Category:

explore everywhere

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

two million sunflowers

by Kaylah Stroup September 29, 2015

Last week I shared my list of goals I had set for this season (read them here) and one of those goals was to visit the sunflower garden. While plotting out what I’d be doing for the next few days I decided to check facebook for the garden’s address in case it was near something else I wanted to do. While searching I saw where someone had asked how the sunflowers were faring since it was getting so late in the season. Whoever runs the page responded back that they were starting to droop and that if that person wanted to come that they should go immediately. So, that’s how I ended up crossing off one of my goals the same day.

Prayers from Maria, and this massive sunflower field were created by Maria McNamara’s family after she passed away at age seven from a brain tumor. This sunflower field was created to help raise awareness for childhood cancer and celebrate Maria’s life. I read somewhere but can’t seem to find it again that after the flowers have peaked the seeds are then sold at one of the local garden centers raise money for research which is grossly underfunded. Last year they sold out pretty quickly. The field is much larger now, and there were more than two million sunflowers seeds planted this year! Hopefully those will be sold just as quickly!

I was definitely a little bit late to visit the flowers. Even a week
earlier and I think the flowers may have been in better shape. Drooping
or not, it was incredible to see SO many sunflowers in one place and for such a great cause. What a beautiful memorial that was grown and enjoyed by many!
xoxo

abandoned in the desert 2015

by Kaylah Stroup September 14, 2015

Last year Jeff and I took a pretty epic road trip (six states and 3,204 miles of driving). During that week we stumbled upon abandoned building after abandoned building in the middle of the desert, this year’s trip was no different. There were so many. Driving along roads less traveled and even the highway it’s so exciting to look out and spot these places, just waiting for us. There is just this rush of excitement, and a sense of discovery. Some of my favorite memories from both of those trips, and our relationship in general, include these places.

There’s just something about abandoned buildings in the desert. They have a different feel, a different smell, just another vibe altogether. In the Midwest abandoned buildings are musty, and most suffer from water damage. The freezing and thawing year after year ages them so much more quickly. They generally just feel rotten. In the desert you could almost describe the buildings as “crispy”. Everything is sun bleached and dried out.

I find the couch in the photo of above particularly funny. I really really don’t understand how it’s in such great condition. I guess it once again goes back to the lack of precipitation out there because I can say without a doubt if that thing was in Ohio it would be covered in moss at the very least.

I’m missing the desert a lot today. …But that’s nothing new. I look forward to visiting again, in the mean time I’ll just be dealing with all the feels that these photos leave me with.
xoxo

You can find more posts from our road trip under the “travel” tag.

Lagoon Deer Park

by Kaylah Stroup September 7, 2015

For the past three years in a row, at the end of summer I make the trip down to Lagoon Deer Park. It’s a deer petting zoo – and if you’ve never been to one please make it a priority! The set up is basically one massive pen that you’re allowed to walk in. Along the edges of that pen are a bunch of other pens with deer, llamas, goats, emu, etc. In the large part that you walk in there are usually twenty to thirty deer, maybe even more, that are free. They’ll approach you, and you can feed them peanuts. It is magical. You feel like Snow White, just absolutely surrounded by deer who are so very interested in what you have for them!

This visit there weren’t very many deer out in the main pen, less than ten. I was a little bit bummed about that but honestly, it’s pretty hard to stay sour when you even have one deer so close! Even if they only like me because I have peanuts for them it’s so great to be able to pet such amazing creatures.

A sign on the way down the very long driveway to the park said that there had been forty six babies born this year!! Ahhh! We didn’t get to touch any baby deer, although we could see them. We did get to pet baby goats though. You guys, I’ve been missing out because I did not know how darn cute baby goats were. Once again I am being reduced to tears by cute things. I just wanted to put one in my tote bag and take it home. The deer were really awesome but the baby goats stole the show for me. I loved them so much even if they did nibble on my favorite dress.

As always, if you live ANYWHERE near Sandusky, Ohio – you have to visit Lagoon Deer Park.
xoxo

Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum

by Kaylah Stroup August 24, 2015

I spent my twenty fifth birthday in a mental hospital – one that was abandoned, purchased at auction, partially restored, and now offers tours! I’m talking about the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. It’s a little over two hours away from Oglebay, where we stayed the night, so it was kind of must. We woke up fairly early, ate the best hotel breakfast I’ve ever had, and made our way there. Although I’m not a huge fan of guided tours (okay, I kind of hate them) and that’s all they offer – we had to see this place!

Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum was in operation from 1864 until 1994. It was originally built to house only 250 patients but in the 1950’s peaked at 2,600 patients. Like the majority mental hospitals that were open at the time, there are many stories of wrong doing. An investigation in 1949 found unruly patients locked in cages, lobotomies being performed with ice picks, and conditions so poor they were surely the cause of death in many patients.

This building has suffered it’s fair share of abuse as well. In 1935 a patient started a fire in his closet that destroyed six male wards and caused one of the cupolas to fall through the roof. It sat abandoned from the time it closed, in 1994, until 2007 when it was bought at auction for 1.5 million dollars. Of course, much like any abandoned building, many explorers found their way in to photograph this gorgeous building, and in 1999 vandals did quite a number on the interior…but it’s probably not what you’re thinking. All four floors of the building were damaged by police officers playing paintball!

The building’s condition had deteriorated to the point where it’s survival was threatened. A dedicated team of staff and volunteers are now committed to restoring it to it’s former grandeur. Our guide pointed out a few things in the main lobby that they had restored and it’s apparent how much time and love they’re putting into this place. One of the other people on our tour asked “Are you ever going
to fully restore it? Or just leave it looking abandoned?” I don’t recall exactly what she said but I caught something about how they would probably leave some sections fixed up just enough to be safe because photographers would otherwise be outraged. Jeff and I shot each other knowing looks. Heaven knows I love me some peeling paint!

One of my favorite things I saw were actually the stone faces on the exterior of one of the buildings. It is said that spirits cannot come in through the front door so they put these ugly faces above the back door to scare away any spirits who might wander in the back. The uglier the better. While I don’t believe in “spirits”, I do LOVE folklore. After walking back in the building Jeff whispered “Can we get some of those for our house?” I had already been thinking of asking him the same thing!

After the tour you’re allowed to visit a wing of the main building that’s basically a museum. There are tools, old photos, headstones, and even some of the former patients artwork. It was a great way to end the tour, especially since I wanted more. We took the shortest tour since I hate guided tours so much (and of course, time constraints) but I was way into it! I feel like they could probably rope people into the longer tour at the end of the short tours by simply offering to let them pay the difference and continue on with the group.

Like I mentioned, I am not a fan of guided tours but this one was well worth it. Our tour guide was knowledgeable, kind, and seemed to actually be interested in what she was doing. Maybe I’ve only been on guided tours with poor guides in the past? We only took the first floor tour but I would love to go back to take the cemetery tour. It’s not my thing, but if you’re into ghost tours they offer those year round as well. I definitely recommend stopping in if you’re anywhere in the area! It was waaaay cool to be able to finally visit such an incredible building with such amazing history.
xoxo

Oglebay – Good Zoo

by Kaylah Stroup August 18, 2015

At the beginning of the month, for my birthday weekend, Jeff took me to Oglebay. There’s lots to do at there and, despite it not looking like too impressive of a zoo on paper, my first choice was to visit Good Zoo. They have 50 species of animals that reside on their 30 acre property. It’s a fairly small zoo but it was easily one of my favorites. Jeff and I spent nearly three hours here. We zoo-ed, HARD. I think I might have had more fun at this little tiny zoo than I ever have at a zoo before.

I think what I enjoyed most about the zoo was how close you could get to the animals! It wasn’t just “wow, look at that cool animal”, a lot of them you were suuuper close to! The kangaroos, for example, are in a large pen that you can enter. You have to stay on the path but the only thing between you and kangaroos is a small rope. So basically these beautiful creatures are an arms length away, and you have to have crazy strong self control to not try and pet one.

Beside the kangaroo habitat is an aviary filled with rainbow lorikeets. I was a bit hesitant to enter since I’m not really the biggest fan of birds. I refused to hold one (mostly because I watched them poop all over other people and didn’t really want to deal with that) but Jeff quickly made a friend. This silly little bird would not stop licking him. Jeff would reach his hand up for the bird to walk onto but instead it would bite him then resume licking the sweat off his head and neck. I have a huge number of hilarious/creepy photos of that bird licking him. It was really hard to choose which ones to share.

After walking the entire zoo and then riding the train around the zoo we circled back around to some of the first exhibits. Sometimes it takes me a while to get into the groove of photographing things, especially when other people are around. That plus the fact I really really wanted to see the golden lion tamarins and meerkats again! While I loved basically every single animal I saw these two were my favorites. I’ve been to more than a handful of zoos, how did I never realize how darn cute these guys are!? The tamarins especially! I was actually crying watching them play. Yep, just a few hours shy of turning twenty five and I’m standing in front of a monkey exhibit crying over how cute they are. I could have watched them play all day. I hope I get to meet one some day.

Yeah, so basically the Good Zoo rules. They even offer animal encounters where you can go inside the exhibits with a trainer and feed the animals. There was a couple doing that with the ring-tailed lemurs while we were there. Needless to say, Jeff and I were both green with envy. Maybe another time…
xoxo

Until next time, little buddy!

Bradstreet’s Landing

by Kaylah Stroup August 17, 2015

my !

I know I’m always blogging about beach trash, and what I find is no exaggeration but I would really hate for anyone to think that’s what all of Cleveland’s beaches look like. My favorite trash beach is a mess. I have no idea what it is about that spot. It must just be the location, that’s where the tide brings in the most garbage. That little spot aside, we have some really nice beaches!

One of the very first spots I fell in love with here was Bradstreet’s Landing. Mickey and I actually discovered it shortly before I moved to Lakewood. It is my absolute favorite spot to look for beach glass. Although it’s not a secret spot by any means for the longest time I refused to name it because I wanted it all to myself. When I was living in Lakewood I was there at least twice a week. Sometimes Jeff and I would even grab donuts, coffee, and chocolate milk and spend the morning there. I haven’t been picking up beach glass as often lately and had kind of forgotten just how much I love this little beach. I’ve been meaning to share more about the things I love in Cleveland and although this one is a tiny bit outside the city (around twenty minutes) it definitely deserves to be named!

Coming from Geneva beaches I was used to finding maybe three or four pieces of beach glass per trip. Bradstreet’s Landing blew my mind. You can sit down in one spot, run your hand over the small pebbles, and expose five to ten glistening pieces of glass. There’s barely any trash, it’s rare that more than a handful of people are there, and there’s almost always a big log to sit down and relax on.

Bradstreet’s Landing should probably be on your itinerary if you’re in the area and like looking for beach glass! Make sure to say hi if you see me and my obnoxiously bright hair hunkered down looking for treasure!
xoxo

Bradstreet’s Landing
22400 Lake Rd
Rocky River, OH 44116

Borrego Springs Sky Art

by Kaylah Stroup August 10, 2015

Before leaving to head out on our road trip a very kind reader, who gave us the awesome suggestion of hitting up Noah’s Art last year, recommended visiting Borrego Springs. It looked and sounded awesome. Like I mentioned in my previous post about the trip, we had the whole day after Bottle Tree Ranch to do whatever we’d like before checking in to our room for the night. So despite it being a little bit out of the way we decided to venture down to Borrego Springs and see what it was all about.

The product of Dennis Avery’s imagination and Ricardo A Breceda’s hard work the land surround Borrego Springs is filled with giant metal sculptures collectively known as “Sky Art”. There are over 130 of these babies scattered around. All sorts of different animals too! There are horses, dinosaurs, camels, and even a sea serpent emerging from the sand.

Jeff wasn’t feeling too well so visiting Borrego Springs was basically just him driving me from animal to animal and me saying “Are you sure you’re okay with this? Do you want me to drive? Can we at least go see the ______ and then we can leave?” There are so many sculptures we didn’t even get to see a quarter of them! Although we found a few crude maps on the internet it was still a lot more like a scavenger hunt finding them which was kind of fun.

Looking back I so badly wish I had some photos of Jeff and I beside these sculptures so you could get an idea of just how large they are. Something I really enjoyed about being here was that you could walk right up the animals. Nothing stopping you from getting as close you wanted. Some of them were a bit of a hike in the heat from the road but worth it regardless!
xoxo

You can find more posts from our road trip under the “travel” tag.

Bottle Tree Ranch

by Kaylah Stroup August 6, 2015

After Death Valley National Park we made our way over to Bartstow where we got a hotel room for the night. Death Valley was our last big stop of the trip. We didn’t have any destinations planned but we had places already booked to stay for our last two nights of the trip so we had time to just wander around. We woke up the next morning and started heading toward Bottle Tree Ranch which I had found on Roadside America while cuddled up in bed watching the Food Network in the hotel. That’s only worth noting because the Food Network and hotels go hand and hand for me. I can’t stand to watch it at home but because it’s what Jeff always turns on in hotel rooms I’ve come to love it and somehow it makes hotels feel more like home to me.

So! Bottle Tree Ranch. What to say about this place? First of all, WOW, it’s incredible. It is literally a forest made from large metal pipes with bottles on them. Elmer Long has been interested in collecting bottles since he was a kid. He and his father would go on trips where they would bring home old bottles found at dump sites. When his father died he inherited his collection of bottles and that’s when the ranch began. In 2002, at age 55, he quit his job to dedicate his time to the ranch. There are over two hundred trees and thousands of bottles!

It is definitely a sight to behold. While the property isn’t all that large, it’s absolutely overwhelming standing in the middle of it all. I had no idea how to shoot it. The whole time I was just thinking “I hope some of these pictures look okay…“. I’m pretty pumped about my shots but definitely feel that there is nothing that compares to seeing the trees in person.

I know when I blogged about Jerry’s Junk I briefly touched on how much I love collectors, and their collections. I just really really love passionate people. I’m the biggest weenie in the book but I’m seriously sitting here all teary eyed about this place. It’s so awesome to see people doing something they love, even if that thing is seen as a bit crazy by the general public.

Bottle Tree Ranch is nothing short of amazing. When we visited Elmer was outside. He was so friendly and so kind. I’m so happy people like him exist! If you’re anywhere near Oro Grande, CA or are just out cruising Route 66, Bottle Tree Ranch is a must.
xoxo

You can find more posts from our road trip under the “travel” tag.

Death Valley National Park

by Kaylah Stroup July 29, 2015

I don’t know what I was expecting from a place called Death Valley but somehow I was still shocked by the conditions in the park. At the visitors center we stood beside a sign that read 119 degrees Fahrenheit, which is easily one of the hottest temperatures I’ve ever experienced. Why we had to visit at the hottest time of the year is beyond me but I’m definitely glad we went. It still blows my mind that just a day before we were on the coast where I was worried I hadn’t brought enough warm clothes.

We did a lot of driving in Death Valley National Park, and not too much else since we’re both absolute babies in the heat. One of the few spots we stopped was at Mesquite Sand Dunes. It was insanely hot. So hot that I could feel the heat through my shoes which I thought was crazy. After roaming around in the sand a bit shooting photos we scurried back to the car. We sat down, turned on the air, chugged some water, and realized there was a funny smell in the car.

“Do you smell burning rubber?”
“I think it might be my shoes…?”
Lifts foot as close to face as possible in the car. “Yep!”

That sand was so hot our shoes were actually melting. The park’s brochure actually said of the eighteen heat related deaths in the park sine 2000 three of them occurred in the sand dunes. My photos don’t really seem to capture the size of the dunes and just how expansive the area was. But to see this place in person and experience heat that oppressive that fact really isn’t all that shocking.

The goal was to not spend too much time in the park since we needed to get out of the area before we got too tired. Every other night that we had tried to sleep in the car this trip it was miserable. The last thing we wanted was to be sleeping in the car in this heat. After the dunes we cruised to the visitor center to get stamps in our National Parks passport. We sat inside looking over the other main parts of the park trying to figure out what else we wanted to see. Death Valley National Park is massive, it actually has more miles of roads than any other national park. Sadly everything else we were interested in visiting suggested having some sort of fancy pants all terrain tire that our rental most definitely didn’t have. Guess we’ll just have to go back another time to see The Racetrack…

We made one last stop in the park, at Zabriskie Point. You walk up this steep hill to the an overlook where no matter which way you turn there is a gorgeous view. It kind of seemed like all the other visitors in the park that day we’re following the same agenda as us – only get out of the car when absolutely necessary. This overlook, and the visitor center were the only place we really saw anyone else. Even with the crowd at Zabriskie Point it was a perfect last stop. It was so beautiful you could easily just tune everyone else out.

Right outside of the park there were tons of abandoned buildings. It was a busy-ish area and a great majority of them were fenced off so we passed. We did manage to find another outside the fenced area that we stopped at. Just a small shell of a building but I love the photos of it nonetheless. I actually have a whole post of abandoned things we visited in the desert that I’ll share another day. The desert is a wonderful place!

You can find more posts from our road trip under the “travel” tag.

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