2 States
with 2 beginnings to the story
Wisconsin
Rusty
Wisconsin
Oregon
Growing up in the woods and on the water showed a way of life that makes him happy. Started driving buses when he was 20 and used the job to take him all over the U.S. After seeing parts of the U.S. via the road, Rusty got an itch for photographing it. Especially the abandoned America we tend to forget about. For most of his adult life Rusty spent little time at home fishing and fixing engines and the rest exploring all across America.
Boating, Carp fishing and flying a drone: Perfect day.
Minnesota
Jackie
Minnesota
Alaska
Colorado
California
Growing up building a house in the middle of northern Minnesota prepared me for an adventurous adulthood. And naturally I found that on the road. Spending 2007 summer in Denali National Park in Alaska showed me a life that was worth living. I left college and got my CDL working in Beaver Creek Colorado driving for the ski resorts. For 15 years I returned to Colorado for winters while packing my bag in the summer headed north to Alaska to work. I always found myself stopping by California on my way down from Alaska and on my way back to Colorado. I followed seasonal jobs throughout my 20's. Working 7 months and having 5 months to travel overseas and explore the country we call home.
Lived out of my Nissan Frontier for a few years. Drove it up to Alaska and then back down on the ferry.
Driving with Chemistry
12 hr drive with 1 broken bus
Co-workers Paired
February of 2022, 2 employees were hired to drive tour buses for The Allman Brothers Revival. The second time Rusty and I ever met was preparing our Buses for tour that were freshly out of the shop in Denver. Multiple issues with the buses before we left had us scrambling to clean and fix both but we had 2 days to get to Phoenix, “plenty of time”. We left at 3 am out of a dry, warm Denver. Rusty radios me just outside Denver asking if there’s something liquid on the road ahead of me and my response was “All dry up here" little did I know I was dumping OIL from my engine and it was covering his windshield. Every few hours we stopped and added gallon jugs of oil to the engine and pushed through a snow storm to arrive in Phoenix the day of pickup. Before pickup a mechanic looked at my engine and was shocked we made it there. Sadly my bus and I were taken off of the tour to get fixed and I was replaced with a 60 yr old male driver. Rusty looked at me and said “I don’t want you to go”
