American Road Trip 1979 on Kodachrome

Hey, Lynn, after New York did you (and your tour group) just turn around and drive back across the continental US? Which means you missed out on Maine... too bad, it's a unique state with a culture entirely its own.

The travel must have been exhausting for you. Hours on end on the road in a small van, then setting up tents, cooking dinner, a few hours of lazy socializing in the evenings, and then to bed. Repeat with breakfast in the morning, pack up everything, and off you went.

I traveled like that too in 1979. With only one friend, and in a Ford Maverick. We took five weeks to drive from New Mexico to Sydney, Nova Scotia - our intended goal for that journey was From Sydney (Australia) to Sydney (Canada) and we achieved it. This said, by the time we hit the Sydney at the end, we stopped the car under the town sign, I took a few slides, and we then got back in the Maverick and drove to New Brunswick, Sydney in NS not being greatly to our liking. A day's rest stop in the old French fortress of Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island was especially nostalgic for me, as I had a distant ancestor from France who had soldiered there in 1740s-1750s until the British came along and took it over.

That Summer Of '79 was mostly spent in my family and relatives' homes in New Brunswick. After two and a half enjoyable months of this, the road trip back to California was more rushed, partly due to finances but more so as we were both weary of being On The Road.

We saw Maine, New Hampshire, Quebec City, Montreal and Toronto, then north to Sudbury to see more of my family and eventually across the Great Lake, our plan being to drive cross the Prairies to Vancouver. An unusually cool and wet autumn did us in, and after causing along Lake Superior to Sault St Marie we (wisely I reckon) opted to go south and drive to New Mexico by way of the continental US, traveling on Route 66 as much as our haphazard itinerary let us. By then the Ford was showing signs of terminal old age and we were fearful it would break down and strand us in some isolated Canuck country town, where any repairs would have been prohibitively expensive. We were lucky and it easily survived the journey back to San Francisco, where we sold it for a little less than the $500 we'd paid for it.

Your fine rural images have resonated so positively with me. Many memories of similar things I saw ,even if unlike you, I didn't do enough photography of the countryside. By the time we set off on the return journey we were tired of all the driving we had done, and had one goal in mind, to get to New Mex for two weeks of R&R at my companion's relatives' home out of Silver City.

I look forward to more of your excellent work. Kudos to you for the effort you've put in so far in this thread. It's a true wonder to read and see!
 
Last edited:
fantastic series, it looks like we are traveling to the past with a time machine.
my humble opinion: would it be faster to use a DSLR scanning? I think it would be easier with slides. My Nikon 4000 ED is now in the shelf since I built DSLR scanning rig.
 
DownUnder said:
Hey, Lynn, after New York did you (and your tour group) just turn around and drive back across the continental US? Which means you missed out on Maine... too bad, it's a unique state with a culture entirely its own.

The travel must have been exhausting for you. Hours on end on the road in a small van, then setting up tents, cooking dinner, a few hours of lazy socializing in the evenings, and then to bed. Repeat with breakfast in the morning, pack up everything, and off you went.

I traveled like that too in 1979. With only one friend, and in a Ford Maverick. We took five weeks to drive from New Mexico to Sydney, Nova Scotia - our intended goal for that journey was From Sydney (Australia) to Sydney (Canada) and we achieved it. This said, by the time we hit the Sydney at the end, we stopped the car under the town sign, I took a few slides, and we then got back in the Maverick and drove to New Brunswick, Sydney in NS not being greatly to our liking. A day's rest stop in the old French fortress of Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island was especially nostalgic for me, as I had a distant ancestor from France who had soldiered there in 1740s-1750s until the British came along and took it over.

That Summer Of '79 was mostly spent in my family and relatives' homes in New Brunswick. After two and a half enjoyable months of this, the road trip back to California was more rushed, partly due to finances but more so as we were both weary of being On The Road.

We saw Maine, New Hampshire, Quebec City, Montreal and Toronto, then north to Sudbury to see more of my family and eventually across the Great Lake, our plan being to drive cross the Prairies to Vancouver. An unusually cool and wet autumn did us in, and after causing along Lake Superior to Sault St Marie we (wisely I reckon) opted to go south and drive to New Mexico by way of the continental US, traveling on Route 66 as much as our haphazard itinerary let us. By then the Ford was showing signs of terminal old age and we were fearful it would break down and strand us in some isolated Canuck country town, where any repairs would have been prohibitively expensive. We were lucky and it easily survived the journey back to San Francisco, where we sold it for a little less than the $500 we'd paid for it.

Your fine rural images have resonated so positively with me. Many memories of similar things I saw ,even if unlike you, I didn't do enough photography of the countryside. By the time we set off on the return journey we were tired of all the driving we had done, and had one goal in mind, to get to New Mex for two weeks of R&R at my companion's relatives' home out of Silver City.

I look forward to more of your excellent work. Kudos to you for the effort you've put in so far in this thread. It's a true wonder to read and see!
Click to expand...
Glad you're still enjoying the pictures! You're correct, I missed Maine and the north east. I was in the US for 9 weeks, my van tour started on day 3 starting and ending in LA, so when I got back to LA I had about 2 1/2 weeks to do whatever I liked. It was a toss-up between the north east and NorCal. In the end I decided on NorCal, because it seemed less intimidating to travel there alone... it had a familiar feel similar to the east coast of Australia. I later regretted not seeing the north east States - not that I didn't have a nice time in California.
 
Last edited:
kiemchacsu said:
fantastic series, it looks like we are traveling to the past with a time machine.
my humble opinion: would it be faster to use a DSLR scanning? I think it would be easier with slides. My Nikon 4000 ED is now in the shelf since I built DSLR scanning rig.
Click to expand...
I've wondered about DSLR scanning. I have a 6D and 100mm macro so it would certainly be possible with a suitable slide holder and LED light/diffuser.
 
#USA20-01 Elkhart, Indiana, 28 May 1979
We stopped here briefly to change a tire and fix the sliding side door on the van.

U27021.1703074712.0.jpg
 
Last edited:
Hi Lynn,

That's the corner of South Wacker Drive and Adams Street, looking north. Interesting note, in 1979 that road you were on, Adams Street, was still classified as US Route 66, the legendary US highway. It wasn't decommissioned until the mid 1980's.

Best,
-Tim
 
Timmyjoe said:
Hi Lynn,

That's the corner of South Wacker Drive and Adams Street, looking north. Interesting note, in 1979 that road you were on, Adams Street, was still classified as US Route 66, the legendary US highway. It wasn't decommissioned until the mid 1980's.

Best,
-Tim
Click to expand...
Thanks Tim, much appreciated. Some pictures from the top of Sears (now Willis) tower coming up.
 
#USA20-17 Chicago from Sears (now Willis) Tower, Chicago, 29 May 1979
The window on this side of the observation deck was quite dirty. This slide had some fungus and the discoloration and damage was difficult to treat - I've done my best. Auto Color in CS6.
I've uploaded these in large 1920px size due to the amount of detail

U27021.1703122801.0.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom