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abandoned

abandoned route 66 trading post

by Kaylah Stroup November 26, 2019

It’s blowing my mind that I still have photos from June’s roadtrip that I haven’t sorted or edited yet. We stopped so many places and saw so many things that trying to tackle the photos in one chunk, or even a couple, was just too overwhelming. Admittedly, five months is a really long time for me to sit on photos no matter how many there were. The upside is that its been a really fun way to relive the post and it satisfies a little bit of my travel urge. Jeff and I are currently trying to save for a house so I’m not quite sure when the next time we’ll be doing something like this will be. I mean, I never quite know since we’ve been known to plan trips like this in less than a week soooo…

We spotted this abandoned structure from the freeway not too long after getting into New Mexico. If you recall, we were driving from Phoenix, Arizona back home to Cleveland, OH. A thirty-hour drive – not including any stops! New Mexico and Arizona are neighboring states which means we had not been on the road too long at all. Although we were both excited to check out all sorts of things on the drive home, I guess I had thought maybe those stops would happen a little bit further into the thirty-hour drive to break up the time.

BUT the building looked too good to pass up even from a distance. We hopped off the freeway and went to go check it out. It was well worth the stop! Although fairly small, it had lots of different things that grabbed my attention. The safari wallpaper, the nearly completely collapsed ceiling, the murals on the exterior! It was fantastic.

Be sure to check out the video near the end of the post for a tour!

Perhaps just as exciting as stumbling upon this excellent stop by accident was realizing that it actually has some pretty cool history. The building that is standing here today was finished in the spring of 1954. Claude Bowlin, who owned and operated Bowlin’s Old Crater Trading Post, was not only a well-respected merchant but operated such a successful business that he expanded, opening five more stores along Route 66. Although he catered to a lot of tourists, he made it his mission to educate those passing through about local tribal cultures.

In 1973, the trading post suffered the same fate as many other buildings along Route 66 and was closed shortly after the interstate opened. The owner enjoyed a few years of retirement before passing away. His widow sold the property with a stipulation in the deed stating it only be used for religious purposes. That’s how in the 1980s & 90s this building was used as a bible school and church. In 2006 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Spots like this are my absolute favorite. I don’t know why or what the big draw is for me but waking up early in the morning, grabbing a coffee and stumbling upon gems like this with my favorite person in the world is my perfect day!

More posts from this trip;

Check out even more road trip posts under the ‘travel‘ tag.

abandoned diner

by Kaylah Stroup November 14, 2019

Last summer my pal Allie blogged about an abandoned diner she explored in Arizona. Check out her post here. She was road tripping around an area I’m fairly familiar with (She was actually in the area for my wedding!) so when I saw her post I was confused about how it was something Jeff and I had never been to over the years. A little further into the post and I realized we’d driven by it time and time again but always missed the exit. Had we known that there was an abandoned diner, we may have made it more of a priority but it was always like “Oh, what was that? Looked cool. We passed it though… maybe next year!”

Needless to say, after seeing her post, it was number one on our to-do list next time we were in the area! Although it was on the way home, it was something I looked forward to basically as soon as we set out on this roadtrip!

It did not disappoint!

I’m truly not sure what else to say about this place. It’s pretty straight forward, ya know? It was a diner and now it’s abandoned. This was my first restaurant of any sort so it was all new and fun for me. The two things I liked the most was the signage inside with prices and the booths, of course!

I’ve talked about this before but there are certain buildings that just kind of resonate with me more than others based on previous experiences. For example, I’ve never worked in a factory so abandoned factory, while big and exciting, doesn’t give me the same feeling as an abandoned school – somewhere I spent many years. Of course, it’s not the same school I went to but it’s very easy to see the similarities between the schools you grew up going to and basically any other school.

All that to say, it’s easy to picture myself sitting here. I’ve eaten in enough diners, a lot of which don’t look too much better. It’s a funny feeling to walk into a place like this and so easily be able to imagine the patrons and folks who worked there.

More posts from this trip;

Check out even more road trip posts under the ‘travel‘ tag.

Until next time, Arizona!

abandoned Fort Courage, AZ

by Kaylah Stroup October 8, 2019

Throwing it back to June’s massive road trip again today. Check out the bottom of this post for links to previous posts.

After relaxing at The Wigwam (aka heaven on earth!) Jeff and I started our long drive home from Arizona. Just over 2,000 miles. 30 hours without factoring in any stops! Our friend, Jake, who we had taken the first half of the trip with had a business trip that he’d be flying off to from Phoenix so it was just the two of us heading back to Ohio.

The idea of that drive home seemed a bit daunting but I was excited to cover some new ground. If you haven’t gathered the fact that the journey is just as/ if not more important than the destination to us then uh, you must be new here! Hello! Nice to meet you!

The first eleven or so hours would all be fairly familiar territory. The route is one we’ve driven a handful of times but that’s totally cool by me because we always seem to find a new place or two to stop each time.

Like this place! This is a spot that has caught my attention every single time we’ve driven past it but we were always too late to get off at the exit. The first time we drove by it, it caught my attention but I don’t think I fully realized it was abandoned. It just looked like another huge business off the highway, probably selling dusty old trinkets. The next year, when we went by it again, I knew it was abandoned but of course, we didn’t have time to get off at the exit.

This year though? It was a priority. I had a pretty good idea of what we’d be getting into and I was determined to actually make it there. I marked it on the map and let Jeff know far in advance where the exit was.

Fort Courage was far beyond my expectations!

Fort Courage was built in the 1970’s to replicate the fort from the TV show “F-Troop”. Reviews left on their page reveal that they really didn’t have very much in way of F-Troop merchandise (probably because they weren’t officially affiliated!) But thanks to the sales of miscellaneous travel souvenirs and the ever needed snack, they managed to stay in business for quite a while.

On the property, there was a gas station, large gift shop, Pancake House (dude, it was awesome. I have photos for another day!) and a whole bunch of buildings that would later become apartments.

We were unable to get into all of the buildings but still had a heck of a fun time wandering around what was open. Approaching the buildings behind the main gift shop, I wasn’t sure what to expect. At the time I didn’t know that those were abandoned apartments. It didn’t take long to figure it out though. They were packed full of things. It’s like one day everyone just up and left!

More posts from this trip;

Check out even more road trip posts under the ‘travel‘ tag & more ghost towns here.

Fort Courage is for sale! $995,000. 57 acres and boasts “no competition on an 8 mile radius” Buy it and be just a short trip from me over at Two Guns!

ghost town – Winton, WY

by Kaylah Stroup September 4, 2019

Throwing it back to June’s massive road trip again today. Check out the bottom of this post for links to previous posts.

After a short stop at a neat old cemetery and some ooh-ing and ahhh–ing at wild horses, our next stop was the ghost town of Winton. Just to reiterate, we really went into this trip with basically no plans at all. The general idea was that we were going to drive to Phoenix, Arizona and that we’d be taking interstate 80. Beyond that, we didn’t have any stops planned. While that sometimes leads to missing cool stuff, it’s also just really fun to accidentally stumble upon places.

I managed to find Winton while searching for ghost towns near where we were right before losing service. We really had no idea what to expect as we drove twenty some minutes out of our way down a bumpy dirt road but Winton at least sounded like it was worth checking out.

The road progressively got worse and worse until we finally spotted the ruins of a building. The road leading up to the building was far too deteriorated for our rental car so we pulled off, parked, and grabbed our camera gear.

Rusted out old car half buried in the dirt in the ghost town of Winton, Wyoming.

Established in the 1920s, Winton was a small mining town with roughly 700 residents of all different nationalities. The mines closed in 1952 and that began the downfall of the town. Over the next few years residents began moving to nearby towns. Sixty odd years later, Winton is little more than ruins. There are a couple of standing buildings, only one with a roof (that I personally saw) but the majority of what’s left is rubble.

When we first pulled up, I was a bit disappointed. From the car I could only see one building and it was covered in scribbles of spray paint. I think at this point I’ve made it abundantly clear how I feel about vandalism on ruins. Go paint something else! It felt like a long drive out there for something like that. Still, it was something to photograph and somewhere to stretch our legs.

As we began to explore I realized just how awesome Winton was. There was far more than meets the eye initially. More ruins than you could shake a stick at! I have no idea how long we were there but it felt like every few minutes we were discovering a spot where a building once stood.

We explored until we were too hungry to go on, leaving knowing that there was still lots left to discover. I love leaving a place wanting more. It gives me an excuse to come back, and makes everything feel a bit more magical and mysterious.

Until next time, Winton! xoxo

*My souvenirs from Winton. A penny, a marble, an old nail + an instant photo.*

More posts from this trip;

Check out even more road trip posts under the ‘travel‘ tag & more ghost towns here.

2019 road trip video!

by Kaylah Stroup August 13, 2019

As you’re probably aware, since it’s all I ever blog about anymore, back in June, my husband Jeff, our friend Jake and I went on an epic roadtrip. We drove from Cleveland, OH to Phoenix, Arizona, spent a few nights at a resort, then drove home a new route. It was an incredible trip!

Related posts;

Jeff and I go to the desert every year but we normally fly. This was a whole different ballgame! It was a blast to see so many new places.

My original plan was to make videos about each place we visited but once I got home and looked at my footage, I realized I didn’t shoot even close to enough video to do that. I wasn’t too happy about the idea of condensing the trip into one video but I started working on it anyway. About halfway through, I really started to love it and now, it’s one of my favorite things ever. We’ve watched it about a million and a half times already.

14 states, literal days driving, ghost towns upon ghost towns and a ton of special memories all jam packed into six minutes and thirty seconds.

I ended up borrowing some footage from Jeff so that I’d make an appearance in the video too. He shot individual videos of a lot of the places shown in my video so I’ve linked as many of those as YouTube would allow in this video. Keep your eyes peeled if there’s a place you want to see more of, chances are I’ve blogged about it (linked above) or he made a video! You can find Jeff’s channel here. His video of the abandoned motel in Arizona is my favorite.

Video shot with the GoPro Hero 7 Black. Definitely one of the best purchases I made this year!

Twin Arrows, AZ

by Kaylah Stroup August 12, 2019

Twin Arrows Trading Post in Arizona. Old Rt 66

20 minutes west of Two Guns lies the ruins of the Twin Arrows Trading Post. Just like Two Guns, we’ve been making annual visits here since 2014. Somehow in all those years, I have yet to dedicate an entire post to this place (although it’s definitely shown up in its fair share of posts, like here, here + here) but here we go today…

Sometime in the 1940’s a business named the Canyon Padre Trading Post was established. It did modest business but was never all that popular. In 1955 a new family took over, added two giant arrows, and renamed the business Twin Arrows Trading Post, the business flourished! Eventually, a Valentine Diner and gas station were added as well. It was a popular spot for travelers to stop, fuel up, stretch their legs and grab a bite to eat.

Just like the case with so many other businesses along old route 66, the construction of interstate 40 was the kiss of death for Twin Arrows. The business switched owners a handful of times before finally being shuttered in 1995.

It’d be nineteen years after it closed until I finally got to visit. I’d seen the spot in various movies including my all-time favorite Forrest Gump* but not with my own eyes until 2014. Our first visit, the trading post and diner were almost completely sealed up. Windows and doors were still boarded. Over the next couple of visits, small sections of the property became more and more accessible. Our most recent visit? Wide open! Every window and door inviting us inside.

Similar to Two Guns, Twin Arrows seems to be experiencing a very quick decline. I don’t have a ton of photos from my first couple visits but enough to be able to see that we managed to get it right before it was completely covered in graffiti. I’m glad I have those photos because it’s honestly hard to imagine it in a state other than the one it’s in now.

These days, the building seems to get a new look quite often. When we visited last year, the morning of our wedding rehearsal, a good portion of the exterior was painted blue. (Fourth photo down in this post!) I appreciate the latest paint job making it look a bit less obnoxious and of course, I can appreciate the no one has completely covered the original paint job’s ‘Twin Arrows Trading Post’.

I’m anxious to see what it’ll look like in another year or two. Hopefully the vandalism slows down, or better yet, that someone restores it to it’s former glory. These days the property is owned by Twin Arrows Casino Resort (where I woke up the morning of my wedding day. Awww!) Maybe, eventually, they’ll decide to do something wonderful with the property. Fingers crossed they don’t demolish it!

Other posts from this trip –

Check out even more road trip posts under the ‘travel‘ tag & more ghost towns here.

Check out Jeff’s video from our visit below. I also recommend checking out Twin Arrow’s facebook page for some really neat historic photos.

*Do you ever wonder about how many of the things you like are because you were unknowingly exposed to them at an early age? I didn’t know Forrest Gump ran by Twin Arrows until after I had already visited there. I’ve seen the movie about five hundred times though, so you know that spot was drilled into my brain at least subconsciously.

ghost town – Two Guns, AZ

by Kaylah Stroup August 7, 2019

Throwing it back to June’s epic road trip again.

No trip to Arizona for us is complete without a stop at Two Guns. I’ve written about how important this place is to me a handful of times so there’s no need to retype that but I do want to share some photos from our latest visit.

Previous posts on Two Guns; that time I got married in a ghost town, our six month anniversary trip back to Two Guns, our wedding ‘rehearsal‘ & my first time in the Apache Death Cave.

It kind of sucks to fall in love with an abandoned place in the middle the desert because… well, it’s almost a guarantee that someday it’ll be destroyed. For as long as this place has been around though, I feel like it’s taken a heck of a beating in the last five years.

I certainly don’t mind graffiti. Generally, I am pro-graffiti but I am anti-people who can’t paint, people who paint dicks, people who paint offensive phrases, people who just make gosh darn messes on cool old buildings, etc. Two Guns is covered in spray paint. Seems like there isn’t a spot of bare building anymore so it’s pretty wild to look back at photos from my older posts and see how ‘untouched’ it looked (despite definitely being painted back then.) I’m most disappointed to see the paint making its way over to the much older ruins.

One of the most striking changes though is the collapse of the ‘Kamp’ building. It had been looking pretty rough for a long time but it was definitely a strange feeling to see it collapsed. Just a year earlier I had taken photos of my brother on the upper floor, waving from the window! Shoot, just a year earlier I had wedding photos taken in there! I’m curious if it’ll continue to fall or sit like it is now, roof on top of the rubble, for a while.

Apache Death Cave. Two Guns, Arizona — Inside the Apache Death Cave. Can’t help but feeling like that coolest cat ever knowing that I was in this cave in a wedding dress.

Hopefully our next visit to Two Guns will be in the school bus with my family. I think I’ve got everyone on board at this point, it’s just a matter of getting the bus done and making plans. I get goosebumps thinking about being there with my family again. And to actually camp there? YES, PLEASE!

Other posts from this trip –

Check out even more road trip posts under the ‘travel‘ tag & more ghost towns here.

Until next time, Two Guns! xoxo

ghost town – Piedmont, WY

by Kaylah Stroup July 23, 2019

Heading into Wyoming I really only knew two things about the state. One – it’s beautiful. Two – there are a lot of ghost towns. As much as we love just cruising around and checking things out, sometimes it can be a bit of a gamble going on the hunt for ghost towns. You never know what you’re going to drive an hour off the main road to find is actually highly protected private property or not even standing anymore.

We decided to gamble on Piedmont. The photos online looked promising. The bumpy dirt road that led us there took us beside grazing cows and a lazily flowing stream. It felt like it took forever but it was beautiful.

We stopped at the old charcoal kilns. They had a sign and some picnic benches, making them feel a little touristy for my tastes. That plus the fact some of the ghost town itself was behind a fence immediately meant actually getting to explore wasn’t an option.

We watched as the one other group of people there, a very regular looking family, parked their massive truck right up beside one of the buildings on the top of a hill (that doesn’t have an actual road going up to it) It was then we decided it would totally be okay to walk up to the houses… because at least we weren’t driving up to it, right?*

Piedmont was settled in 1869. There was a general store, a hotel, school, post office and more. This little town flourished until around 1910 when the Aspen Tunnel was built meaning the train no longer came through. This marked the slow decline of Piedmont. The town managed to hold on until the 1940s though.

Now, what’s left is honestly one of the most impressive ghost towns I’ve ever personally visited. Places like this one are usually converted into parks and become tourist hot spots. As great as those are, I prefer things left to rot on their own. I wanna see an actual ghost town, not something protected and maintained. I don’t really know who takes care of Piedmont, if anyone, or how its managed to stay graffiti-free for all this time but I’m sure glad to have been able to see it in it’s current state.

Other posts from this trip –

Check out even more road trip posts under the ‘travel‘ tag & more ghost towns here.

*After researching Piedmont, it seems as though this is private property and that it is watched after pretty carefully so explore at your own risk. I recommend bringing some binoculars and just looking from the road.

road tripping – abandoned gas station

by Kaylah Stroup July 16, 2019

I’ve definitely talked about this before *ahem* but my goodness, I LOVE exploring abandoned places out west. I mean, I love abandoned places wherever. There is just something really really special about the ones you just happen to stumble upon while cruising down the road far, far away from home. It’s a huge part of what we enjoy so much about driving aimlessly around the western portion of the US and what brings us back year after year.

The first abandoned spot we stumbled upon on our big cross country road trip this summer was this gas station and trailer combo! We spotted the gas station from the highway and immediately got off at the next exit to explore.

old sign at an abandoned gas station — *I mean, how can you resist an old gas station sign like this?!*

Since it seemed like a chill spot (aka the likelihood of someone already being there or coming to bug us seemed low) the three of us went our separate ways to wander. I shot some exterior photos of the gas station first. It looked fairly closed up from the front with both of the windows as well as the door barred but around the back, it was wide open. Papers littered the floors and countertops inside. Invoices, deposit slips, receipts, paper signage meant for the employees and so much more scattered about!

The trailer, on the other hand, was pretty empty. Basically just a shell of a home. Nothing particularly exceptional but still a super fun explore nonetheless.

I will note that I was impressed by the mirrors above the bathtub though.