RAPEA - Day 17 - Glenpool OK - Day of Rest

Aaahhh! A day of rest and recuperation. Just what the doctor ordered. No traveling. No taking pictures. Just a day to stop, reflect and recharge my creative batteries. Today's blog will be about random things. Sights, people and places.

While in Cyrus Avery Centennial Park yesterday I noticed the homeless weren't the only inhabitants living under the overpasses. When I looked up under the bridge I noticed what appeared to be a community of large dirt dauber nests. Upon closer inspection I discovered they were bird's nests. What an odd place to build a nest. The traffic above created immense noise and vibrations. Yet the birds appeared to be drawn to it. Fascinating! When I returned to my room I did some research to identify them. They're called Cliff Swallows.

I'm still kicking myself for missing an opportunity to take a picture of the Arrowood Trading Post , formerly known as the 'Chief Wolf Robe Hunt Trading Post' in Catoosa just across the road from the Blue Whale. It has a story all its own.

Chief Wolf Robe Hunt was the brother-in-law of Hugh Davis who owned the Blue Whale. He was a Native American painter, illustrator, silversmith and sculptor of the Acoma nation. Born at the Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico in 1905, his family eventually left the Pueblo to travel with a Wild West show.

After his marriage he settled in Tulsa, Oklahoma where he owned a shop on 11th Street (Route 66) and sold the silver jewelry he made to tourists and Tulsans alike. After the freeways caused traffic to bypass his shop, he opened a trading Post in Catoosa, Oklahoma across the highway from the Blue Whale water structure. There he continued selling his jewelry until his death in 1977.
After his death the building sat empty for several years. The Arrowood Trading Post opened in 1990 as a gift, novelty and souvenir shop and closed in the late 1990s. In 2011 it was an auto repair shop.

Chief Wolf Robe Hunt illustrated The Dancing Horses of Acoma, and Other Acoma Indian Stories by Helen Rushmore where he created  750 of the 805 illustrations in the books.

In the mid 1950s, in a short lived partnership with Hugh Davis the name was changed to the Catoosa Indian Trading Post and pumps selling Phillips 66 gas were added. A cafe was also added at that time. 

When you're traveling an iconic part of history you're bound to run into like minded individuals traveling the same path at various well publicized stops along the way. Such was the case yesterday when we stopped at the Blue Whale of Catoosa.

I met a lady on a road trip with her daughter who was from Bedford NH. That's only an hour from where I spent nearly 14 years in Dover NH.

The volunteer from the gift shop, Linda, a brave and wonderful lady, was saying she was going to retire next year and devote herself full time to writing. She has several children's books on Amazon under the name of Linda Ross-Hobbs and a detective series for adults under the name of Gale L Rossi. She provided me with a wealth of information on the Blue Whale. She's a strong, beautiful cancer survivor with a wonderful way with words. Show her some love people!

A beautiful antique custom Chevy with TX plates pulled in while we were in the parking lot so of course I had to go snap some photos and talk to the driver. Turns out the driver was even more interesting than the car. Jim Zak is a man who has provided life long service to his community. He has been a County Constable, a Medic, a Firefighter and a minister and now having just retired he has decided to travel Route 66 in his show car. And if that's not enough, his neighbor is Frank Beard, one of the founding members of ZZ Top whose Top 40 Ranch is just down the road.

As we were having our dinner yesterday I happened to be reading a framed news article that was on the wall and discovered the restaurant was owned and operated by the former six year Mayor and Vice Mayor of Glenpool OK whose first name is Momodou but since the English pronounced it Mamadou that's what he named the restaurant. After a Google search I determined his was an immigrant success story well worth mentioning. From Gambia West Africa to OK Politics. Later during our meal he came in and cleared our table. Turns out his wife Mamie was our waitress. Help is hard to find here as well. He said he's had a Now Hiring sign up for 6 months and not a soul has applied.

And of course no travel blog about Oklahoma would be complete without mentioning their favorite native son, Will Rogers. OK's reverence for Will Rogers is evident everywhere you look. There are streets, roads and highways and turnpikes. Libraries, stadiums, museums, schools, event centers, campgrounds, trails, hotels, casinos, etc all have incorporated the Will Rogers name.

Back on the road tomorrow. Next stop - TX!

RAPEA - Day 16 - Part 2 - The History of the Blue Whale

The following excerpt was written by Hugh's daughter, Dee Dee (Davis) Belt, for the Catoosa Historical Society's "History of Catoosa" book, published in 2003 to celebrate Catoosa centennial:

"The Blue Whale was built by Hugh S. Davis, Boy Scout, photographer, zoologist, lecturer, father of two, grandfather of four, great-grandfather of nine and friend of many. Hugh believed that every day was a beautiful day, that people should use the talents God gave them, that one should keep busy by thinking, planning and creating, that people should love what they do and do what they love, that you should always finish what you start and that you should enjoy life and live it to its fullest.

The pond on the Davis property was always a fun place. Before the whale was built, the kids who were friends of the Davises son Blaine and daughter Dee Dee swam, canoed in dug-out African canoes, played King-of-the-Hill by throwing each other off the large floating rafts and fished for perch and bass. They picnicked in the summer and skated on the ice in winter. Then Hugh's children grew up and the pond was quiet... but not for long. When Blaine had sons John and Paul, their favorite place was "across the road" building and exploring with their Papa

Hugh always had a "project in the making... whether it was building furniture, creating an alligator ranch or constructing an ark, he was always busy After his retirement from the Tulsa Zoo, he devoted all of his time to developing facilities to educate people about nature. First he built the ark with it's cute cut-out wooden animals smiling at the kids who celebrated birthdays there, then the Alligator Ranch and Nature's Acres with its live alligators, snake pit and prairie dog village.

In the late 1960's at the age of 60, Hugh began to doodle pictures of a "fish" that he wanted to build at the pond. From that fish evolved a whate-larger and larger he grew from sketches on napkins to drawings on oversized sheets of paper. He left notes about the materials he used to build the Blue Whale:

Metal lathe-180 sq. ft. per bundle; 14 bundles would go 2,520 sq. ft. at a cost of $215.70

2 pipe-will need 1,179 feet for $451.00

3/4 & 7/8" rods, 2,650 feet for $77.50

100 ft. of 1 pipe

Dry concrete-126 sacks for $228.79

Ready-mix concrete-19 1/2 yds. For $296.08

19,400 pounds of rock

15 tons of sand

20 nails, copper tubing and screening for $40.76

Wood-2,454 linear feet for $473.93

To accomplish his plan, he needed help fashioning the iron framework-the skeleton of the whale. For this task he called on his dear friend, Harold Thomas, a welder, to weld the 20-foot-tall, 80-foot-long structure. Harold worked 100 hours and charged nothing he enjoyed helping out a neighbor and friend. It took two years, 1970-1972, to build the whale. According to Hugh's notes, he worked 2,920 hours applying the cement which he hand mixed and applied one 5-gallon bucket at a time.

In July 1972, the unpainted whale began attracting people who wanted to fling them selves off his tail, slide down his water-coated firs and poke their heads out the holes in the whale's head. So began what became one of the best loved icons on Route 66. From 11:00 a.m. until dark every day (except Monday or when it rained) people swam, picnicked and fished.

Blessings were showered upon the Davises during the time the Blue Whale was in operation. No one was ever seriously injured, no one ever sued and no one was ever bitten by a snake. It was a good time. It was a good place.

Because of Hugh's crippling arthritis, the Blue Whale was closed in 1988. Hugh died January 11th, 1990, and his wife, Zelta, to whom he had given the whale as an anniversary gift, passed away August 1, 2001. The Blue Whale is now owned by Dee Dee (Davis) Belt and her husband, Dick Blaine and his sons, John and Paul, keep the grounds maintained and the gates open so people can continue to enjoy the Blue Whale

Restoration of the Blue Whale has been an ongoing effort in 1997 the Catoosa Chamber of Commerce refurbished the fading landmark Governor Frank Keeting himself painted the pupil of the Blue Whale's eye. Volunteers, private companies, family members and the Hampton Inns have pledged time, money, and energy to maintain the site."

RAPEA - Day 16 - Part 1 - Vinita OK to Glenpool OK via Route 66

Step right up for the fresh kitsch of the day! Our first stop was the Blue Whale of Catoosa OK. In my opinion The Blue Whale is understated in the Route 66 Guides. I found it to be a delightfully funky rustic rest area with picnic tables and bathrooms that's open from dawn to dusk. It was built in the early 70s by Hugh S Davis on a pond on Davis' property as a 34th anniversary gift to his wife. It was initially intended only for family use but it soon became a major attraction of Route 66. It was recognized by the Hampton Hotels Save-A-Landmark Program as a site worth seeing on Route 66. It's currently being operated by volunteers and a small gift shop is available where you can purchase Blue Whale and Route 66 memorabilia and provide donations to support the park.

Next we drove directly to recon the site for my night shoot at Route 66 Cyrus Avery Centennial Plaza in Tulsa OK. It's a beautiful park on the Arkansas River with geese, benches,  and a myriad of serpentine paved walking and biking trails that wind (under the three overpasses which carry I244E, I244W and Route 66 separately) and cross the Arkansas River where the park continues along the water's edge. In addition to walkers, joggers, runners and bikes the paths are well used by the Lime Electric Scooters which can be found and dropped off all over the city. The park is the site of the  Cyrus Avery Memorial Bridge aka the 11th Street Bridge. Cyrus Avery was known as the Father of Route 66 as he brought about the creation of the route while he was a member of the federal board appointed to create the Federal Highway System.

Having nothing to do until the sun went down we then drove to our motel in neighboring Glenpool to check in and for the very first time of our trip (I knew it was bound to happen sooner or later) we were told by the jovial Janice at the desk that we didn't have a reservation. But not to worry, for once the pandemic, which shall not be named, was in our favor. With a few clicks of her keyboard Janice announced "There are rooms available!" Not only that but the rooms totally ticked all our boxes for requirements: two rooms close together; first floor egress to the parking space; TV, Refrigerator, Microwave, Coffee Maker and Wi-Fi (Believe it or not some rooms have not included appliances. In some they were only available upon request. First come, first served.) ; AND ASHTRAYS! That's right folks, in this PC land of ever diminishing rights (What do you mean I can't buy menthol cigarettes anymore?!?) we have managed to occasionally find motels that allow smoking in your rooms! Chalk one up for smokers! We ain't dead yet!

A short time after we checked into our rooms we decided to forage for sustenance. Lucky for us sustenance was close at hand and only two doors down. Now normally I don't plug any restaurants here in the blog although I have been actively reviewing them on Google Maps. But this one I have to tell you about. The name of the restaurant is Mamadou's and tonight I ate the most delectable fried catfish with Cajun seasonings I've ever eaten while 50's top 40 hits played softly in the background. It was lightly breaded with cornmeal and fried crisp without being greasy. And the portions are so large that I brought tomorrow's lunch back to my room with me. If you're ever in Glenpool OK you've got to check them out.

The night shoot was a total bust. I had been looking forward to it as we eased our way ever closer to Tulsa. I had originally read about the Neon Park of Tulsa in a news article online. Although we've seen many Route 66 heyday era neon signs along the way, all of our travels have been in daylight since we're both experiencing the challenge of less than stellar eyesight after sunset.

My first inkling that something was amiss was when we passed by the accessible only on foot, under the overpass Neon Park site while driving to our motel after our recon...it was very small. When I returned to my room I scoured the internet for any news I could find. Curiously, all the news articles were dated September of last year during or right after their grand opening. Undaunted we headed back to the park about 45 minutes before sunset to be certain to snag a good parking spot since it was Friday night. No worries on that front. It was completely empty when we arrived and the occupants of the few cars which arrived minutes later didn't exactly give off those, "We're here  to do touristy things" vibe. It felt more like a "We're here to conduct illegal activities" vibe.

Earlier in the day we couldn't help but noticing the tell tale signs of homeless activity. Behind the bronze East Meets West monument what I had first suspected was a senseless act of littering, upon closer inspection, was actually the detritus of an unfortunate life that had been carelessly abandoned. What had happened to the owner? Had they been injured or killed? Had they been arrested? Had they jumped from the bridge? We'll never know. While following the path to view the bridge I would later walk across to Neon Park, once under the overpass I quickly turned and took a quick shot up the concrete embankment which when blown up revealed people and possessions up on the ledges under the steel girders.

As I was walking across the Arkansas River at dusk I glanced up trying to see where the lights were. What lights? There were no lights! How is it possible that trails in a park advertised as "open 24 hours" aren't all lit for night time use. I kept walking thinking of how dark it would be by the time I was making the return trip. Unfazed, I decided I would simply use the flashlight on my phone to light my way. I finally made it to the park on the other side and quickly found the Neon Park site. It was very small. Three neon signs, which I soon discovered were replicas, stone information markers explaining where they had been originally and a large Route 66 Tulsa road sign painted on the walkway. 

As I waited for darkness to fall and the light show to begin I spotted a young man approach walking his German Shepherd puppy (which I had to pet of course). I asked him approximately when the lights come on. "Oh, they haven't come on for months. They were disconnected because the homeless kept tapping into them," he replied. Seriously?? What a complete letdown. He also advised that the beautiful park by day quickly turned into a rather sketchy area after dark and that I should cross over Route 66 and take the street level sidewalk on the bridge for my return trip to the parking lot. Figuring a local knows best the area in which he resides I followed his advice. At least I got a couple of good shots of the river and skyline as well as a sunset shot from the parking lot before the light completely dissolved.

Tomorrow is a day of rest so we'll probably just replenish our road trip supplies from Wally World down the road and take it easy. When we purchased our items at the Blue Whale gift shop this flyer was place in our bag so I added a Part 2 tonight to share it with ya'll. I'll still write a blog tomorrow (today?) but it will be much shorter. This one is going out very late but at least I don't have to wake up early tomorrow. See ya on the flipside!

RAPEA - Day 15 - Springfield MO to Vinita OK via Route 66

This morning I was made aware of the omission of two things in last night's blog. See! I told you that article about the lettered roads in MO sprained my brain. No worries. Both were things I spotted as we entered Springfield MO but didn't visit. However, I had watched YouTube videos on both and found them fascinating.

The first is Eden Village. It was the first of its kind in 2018 for what is now a nationwide program. A master planned, gated tiny home community, that provides disabled homeless individuals a safe space off the streets in a community of like individuals. The community center is furnished with a full kitchen, a laundry room, computers, a library of books and DVDs, offices for professional service providers for support, as well as a community garden, woodworking shop, a neighborhood store, outdoor grills, and a storm shelter.

The second is Springfield Underground which contains 3.2 million square feet of leasable space which is free from exposure to the outdoor elements because it is built into a former underground limestone quarry. Buildings range in size from 50,000 - 400,000 square feet with the ambient temperature a constant 62 degrees. There's an on-site refrigeration maintenance crew that manages the temperature of the refrigerated buildings which range from -20F to 55F. With 30ft ceilings you can stack things pretty high. We saw a flurry of tractor trailer trucks going in and out of there. It seems like a really busy place.

We had a helluva storm late last night which dumped buckets of rain. Once it calmed down a bit, it made for excellent sleeping conditions. It was overcast when we got on the road this morning but it steadily cleared as we drove south west. At least I wasn't standing in the rain while taking pictures today.

Just outside of Springfield we stumbled across Gary's Gay Parita. Alas, it wasn't open when we came across it but I know just from seeing all the wonderful things outside that it must be a treasure trove inside.

Then it was on to Galena KS which holds the distinction for the shortest segment of Route 66. We parked outside the Picker's Post which was a small old building with a booth style flea market. Just across the street was an original building that had been re-purposed and painted bright yellow to house a massage parlor. Next door was a sign in the window advertising Bordello Antiques. I'll bet that holds some interesting finds. Antique chaise lounge with questionable pedigree anyone? Hopefully it has been reupholstered.

You know that Rainbow Bridge our beloved pets are always crossing over? Well I found it on a curve in the road right outside of Baxter Springs KS. It's one of the few steel truss bridges on Route 66 that you can still drive across. But I walked across it just so I could see if any of my fur babies were on the other side. Nope. No such luck.

And I finally got an answer to a question that has perplexed me for decades. Everyone has heard of Dairy Queen, right. You may have even worked at one while attending high school. They are all over the country. Have you ever wondered what happened to the Dairy King? Was he killed in some horrific battle? Poisoned by a treacherous knave of his court? Dispatched to the dungeon because he left the seat lid of the royal throne up too many times? Nope. I discovered him today too. Oh how the mighty have fallen. He's been reduced to flipping burgers in a tiny town called Commerce OK.

For a tiny town Commerce OK has a whopper of a claim to fame. (Hehe! See what I did there?) Commerce is where Hall of Fame baseball star Mickey Mantle grew up. His boyhood home is one block from Route 66. It is also where Bonny and Clyde killed a local police Constable in 1934. And it's the nearest town to the now abandoned and "erased" town of Picher, which was evacuated due to an environmental disaster.

Across the street from the Dairy King is this quaint little hole-in-the-wall Conoco Gas Station that's now a gift shop for all things Route 66.

Tomorrow we're headed to Tulsa and I hope to shoot pics of the newly opened Neon Park. Pray for no rain in Tulsa for the next couple nights ya'll.

RAPEA - Day 14 - Sullivan MO to Springfield MO via Route 66

ANNOUNCEMENT

I am a notorious shutterbug. I take pics of EVERYTHING! So if you're bored sometime and can't sleep I have just the ticket for you. VACATION PHOTOS! I guarantee you will sleep like a baby. All the photos I've taken thus far can be seen by clicking the VACATION PHOTOS link and everyday when I update the blog the photos I took that day will be added to the link. So click and share the link freely to do your part to help the world get a better night's sleep.

What a rainy day it was today! It was sprinkling as we packed the car but the tempo ebbed and flowed throughout the day. The sun finally came out a few hours after our arrival in Springfield. But I never let it dampen my snap happy mood as I hopped in and out of the car at various stops in my raincoat and waterproof shoes.

If you ever decide to travel Route 66 I highly advise you to bring along a friend. No, not because it's a scary world out there. Stop listening to that crap they're shoveling on the news! No, you need to be very selective about the friend you bring along.  They have to either be highly skilled map or app readers. What remains of Route 66 is extremely fragmented so it's constantly merging and unmerging with county roads, state roads and Interstates. Sometimes there are Route 66 signs posted and sometimes there aren't. And if you're going through a large city like Louisville you have to keep both hands on the wheel and both eyes on the road while doing 70MPH on the interstate as it branches to and fro. I downloaded several Route 66 apps prior to the trip and although most have been good at telling you where the points of interest are, none of them have a good navigation interface that doesn't freeze when you lose signal. I've lost a signal several times on this trip but Google Maps keeps plugging along...so long as you don't shut off the app and try to restart it. Then you're flying blind until you reach a signal again. Learned that lesson the hard way. But even on Google Maps there's no way to say I want to travel from point A to point B on a certain road and not deviate from it. When you click on 'Avoid Highways' it still wants to give you the fastest route via the back roads and trust me Route 66 won't take you anywhere fast. It's a road to savor the bucolic sights surrounding you.

And while we're on the subject of roads, let me tell you about the majority of the roads you will travel in MO while trying to maintain the Route 66 trail. They're like nothing I've ever seen before. They're called Supplemental Roads and until 1952 they were each governed and maintained by their own individual county. But in 1952, in an attempt to improve the transport of farm products the State opted to take over the responsibility of maintaining nearly 20,000 miles of farm-to-market roads and gave them all letter rather than number designators. The whole explanation is here but when I tried to comprehend it I sprained my brain so now I have to limp through the rest of tonight's blog with a sprained brain.

Our first stop was Cuba MO, a quaint little town with some really nice murals.

 

Then it was on to Rolla MO where we made a pit stop for gas and I spotted this really cool skoolie with a mermaid on the side and a toad in the rear.

In Waynesville, formerly known as Hooker, is this little 1-2 mile stretch of ORIGINAL Route 66 that you can actually drive on called Hookers Cut where they widened the road to an actual 4 lane with a little patch of grass growing down the middle. It was one of the first 4 lane highways in the country but I think Engineering wasn't their strong suit. There's an actual curb running down each side of the road and they didn't tilt the road at all for water runoff. So when you're traveling in a deluge as we were today the entire road becomes a sluice. As we passed a canoe with a For Rent sign on the side of the road just prior to a downhill run my initial surprise at the quirky sight soon gave way to a sense of foreboding as a Flash Flood Warning for the area appeared on my phone. It's all just part of the thrills and chills that await on Route 66. NOTE: I know the Landmark Hunter called this area Devil's Elbow but this guy makes much better sense explaining the name.

And that brings us to the most hilarious part of the day. For the better part of 10 miles we kept reading these funny billboard signs about a shop in Uranus called Uranus Fudge Factory so we just had to stop even though it was pouring down rain. And boy were we glad we did! We were laughing for a better part of an hour as we attempted to take in all that was contained in that building. It sells so much more than fudge and candy. This is definitely a place to stop on your travels.

MAKE URANUS GREAT AGAIN!

RAPEA - DAY 13 - Dwight IL to Sullivan MO

Everyone has heard of Route 66. It has spawned movies and television shows and mentions in songs. It's known as the Mother Road, Main Street of America and Will Rogers Highway and it was one of the original highways of the US Highway System from 1926 until 1985 when it was decommissioned. The mere mention of it invokes visions of open highways and endless possibilities and a longing for yesteryear. 

Although Route 66 doesn't stand out as America’s oldest or longest road, it was the shortest, year-round route between the Midwest and the Pacific Coast. It reduced the distance between Chicago and LA by more than 200 miles, which made it popular among thousands of motorists who drove west in subsequent decades. Not only does it underscore the importance of the automobile as a technological achievement, but, perhaps equally important to the American psyche, it symbolized unprecedented freedom and mobility for every citizen who could afford to own and operate a car. Perhaps more than any other American highway, Route 66 symbolized the new optimism that pervaded the nation’s postwar economic recovery. For thousands of returning American servicemen and their families, Route 66 represented more than just another highway.

What you may not know is that if it hadn't been for the quirky creativity and perseverance of one man, Route 66 may have remained nothing but a historical footnote instead of the mecca for those who wander it today. I'm talking about Bob Waldmire, who some have called the Johnny Appleseed of Route 66 as he distributed his works of art promoting Route 66 to various businesses along the highway.

Bob grew up near Route 66 in Springfield IL and often worked at the Cozy Dog, the birthplace of the first hot dog on a stick called a corn dog, which was owned and operated by his family. Even from a young age he always loved to draw so after graduating high school he set off to hone his craft at college. While he was still in college he began drawing bird's eye views of his own campus for distribution to new students. Due to his meticulous cartography skills he soon discovered colleges were willing to pay for his maps. Thus was born his itinerant career traveling around the country after graduation.

It was the 60s and for Bob business attire to sell his art as he traveled was long hair shirtless with sandals and his mode of transport was an old VW van covered with stickers which was the inspiration for the character "Fillmore" from the 2006 animated motion picture Cars. Anyone who dismissed Bob based on his looks wasn't worth his time and he simply moved on down the road. He found some remote parcel of land in the Chiricahua Mountains and became a snowbird, spending his winters there. I believe he became the first Skoolie Nomad, living in a school bus that had been converted to his home. The solitude fed his soul. He became a vegan as well as a staunch conservationist. Nowadays he would be known as an eco-warrior. But he always found time to return to his family home in Springfield IL.

It was on one of those return to Springfield trips in 1987 that he happened to exit the congestion of the Interstate to travel at a more leisurely pace along Route 66. The completion of the Interstate two years previously had spelled doom for many of the businesses along the route and it saddened him. He decided to do for Route 66 what he had done for many colleges except on a much larger scale. All in all he created bird's eye view, whimsical maps of the Mother Road and its human and natural ecology in ten different segments which when pieced together covered the entire Chicago to LA route. It took several years and to support the project he sold space to list various commercial properties on his maps along the way. In 2004, he was awarded the National Historic Route 66 Federation's John Steinbeck Award for his contributions to the preservation of Route 66.

Sadly, Bob Waldmire passed away at the age of 64 on December 16, 2009, a star who burned too brightly and was extinguished far too soon. Thanks for all your dedication, Bob. I'm really enjoying the ride.

Murals of Pontiac IL

Bob's last commission. Sadly he was too ill to finish it.

Bob's Skoolie