Having been called a purist snob in regards to both photography and flyfishing (and not caring a hoot about that label), this post is a bit challenging to write.  I’ve also been told I must like crow because I eat a lot of it. I’d say the latter is very accurate. I do eat a lot of crow.

As much as I’d like to claim I never manipulate my travel photos, that would be a bald-faced lie. I do. Furthermore even when I shot only Black & White film and developed it in the darkroom, I altered the process; different chemicals, rinses, times, tools used to burn and dodge. Man! those were the days.

This penchant has grown with every new Photoshop tool I discover.  I’ll likely never be one for a great deal of manipulation, mainly because let’s face it, I’m unlikely to ever acquire the skills.  Last winter after a 40 hour Photoshop course with Doug Henderson (7 Tips From a Photography Pro), I became LESS of a Photoshop hack. It’s sort of the same as giving a compliment by saying something “doesn’t suck.”

I discovered Nik Software’s Silver Efex sometime ago. It’s become my digital darkroom work-horse. And I’ve yet to find anything about it to criticize (highly unusual).  I wanted to test another of their products, Color Efex Pro, so I downloaded the 15 day free trial and put it through the paces.

I’ve loved this sign since photographing it on a road trip to Kansas. I’ve not done anything with it – until downloading Color Efex Pro. See Jane run.

SOOC – straight out of the camera. For the most part.

Sunshine filter

Kodachrome 64 filter

Old Photo filter

Old Photo filter

Polaroid Transfer filter

Detail Styler filter

Solarization filter

Tonal Contrast with High Pass filter

I used the Tonal Contrast with High Pass filter on the Serva-teria photo on the post: 13 Reasons for a Road Trip.

Polarize filter

The software is offered in 3 versions – standard, select, and complete and ranges in price from $99 to $299. After testing it, my advice is to buy the complete version for $299 – it’s the best value and will lend a degree of creative latitude and flexibility you can’t get elsewhere.

And I hope none of these are mislabeled. My trial version ran out before I had time to double check the filter names. Regardless, you get the picture.

SRT is fluttering in blue ribbons. Years ago, flush with the career fever, I announced I no longer worked for trophies, pats on the back, or awards since you can’t eat those. I lied.

Being named by Jamie Jensen, author of Road Trip USA as one of the Top 10 Road Trip Blogs and recently winning the Portrait category of John Batdorff’s Black & White Photography contest has raised my chin and straightened my back.  I don’t want to consider there could only be 10 road trip blogs, and I know for certain John’s contest had some incredible entries, even in the Portrait category.

Blogs.com asked Jamie Jensen to compile a list of the Top 10 Road Trip blogs.  Here’s what he had to say about SRT:

“Much as I enjoy traveling with my family, there’s a sense of freedom and exhilaration that comes from hitting the road on your own. The existential excitement of the solo road trip is magically channeled by Tammie Dooley into this beautifully illustrated, thoughtful blog.”

Since I don’t think it possible to spread enough of the road trip love around, here’s the entire list, so you road trip aficionados or wanna-be’s can check out the others. Enjoy!

John Batdorff is a 2nd generation professional photographer whose work has been showcased by the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming. He specializes in outdoor/landscape and travel photography.  John’s blog is a fun, perpetual photography course. He has a knack for presenting his experience and talented eye in a way that both entertains and better than that, sticks – you won’t forget the instruction he imparts.  Anyone wanting to improve their photography should follow his blog. Not only will you learn, but you’ll have a great time doing it.

Click here for all the winning captures in his latest contest.

The photograph of the woman taken during the 4-week backpacking trip to rural China with my son won the Portrait category.

Celebrate with me for this one brief post. We’ll return to the real world tomorrow. Actually, tomorrow is Thanksgiving!  Happy Thanksgiving. And thank you for being here.

I’m home tonight.  With no plans to work on any of my assignments due within the next few weeks, or even blog about the latest road trip, I sat down, propped up my feet, and opened the innocent looking package from my husband’s employer regarding medical insurance for 2010. This is not a comedic stand up routine folks. Despite the fact the American medical system is broke and front and center in the news, I plowed in. How bad could it be?

Really bad. Five minutes later, depressed at the knowledge the cost for our coverage would be increasing by one-third, with thoughts of an HMO flashing through my head like Boris Karloff with a flashlight under his chin, I made my way to the kitchen.

Tonight I’d make the persimmon bread from the recipe that accompanied my recent post about the fruit’s seed being a predictor of winter conditions. The persimmons purchased over a week ago have ripened nicely on the countertop and need some attention – as in a suspension of batter and an oven.

fruit, pecans, whiskey, raisins, butter, eggs. Forget about mixing all this together with flour and sugar; the individual components would be a gourmet meal for me.

Cutting into the first persimmon yields a soft, fleshy, orange fruit, the color for which fashion designers would need a brown bag. It’s that glorious.

Only thing missing: ummm, seeds. Nada. Zip. Zero. None. Whaaatttt??!!  My post that spawned a rush all over the world to purchase persimmons, is a LIE?!

no seeds!

Yes. And no. The trees that yielded the persimmons that yielded the seed that yielded the spoon indicating lots of snow this winter, were wild persimmons picked on my Dad’s ranch. Being the ranch is 3 hours from here and to achieve 2 cups of mash from the not-much-bigger-than-a-marble fruit would take a bushel, I opted for market persimmons.

Some desperate research indicates I purchased the most widely cultivated species: the Japanese persimmon ‘Hachiya’.  Another variety was also available (looked more like the ugly step sister of a tomato) for which I will return to the market tomorrow. I’m on a seed quest. And geez louise, so are some of you!

My advice if you’re looking to open a seed to shock and awe your friends and family with Farmer’s Almanac type winter predictions that are a bit more scientific than my beloved Magic 8 Ball, tell the person at your market what you want to do. They should be able to guide you towards a persimmon species with seeds, thereby rescuing my reputation as a, umm, as a highly regarded forecaster with a Farmer’s Almanac and a Magic 8 Ball sitting on her desk.

Tomorrow I’ll post about how the seed quest turned out. In the meantime, the bread is fantastic – my new favorite quick bread – better than banana nut bread, strawberry bread, or zucchini bread. It’s my new go to for gifts. Good thing we were low on milk.

Tumbleweeds the size of boulders streak past in all directions causing me to involuntarily close my eyes and make darts to the left or right behind the safety of the windshield. One sticks on the hood ornament and I lurch back with enough force to strike the head rest and then bounce back to an upright position. My motions would appear silly to anyone watching, but there isn’t anyone. I’m lost.

Travel writers and guides never fail to recommend getting lost in such places as Marrakesh or Seville. All those twisty narrow lanes of mystery lead to experiences that fully engage the senses. Maybe not always gently; sometimes “onslaught” is a more accurate description. Onslaught or not, a memory is etched. THAT is the essence of travel.

Getting lost gives the experience an “edge”, an emotional jump start. And road trip travel in places like Kansas is no different. Really. Those twisty narrow lanes of mystery in places with exotic names have nothing on what you can stumble across in Kansas.

The first time through Mullinville was a mistake.  If you read that sentence carefully, it’ll tell you that a second time was on purpose because the first trip was rewarding enough to go back.

Careful of my speed limit through the small town, I’d just begun picking up speed when I see this:

“What the?!” The wind is doing its best to alter the footing of the 5,000 lb. Yukon as I pull off the road. The sun is full-on but the barren landscape broken by the freaky signs, the desperate squeak of whirling buckets suspended as high into the Kansas atmosphere as the strength of a metal pole will support, the flags flapping out of unison, all screechingly collide into one perfectly produced Twilight Zone scene.

It’s October so I pull on a jacket before picking up camera gear, zip it completely (I’ve learned a few things about Kansas wind), and get jerked out of the truck onto my side because I’ve learned a lot about jackets and Kansas wind, but I’m still learning about the wind powering open a truck door. I don’t bother looking around. There’s no one to have seen me.

After gawking for sometime and taking in all the symbolism and dark humor, I begin taking photographs. A local barrels by on the highway and honks (he obviously knows the local law enforcement). His intrusion confirms I’ve not really landed in a Twilight Zone episode.

One year later…

There will be a 3rd trip. I still don’t have the shot I really want. Maybe a Fisheye?

Want to see all this for yourself? Head west on 54/400 out of Wichita, through Pratt. Mullinville is 41 miles west of Pratt, 120 miles west of Wichita.

With names like Wind River Gear, Stewarts Trap Line Gallery, Tukadeka Traders, and Whiskey Mountain Tackle you get the idea quickly Dubois is all about the outdoors with its own brand of rough and a unique version of western.

Despite the French ending (bois) and the fact other Wyoming names are pronounced with the French pronunciation, you would be wrong to assume that Dubois is “Do-bwa.”  It’s “Do-boys”. Once you get that name down, next is Togwotee Pass, the 9,658 feet high mountain pass North of Dubois in the Absarokas. It’s “Toe-go-tee” – say it fast and run it together.

So what do you do in Dubois, Wyoming other than stand around with your mouth agape rotating in a 360 to take in the red and gray sand castle mesas, the lack of national chains and the Jackalope big enough to attempt an 8 second ride on? (has a saddle just in case you’re inclined).

Dubois Jackalope Advertisement

First, you eat. The Cowboy Cafe‘s breakfast will take you way past lunch. But if you need a refuel or dessert (doesn’t everybody want dessert after breakfast, or is it just me?), head to the Dubois Drug Store & Soda Fountain for a huckleberry shake or one of their home baked yummies.

Then you hike, fish, and explore.

• The Dubois Museum presents stories of the area from the celebrated tie-hack, to the ranchers, outlaws and Native Americans who converged here. A tie-hack was a logger (most of Scandinavian descent) who hacked or shaped the logs into railroad ties.

• Togwotee Trail. It’s not really a “trail.” It’s an overview of the neighboring landscape and features. If you want to do some planning ahead of time, check out a virtual tour: here.

Despite the fact I was just in Dubois mid-September, I didn’t get a great pic. I knew I had this one somewhere. It’s film. Darn good thing Photoshop hasn’t done away with its Dust & Scratches filter. And don’t hold my feet to the fire regarding exactly where around Dubois this was taken. Somewhere in the vicinity will have to be good enough this time. Sometimes, good enough, is enough. I love that saying.

• The Badlands Interpretive Trail.  The colorful badlands form a mesmerizing landscape to explore or just view from your car. A colloquial cowboy term for a land so rough it can’t be ridden through, badlands are formed by water carving its way through soft layers of clay, silt and sandstone. The trail offers three hiking tours ranging from a short stroll to a two-hour hike. It’s located 2 miles north of Dubois on the Horse Creek Road.

• Find the Sheepeater Indians petroglyphs near Torrey Lake (south of town).  A gravel road takes off from Highway 287 just a few miles southeast of Dubois (Trail Lake Road/Forest Service Road 411) and winds
  

  Courtesy of Flickr member:Wyoming99!, Van Hayes

  through glacial moraines to several lake trailheads. You’re specifically looking for the Lake Louise trailhead. You can fish the lakes (with a Wyoming license – see Whiskey Mountain Tackle about one).

• Check out the north end of the Wind River Valley by taking Horse Creek Road/Forest Service Road 285 (the turn-off is in town) to Double Cabin trailhead in the Shoshone National Forest. At the very least drive as long as you’ve got time.

• If you can’t find part (or even one) of the largest Bighorn Sheep herd in North America, head to the Bighorn Sheep Interpretive Center for the stuffed version.

• Union Pass: A gravel road leads up the pass providing access to expansive meadows, spectacular views of the Teton, Wind River and Absaroka mountains, and the headwaters of three great North American rivers: the Colorado, the Mississippi, and the Columbia.  Directions: 10 miles northwest of Dubois on U.S. Highway 287. Turn at Union Pass Road.

• If you’ve got half a day, take the 4.8 mile round-trip hike to Upper and Lower Jade Lakes. The Jade Lake’s trailhead is adjacent to Brooks Lake Campground. Just after coming off Togwotee Pass look for the Brooks Lake Recreation Area access road (quite a bit north of Dubois).

And about that Jackalope?  You can’t drive out of town without a stop at the Exxon station, some photos, and chocolate.

Seeing is Believing… I told you the first photo was just an advertisement. You didn’t believe me?!

There’s aren’t many states better suited for an all-American road trip, than Wyoming. Not much is traversed via interstate highway, so many of the towns are isolated and brandish scads of character.

Where is Dubois? It’s north and west of the center of the state. From Jackson (actually Moran Junction) take highway 26/287 East (you’ll see a sign). It’s about an hour drive.  From Lander, take 26/287 West. It’s about the same distance…’bout an hour down the road ya see?