Back in April, my mom and I made a return trip to Cerrillos and I got some shots that I wasn't able to get the first time. For example, I really wanted to get some photos of the Antonio Simoni building (see above) but on my previous visit there were cars parked out front, ruining the old and haunted vibe that I wanted to show. But on this trip, no cars and a nice little breeze to blow that New Mexico state flag out at the exact perfect angle. Sometimes I get lucky!
     To see the photos from my first post about Cerrillos, including Mary's Bar and other iconic locations, click here. 

     Unlike many of the abandoned places in New Mexico, I actually remember when this gas station was operational. Given it's location on a busy section HWY 550 north of Bernalillo, it's hard to imagine that they didn't have enough business to stay open. 
     I'll tell you this though...

      Located around the southern end of the Manzano Mountain Range, Mountainair, New Mexico is not exactly a bustling metropolis. To the contrary, population and the number of open businesses seem to have declined since my previous visit which was about ten years ago. Because of this, there are plenty of abandoned buildings to photograph but are they really what they appear to be?
     I was told by a Mountainair resident that the first two photos in this blog post were never what they appear to be. The Grey Hound Trading Post (complete with the grey hound bus company logo) and the Tomahawk Service Station were never these things but the buildings were made to look this way because they were movie sets. So, at least something interesting happens in Mountainair from time to time.

     There's nothing I love more than photographing abandoned houses in New Mexico but I shot a few of them while I lived in Maryland too. Abandoned houses in New Mexico are one thing but the abandoned houses in Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia take the creep factor to a whole new level.
     All photos in this post were shot with an iPhone 6 SE and edited with Snapseed.

     These images were originally published on a previous incarnation of The Dry Heat Blog on March 1, 2009 following a road trip from Albuquerque, NM to Las Vegas, NV for the annual WPPI convention. So, not only is the town old but so are these photos!
     Ashfork is a must-see stop on Route 66 through Arizona. If memory serves, the nine hour drive from Albuquerque to Las Vegas took two and a half days due to all the Route 66 photo stops. It was time well spent!
     All of these photos were shot on a Canon 50D with a Lensbaby 2.0 and edited with some fancy Kubota Actions which were purchased at WPPI.