Litchfield to Chicago, IL... I'm Done!!!!

It rained on and off all day today and there wasn't all that much to shoot, subject-wise (not a bad combo compared to what it could have been).

I made it into Chicago around 6:30pm! That means I've made it all the way across Route 66, which is over 2,000 miles long.

I found some parts of Route 66 in Illinois to be VERY skinny. At one point, the tires on the bus was simultaneously touching both the center line and the line that marks the edge of the road. It's a good thing that there was no other traffic on that section of the road... I'd hate to have to pass a truck of RV in those tight quarters. Back when Route 66 was built, the maximum width for vehicles was at least six inches skinnier than my bus (the max went up from 96" to 102" at some point).

It feels good to be done with such an intense project and now I just have to spend about three months sorting and processing the 251.75GB worth of photographs that I shot while traveling across all eight states that include portions of Route 66. I have all the shots on my Drobo as well as DVD.

The photograph at the top of this post was taken this afternoon in Odell, IL at a nice restored Standard Oil Gas Station. As always, you can click on the image to see a larger version.

Comments

[Henk Backer]

Having shot more than 250GB in a period of three months, you will undoubtedly be able to tell us something about the endurance of your photo gear. It will be of interest to many readers, I presume.

I like to follow your posts and wish all the best.

Best regards,

Henk

[Byron T]

Congratulations on completing the trip and finishing safely.

I hope some day you release your photo collection in a book or some other way so we can see your pics.

Route 66 is an American historical tie to the past and I'm sure you saw some fascinating things on your trip. I would like to do that trip someday.

ByronT-Tulsa

[prevost82]

FYI it was around 1984 when Prevost went to 102" wide

[SuzyR]

I agree with the other posters. Hope you continue to post here as you wade through and process the tons of photos you took along Route 66. (That's some bus!)

[Bill]

As someone who grew up in Missoula, MT, I have to ask: Why do you have Missoula license plates? I thought you came out of Colorado...

--Bill

[Ben Willmore]

Hi Bill,

I formed a business in Montana which owns the bus... that's why it's plated there.

-Ben

[K Lawson]

Ben,

I attended one your workshops last year. WOW you really helped me. How did you create (methods) on the gas station. Love it.

Ken
PS. I have a CDL Lic. and drive part time for a company. If you ever need a relief driver, I love the prevost and I work fairly cheap

[Ben Willmore]

Hi Ken,

The gas station image is a three shot HDR image that uses both Photoshop and a piece of software called Photomatix Pro. I just finished recording on on-line class that will detail the exact steps I use to create this type of image (it's beyond what I can cover in a simple blog post). That class should be available around the 5th of next month... check my blog around the 5th-7th of next month for more details.

-Ben