Campfire from the night before. I don’t remember why we decided that Frosty the Candle Snowman had to go, but we certainly sent him off to Valhalla in style.

An old alignment of New Mexico state route 32 yields this tilted, decrepit junction assembly. It dates to the late 1960s or so.

This grassland – just east of Springerville, AZ – burned in the Wallow Fire just a few weeks after I took these photos. But, it will grow back, as that is how these things tend to go.

Sunset through Telegraph Pass, just east of Yuma on I-8.

This is not a ball of tinfoil – it is just paper, but somehow it ended up looking reflective.

Dale always brings the most interesting things to toss into a fire!

Skeleton of a cardboard box.

One last bit of pyromania. The fire is almost out for the night.

Elk at sunrise. US-180 on the way to Arizona.

Sun glint on a cow warning sign.

One of two bridges in the US that I know of that are painted this particular shade of orange.

Different view of the orange bridge. The road is an old alignment of US-260, which was renumbered to US-180 in 1961.

On the bridge itself. It is closed to vehicular traffic, but is easily walkable.

US-180 switches back and we are suddenly heading into the morning sun, despite generally making our way westbound.

New Mexico state highway 159 goes to – and past! – Mogollon. On this historic marker, the 159 patch has worn off, revealing the old route number of 78.

On the road to Mogollon. The first few miles – between US-180 and the town – are relatively civilized.

These old-style mailboxes are getting harder and harder to find. I think their original design goes back to the 30s.

Past the town, the road turns into a very narrow dirt track. Yep, that is an officially sanctioned state highway! We do not follow it this time, instead turning around to return to 180.

Heading back to 180. I do not know what those buildings are in the foreground.

One last photo from 159.

An old US-260 bridge.

The bridge is so old that even the sign which marks it as historic has been overgrown.

The road is new enough to have received yellow stripes, which were made a federal standard in 1978.

This wooden fencepost once held a glass cateye reflector. Alas, it was gouged out by scavengers years ago. At least a bit of the old silver paint remains.

I do not know whether the 1165/40 sign is a bridge inventory marker or a mile post. The new US-180 is seen in the background.

The view off the bridge to the east.

And one last view of the bridge itself, from the current road. The bridge contains of two separate segments.

We turn off 180 here, at this classic shield on a spindly, somewhat shaky-looking gantry.

Apparently, I have gone into the food-and-chainsaw business. Neato.

State highway 12.

And state highway 32, which have just turned onto.

And now, old 32. A high-quality dirt road – but with all signs having turned black from age. The road was bypassed sometime in the 1970s.

Okay, maybe not all. Some have simply had the background fall off, revealing bare wood.

An automotive bargain.

A fishy look at old 32.

Just after the old JCT US-60 assembly is this formerly white guide sign. The topmost destination is Red Hill – 18 miles away, just before the Arizona state line.

We are now in Arizona, where we come across this old US-60 alignment.

Old enough to have received a double white stripe.

The road is sometimes barely passable.

The red asphalt is starting to go.

Road suddenly impassable. The sort of obstacle that the map does not show.

One more view of the high plains of east Arizona.

Not often you see the Arizona state outline completely accurate on a route marker. Usually the western (Colorado River) boundary is turned into a straight line. Until about 1973, though, the correct outline was used – and it seems this construction company pulled an old manual off the shelf when it came time to put this sign together.

We’re in the Phoenix area now. Button copy is getting rare. The blue 101 shields are getting even rarer.

Approaching sunset.

Getting close to Yuma. And this is our last photo on the night, as it turns dark, the wind picks up, and there is a dust storm on I-8… but we’re too busy flirting with death before our time to bother taking photos. Next time, perhaps!

Adventures in terrible light-post placement. There are only two known 1957-spec interstate shields in Arizona. (The other one is on this exact gantry, facing the other direction.)

Extremely pointy flower in morning light. Highway 90 between Lordsburg and Silver City, New Mexico.

Heading north from Silver City on state highway 15.

San Diego. Highway 52 is now open from 125 to 67.

Caltrans manages to sneak in a 1950s (!) sign layout, with Junction spelled out in mixed case to accompany a route shield.

Early experiment in non-porcelain signage. This sign, on I-8, dates to 1962, and the 67 shield covers up a white one. Individually riveted non-reflective letters onto a green background. The reflectors were added sometime in the 1970s, when older non-reflective signs got the “bag of buttons and a bucket of glue” treatment.

Interstate 8 heads east towards Imperial County.

If I recall correctly, the “your papers, please” checkpoint was closed.

The other 1957-spec I-8 shield. Same intersection, but heading southbound.

They may very well have closed this station permanently. If so, this is one button copy sign which I won’t miss when it vanishes.

Telegraph Pass, just east of Yuma. The two carriageways of I-8 separate, and in fact the westbound lanes cross over the eastbound ones for a short while.

Rarely seen narrow Clearview. A new sign since the last time I came through here, around November 2010.

The very last I-8 reassurance marker, paired with a rarely seen (but perfectly sensible) 36″ trailblazer for I-10.

Park Link Drive – a connector between I-10 and AZ-79 which lets us avoid Tucson. It is shown on few maps, but is a perfectly serviceable paved road.

Spot the old alignment. We’re near the Gila River now; AZ-77 follows it.

Time to turn around.

Back down the hill we go.

The town of Winkelman has seen better days. Yes, that is a noose hanging down.

Lordsburg, next morning. The signs are relatively new, but the gantry itself dates to the 1950s.

Another view of the same extremely pointy flower.

Every county in New Mexico seems to have a different route numbering scheme. Grant has hyphenated numbers.

A typical New Mexico historic marker.

US-80 hasn’t run through New Mexico since 1991, but historic markers are always the last to be updated.

A 1960s (or maybe even 1950s!) cheap New Mexico sign. To save money, only the bottom half of the sign was covered in reflective Scotchlite!

The missing sign is an 18×18 New Mexico route 15 marker. Pinos Altos.

This time, a 24″ shield and an arrow are both missing.

The end of the alternate route. It isn’t signed from 15.

Further up highway 15.

Our first picture of the Gila River itself. (Finally!)

What is the nature of this ominous haze? We’ll leave off with this photo. Next up, Gila Cliff Dwellings!

those that click on the large versions of the photos may notice… new camera! Larger pictures for your enjoyment. When my D50 died at 99872 exposures, I upgraded to the D5000. This trip served to field-test it in a variety of conditions.

Pointy rocks and high clouds, by the side of the Kelso-Cima Road, which is a very old US-91 alignment. Before they built the road in the 30s that would be upgraded to I-15 in 1962, a somewhat more indirect highway followed the railroad between Cima and Kelso, and that was US-91.

US-50 in western Utah. 1am on a foggy night. As there was no place to pull over, I stopped the car in the middle of the road and set up the tripod next to it. No cars came in the six or seven minutes I was stopped. Indeed, no other vehicles between Hinckley, Utah and Majors Junction, Nevada – over 100 miles!

Altogether too much traffic on I-15 as we depart heading towards Riverside County.

Taking I-10 instead of I-15 or I-215 gets us off the main road with all the Los Angeles to Las Vegas traffic. While you wouldn’t think of putting Christmas and gambling in the same sentence… apparently, half of LA’s population did!

This sign dates to 1966, when 62 became a state highway.

And now, the Amboy Road, which connects Twentynine Palms to Amboy. We’re taking a somewhat circuitous route, but at least the traffic levels are favorable.

Kelso-Cima Road again, but this time with some more context.

I think San Bernardino County is responsible for this sign.

The sign that this replaced survives: it has “US 91/466″ to the left, and is a 1950s porcelain Auto Club sign: white with black legend.

We’re back on I-15, as that is the only way into Nevada in the area. The town of Primm, formerly known as State Line, is in the distance.

The mountains turn red.

A bit of poor planning gets us sunset at the worst of Vegas traffic. Oops.

Red skies… and traffic lights.

I’ve taken more realistic photos of I-15 through the Virgin River Gorge on more than one occasion, but this one came out so over-the-top misexposed that I just had to keep it. About 80% of this photo’s pixels are railed to one maximum or another. Gotta love it.

There we go – a much better exposure. Or, combination of exposures as the case may be. The very discontinuous star trails should give a good idea as to which photos of a series I selected to combine.

The I-15 routing through the gorge is one of the rare examples of an interstate that replaced an old two-lane road, making the trip more scenic in the process. I-70 vs US-50 between Green River and Salina, Utah is another example, as is I-68/US-40 at Sideling Hill in Maryland.

And we’ve made it to Utah. Don’t tell Enterprise, as they do not allow the car past Nevada and Arizona. Note the “loop 15″ shield – this is a direct replacement of an older button copy sign, which did not have the resolution for a detailed Business Loop 15.

And some actual button copy. This, and a corresponding sign southbound, are – I believe – the only button copy signs left on I-15 in Utah.

The highest posted speed limit in the country. Texas has it on I-10 and I-20 in the sticks out west, and Utah has three segments of it now on I-15. From milepost 65 to 85, then miles 116 to 133 (ending at I-70 at Cove Fort), and one more section from 144 to 164. There may be more north of US-50 as well that I did not notice.

This is where we get off I-15 and head west on US-50 all the way to Carson City, Nevada.

What do we have here? An early 1960s US-50 shield, complete with the custom Utah font! Alas, the I-15 is much newer. The 50 was probably paired with a US-91 to begin its life.

Brand new beehive 100 shield, with extra wide white margin.

Standard-font 1961 spec shields are not difficult to find in Utah.

We leave Hinckley with an eye on the gas gauge. Past here, there is gas only at the state line (83 miles away), and then Ely, Austin, Middlegate Junction, and Fallon as we cross the most uninhabited portions of Nevada.

Yep, that’s a cutout US-93 marker in Nevada. It was put up quite recently (2005 or so) at Majors Junction. There were, at one point, US-6 and US-50 cutouts as well, but those are gone.

I should’ve stopped for this one, as opposed to shooting a hand-held 5 second exposure out the window. The view is from a sweeping curve along Connors Pass, and there was absolutely no place to pull over and visibility for stopping in the road… and surprisingly many vehicles at that time of the night, so I kept going.

At small size, it looks all right, but the full-size version is very blurry. It should actually be fairly easy to get rid of the motion blur: all the stars should be points, so taking a star track and inverting it should give us the appropriate deconvolution filter. Quick, where’s my knowledge of Fourier transforms?

And that does it for the first day of the trip. Next up: US-50 across Nevada.

We are on an old US-70 alignment, and here is the obligatory photo of the curves warning sign with the treacherous mountains in the background.

a sloppy-looking shield on I-25, but – what’s this?? – it has “US” above the number? New Mexico really pulled out an old standard specification to manufacture this sign.

Speaking of old, check out these classic 1960s fonts on this sign. It is more than likely that the sign does not date back that far, but this is New Mexico for ya – the first spec on the shelf that they find that vaguely covers the needed project, they will use.

This is an extremely faded sign. It may help to illustrate the point to note that at one time one of the primary colors of this sign was blue.

What, route 80 at route 70?? Lordsburg. New Mexico 80 is old US-80, but the independent routing was supposed to end many miles west, before 80 joined 70 as a multiplex all the way to Las Cruces, and then split off as an 80/85 multiplex. The fact that 80 was multiplexed with US-70, I-10, and then I-20 all the way to Dallas explains its decommissioning west of there.

US-80 was removed and the independent sections became NM-80 and AZ-80 – but significantly west of here. Suffice it to say, these signs should not exist, but here they are!

Indian Route 3 is the old US-70 alignment we will explore.

Not just any old alignment, but the very first alignment – check out the original 1920s bridges (at least 10 of them by my count) on this road!

Small boat. Large rocks.

Coolidge Dam. Eastern Arizona. Old US-70. Unlike the Hoover Dam to the southwest, here there are no Department of Homeland Security stooges getting stern-facedly involved, and you can take photos to your heart’s desire.

Crossing the dam on old US-70 – yep, the road is built right across the top of it!

Indian 3, after the dam, cuts across to current 70 on a stretch of road that was never the old highway. The western half of old US-70 is buried.

Back on current 70 – here is the brand new Prismatic High Intensity junction marker with Indian 6. I leave it as an exercise to the reader to determine why this new brand of sheeting is called “prismatic”!

Somewhere in there is an arrow. A 1950s sign, left on an old US-60 alignment not too far east of Phoenix.

Heading into Phoenix proper now – these blue Loop 101 shields date to between 1989 and 2002, and nowadays are getting harder and harder to find. Arizona colored loops 101, 202, and 303, but then found out that they faded far faster than black and white shields – and did not receive federal funding for their signs. A great idea, too bad on the implementation.

Loop 303 is black, and those shields last quite a while. It’s loop 202 (green – and I did not see an example on this trip) that really faded far too fast and doomed the program.

One of the very few button-copy interstate shields left in Arizona. US and state route shields went away from button copy years ago, but there are a few interstate markers left with this standard. There is another one on I-40 indicating I-17, and those are the two I can think of offhand.

Welcome to California. An agricultural checkpoint, which is, these days, little more than a front for the Border Patrol to keep an eye on activity. Yes, on interstate 10, it is the aggie folks that ask the questions – and the border patrol who stand in the shadows, taking down license plate numbers.

that said – given my latest several experiences (which I will elaborate on when I post my El Paso and San Felipe trip photos), it seems the border patrol is getting to be more and more professional, and the agricultural folks more and more arbitrary in enforcing the regulations.

It’s a strange day in American history when the usual bugaboo, the border patrol internal checkpoint, for once grows reasonable and acknowledges its Constitutional bounds, develops a new sense of courtesy to break away from its previous fear-based “OMG 911″ agenda, and simultaneously re-invents itself as a more effective crime prevention agent…

meanwhile, sensing the power-vacuum, the good old-fashioned “Okies Keep Out” agency rises to fill the necessity of anti-social behavior.

strange days indeed.

Safely in California, and heading down highway 78 to county route S-34, which will connect us to interstate 8 and take us back home to San Diego.

The Chocolate Mountains, as viewed from S-34.

The danger of new signage. The old signs – dating back to the 1910s – correctly identified this location as Gordon’s Well.

Smoke in the sky. The regular burning of crops.

Interstate 8, about to hit the mountains.

Identify this train. Marked “Spirit”, this engine sits on the old Southern Pacific tracks at Ocotillo Wells.

Old US-80, before the concrete abruptly gets torn out. The original road was built in 1913, and around 1956 it was replaced with Interstate 8.

don’t ask me what this sign says – but the dirt trail is old 80 after it was torn out.

Back in San Diego. Turning onto I-15 to get home, and look whose shield has gone missing. Yep, that should be I-15 on that green sign. Here’s where I show up to work at 4pm!

Sunny Union County is inhabited by huge bees.

Little house on the prairie.

What is missing here? An I-40 shield fell down off this sign! What makes this extra interesting is that I could verify the absence of any US-66 signage underneath. The sign goes back to the late 1960s, and while 66 was still around as a route until 1974, the US routes were starting to get de-emphasized in favor of the interstates on the multiplexes as early as 1964, when the gradual decommissioning was started.

Alas, it was night, so I did not feel like stopping on the freeway to find a potential souvenir.

Kingman, and the I-40 corridor in general, still has plenty of button copy – this in contrast with further-south parts of the state, which feature more and more retroreflective Clearview signage each day.

Not hard to find original-spec interstate shields in New Mexico.

A 666 sign, on the other hand, would be quite the find. They really made an active effort to eradicate that number from New Mexico in 2003 – and now, surprisingly, original 66 shields are easier to find than original 666es, despite the fact that 66 hasn’t been around since 1985.

Sunrise on the Devil’s Highway.

This font appears all over the county. 6100 is an old US-64 alignment. We’ll be taking US-64 from 666 almost all the way across the state!

New Mexico has only a casual and intermittent relationship with standards. There are NEW MEXICO/US shields of this style elsewhere in the state.

At some point in its life, this sign clearly identified Indian route J-12.

The sign is from 1980.

Some thistles.

New Mexico likes placing a black outline around shields. They also like putting the incorrect directional banner. Both 64 and 84 are east-west.

Approaching the old US-64 bridge across the Rio Grande, at Arroyo Hondo. The bridge was built in the 1910s, and the old alignment leading down to the river is very steep and has some sharp switchbacks. However, it is a very good dirt road and is easily traversed in a compact car.

Our first view of the bridge.

This photo is in infrared, as that’s about the only way one can shoot into the sun like this.

The bridge from the eastern shore. 1920s color postcard effect achieved by overlaying one visible-light and one infrared photo.

Remember those clouds coming over the canyon from the west? Well, here they are!

The east end of New Mexico state highway 38 features this slightly augmented guide sign.

US-64 winds its way through Cimarron Canyon.

Huge clouds in the distance, as we exit the Rockies.

This is what happens when we get to those clouds. 1178 miles driven in one burst, from 7pm to 3pm the next day!

Once the rain clears, the bees come out.

Bumblebees are rarely aggressive when foraging, and it’s easy to get photos of them.

One last bumblebee picture.

A different kind of bee – somewhat less colossal.

A hole in the sky.

And that’s it because sunset photos will be in the next batch!

Here’s a 1950s Indian road sign! Complete with peeling numbers on some of the oldest engineer grade (does not fade to green) scotchlite I have ever seen. They invented the stuff in 1950 and this is not much newer than that. 18×12 inches; somewhere in southeast Utah near the Four Corners area.

This might very well be a meteor in daytime! I just noticed this when I was processing these photos – note the smoke trail in the middle. I have the photo from 1 second before, and 4 seconds after, and they show nothing – but this one definitely has that black streak, which I believe to be a smoke trail from a very bright meteor.

Behold the birds. Pagosa Springs, Colorado has this lake, fountain assembly… and swans!

Indian Route 20 is old US-89.

Looking back north towards Page on US-89. Watch for rocks.

And we are approaching highway 160, but still southbound on 89.

The sun begins to set…

There are very few of these 1960s markers around for San Juan County, Utah routes. They all were originally orange and blue, and they have all faded in the sun.

An old Navajo route in southern Utah.

And here is an even older San Juan County marker, with the border barely visible around the entire sign.

From the same general area as the meteor – here are the road and the red rocks.

Much later in the night – here is a 6 by 6 inch (tiny!) county route 2414 marker.

Next morning, in Colorado, where we head east on U. S. highway 160.

Sunrise making the reeds glow… a small lake not far from route 160.

Ominous, but eventually harmless clouds.

A view of a single swan. The males are white with black beak, and the females are grey with light grey beak. So now you know that this one is a …

The Rocky Mountains are a source of wind currents – perfect for some ballooning in the morning as the sun warms the air and the currents rise.

Further east on route 160 – by the side of the road is this long-unused switch engine with a red, white, and blue paint job.

In a small town in Colorado – on the side streets, far away from the main highway (US-160), the entire grid is signed with these instead of modern stop signs. They are embossed, non-reflective, and date back to the 1950s.

Colorado uses these blue shields for their scenic byways.

The mountains in late August – not a single flake of snow to be found. A brief detour off the 160 – we are on highway 12 approaching La Veta from the south.

Old, old, old La Veta Pass – US-160 was bypassed from this route by the 1950s. This is the 1930s two-lane road. Ask us about how we followed the two-lane road across an old bridge and right onto someone’s private property – and how they beheld us for the freaks we were, and promptly refused to let us turn around in the driveway of their colossal mansion.

They insisted that the approach road (which is clearly marked as a county route) is private land! So we had to back out, nearly a quarter of a mile, in a cargo van – did I mention that exploring old roads in such a vehicle is more difficult than usual?

Dale knows all about this relatively unfriendly woman … when we told him the story, he immediately said “oh, county route 403 across the 1915 bridge? Yeah I once had to back out of there too……”

Not quite a glass cateye … here is a 1940s plastic Stimsonite reflector that replaced the old glass reflector in this original silver-and-black-painted fence from the 1930s. Old La Veta Pass, and these posts still remain from when this route was done between 1912 and 1937, and upgraded between 1949 and 1953, before being entirely bypassed in 1960.

And here’s one that’s actually intact! The previous red one is just the backing – the reflective white matter long gone. Here you can see the white.

The end of the old route – you can see where the new and old roads branch.

Another 1910s bridge. There are quite a few on the old La Veta Pass road.

The very last pair of original (1958 specs) interstate shields in Colorado – most had vanished by the late 1970s, but there are two left, as late as December 10th of this year when I checked on them. And no, I will not reveal where they are. Suffice it to say, they are near interstate 25.

A red rainbow – at sunset, the atmosphere filters out most of the light that is not red. This is why sunsets are that color, and why this rainbow looks the way it does! This is when we ended up in Union County and our journey in the moving van was complete.

And that’s it ’til the next time! I think I’ll next upload some New Mexico and Texas route 66 photos from a trip just this November.

A note about access … the canyon is only accessible via guided tour. It is on Navajo land and the tribe runs the tours. As far as I know, there is no way to get in just by yourself.

There are two types of tours: a $30 for half an hour where they rush you through the canyon with 10 other groups (total 100+ people in there – it gets crowded) so you can see the beams of light as the sun makes its transit across the sky, and a $50 one where they do the rushing and then give you another hour to explore, with the guide being a helpful resource as opposed to actively herding you. I of course recommend ponying up the extra $20! Ask for the “photographer’s tour” option when you book.

I cannot remember which guide company we went with, but I believe all the money just goes to the Navajo Nation so there’s no point in shopping around… they are not in competition and offer identical services. Here is one:

http://www.antelopecanyon.com/

during the photographer’s tour segment (when the general population has been herded out) all the tour guides from all the companies are very friendly and accessible and helpful in pointing out places to stand to take good photos, and rock formations. And of course they carry shovels and are always happy to load the sandfalls! Did I mention I highly recommend the photo tour?

(I have no idea how to get in under the full moon if that is your gig, but I am sure if you inquire with one of the tour companies, they may be able to assist you in that endeavor.)

and one more thing to note: make sure to bring a fast (f/1.4 or f/1.8) lens, or one with image stabilization (Nikon VR, Canon IS, dunno what Pentax, Sony, etc call it but they all have the option)… my exposure times in these photos ranged from 1/20s to 1s at ISO-400 using my f/3.5 VR lens.

Sandfall.

Beam of light: catch it while you can.

Move on to the next one.

A ribbon of bright sky.

Hell’s kitchen table. See if you can spot the devil. Hint: he is playing piano, and wearing a hat with floppy dog ears.

Two faces, or a vase?

Beam me up, Scotty.

Edvard Munch was here.

One of those ever-present dripping clocks.

Letterbox edition.

We take a break from our regularly scheduled programming to bring you this bat.

What is this outside world of which you speak?

Outside, looking in.

Fireworks display.

It took me a good while to decide on an orientation for this photo. If it turns out to be upside down, all viewers will receive a refund.

The thing in Wyoming.

Downward-flowing stream.

Picture in picture.

What’s brown and sticky?

The sphinx.

Saving the best for last: an anti-bear.

Part of the collection of someone who wishes to remain anonymous. Well, the signs are visible to anyone from the public right-of-way, so you can go find them if you want! This style of directional sign, complete with glass reflectors, was used on high speed thoroughfares from 1933 to the early 50s.

Nevada state route 167 branches off of old US-91. The road is lit from the side by a truck stop immediately behind us, that serves Interstate 15.

The truck stop, now with actual truck.

The Virgin River Gorge – Arizona interstate route 15. Whereas old US-91 went around it, I-15 was blasted straight through, saving about 30 miles.

Fires in Los Angeles result in skies like this in Utah.

One from Dan, from the same general vicinity. His pictures can be found here. Go look, as his are generally like mine, except more awesome.

Plenty of old auto club signs in Calexico, where the Greyhound bus makes its first stop. Why a Greyhound bus? Because Yuma, AZ is the cheapest place to pick up a rental van.

Behind this 1960 porcelain sign is the Mexico border fence.

This sign dates back to the early 1950s and features the California Division of Highways logo.

And now we’re in Yuma. Button copy is getting pretty hard to find in Arizona, especially the kind with the non-reflective background.

Heading westbound on I-8 in California, through the mountains that separate San Diego and Imperial counties.

Classic porcelain signage in San Diego. This sign dates to 1968.

Odd transitional sign at the same intersection – this one is from 1973, when they stopped using porcelain, but had not started using pre-made button copy letters. Here, the buttons are glued onto white non-reflective letters on a green background. Shortly thereafter, they decided having the letters pre-made with reflectors was far more economical.

Ominous skies over US-395.

This sign is in a museum in Randsburg. It points down the US-6/395 multiplex, with Los Angeles being accessed by US-6. US-6 was truncated in 1964, so now the stretch of road is only US-395. Don’t mind the black spot at the bottom – the sign is hanging in a closet, and I stood about eight inches away and used the flash.

A near-exact copy of an old white auto club guide sign. The logo is missing, of course, and the sign is green reflective, and not white porcelain, and the original did not have a crossbar… but that font is classic 1938!

Another one – the colors are modern but the font is original. Someone must’ve gone through this area in the last few years and done an exact replacement, just as the contract stated.

This is the style that succeeded the first Barstow picture: starting in 1948, with the plastic reflectors. This one does not have the Division of Highways logo, but is black, dating it 1957-59.

More of the same collection. The 66 shields are replicas, but the guide signs in the back – red, white, and blue; blue diamond; and white rectangle, are all original. Be sure to click for the high-resolution version. The owner was, alas, not home, so I could not get any closer photos.

One more from the same truck stop.

Interstate 15 barely cuts into Arizona between Las Vegas and St. George, Utah.

Approaching the Virgin River Gorge.

The view north through the gorge.

And the view south, from the same overpass.

Highway 59 leads south into Arizona.

Sunrise with lots of smoke.

And now we’re in Arizona, looking back north into Utah.

Heading south (east, really) on US-89A and leaving the smoke behind.

Looking back west on 89A.

Stopping for a bit to get up close and personal with the red rocks. I took this photo with the fisheye and converted it back to rectilinear.

Another one; slightly different direction.

Crossing the Colorado River at Glen Canyon Dam, near Page. Somewhat disconcerting roller-coaster look achieved by running the de-fisheye converter on an image that was rectilinear to begin with.

There’s a hydroelectric plant somewhere around here.

next up, actual Antelope Canyon

On the mountain pass between Chama, New Mexico, and Cumbres, Colorado – both states call this one highway 17. The sky was dark blue, just after sunrise – the snow is that bright, and there is just that little atmosphere, at 10,000 feet.

Sunset over the plains of northeast New Mexico. Old US-64 (now state highway 325) near Capulin Volcano.

An undisclosed location in northeast New Mexico, home to my friend Dale. Certainly no old signs to be found anywhere.

Getting up early for the yellow yield sign.

Here’s a very old white guide sign … with a new shield bolted on top. I am quite sure that someone could make a crowbar discovery of an older COLO 184 black and white shield under there.

We turn off 160 onto highway 84, which just barely extends into the state from New Mexico.

And, look at that, we’re in New Mexico. But only briefly – we’ll be crossing between the two several times.

Highway 17, coming north from Chama across the mountains, back into Colorado.

The top of the pass.

Do not ask me how this photo came out these colors. Setting the white balance so the snow is white turns the trees in the sun … bright orange!

Further down highway 17, about to cross the main ridge of the Rockies.

And now we’re back on 160.

In one of the small towns on 160 is this extremely new-looking yellow yield sign. It is facing the southern sun, so if it were actually old, it would be a lot more faded. Someone definitely pulled out the wrong signing manual, and good for them!

The last known old-style shields in Colorado. They dropped the state name in 1971, and brought it back in the late 1990s, but this older style with the small numbers is next to impossible to find.

Now that is how to correctly display one’s cattle brand!

Too bad, because that is the old US-85/87 alignment heading over Raton Pass.

There’s one final old-style interstate shield in Colorado … yep, it’s just before the state line.

Who wants a decrepit old stop sign? Yes, this was once red and white, and now it is there for the taking, in a tree, somewhere in northeast New Mexico. In fact, not too far from where I’m staying for a few days.

At some point, it snows. I might be staying more than a few days!

Quick, let’s measure how much fell, using the handy-dandy rocket-launcher-looking precipitation collector!

A ridge of wind-blown snow.

The universal gesture for surrender.

Grim and frostbitten Saskatchewan.

Snow and ice, for everyone’s benefit.

Nothing like a snowstorm in the rockies!

Snow and ice and old signs everywhere.

One more.

Oddly, not a single bit of snow on the trees.

This one must’ve taken one for the team.

Time to venture out some.

NM-325 is old US-64 heading past Capulin Volcano.

Here, old 64 heads through Folsom.

Back at the ranch.

Strange, the snow didn’t shovel itself in our absence.

Certainly the best time of day to view old reflectorized signs.

Try not to drive quite so fast through the front yard.

One more view, of house and mortar.

And back home we go. We’re all the way across New Mexico by the time dawn approaches – this is a truck stop on I-40 in Arizona at the US-191 turnoff.

I’m not sure who came up with this, ahem, design concept.

Arizona used some colored loop route shields in the early 2000s, but apparently they suffered from fading problems, so the state abandoned them. There are still a few of them floating around the Phoenix area.

And here is black loop 303. Loop 202 was brown.

This is a horrible photo, but it does show this shield style, which California does not use often.

A view of Chuckwalla Valley Road in Riverside County, which is an old alignment of US-60/70, complete with 1940s style white railing.

Indio is not content to be precisely at sea level.

A 1930s porcelain Auto Club sign on old US-60/70.

And that wraps up that trip!

A map and more information on the freeway is available from AZDOT here. Look for the link between I-10 and I-17 to be opened in 2015.

Photo by Rob Branch-Dasch / Decomprose on Flickr, used with permission.