Chain stores, motels, and restaurants dominate the roadscape across America. Only a few scattered traces of the mid-20th Century remain, such as this abandoned cafe, motel, and gas station in Red Desert, Wyoming. Here travelers could get high test gas and low test coffee while crossing a long expanse of open country. Today the high desert wind blows tumbleweeds against the faded stucco walls and broken windows. Cars zoom past on the interstate: the drivers hardly glancing at the old Red Desert.

I hand color the red letters on this black-and-white print.

Addendum: Alas, the Red Desert is no more. The owner tired of paying taxes on an empty building and bulldozed it. Last time I travelled I-80 all that remained was a pile of rubble.

Lee Rentz