Cross Country - Day 4

Before leaving St. Louis I tried to get a better view of the Gateway Arch and went across the Mississippi to East St. Louis. Turns out that this place is something between slums and ghost town. It was very intense for me driving around there. As much as I would like to photograph such a place, as much I am alert about the fact that it might be dangerous to do so. Maybe it is not. It's basically very hard for me to estimate whether or not I'm really in a dangerous place.

Cutting through Missouri on the other hand was very nice. Nice landscape, sunset in front of me, good music...the stereotypical road trip setting.

Now I'm enjoying Oklahoman hospitality crashing on a friends couch.

Cross Country - Day 3

There is not much to report today. I decided to stay in my hotel in St. Louis for one more day to do some work that I took with me. The weather was too dull for pictures, but I took one of this pretty hotel. Built in 1894 it once used to be the world's largest and busiest train station.

Stefanie Hoepner Interview

Steffi got interviewed about her photography. You can find it on Slashmaraud.

Cross Country - Day 2

In St. Louis now.

The illuminated arch and its shadows projected onto the clouds.

Cross Country - Day 1

So far so good. I made it to Indiana, which means I reached the goal of the day and made it out of my familiar area. At the very beginning of the drive I was a little annoyed about the whole trip. Simply because of all that driving. But after leaving New Jersey, when I got a bit further into Pennsylvania, I saw the landscape changing and the sun setting. At that point the annoyance turned very quickly into excitement. At that point I started to realize what I am doing here...that I'm not gonna turn around and go back. That I'm on my own and that everything that was before is already over.
OK, before I get more sentimental, here the plan for day 2: I'll slow down. Not use the interstate much and have a look at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. Maybe stay in that area till sunset.

Cross Country Road Trip - Takeoff

I'll be on the road for the next two weeks. If you want to join the trip, you can always come here and see where I am. Right now I'm still in Princeton - final destination is San Diego. This is a very coarse description of the route as I haven't planned much yet. I'll try to go fast during the first one or two days until I get into more unfamiliar regions. Then leave the interstate highways and slow down. Feel free to leave comments if you know interesting places to visit that are along the route.

Cheers!