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explore everywhere

Sometimes I go places, this is where you can read about my adventures. Road trips, cemeteries, abandoned places – they’re all here.

International Car Forest of the Last Church

by Kaylah Stroup

The International Car Forest of the Last Church. This was one of the very few things I had found and plotted out before we flew out of Cleveland, and I was so excited to see it!

My normal vacation planning method goes as follows;

  1. Find something I want to visit.
  2. Locate said item on map.
  3. Zoom out and take note of surrounding cities.
  4. Look up surrounding cities on the Roadside America app.

So I started with The Seven Magic Mountains, found a town called Goldfield nearby, and basically felt like I hit the jackpot when I looked it up. Not only is it super close to Tonopah where I’d visit one of the most interesting cemeteries, there is also a field full of half buried cars located right outside of town. Jeff and I have actually been trying to get to Amarillo, Texas for a while now to visit Cadillac Ranch. Cadillac Ranch is an art installation where there are a bunch of Cadillacs buried nose first in the ground. We just haven’t made it into Texas yet! The International Car Forest of the Last Chuch seemed like it’d be a solid alternative.

goldfield, nevada, cars, public art

It seemed that there were a few roads leading to the car forest, all of which are rough and dirt. We didn’t realize there were multiple roads in though. We just took the first one we found… and it was ROUGH. Steep hills that were basically in the shape of the letter M threatened the front end of our silly little rental car. We contemplated parking and just hiking in but I was feeling a little lazy and kept insisting we drive on. Eventually the “road” straightened out and we were able to see the extent of the car forest. It was pretty darn incredible!

Over forty cars, trucks, and buses are planted around the property. Each one uniquely decorated with spray paint, stickers, and in the case of the car below, tinier cars! I know this sort of thing doesn’t appeal to everyone but to me this is essentially the holy grail of roadside attractions! It’s weird, there was no one around, and it makes no sense at all – I’m all about it!!!

International Car Forest of the Last Church, owl graffiti, nevada cars buried in the ground

What was your favorite part of the International Car Forest of the Last Church, Kaylah? I was hoping you’d ask because I most certainly had a favorite part. The cars were really awesome. I don’t have to tell you guys how much I adore things like this. My favorite part hopped out of a small hole beside the first car I squatted down to take photos of though. It was a jackrabbit. I’ve spotted them a handful of times on our previous trips out west. They’re so darn quick that I usually just seem a glimpse of them. This guy though? He was clearly a model. He let me get super close, and just chilled while I snapped a million photos of him. I was shooting with Jeff’s 70-200mm lens (now my second favorite lens!) I could not be any happier with my photos! It was so darn exciting how willing this little dude was to get his photo taken.

I spend the first half our time at the car forest shooting the jackrabbit. I eventually realized that Jeff was way far away and that I should probably catch up so I happily moved on, satisfied with my shots. After I shot all the cars I ended up back near where the jackrabbit lived since it was on the way to our car. Jeff was still shooting, which is weird because he’s always done before me, but luck was on my side because guess who popped back out of their hole! So, I got to shoot some more photos. My favorite of the bunch is the first one in this post. It might even be one of my favorites from the whole trip!

jack rabbit, rabbit, hare

Check out these other posts from 2017’s road trip out west:
Seven Magic Mountains
Extraterrestrial Highway
Tonopah Cemetery
It’s the little things (sunset at the Salton Sea)
4th annual road trip out west recap

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abandoned hospital

by Kaylah Stroup

Over the weekend my buds and I made plans to wake up early and explore an abandoned hospital. Waking up at 4:45 am is never really all that fun but I can definitely make exceptions when it comes to this stuff. Jeff and I had actually checked out the hospital a week or two prior, popping inside briefly to take some photos. We spent less than an hour and left  feeling like we hadn’t seen even a portion of the building. It’s certainly not the largest abandoned hospital I’ve been in. Most of the equipment, furniture, and other odds and ends from inside have already been removed. Still, there is so much to see.

On my second trip there, I shot haphazardly never once actually setting up my tripod. For some reason I wasn’t feeling it. I guess I just didn’t see anything that was begging to be photographed despite the fact I had wanted so badly to get back to this hospital.

It was kind of a surprise when I got home, sorted my photos and ended up finding so many that I really really liked. The only problem was that my normal editing process, which is extremely simple and quick, wasn’t working. The shots were great but my editing wasn’t doing them justice.

I decided to just throw caution to the wind. I began fooling around with different looks and eventually ended up with what you see here. These are so far from my regular editing style yet I’m completely in love. This building is absolutely wrecked. It’s soggy. Scrappers have stolen any and everything of value. There’s no saving it now, especially in the neighborhood its in. I feel like these photos really convey that. They definitely give you a glimpse of just how grimy it is inside.

sunny abandoned building, curtains, broken window abandoned hospital

If you haven’t gotten your fill of dilapidated buildings – check out the tag “abandoned” for more posts!

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Its the little things…

by Kaylah Stroup

sunset at the Salton Sea. May 18, 2017

I’ve mentioned a few times here on the blog how I’m basically the most sensitive person ever. I cry easy… and at essentially everything. Along with cute animals, the one thing that always gets the waterworks started is trying to explain how much I love something. For example when I start talking about how much I love my bike, and how free I feel riding – I always cry. I can’t help it. I wish I didn’t work that way, I feel like such a weenie, but whatcha gonna do? I’m easily overwhelmed with emotion.

Last year’s road trip basically as soon as we got into the car I started to cry a little. I just felt so happy to be there, so at peace. This year I managed to hold off until editing my photos. The other night I’m sitting here at my desk, going through photos from the trip, when all of a sudden my chin starts to quiver. Then I notice it’s getting a little harder to see… because I’m stinken crying over how much these trips Jeff and I take together mean. Theres no possible way for me to even begin to describe how much I love being in the desert with him. To be honest, I don’t even understand it. We’re getting dirty, sunburnt, eating like crap, and spending too much time sitting in the car but somehow it means the world to me. I’m ready to go back already!

This year we opted to sleep in the car a few of the nights in order to save a bit of money, and because it makes it so much easier to catch sunrise and sunset when you have nowhere to be. It’s not the coziest but honestly, I really really love doing it. I don’t think it would really work as well anywhere other than in the middle of nowhere.

On this particular day, after poking around some beaches along the coast in the morning we headed to the Salton Sea to catch sunset. We had visited here a few years back but once again, its one of those places that is special to me for no good reason. We were having trouble finding somewhere nice to pull over and enjoy the sunset so we ended up stopping at an abandoned building. One we had actually stopped at three years ago! This wasn’t the sunset I was planning on capturing, with beautiful reflections on the water… It was even better. It was a very ~us~ sunset. I didn’t capture any award winning photos that night but I feel like I managed to steal a little piece of that sunset to hoard away and look back on.

salton sea, abandoned building,

above photo by Jeff.

I hope we end up here again in another few years.
xoxo

Ps. In case you were wondering, I was definitely crying writing this. Please tell me I’m not the only crybaby out there.

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Tonopah Cemetery

by Kaylah Stroup

I’ve always had this vision of what a cemetery in the desert looks like. I imagine its filled with cowboys. Its definitely dusty there. The headstones probably aren’t anything like the ones I’m used to in the northeastern side of the United States. Mountains in the background are a must. Aside from cowboys, Tonopah Cemetery hit all the marks. It was everything I had ever dreamed of. It was dusty, there were mountains, and this cemetery was like nowhere I have ever been before!

Founded in 1901, this cemetery was only active for a mere ten years before the number of dead outgrew the small plot of land. Just over 450 people are buried here, more than a few of which fell victim to the  “Tonopah Plague” in 1902. It was actually just pnemonia but it claimed the lives of at least 30 people from the small town and caused a mass exodus. Another big reason people ended up here? The Belmont Mine fire which was clearly marked on many of the headstones.

Tonopah Cemetery almost feels like a fake cemetery, like something someone would set up in their yard for Halloween. So many of the headstones just listed the name and cause of death. I’ve never seen anywhere where so few had the date of birth and death. The unique choice of grave marking materials only added to the cemetery’s appeal. I counted less than five traditional granite headstones.The majority were wood. I even saw what appeared to be a table leg being used!

weird headstone, unique, cemetery, tonopah nevada, cemetery headstone, cemetery, tonopah cemetery, nevada tonopah cemetery, headstone, cemetery

Oh, I’m saving the best part for last! This cemetery? It’s right next door to a clown themed motel. Despite what a very funny polariod of me as a child at the circus would have you believe, I’m not afraid of clowns. As much as I’d love to write an article like the forty others I found while doing some post-vacation research about how this is “the creepiest place EVER” I didn’t think anything about Tonopah Cemetery or its surroundings was creepy. Unique? Absolutely! I’ll be the first to admit that its kind of funny but honestly there was nothing spooky about it.

Jeffrey isn’t a motel staying kind of guy or I gladly would have shelled out the $42.50 to spend the night, just to add it to my list of experiences. Instead, in a normal Kaylah fashion, I darted around the cemetery excitedly taking photos, trying to capture all that I was seeing, and then we moved on to the next town.
tonopah, neveda, creepy motel, cemeteryclown motel, cemetery

I’ve visited a lot of cemeteries but Tonopah Cemetery easily ranks among the best. Tonopah, Nevada seemed like rad, albeit very tiny, town. If you’re out aimlessly wandering, definitely check it out.

xoxo

PS. For more of my favorite cemeteries, check out this list.

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extraterrestrial highway

by Kaylah Stroup

stickers, area 51, nevada, aliens

Next on the agenda, after the Seven Magic Mountains, was Nevada State Route 375… or as it’s more commonly known “the Extraterrestrial Highway.” Area 51, the top secret government base, as well as lots of reports of alien activity, prompted the state to officially designate the route the Extraterrestrial Highway back in 1996.

Visiting this area has been on my bucket list for quite some time now. I went through a huge alien obsessed phase in middle school, and definitely still believe they’re out there. The moment I realized that sign that said “Extraterrestrial Highway” was real, I knew I had to see it myself. I love it even more covered in stickers. Although if stickers aren’t your thing there is a second sign, coming from the other direction, that doesn’t have quite as many. This sign alone was what prompted me to look more into this area and add it to our map. I know, it’s kind of silly. It’s just a sign but it’s the little things that make me the happiest.

Though sadly we saw no real aliens, there were lots of wonderful photo opportunities of ridiculous alien related things…

giant metal alien, nevada, area 51, extraterrestrial highway alien welcome center, alien research center, desert, alien, area 51 area 51 aliens extraterrestrial highway, area 51, aliens, spaceship

To be honest, the Extraterrestrial Highway isn’t all that exciting. The scenery is gorgeous but it’s a bit repetitive after a while. There are a few really great signs, as shown in the photos above, and I could never say a bad thing about a giant metal alien but if signs and aliens don’t do it for ya, this is easily a section of Nevada you could skip right over. Despite the fact this area draws in tourists, it was a beautifully lonely stretch. There were free range cows all along the highway which I thought was equal parts nerve-wracking and exciting. Let me get close but please don’t run out in front of the car! While Jeff tried to snooze in the passenger seat, I was hitting the brakes every five minutes to take photos of cows.

Last year I got to cross off Roswell, and this year I finally got to check out this strange area. Maybe next year I’ll get to see a UFO? Fingers crossed!
xoxo

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seven magic mountains

by Kaylah Stroup

colorful rocks, las vegas, desert

The very first stop (after late night tacos + coffee in Los Angeles) on 2017’s road trip out west was the Seven Magic Mountains. I’m going to assume if you use instagram, you’ve probably seen one… or fifty billion photos of these incredibly colorful boulders.

This art installation in the middle of the desert opened up in May of 2016 and from the second I saw it I was in love. Less than a year prior we had driven around the same area and I was disappointed to have been so close but missed out. Why couldn’t they have been there then?!

Eventually, as time passed, my intrigue grew to disinterest as I saw photo after photo after photo pop up on social media. Gosh, I hate to even admit that. It sounds so bitter but it’s at least a little bit understandable, right? Every photo I saw showed the “mountains” surrounded by people. It looked so crowded. It just didn’t seem like somewhere very enjoyable. Part of what I love so much about our trips to the desert is that it’s kind of a solitary thing. The places we go just seem so far off the grid, so untouched and untainted. It’s an escape of sorts.

Still, I couldn’t resist the lure of these wildly colorful things in the middle of the desert. I had to see them with my own eyes. We drove through the night, stopped to sleep a bit at a rest area, and arrived at the Seven Magic Mountains as the sun came up. To my surprise, there wasn’t a soul around. We had the whole place to ourselves. It. was. magical! Seriously, an amazing way to start the trip.

moon, magic mountains, desert art sunrise, desert art, las vegas, 7 magic mountains las vegas art, roadside attraction

Normally I get my film hand checked at airport security since it shouldn’t be X-rayed. This year I didn’t have room in my carry on-to take my land camera which already had film in it. I just decided to toss it in my checked bag and hope for the best. I was pleased to see that the resulting damage was actually a pretty cool looking effect.

They’re only going to be on display for two years so I’m super happy I finally got the chance to see them. I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it even a fraction of the amount I did if it had been as busy as it always looks in photos but the Seven Magic Mountains are definitely worth waking up super early for!

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4th annual road trip out west

by Kaylah Stroup

A few weeks back I was sitting at my desk, drinking coffee and responding to emails, shortly after Jeff had left for work when the feeling hit. That intense urge to travel. I text Jeff and said “I need to go to the desert. We can sleep in the car again!” I figured he’d give me the usual “I know, I miss it too.” Instead, he said, “Look for flights then!” Less than two hours later, without ever speaking of it other than through rushed, excited texts, we had a flight booked. A week later we were on our way to the airport!

Each year since we started dating Jeff and I have taken a trip out west. We fly into whatever city is the cheapest, rent a car, and just spend a week aimlessly driving. Each year has had its highlights, and of course, low moments but I think this year’s trip may have been my favorite so far! Last year was nice because we had booked a hotel for every night in advance so there was always a cozy bed to look forward to but this also meant that were on a schedule. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about taking road trips and how I function on the road, it’s that schedules kill fun. In an effort to not only save money but be free to do whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted we slept in the car three of the five nights. It wasn’t the most comfortable but it allowed for us to easily catch sunrise and sunset – the two most magical times of the day, especially somewhere as beautiful as the desert or the ocean.

This year we flew into Los Angeles, drove around in Nevada for a while then headed to the coast. Despite the fact we drove the Pacific Coast Highway back in 2015, we saw completely new things this trip. I feel like we could drive the coast again ten more times and still not see everything there is to see.

We watched the sun rise over giant colorful boulders in the desert, drove the extraterrestrial highway, met all sorts of amazing animals, crept around sunbaked abandoned buildings, searched for ocean life in tidepools, saw all sorts of random roadside attractions, wandered around some of the most interesting cemeteries I’ve ever seen, and fell in love with more than a handful of new places. Lookin’ at you, San Diego!

You’d think after four years of taking the same trip we’d be tired of it but I get the feeling we’d both be fine continuing this little tradition for as long as humanly possible. There is just something so incredibly special about the desert and the time we spend there. The ocean too, I could never tire of it!

mine fire headstone, cemetery, nevada

I have SO many photos to finish going through and organize into posts. I can’t wait to share more!
xoxo

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Laurel Grove Cemetery

by Kaylah Stroup

laurel grove cemetery, savannah, georgia, cemetery

You guys! I finally, finally, fiiiiinally have the last post from November’s trip to Savannah ready to go. I essentially shot nothing but photos of cemeteries which, tooting my own horn here, I think I’m pretty good at. I’ve blogged about it twice already how when I got home I wasn’t really happy with any of the photos. Slowly but surely, cemetery by cemetery, I’ve been editing them and falling in love. These ones from Laurel Grove Cemetery are the last of the photos. Ideally, I’d like to say I’ve saved the best for last but I think these are a happy medium, not my favorites but not the worst. I’m just happy to have saved some photos from one of my favorite places.

My first visit to Laurel Grove Cemetery was back in early 2014. I didn’t spend very much time there but I was instantly enamored. I was SO excited to get back and shoot it properly this last visit. I had two things working against me though. The super bright sunshine for one. Just like at Bonaventure, the sun and the huge trees created an absolute mess of uneven light. Secondly, I realized that my camera was malfunctioning. The shutter isn’t working properly so when it’s bright and the shutter needs to open and close super quickly… it just doesn’t. The result is a large black area in the corner of the frame. I first noticed this issue while shooting these photos so instead of worrying about getting great shots I was stressing about what in the heck was wrong with my camera. In some of the shots it’s very obvious and just looks like kooky editing but in a lot of the other shots, I feel like it kind of works. The sun and my funky shutter were my sources of frustration but with a little bit of patience in lightroom I feel fairly confident that they were salvaged.

cemetery, headstone, savannah, laurel grove laurel grove cemetery, savannah, georgia, cemetery, headstone, graveyard spanish moss, cemetery, laurel grove, savannah

Even though I so clearly struggled with all the photos I got from this trip I still really do think Savannah has some of the most beautiful cemeteries. That spanish moss just gets me every time. I can’t look at these photos without feeling a little pang of homesickness. I’m sure I’m not the only one to get this feeling, the yearning for somewhere that you’ve been before. Somewhere that isn’t home but still holds a special place in your heart for one reason or another. I’m sure there is some word in another language that doesn’t translate to English that explains this feeling. Whatever it is, these photos make me feel it.
xoxo

More from November 2016’s Savannah road trip – Bonaventure Cemetery, Zion Chapel of Ease Cemetery, Old Sheldon Church Ruins + Colonial Park Cemetery.

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abandoned trailer park

by Kaylah Stroup

The abandoned trailer park is easily one of my most blogged about places. Since discovering it back in March of 2015 its made its way on to the blog a total of five times previous to this. All those posts are linked at the bottom of this one. Normally I’d hesitate to post yet another photo set from here but once again my excuse is that I feel like the photos are completely different than the previous times. Also, I got FOUR ticks on this little excursion so you’re going to look at my darn photos. Okay? Okay!

On Easter I saw on Allie from The Only Living Girl in New York was in town. I was bummed out that she hadn’t contacted me and wrongly assumed she probably hated me. Totally logical, right? With a little encouragement from Jeff I reached out to see if she was free the next day. I wasn’t really expecting to get to see her because I know how family holiday plans can be super crazy. So when she responded yes with an abundance of exclamation points I was super stoked… and super nervous.

We planned out an awesome day starting at one of my favorite little hole in the wall breakfast spots. The rest of the day from there was a series of let downs. I have a huge list of abandoned buildings around the area so I was positive I’d be able to show Allie and her friend, Jean-Marie, lots really interesting spots. We got shot down at every single place in a seriously bizarre number of ways. We covered a lot of ground that morning with absolutely zero luck.

We were just about to call it quits but luckily a solid lunch saved that day. After eating we came to the decision that driving to the trailer park could possibly redeem the whole day. Spoiler alert: it did.

green trailer, abandoned, overgrown

faces everywhere,

Do you see the face in the photo above?

abandoned books,

I was too nervous to go into this cabin when I discovered it on our last visit because I just got the weird vibe that someone lived there. It was arranged a bit differently on this most recent visit, and didn’t hold that same energy. Such a funny little set up.

abandoned, urbex, trailers, abandoned trailer park

yellow kitchen, abandoned, abandonedment

 

Despite my numerous previous visits I still found new things to photograph. If anything, I think I saw more this time to shoot than ever before. The first few cabins we entered were just full of personal items. Things always make a location so much more interesting, and relatable. I was particularly taken by the dusty old books shown above. They were so filthy. I’ve seriously never seen anything like it. When I showed Jeff my photos from the day he commented that they look like something from the set of a movie of an ‘abandoned’ location, not something you’d actually see in an abandoned home. I couldn’t agree more.

I didn’t really notice the titles of the books while I was shooting a thousand photos of them but while I was editing I spotted the title Hearse Class Male, which made me giggle. I was curious what it might be about so I looked it up. Amazon oddly enough didn’t have a description but they do have a photo of the cover. The quote on the cover reads “The blonde smiled at Liddell. ‘I’ll do anything I can to help you, Johnny. You know – the intimate touch.'” Maybe I’m really just a ten year old boy or maybe I think it’s funny because it sounds like something very, very naive would say but “the intimate touch” almost made coffee come out my nose.

trailer park paparazzi

The day didn’t turn out exactly as planned but it did give us lots of silly little stories, and we got to hang out the whole day which is way more than I ever expected. I’m really, really looking forward to hanging out with Allie again! To be able to connect with people through blogging like this is seriously the coolest. Consider this post encouragement to reach out and contact that person you follow that seems like they’d be a ton of fun. If us two shy gals can do it, you can too!

Until next time, trailer park.
xoxo

Check out past posts from this location – March 2015, March on film, June 2015, May 2016, and March 2017.
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