Bruce Barlow’s trip of a lifetime | Wiscasset Newspaper

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Tuesday, February 25, 2014 - 04:24 pm

Westport Islander Bruce Barlow took a journey on the back roads of America, spanning seven and a half months and 39,583 miles. These are just a few of the photographs he took while on his life-affirming road trip. Read Barlow’s full story here. All photos are courtesy of Bruce Barlow.

Wild ponies in Assateague, Md.

John Steinbeck’s truck in Salinas, Calif., made famous in his book, “Travels with Charley.”

Bruce Barlow’s van, dwarfed by Redwoods in California.

An alien keeps watch over the Extraterrestrial Highway in Nevada.

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, with Bruce Barlow in Plains, Ga.

An abandoned church in South Carolina with Spanish moss
hanging from surrounding trees.

Giant penguin in Cut Bank, Mt.

A sign, found somewhere in Montana.

That’s right. Long Beach, Calif.

Waterfalls resulting from snow melting in late June make for precarious driving in Glacier National Park in Montana.

A sunset in Stanley, Idaho (population 60) on the fourth of July that Bruce Barlow said “eclipsed the very good fireworks.”

A Mountain Sheep in Yellowstone National Park looks at the camera as if to say, “What are YOU lookin’ at?”

A mineral creek in Yellowstone National Park.

Craters of the Moon National Monument in central Idaho.

Barlow spotted this giant Canada Goose across the border from Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., on the way around the northern shore of Lake Superior.

Moonshine at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon.

Sunset in Ephraim, Wis.

A ghost rider at Goldwell Open Air Museum in Rhyolite, Nev.

Barlow’s great-great-great-uncle’s gravestone in Dayton, Ohio.

Devastation caused by a fire in Yosemite last summer. A ranger told Barlow that the after effects will last for decades.

A mother buffalo and her calf stop traffic in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

A scene near Glacier National Park in Montana.

Bruce Barlow found these deserted shacks in Cisco, Idaho.

Bruce Barlow’s campground in Joshua Tree National Park in southeastern California.

A breathtaking sunset in Ephraim, Wis.

A church seen in missile silo country, in North Dakota.

A dirt road in North Dakota, not far from the Outer Banks.

Bruce Barlow takes a break at the geographical center of North America in Rugby, N.D.

Interesting signage in New Jersey.

The Jersey Shore after Hurricane Sandy.

Lassen Volcano National Monument in California.

Father and son at the Stanley, Idaho Fourth of July parade.

Barlow was hoping to spot a gator or two in the Everglades, and he was not disappointed.

The Georgia Monument at the Andersonville National Cemetery in Georgia serves as a memorial to all American prisoners of war.

Above-ground graves in Louisiana.

Goats relax on the roof of Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant in Sister Bay, Wisconsin.

A sunrise in St. Ignace, Michigan.

ICBM site K-7. Most sites are unmanned.

The Barlow Roadhouse, near Mt. Hood in Oregon, where in the 20's the slogan was "Where downstairs the food is good, and upstairs the girls are better."

A mural on the side of a building in Washington.

Barlow’s “home away from home” for seven and a half months.

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