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WOW!!! What an intense week.

We were on the far southern stretch of 61 seven days ago and just yesterday driving the far northern reaches. It has been quite a road trip. Last weekend, our task was to shoot stories about an old nightclub near Winona and the Apple Capitol of Minnesota--La Crescent. Both days were successful. I have learned a tough lesson though. When a good photographic opportunity strikes: DON'T pass it by!!!

We learned that lesson in Winona when the morning sun was absolutely perfect off of Sugarloaf Mountain. (Sugarloaf, by the way, is not really a mountain, and it was quarried decades ago to give it a distinctive, rocky pinnacle up top.)
I was worried about not getting down to Liedel's Apple Orchard at the agreed upon time, and my photographer and I decided that we'd "shoot" Sugarloaf the next morning. Thick fog moved in overnight, blanketing Sugarloaf the next morning. Lesson learned.

The tour through what was once the old "Oaks" nightclub with the son of the former chef, Walt Kelly, was great. Walt is a fabulous storyteller and fun guy. My poor photographer, Joe put up with having to shoot the tunnels underneath the building...tunnels that were said to have been used by gangsters who'd run out underneath the building to a nearby creek, if the Feds busted the joint in the 1930's. (The Oaks used to have gambling, floor shows and great food that drew people from all over--including some with shady backgrounds!)

After a successful weekend shoot, I was back home for all of 12 hours, before gathering up our crew and heading north. This was the leg of the journey that included our "Star Car" plus several other crew members in our happy little caravan. What happened?
Stick around for the next posting!

Meet our Car Star!

Isn't she a beauty?

"She" is a 1946 Cadillac and more photogenic than I'll ever be!

This car will be our "transportation" down the highway. I'll tell you more about her later!
Right now, I'm just SO excited that we get to use such a beautiful car! It will really add to our documentary!

A Second Wind!

I was feeling bad about that last post. I don't like to whine. I WAS pretty tired and that remains the case after doing some intense shooting this past weekend. We had a successful weekend which helps bolster my spirits.

Mother Nature was helpful early Saturday morning with a lovely blue sky, which nicely offset the white steeple and old wooden cross of St. Francis Xavier Church of Chippewa City, Minnesota. What a wonderful little place that stands as a sentinel alongside the highway. The Indian mission church had fallen into disrepair many years ago, after the last Mass was said around 1936, until some concerned former parishioners and the Cook County Historical Society stepped in to fix it up. The church interior is very unique, with rough-hewn logs and a robin's egg-blue ceiling. The ceiling makes you feel as if you are worshiping under the sky. Very nice.

We interviewed a couple of wonderful Native women about the church and spent most of the rest of the afternoon videotaping the interior. The clouds started to thicken and the atmosphere turned "moody" when we moved off to the church cemetary, across the highway, to do a little more shooting. The low hanging clouds added an appropriate feel to the site, which included some interesting Native graves.

Sunday was very windy, with low hanging clouds and "spits" of rain. We were at the the end of the road, (or is it the begining?) where the original alignment of the highway remains at the Pigeon River, which was the old border crossing between Minnesota and Canada. The Ryden family used to own a resort, cafe, bar and gas station there until everything was moved several miles down river to the current border crossing. Four of the five Ryden siblings braved chilly weather to patiently sit in front of one of the remaining log tourist cabins to talk about the old days. Some very funny stories were told and I have my work cut out in trying to winnow it all down.

From the tip of Minnesota's Arrowhead Country to the southern stretch of Highway 61 is several hundred miles of road, and we traveled it all Monday. We finished up shooting at the Le Duc Mansion in Hastings and toured the quiet, historic village of Frontenac several miles down the road. Frontenac remains largely the way it did decades ago. Dirt streets. No street lights. Lovingly restored, grand old homes that front Lake Pepin.

My task in the next few days is to log all the tape we shot. For those not familiar with this mind-numbing process, "logging tape" entails listening and watching EVERYTHING on a tape and writing down the time each soundbite and bit of footage comes up. Logging drives me insane but it is a necessary part of the process. After logging tape, I know exactly what soundbites I want to use and which bits of footage fit well. How much tape did we shoot? Oh, about three hours. Cheez-Its and other snacks made logging marginally tolerable. Wish me well. I'll be back in touch!

"Runnin' on Empty"

"Runnin'on Empty" was an old Jackson Browne song that perfectly summarizes how I feel this morning.

Like an old car (dipping into the automotive/highway analogies) I need a jump-start since my battery is darn near dead. Diet Mountain Dew and chocolate will only get me so far! We have really ramped up the shooting schedule for the documentary. We need to. I'm trying to out-run the weather and the fall leaf changes so our film looks good and we're not dealing with a landscape that is brown and leaf-free.

Due to the recession/economic slowdown, we didn't get a strong start with fundraising, so we waited until some seed money came in before we started shooting. Now, we have a couple of amazing donors, including Smead Co. (the maker of office supply products) located on Highway 61 in beautiful, historic Hastings, Minnesota. I can't thank them enough for supporting this worthy effort. We still need to keep raising money, plus I'm getting ready for a book tour and there is the ongoing cycle of booking guests/planning shoots/logging tapes we've shot and reworking the script. I also have a full-time job, so I think that is why I'm "runnin' on empty".

We had a great shoot September 8th at the graceful LeDuc Mansion in Hastings. My goal is to tell the story of the LeDuc daughters who essentially ran an embroidery business out of their home in the late 1800's-early 1900's, which wasn't done by "proper" women at the time. I have been finding that women's stories and stories of people of color are often ignored, and it has been rewarding to uncover some of them and include them in "Tales of the Road-Highway 61" the book and the documentary.

After I drop off a carload of video equipment, it is time for a quick nap, before I get back on the phone to line up more guests for interviews!!

If you are following our progress...thanks! Do drop me a line with comments or questions!

Time Flies By

I can't believe this is September first! My first thought is I hope the weather continues to hold for continued shooting outside. We've been hard at work, shooting, since the end of July, and are not quite halfway through videotaping the stories we're including in the documentary. That still leaves a couple of weeks to shoot my on-camera stand-ups, including footage of a vintage car we're using as a visual transition from site to site.

I'm getting a bit nervous about the weather. It has been quite dry this summer, and the trees are already showing signs of turning due to stress. (I'm probably also showing signs of stress!) We have to start working faster so as not to be caught "leafless" by October!! (We also raced Mother Nature last fall as we were shooting still photos for the book, "Tales of the Road-Highway 61)

Speaking of the book, last week, I did an interview for a local magazine about the book and my publicist with the MInnesota Historical Society Press is lining up several events at various bookstores and libraries along the road. (I'll put up a link to those in the coming weeks) I'm a decent interviewer and hope that I'm coherent as an "interviewee" which will be a whole new role for me. I usually ask the questions, not answer them!

We took the Labor Day holiday weekend off (to sleep) but will be back at it this Friday when we take to the waters of White Bear Lake and videotape a lovely vintage racing sailboat (a key element in a story about a man who founded the Johnson Boatworks along Highway 61 in White Bear Lake) I hope the weather holds for that shoot!! Keep your fingers crossed.