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

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.

Mountainview Cemetery + Wild Horses

by Kaylah Stroup July 9, 2019

Driving through Wyoming on our road trip, our main interest was ghost towns. I knew from some research I did before hitting the road that the state had A LOT of them.

On the way to Superior, which to be fair I wouldn’t consider an actual ghost town at all, my eagle eye-d husband spotted this cemetery. From the road it doesn’t look like too much. Up on a hill and covered in sagebrush, the majority of the grave markers aren’t really visible until you get up close.

…But within minutes of being inside the small gates, I was exclaiming “this is definitely in my top ten!!!” It hits all the marks for me. Full of unique headstones? Check! Landscaping different than you’d see in the midwest? Check! Old? Check! Kinda sorta off the beaten path? Check! There’s just something truly special about cemeteries in the desert.

The majority of burials in this cemetery were done between 1900 and 1923, although a new section was opened for public use in 1994. The Superior, Wyoming website notes that most of the graves are dated during the influenza epidemic that followed World War 1.

Did you know that the flu epidemic that swept the world in 1918 killed an estimated 50 million people?! 25% of the United States population got it and within one year the average life expectancy dropped by 12 years. Ooof! The national archives and records administration has some information on this which you can find here. Quick, interesting read with historical photos + documents. We did not learn about this in school so I definitely just spend a couple hours learning some history!

As well as finding this excellent cemetery, we also spotted wild horses! It started with one. When we pulled over to take a photo of it, I spotted the baby! Then as I got the 70-200mm lens on my camera and set up my shot, I spotted even more of them. There ended up being nine of them in total!

(Little side note here, I LOVE this lens. At this point, it’s a road trip essential! Being able to get gorgeous animal photos without disturbing them is priceless.)

Not to sound dramatic buuuut it was magical. I’ve never been a horse girl but seeing wild horses is honestly one of the coolest things ever. I was over the moon. There’s just something really special about it. In all our road trips, this is only the second time I’ve seen wild horses. I hope it never loses its magic.

Our time in Wyoming was short but it left me wanting more! My feelings on it are similar to my feelings for Utah which are ‘holy cow, why does no one talk about this gorgeous state!?!” Totally underrated! I can’t wait to go back.

Other posts from this trip –

Check out even more road trip posts under the ‘travel‘ tag & more graveyard goodness under the ‘cemetery‘ tag.

Mel Gould’s Buryville

by Kaylah Stroup July 3, 2019

The first stop on our epic road trip, after the World’s Largest Truck Stop, was Mel Gould’s Buryville. We’d been on the road for nineteen hours at this point so it didn’t matter that the rain was pouring down, we were just excited to get out of the car.

When we pulled up I was a little hesitant to get out and poke around though. I could see all the metal sculptures the internet told me about but they were fenced in, in what was very clearly someone’s yard. Within mere minutes of pulling in we were greeted by a friendly face. Mel Gould’s daughter came out and swept us away on a little tour of the cars built by her father. After the short tour, she told us to take our time and feel free to explore as long as we’d like.

*This little baked potato also greeted us.*

So, what the heck is this place? Mel Gould is an engineer, scientist, and inventor. His property is covered in metal sculptures he’s built and unique cars he’s created and collected. One of these giant sculptures titled ‘Wind Thing’ even generates the electricity for the lights of his underground workshop (which is made from a school bus!!!)

I tried searching for more fun tidbits of information to share but surprisingly Google is kind of lacking when it comes to the search “Mel Gould Buryville.” Spaces has a really nice write up on Mel that is definitely worth reading though.

Despite the fact that we didn’t get a chance to meet Mel during our short visit (His daughter mentioned a broken foot) I feel like he’s just gotta be the coolest guy ever. For him to see these random objects and think to create the things he does is just amazing. Every single thing I read about him just emphasized how much he enjoys showing off his creations even after all this time.

I loved every second of our visit. Mel Gould’s Buryville is 100% worth stopping at as you cruise down I-80 or even making a little day trip to! I heard if you’re lucky he’ll even invite you in and show you his underground workshop! xoxo

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

If you love collectors + their fun roadside attractions, check out Bottle Tree Ranch, Salvation Mountain, Don Park’s yard of signs, statues & other junk, and Jerry’s Junk.

*taken with the* *Polaroid Originals OneStep 2*.

the abandoned Anasazi Inn

by Kaylah Stroup June 27, 2019

Pink abandoned motel on Hwy 89 in Arizona

I’m going to be sharing some of posts from our most recent road trip a bit out of order. This stop was about midway through the trip but it was very very special and I could hardly wait to get home, edit my photos and write it all down.

Making our way through Arizona, I started to recognize some scenery when it occurred to me that we were here with my family last year. Two days before my wedding four carloads full of family made their way to the Grand Canyon. It was so much fun to visit such an incredible place together but honestly, my favorite part of the day was checking out abandoned spots on the way back to Flagstaff.

I don’t know who spotted it first but it ended up that all four carloads of folks slammed on their brakes and quickly turned left into the parking lot of this bright pink motel. Eighteen of us in total poked around the property. At the time it was pretty sealed up. Windows were boarded, not broken, and all the doors still locked. Still, it was a great photo opportunity and a fun experience.

Polaroid OneStep2 & found room key at abandoned motel

We were a couple miles away when I realized that we were heading in the right direction to make another stop at the motel. I wasn’t expecting too much since it was so sealed on our first visit but I was excited just to shoot the exterior again. Who can resist that Wes Anderson pink?!

I was shocked to see how much damage the property had sustained in such a short amount of time. Just over one year had passed and it was pretty well destroyed. Windows were busted. One room was even completely full of trash bags as someone had clearly been dumping on the property. We got to see so much more of the motel this time around because vandals had done such a number on it.

To the right of the main section of the motel is an old gas station and some huge tanks. We were wandering around the tanks that are covered in graffiti, stickers, and tags when Jake pointed out a funny sticker. ‘Fart Bugs’ I don’t know what it means but it made us all laugh. I bent down to take a photo, looked through my viewfinder and that’s when I spotted it…

“Carolyn 2018”

Y’all. That’s my mom. Literally, she wrote that.

I screeched “Jeff! Did you give my mom a marker when we were here?!” Tears streamed down my face. Suddenly it all came rushing back to me. I could see her writing it. A moment nearly completely forgotten but clear as day now. I wasn’t looking for her but she presented herself. I sobbed. Took about four million photos and thanked all my lucky stars no one had covered it up yet.

After this, there wasn’t a single moment that could top it. Anytime Jeff would ask “what’s been your favorite part of the trip so far?” my answer was “finding my mom.”

The motel is in three main chunks. The first time, with my family, we only explored one section. This visit we wandered through an empty lot to the second. It was a lot less damaged. Windows still intact, doors locked. Still, we walked the perimeter searching for photos to take.

The third section has a pool. I didn’t know this until I was lurking the property on Google Earth. Guess I need to go back…

Behind one of the last rows of rooms we walked around I found a crisp five dollar bill sticking out of a pile of trash the wind had whipped up. Thanks, mom.

I hope to get back someday and explore the area a little further. I really wanna see the pool. Who knows, maybe we’ll end up there on accident again in another couple years. xoxo

Polaroid OneStep2 — *photo on the left is a recreation of a* *photo we took in 2018. same spot, same chair, same poses.*

Check out my ‘travel‘ tag for roadtrip posts from the past!

Instant photos taken with the Polaroid Originals OneStep 2. Here’s my review on it from last summer.

ohio to arizona & back

by Kaylah Stroup June 26, 2019

Last week was… epic!

Jeff and I took our annual trip to the desert except this time we did things a bit differently. Instead of flying into the cheapest city, renting a car and then roadtripping around, we drove all the way to Arizona with our friend, Jake!

Our main destination was The Wigwam, the resort in Arizona we had our wedding reception at. (Check out my post about it here. Gosh, it’s just my favorite place!) Jake originally just wanted to fly straight there and relax for a week but Jeff and I ended up convincing him that driving would be more fun.

Our approximate route. Many little detours were taken to check out fun spots.

I have to admit, I was a little nervous. That is a lot of time in the car. The more I thought about it, the more comfortable I felt though. Jeff and I always do lots and lots of driving while we’re on trips. We love to see as much as possible. The drive out there seemed overwhelming until I realized it was the same amount of driving, if not less, as we do every single year. Plus, a lot of the states we’d be going through would be ones I’d never even been before!

Undoubtedly, driving ended up being the most excellent decision. We had so much fun!!!

*Part of The Painted Desert Project. Read more about this particular piece* *here*.

A few of the many highlights...

Wild horses in Wyoming! Honestly, just Wyoming, in general, was gorgeous. I’d love to get back there and explore more.
Exploring ghost towns upon ghost towns. Seriously, just so many stops at abandoned places. We truly hit the jackpot.
Visiting Two Guns again. That’s where we got married!
Finding a tiny reminder of my mom in an unlikely place. Obviously I’ll ya more about this in another post. I burst out crying big time.
Oh my gosh, best avocado toast of my life.
We crashed in Laramie, WY our first night and my goodness, it was precious. Here are a couple of photos from our short visit.
Legit nailing every polaroid I took.
Eating fancy chocolates in a big comfy hotel bed.
Coming home with video to edit! This is the first year I’ve shot vacation footage. I played around with a couple of clips on the long drive home and made this but I’m excited to finally sit down and make a vacation video.
Did I mention all the abandoned places? Because wow.
Uranus, MO!

I have so many photos to share. The task of sorting and editing them all honestly seems overwhelming right now since there are so many. I can’t wait to start sharing more of our week-long adventure though. It was a short period of time but man, oh man, we packed a ton of awesomeness into those seven days! xoxo

Check out my ‘travel‘ tag for roadtrip posts from the past!

Instant photos taken with the Polaroid Originals OneStep 2. LOVE that camera! Here’s my review on it from last summer.

old abandoned catholic school

by Kaylah Stroup June 6, 2019

So, forget all the other abandoned buildings I’ve ever posted about here. This has to be my new favorite. Before you even see the photos let me explain why it automatically get some points toward the rank of ‘favorite.’

Friday night Jake, Jeff and I got ice cream at our favorite spot (Mason’s Creamery, of course!) We sat and discussed options on what to do the next morning. We could stay in Cleveland and try to find something to get into here or choose a city within a couple hour’s drive and poke around somewhere new. The three of us all agreed that going somewhere new-ish would be a blast. We could wander around on foot, get a good lunch, and just enjoy being somewhere we weren’t familiar with.

It was late when we got home from ice cream and we were planning to leave super early in the morning so there wasn’t really time to do much research on abandoned buildings in the area. Jeff quickly hopped on Google Earth, spotted a run down looking building, and marked it on his map. No further research, just an idea of something we could cruise by.

We arrived fairly early in the morning. The neighborhood was quiet still so we decided to get out of the car and wander around the perimeter. From the front, this magnificent old school looked sealed up. Windows appeared to be freshly boarded up. The back of the building? Not so sealed. Quite the opposite actually. Jeff scurried his way up the rubble to peek inside. His face LIT UP! Right inside the back was a huge auditorium.

We took turns climbing the rickety ladder placed by previous visitors to enter the school. The second you got inside this grand auditorium greeted you. Destroyed yet absolutely beautiful. It was breathtaking.

Obviously, I was impressed but nothing will beat the excitement of peeking into a small room to my right and spotting a row of chairs and mirrors where folks got ready for the school plays. It was so clearly and obviously a dressing room. I was whisper screaming to Jake and Jeff. “OH MY GOSH. LOOOOK! MIRRORS!! COME ON”

I mean, the auditorium was beautiful. Perhaps the largest and most grand I’ve ever explored but I’ve been in auditoriums before. I have never seen anything like this room. Something about it just really got to me. I honestly can’t explain it any further than that. I still get a little rush of adrenaline thinking about spotting it for the first time.

(I posted a little video clip of me walking into this room on my Instagram.)

The building just kept going. There were classrooms upon classrooms. Each painted a different bright color which was now chipping so beautifully. I feel like I was on such a high from even getting into the building, let alone finding that cool dressing room, that I couldn’t truly appreciate the other rooms. They’re all a blur to me and on top of that, I know we didn’t see them all.

Getting spots I’ve already seen photos of is fun. I’m not one of those people that doesn’t explore spots that are already popular but nothing beats someone in your group discovering a new building. Obviously, we weren’t the first folks inside but none of this building was familiar to me. I’d never seen a single shot from this place. It was brand new to the three of us. More than that, I had no idea we’d be getting inside anything that day. Of course, it’s what we all wanted to do but exploring in cities you aren’t familiar with can be really hard. We lucked out!

I still can’t believe what an awesome find this was and that it was right under our noses the whole time. Here’s to finding more gems! xoxo

For a better idea of how incredible this spot was, check out Jeff’s video!

Use the ‘abandoned‘ tag to view more posts on forgotten buildings across the US. Also, be sure to check out my husband’s book – Abandoned Cleveland.

exploring an abandoned house

by Kaylah Stroup May 29, 2019

Early last month we woke up before the sun and headed out on a little adventure. The plan was to explore an abandoned church that we found out was accessible. We circled the neighborhood looking for the perfect place to park that wouldn’t look suspicious. After what felt like forever, we finally chose a spot and started the short walk to the church.

And that’s when the police officer passed us, slowed down, and pulled into the parking lot directly across the street. It was no coincidence. He knew what we were doing and we knew that. Instead of doing the obvious choice of immediately turning around and heading back to the car we decided to take a long stroll around the block.

On our walk, we found this house wide open and waiting for us to dip inside.

It was a quick explore. In and out in around fifteen minutes. I’ve talked about it before and I’m sure it’ll come up again but exploring houses is such a strange feeling. Why did these people just up and leave one day? I can see leaving behind big furniture but they didn’t need their clothes anymore? And the old family photos!?

Video version below! I really love this one. It’s short, straight to the point, and gosh darn, feels like you’re exploring the house too!

Use the ‘abandoned‘ tag to view more posts on forgotten buildings across the US. Also, be sure to check out my husband’s book – Abandoned Cleveland.

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