in Childress, Texas. I passed through Childress and other Panhandle towns in October on my way west (click the link). The following night, we stayed in Texarcana. I described the abandoned Union Station in an earlier post (click the link).

Finally, home. Unload, clean and sort the junk, unpack, do laundry, wash the car, develop film, pay bills, etc., etc., etc. Prepare for the next trip.

Look what awaited us from the garden: a treat!

This ends my 2019 Route 66 expedition. If you want to read previous posts, please type "Route 66" in the search box. Some day, I want to explore the section from Oklahoma eastward to Chicago. Standby for more adventures.....

Travels on the Mother Road, Route 66: Part 8d, Budville and Cubero, New Mexico (2019)

Continuing east on Route 66 (where it still exists) or I-40 through central New Mexico, the country is pretty arid with only an occasional farm or truck stop. According to the Route 66 Adventure Handbook, Cubero was bypassed by a new road in the 1930s. An entrepreneur built the Villa de Cubero, which is still in business on Route 66 where it diverges away from the interstate. You can buy snacks, gasoline, and other essentials there.

Courtesy of 66postcards.com (Thank you!)

The Villa de Cubero Tourist Courts catered to early Route 66 travelers. According to the Route 66 Adventure Handbook, the adventure/musical Desert Song was filmed near here (the 1943 or 1953 version?). Desert Song was based on Sigund Romberg's 1926 operetta about a galant and handsome desert sheik who captures the heart of the beautiful city girl and rides off to the desert with her, singing all the time, while he also directs the revolt of the Berber tribesmen.

Villa de Cubero De Luxe Tourist Court (expired Kodak Ektar 25 film, Yashica Electro 35CC camera)

The tourist courts are closed but in reasonably intact condition. The Route 66 Adventure Handbook also notes that Ernest Hemingway may have written The Old Man and the Sea here! Or maybe he did not because he might have been in Cuba. A blog from the Villa de Cubero explores the controversy of Papa Hemingway's stay in the tourist court. We need to weigh the options:
Cuba: tropical breezes, palm trees, beautiful women, lots of booze, and deep sea fishing.
Cubero: desert, not much to do, and booze.

Budville Trading Co. (Moto G5 digital file)

About a mile southeast on old Route 66 you come upon the former Budville Trading Company. It is closed and longer has pumps on the island.

Budville Trading Post (Tri-X film, Hasselblad 501CM camera, 50mm ƒ/4 Distagon lens)

A bit further east I saw another closed garage/filling station. This one had another long-wheelbase Cadillac!

That is all the excitement for Cubero. We will continue east on Route 66. Standby for more updates.

Travels on the Mother Road, Route 66: Part 8c, Continental Divide, New Mexico (2019)

At the continental divide (Kodak Ektar 25 film, Yashica Electro 35CC camera, polarizing filter)

Heading east from Gallup, the country is pretty bare, with rock ridges and occasional small farms or ranches. We reach a small community known as Continental Divide. Needless to say, there is a souvenir shop and "Indian Market" on the site. It is a popular stop on I-40. In the parking lot, I spoke to a gent with a Studebaker Avanti - a real Avanti from 1962 or 1963, not one of the versions made later by other companies after the Studebaker factory closed forever  in December 1963. He was driving from California to a car show in Florida. A friend hiked some of the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail (3100 mi. in total) several years ago and would have passed through the nearby town of Grants.

Is this really the Continental Divide? (Moto G5 digital file)

A sign explains that water falling west of the sign flows westward towards the Pacific (actually, to the Gulf of California), while east of the sign, water flows to the Gulf of Mexico and eventually reaches the Atlantic Ocean via the Gulf Stream oceanic current.

Continental divide in the United States. Map from ESRI ArcMap software.

In the map above, you can see that the Rio Grande river approximately parallels the Continental Divide in New Mexico. At El Paso, Texas, it turns southeast and becomes the border between the United States and Mexico. Much of the water is taken out for agriculture, but a small amount eventually reaches the Gulf of Mexico. In central Colorado, runoff flows into the Arkansas River, which joins the Mississippi River a few miles southeast of Pine Bluff, Arkansas. To the west, the Colorado Plateau is highly arid, but what water does fall as snowfall or occasional rain enters the Colorado River. Most of this water is also removed for agriculture, leaving almost nothing for the Gulf of Colorado.

This map (from Wikipedia) shows the major hydrologic divides in North America. Note how water that falls in the central United States flows to the Gulf of Mexico, much of it via the Mississippi River and its tributaries. The Great Basin is an arid region that has no outlet. Rainfall in the eastern region flows to the Atlantic Ocean via numerous small rivers, none of which even begin to approach the Mississippi River's volume.