I’ve been asked who Team Rust is and why we go by that name. So I’ll try here to tell you who we are, how we came to be and what our mission has been and continues to be going forward.
We are a small cadre of wannabe banditos exploring Americas past. I say cadre but none of us are professionals; no historians, no scientists just a few guys that enjoy connecting with the past by exploring the high plains of the Pacific Northwest, the settlers homesteads, their
tools and equipment, the towns that were built by and around them and cemeteries where so many of them were laid to rest. We’re not really banditos either. We respect the homesteads, ghost towns and properties we explore. No Trespassing signs are observed and we leave what we see behind for others to enjoy as well. But in terms of being banditos, we do like to while-away the evening hours with song, drink, food and exaggerated tales.
The group was loosely formed around the year 2000 by a half dozen friends who all live on the peninsula near Gig Harbor, Washington. Since then we’ve visited around 15 to 18 locations in Washington, Idaho, Nevada and Oregon.
One of the truly fun things that happen on these trips is not having an agenda or at least having a very loose agenda. Frequently the road we’re on leads us to another road that seems to call and say, come this way. 
We do and when we follow our noses we’re rarely disappointed. We’ve accidentally come across small town rodeos, civil war enactments, happened upon astronomical observatories, had private tours of big damns and, the best part, met some of the nicest people with the most amazing stories. Making new friends is easily the high light of all these journeys.
The Team continues to look for new places and we love going back and revisiting spots we’ve been to before. Sometimes trying to understand what happened in a certain area or community takes a few visits.
When you’re actually standing on the ground where a family had their home in the mid 1800’s and you see what is left of their homestead, sometimes nothing more than a foundation, or an old yolk from the wagon that provided transportation, to the grave sites that still today hold the family members names, is sobering and insightful. We always feel honored to be in their presence.
There is an entire portfolio/gallery of photos from past Team Rust Adventures here: Team Rust Adventures
Thanks for reading along,
Tom
Tom's Photo Journal 