Last (?) Road Trip with Rose the Tiny Tent Camper; Part the First

At age 80, a camping road trip may have been ill-advised

August 2010: Rose in Wyoming’s Sinks Canyon State Park at nearly 9000 feet. This is one of my all-time favorite pictures. All I ever wanna be, is here

At 07:20 in the cool of the spectacular mountain morning, the sun is just peeking over the rim of the canyon in Popo Agie (po-po-zhyah) Camp. This is my favorite shot of my favorite camp of the whole [2010] trip. It’s about 36° at 8,767 feet (2,672 meters). I am warm, I am dry, I gots me fresh, hot coffee, an easy chair, and an incomparable view. Aw, Ma, do I really hafta go home?! — Quoting myself.

All photographs herein are © by me, the author. All skies are real, not doubled in.

My late bride and I had eight spectacular retirement years road tripping, for months, over a good deal of the country, mostly west as she was a Wyoming gal. 2010 was the year we bought Rose, a Livin’ Lite Quicksilver 8.1 “flip-out” tent camper, and we camped all over with her until late 2015 when Daphne could no longer manage it; dementia, you know. It killed her in 2016. Rosie went into storage and stayed there for the next six years.

First camp this trip, in North Platte, Nebraska. A terrific camp except for the rain last night. We had a huge puddle right under the step in the morning,

My son Matt and I set off (unrealistically) on a western road trip on June 30, the first time I had been out since 2015. The original plan was to go perhaps as far as Oregon and look at the Pacific Ocean but that didn’t pan out. Six years of not camping at all had me bewildered as to how to do it. I was all at sea. I relied entirely on Matt to set up and strike the trailer. I now use both a cane and a rollator and have a laundry list of ailments and infirmities. We returned on July 13 after only twelve days on the road (and gonna make it home tonight). I fear it was my last gasp. I shall not pass this way again.

Nevertheless, I persisted, if for no other reason than for the endless, precious photo ops. Gotta get ’em while I can.

Every picture I made was with this outfit: two Sony A6400 bodies, three overlapping zooms from 10 to 210 mm.

Nevertheless, I persisted, if for no other reason than the endless, treasured photo ops. I came back with some 1200 raw frames in my two bodies from three lenses ranging from 10mm to 210mm (not counting a 1.5 crop factor).

I followed Don Gianatti’s good advice. I slowed down, breathed, and rarely tripped the shutter before I felt confident I knew what I was about. I don’t usually work this way. It was refreshing. I think my latest pictures are pretty good.

Don Giannatti advises photographers to be deliberate.

Become a Better Photographer by Being More Deliberate

On this trip, I was as deliberate as I know how to be, as opposed to shooting a galloping event willy-nilly, short bursts, relying heavily on the modern miracle of camera automation. I paid closer attention to the level in my viewfinder. I mindfully watched and adjusted my composition in-camera. I didn’t trip the shutter until I was confident I had a pleasing picture, then I shot two in case of a focus fault (and I had a very few and was glad I’d double-covered).

I was even more deliberate in post. I shoot only raw and process in Lightroom Classic and Photoshop. I wanted every picture to look like a Kodachrome 25, richly saturated with wire-sharp, almost unreal color. I cropped very little, most often to a 16:9 aspect ratio. I tried my hardest to fill my frame, crop in-camera, as I was trained.

First stop was Cody Park (yes, that Cody) in North Platte, Nebraska, where a Union Pacific Challenger stands on static display. This engine is one of only two survivors of its class, an enormous 4–6–6–4 Mallet-type (mah-lay) simple articulated steam locomotive.

When the first Challengers entered service in 1936, on the UP’s main line over the Wasatch Range between Green River and Ogden, the locomotives had problems climbing the steep grades. For most of the route, the maximum grade is 0.82% in either direction, but the climb eastward from Ogden, into the Wasatch Range, reached 1.14%. Hauling a 3,600-short-ton (3,300 t; 3,200-long-ton) freight train demanded double heading and helper operations, and adding and removing helper engines slowed operations. Those limitations prompted the introduction of the Big Boy in 1941, as well as a redesign of the last three orders [of Challengers] from 1942 to 1944. — Wikipedia

UP’s CHALLENGER is a Third Order 4–6–6–4 Mallet-type articulated steam locomotive only a year younger than me, located permanently in Cody Park, North Platte, Nebraska.

She is magnificent, one of only two survivors of her class. I have visited her at least three times since about 2008.

The picture at right shows the boiler offset on a curve. The big articulates had the boiler bolted to the rear set of drivers allowing the leading set to “float” beneath the boiler, making it possible to negotiate curves without needing to change the track or restrict where the big mallets could go.

The controls are not difficult to understand 😁. Just build a fire under her and push the throttle to the firewall. (Don’t forget to put water in the boiler.) 😂

Gots me now a 10–18mm f/4.0 to shoot the entire back-boiler. Fireman sits on the left, driver on the right.

The engine and tender have a short consist behind them housing a museum. This is a view into the caboose and a running light on the caboose.

Exhibits inside the other cars include a large-scale steam model 4–8–4 “Northern” pattern locomotive and a tribute to women on the railroad in WW2.

Someone lovingly welded railroad spikes together to make Gumby in steel. At right is the passageway into the mail car.

Views inside the mail car, where sorting and distributing the US Mail was carried out while underway.

One of two enormous Nebraska surviving EMD DDA40X (there are nine others around the country).

The EMD DDA40X is a 6,600 hp (4,943 kW) D-D locomotive, built from 1969 to 1971 exclusively for the Union Pacific Railroad. It is the most powerful diesel-electric locomotive model ever built on a single frame, having two 16–645E3A diesel prime movers. Union Pacific has marked DD40X on the cab exteriors. — Wikipedia

My son the photobomber. I was pretty chuffed I got this; it was no-warning spontaneous (he does that).

I’ve photographed this sign probably three, maybe four times. It makes me tear up every time.

If you would like to see all my Challenger pictures ==> https://www.flickr.com/gp/43619751@N06/sYbtPjd9xU
Included are my Bailey Yard pictures, the World’s Largest Marshalling Yard. Part 2 of this series will highlight it. It is only a stone’s throw from Cody Park.

The locomotive wash at North Platte’s Bailey Yard.

Thanks so much for reading and viewing. I really do appreciate it. 😊👍