Pointed elbows and lowered hat bills greet soda pop aficionados at Arcadia Oklahoma’s POPS Soda Ranch on Route 66. While 2 glass floor-to-ceiling walls of the colorful bottles tempt you to pluck and run in order to escape the furor of the refrigerated section at the back, the library shelves are merely for perusal; the bottles are glued-down samples.

On any given day you can vie for over 500 flavors of soda pop imported from all over the world. Take one and ask for a straw on the spot, or load up the 6-pack containers for a picnic later. Or for gifts. Or to create your own soda pop library – one of my quests in life.

If you get inside and decide you need something for your exotic, imported soda pop to wash down, you’re in luck. The grill is open from 10:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and offers nostalgic choices such as an old fashioned cheeseburger basket, grilled cheese sandwich, or a substantial chicken fried steak. Sit at the stainless steel counter for a real blast from the past.

See those 6 packs lined up? Yep, they’re all mine.

Go at night and be greeted by the 66 foot tall pop bottle sculpture complete with a giant straw. Lit by colorful LED lights pulsing through the structure, it’s the perfect prelude to what you’ll find inside.

Located 15 miles west of the Wellston exit off the Turner Turnpike on Rt. 66, you can’t miss the small shop. A white, steel cantilevered canopy extends 100 feet over the gas tanks. It’s unsupported (by design) so there’s no need to worry about side-swiping the posts.

And you don’t have to be a soda pop aficionado to enjoy POPS. Gawkers are welcome too.

For more fun travel and taste bud ideas, check out Wanderfood Wednesdays at Wanderlust & Lipstick.

A beautiful Oklahoma sunset provided the backdrop for my much needed 3 hour road trip this past weekend.

Join the Road Trip Revolution at the Solo Road Trip Facebook Fan Page, here.

After 18 years in the financial sector as a CPA and Certified Financial Planner, I asked myself one day who I really wanted to be. Was it the geek carrying the HP 12C, donned in panty hose, respectable pumps, and a conservative suit? Nah. It was the person in this pic. I really like this person. And she seems pretty happy too.

I don’t post pictures of myself mainly because there aren’t many. I’m the one behind the camera, and I like it that way. And pictures of me flyfishing are even more rare as I’m usually by myself or those in my party are downstream somewhere (I like to be the person upstream LOL – I’m blonde not stupid).  The blonde part’s not technically correct after the China backpacking trip but I’m working to recover the blonde locks. It takes a lot of time sitting in the hair salon. I don’t do that well. Sitting still.

The photo above was taken on the 3rd hiking trip into the Wind River Range in Wyoming in 2007. There were 3 of us on this trip – me and 2 guy friends. The first and second trips in 2002 and 2003 included me and 5 guys. My amazing husband sends me off with these guys as they’re all like brothers to me. I’m the only girl that ever gets invited because I’m the only girl they know who can smell as bad as they do at the end of the trip. Well, and I don’t whine. Ever. My backpack always weighs 50+ lbs. My camera gear outranks personal items and therefore there’s not a lot of grooming that takes place. I’m okay with that. More okay than I should be. Furthermore I can eat my weight in cheeseburgers at the Lander Bar & Grill when we come out. And throw back a respectable amount of libations.

The trips are grueling. The last 2 more so than the first as I was living in Jackson Hole for the first go and had the advantage of altitude adjustment. Big advantage. The guys all came from sea level. Big disadvantage. I smoked them to the top of Hell’s Hill, elevation 11,000 feet and a full 8 hours into the second day’s hike. So much so that I had time to cavort at the top, lie back in the sunshine, photograph like a fiend, and then climb back down to help a guy bring his pack on up to the top.

I was a rock star on that mountain. It was the first and last of that glory. And like a HS football star, I still talk about it every chance I get.

Since that glory has faded to the hue of a 1900’s tintype photograph, for my birthday this year, I asked to climb Grand Teton. I’ve been training now for 4 months. There’s lots of hissing going on in my household. Lots of ice packs flying around. Lots of short trips and parties being turned down. Lots of lactic acid pumping through my veins. I’ve done without sweets for weeks upon weeks, chocolate included. My life has been consumed by the preparation. My husband reminds me frequently his life has been indirectly consumed by it.  I gave him permission to say bad things to me the next time I throw out an idea that will so voraciously inhale 5+ months of our lives.

My version of Ansel Adam’s famous photo from the Snake River Overlook.

Grand Teton. It stands at 13,770, with an ascent of 6,700 feet which requires a combination of hiking, climbing, and rappelling. It’s the highest mountain in the Teton Range (part of the Rocky Mountains). The most popular route up the mountain is the Exum Ridge (II, 5.5), a 13-pitch exposed route first climbed by Glenn Exum. This route takes the south ridge of the mountain to the summit and the direct start (Lower Exum Ridge, III, 5.7) is considered a mountaineering classic. The North Ridge (IV, 5.8) and North Face with Direct Finish (IV, 5.8) ascend the dramatic northern aspect of the peak, and their inclusion in Steck and Roper’s Fifty Classic Climbs of North America has helped maintain the fame of the peak in the climbing community. Since the first ascent, 38 routes with 58 variations have been established.

The origin of the name is controversial. The most popular explanation is that “Grand Teton” means “large teat” in French, named by either French-Canadian or Iroquois members of an expedition led by Donald McKenzie of the North West Company. However, other historians disagree, and claim the mountain was named after the Teton-Sioux tribe. Personally, the “large teat” origin is my favorite.

I know a lot about the Tetons, from the GROUND. I’ve photographed them for years, gazed at them from all sides and dreamed of being up there. It was the one thing I regret not doing while living there. And I did a lot of things Animal Tracking, Snot Effect and Poop. You chuckled at the “from the ground” part? You know you did. But it’s important because that familiarity means I know the challenge I’m embarking upon. Then again, I always say that and then get into something and promise myself to have my head checked if I manage to exit the situation alive.

From The Ground

From The Ground #2

From The Ground #3

From The Ground #4 Get the picture?!

I’m ordinary. Filled at times with fear, infinitesimally stupid at times, fraught with the same self delusions and insecurities as most everyone else, I may have an above average tolerance for pain. Then again I probably tell myself that in order to stay psyched up for the extremely painful things that seem to happen to me. More on that later. I hate working out. Those 30 minutes on the elliptical are an eternity. Getting to Pilates twice a week is as difficult and unpalatable as mowing 2 acres of grass with a push mower. So this undertaking is a big stretch. I think of this when I recall my 3 year old nephew trying to drink a whole glass of chocolate milk and eat a bowl of ice cream the size of my Dad’s. About as insurmountable.

It’s the task itself, the carrot dangling so enticingly that really gets my blood pumping. After the first Wind River hike I was depressed for months. Lost. Afloat. I know what Lewis felt like when he returned home from the expedition. Driving back to the trailhead after getting everyone else on the road , I wanted to disappear back into that wilderness. Returning to Jackson through distraught tears was as much a struggle as anything I’d done.

Nothing in my life has ever been on the same scale as the Lewis and Clark expedition, but I know what he struggled with even if at a much lesser degree. It took a long time before I felt normal, and to a degree, I’ve never regained the perspective of the world I had before I left for that trip. P.S. That’s a Good thing.

The NEED to have an adventurous goal that will stretch me beyond my recognizable self is ever present. It’s an itch that won’t go away. It’s not been relieved a bit by the aging process, or by injuries sustained on past adventures. I WANT to feel some fear. Not the fear of failure represented by not making it to the top of Grand. If I don’t make it, it’ll be disappointing. But it won’t kill me. NOT making the attempt would kill me. The fear I’m talking about doesn’t come at the hand of others. It comes from the smallness I feel when faced with the elements of nature. Things I can’t control. Things that so radically and without emotion put me in my place. It changes your perspective of the world and your position in it. In my opinion we all need that. Others will argue, but there is but one way to get this attitude adjustment – by pitting yourself against natural elements.

I’m going to be up there in one month. I’m going to be up there in one month. I’m going to be up there in one month.

4 Weeks and Counting!!  Ahhhhh!!……..

P.S. While this technically won’t count as a SOLO trip, it will be just me and an Exum guide.  Actually, getting to the top takes just me.  Sigh.

We resume the regularly scheduled programming – specifically the last part of the series that began with the Rah Rah! article encouraging you to shoot with whatever camera you happen to have: Great Photos from Really Cheap Cameras.

Now What? Part I and Part II were tips and pointers on what to do with that cheap/old/outdated camera to achieve photos you’ll be proud of.

All the tips apply to ANY camera but since we began with a discussion that followed the woefully inaccurate adage of crappy camera = crappy photos, it only makes sense to play this out.

• Stop looking at what everyone else is doing until you’ve figured out WHAT is it YOU like. It’s easy to be pulled in every direction by the latest whim, gadget, or toy without ever learning what pleases your own eye. About the time you’ve invested in the latest, the tide turns to retro. Do you like photos that are a bit soft, out of focus even?  Do highly processed HDR images make your heart pound, your palms sweaty? Or do you prefer tack sharp, head-on realistic?  Figure out what you like and forget about what anyone else thinks – their inclinations don’t matter, and you’ll have a hard time keeping up with all the gadgets. If you like a particular style, find out how to achieve it, then set out to perfect it.

Personally, I like tack sharp, Anseladamsesque realism (and I really liked making that one word).  I enjoy the emotion conveyed by powerful, natural elements and take particular pleasure in viewing images that give the impression that with one step, you could be in that frame.  Menacing clouds with bits of sun peeking through, the appeal of details wedged in by shadow, the raw, hard lines/crevices of rocks or faces – these appeal to my eye. These are what I enjoy capturing. This “style” is what I’ve focused on.

Yellowstone

Wyoming Wonder

Bryce Canyon National Park

Uigher Man

• Experiment.  If you have a camera with interchangeable lenses, put on one lens and shoot EVERYTHING with it for 2 weeks.  If you don’t have interchangeable lenses, shoot EVERYTHING at ONE setting for 2 weeks. IF you’re not shooting a lot, then keep the same lens/setting for longer.
• Learn one basic retouching technique.

Trained in the darkroom, I’m a bit of a purist at heart. Since my first priority with this series is to help you, I must confess – I’ve learned Photoshop.  Sssssssss….. Now that’s out, I feel much better.

However, (surely you expected a “however”?!) my skills are limited to improving what the camera captured as opposed to changing it.  In other words my Photoshop skills are basic.

Actually my Photoshop skills mimic what I can do in the darkroom.  Oh, I know you thought Ansel was a straight-up kind of guy. NEWS FLASH!!! What that man did in the darkroom with chemicals and fingers waving under the enlarger bulb, is no different than a bit of basic Photoshop.  No different at all.

My favorite Photoshop darkroom technique is “levels.”  All my B&W’s get a levels adjustment, and a lot of color shots as well.  Second favorite is the “high pass” filter utilizing the “overlay” choice for the layer. I’ve recently discovered a Photoshop plug-in software, SilverEfex by Nik Software.  It’s almost weaned me from the gnawing lust to lose myself in the red glow of the darkroom lamp.  Almost.

• Don’t be afraid to use flash.  You SHOULD use it for backlit subjects/scenes.  Again, experiment.
• Take a Basic Photography course
• Take a Basic Photoshop course
• Take photos of things you don’t think are photo worthy at the time. No regrets!
• HAVE FUN!

Here’s what happens when you have fun, you don’t take yourself too seriously, and you ummmm occasionally let go of the style you really prefer.

Agave #1. Taken with a point-and-shoot.

Agave #2. Taken with a point-and-shoot.

The only thing French I own — an antique French gate. NOT taken with a point-and-shoot. LOL