1985
<<<(17) that way <<<
In 1985, there was no such thing as a digital camera. My wife, who I thought was a better photographer, had a nice Nikon 35mm and I had a good Pentax ME Super 35mm. In those long-ago film days, you had to think about every shot – is this one going to be worth developing. In order not to waste expensive film. every shot had to be "good" before you took it.
Film was expensive too, and the developing, so it would seem that we didn’t take a lot of pictures as we drove across the country in 1985. Nearly 25years later, I’m not sure how many we took; there are boxes of prints in my closet I’ve never scanned. I have copied a few, and these are from that trip, when we got into the southwest. which then was my favorite part of the country.

A reduced copy of this one is on the front page of this diary. This was taken on a summer’s evening on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
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My wife and her "Kuma-san", "Mr. Bear", holding money and cigarettes, on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
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We did spent all day at the Canyon. We had a motel room in Flagstaff, and drove north to see the Canyon.

The caption in our photo-book said, "It was quiet after I pushed her off the cliff", in reference to her shoes sitting next to me.
(I did not push her off, but at the time it seemed funny)
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It was well before this point that I sincerely regretted not getting air conditioning in our truck:

On the road out of the Verde Valley and up into the hills at Jerome.
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Arizona was then my favorite state – nowhere else can you see this:

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She is 51 now… and to me she looks as good, or better now, but, well, I do miss that 23 year old woman I drove across the country with 3 times.
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She called me the other night; I told her I’m writing about our "honeymoon" drive across the US. She said,
"We should do that again."
I would not be opposed to another "honeymoon" drive….
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I remember those days well. I got a Pentex ME Super 35mm as a gift in 1982. Back then it was around $600 I think. Surprisingly it didn’t take great pictures as one might expect.
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RYN: Agreed on Orwel. If things keep going the way that they are, we might just exceed his ideas in the next 50 years.
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Your pics of the Grand Canyon are really great.
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Stunning photos. That would truly be awesome if ya’ll were able to do that drive again. I can only imagine the stories and photos that would come out of that. 😀 Light of heart,
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beautiful outdoor pictures! ~Anna
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what exactly is a Kuma-san”, “Mr. Bear”? lol looked like a lil white stuff bear… man oh man your pics of the grand canyon made me wish I could go see it again… my 1st husband took me there and like you that first trip we spent all day just checking out the scenery and like you I had this thing about sitting on the edge just enjoying the view…
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I lived in Arizona then (1985)and later below Jerome in Cottonwood doing most of my work in and around Sedona. YOur photos are wonderful and bring back memories.I had an Olympus OM1n and loved it I had qquite a collection of lenses. Glad I found your diary it is a treat.
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There is an unpaved road across the tops of the omuntains above Jerome I used to camp there 7000 ft at Potato Patch and 7500ft at the meadow I do not remember the name. Spent many peaceful nights looking at stars and drinking coffee and…. way into the night. Peace.
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I’ve never been to the Grand Canyon. Your pictures are beautiful.
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