– Jim Wirth

I’m sure many of you have childhood memories of your parents pulling out the family vacation slides and telling everyone to gather around to watch the show.  While some may have dreaded these family slide shows, I always loved them.  I can still remember the huge metal tube with built in stand that held the retractable screen.  And the texture of the screen, like it had been sprayed with silvery white sand.  Then there were the long thin metal boxes with latches that protected all of our family slides.  These were kept neatly stacked in the hall closet across from Dad’s office, which we always called the “den.”  I loved the whole process, which has been completely lost in this age of digital cameras, flash memory cards, Snapfish and email.

I still enjoy pulling out the old family slides to reminisce about times long past.  Everything seemed so much simpler and more innocent then.  There is something about the look of old slide photos, especially Kodachromes, that fills me with an intense feeling of nostalgia.  So, I am starting a new blog category here on OpenRoad.TV called Traveling Through Time, to share some of the wonderful old slides that I’ve been able to find.  While they are not slides from my own family’s past, they were taken by families like mine who loved to document their lives with film.

To kick off this new category, I thought it would be nice to take you back to a time where gas prices were under 20 cents per gallon, and you fueled up at the “service station,” where in addition to filling your tank, the attendant cleaned your windows and checked your tire pressure.  So travel back in time with me to Sedona, Arizona for a brief rest stop at the Chevron service station…

<click on the slide to enlarge the photo>

<click on the slide to enlarge the photo>

Doug McConnell

We’ve just received a delightful story posted by Crazy Sally. I can tell you, she’s not…..crazy. She knows a wonderful place when she sees it and describes it wonderfully well. Sally’s written about the “Magic of Antelope Canyon” and added some spectacular photographs. Check it out.

Antelope Canyon is in the high and dramatic desert of northern Arizona, a few miles from Lake Powell and on the outskirts of Page. I’ve had the opportunity to explore that territory quite a bit over the years. I lived not far away on the Navajo Reservation years ago and I get back as often as possible. But until last year, I had never been in Antelope Canyon. In June, my crew and I taped a story there with the extraordinary photographer, Gary Ladd. We’ll put that story here on OpenRoad.TV in the near future. If you want to see Gary at work in the meantime, check out our journey with him in Zion National Park. I had heard about Antelope Canyon for a long time. Everyone, Gary included, said I’d be blown away. Was I ever! My team and I couldn’t believe our eyes. I’m sure our video, as good as it hopefully is, and as hard as we try to convey our experiences, won’t do the place justice. I urge you to read Sally’s nicely chosen words and enjoy her photographs. Then, get moving towards Antelope Canyon and share your experience.