I decided to play hooky today and rather than gather all my friends, borrow an old corvette, dance in a parade downtown etc., I decided to hit some sites close to home. The first on my list was an old school in a small town.
As I pulled down the small dirt road that this thing is on, one of the neighbors was pulling out of her driveway. The lady was elderly, taking her sweet time and giving old Pep the stink eye (I'm used to having this effect on women but this was a particularly nasty look). Undeterred, I parked across the street from her house, grabbed my gear and ignoring the literally dozens of "No Trespassing" signs began snapping some pics. (see below).
The place was completely boarded up and given the visible location and the worry that the wicked witch of the dirt road would reappear, I opted to not construct a "creative entry". I found out later that the lady was universally hated in the small town of less than 100 as she is (and this is a direct quote), "...a sour old bitch with nothing to do". Obviously a sound decision on my part to not go inside the school.
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Next I drive down roads that my SUV was not meant for and spoke for an hour and a half to a retired gentleman walking his German Sheppard. All I wanted to know is if he knew of any abandoned building around. Instead I received such words of wisdom as, "Sometimes you gotta' keep your woman in line. Its in the bible!".
Following this enlightening exchange I made my way into a nearby town. On my way to Taco Bell (I'm not proud, I was just hungry and in a hurry), I passed an old grain silo and associated buildings. After consuming what I can only assume was some type of meaty substance I headed back.
The fence was easy enough to overcome, even for a fat, middle-aged smoker who had just consumed soylent green. As I'm getting some exterior shots and I'm looking around I realize that this is an active site. Several pickup trucks are parked around an old house and the silo's themselves are being used for storage. Although I didn't hear anyone it was enough to keep me out of the silos and begin my explore of the large storage and loading facility in front of them.
I found a way in to one part of the place and as I was walking around began to get some good pics. Feeling confident but on alert for the return of the gang from Deliverance, I set up my tripod. I lay in all of my settings, get everything lined up and snap. The shutter opens but doesn't close. Huh? I turn the camera off then back on.
The battery died...
So ended Peptics big day...
Hope you enjoy the shots I did manage to get.
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