Author Archives: Melinda Green Harvey
century bridge
My dad was a civil engineer; his specialty was water- and sewage-treatment. It was not uncommon when we were on vacation that he’d drive us to a treatment plant that was of particular interest to him. (And: they held little to no interest to me.)
He also like bridges; once when I lost out on a summer job because of a late-spring bout of mono, he took me with him on a business trip as some sort of a consolation. Along the way, we stopped to look at a bridge that had recently been washed out in a flood. He told me about the design flaws that had put the bridge in peril. (And: that held little to no interest to me.)
Yet somehow I ended up here, getting myself quite interested in this bridge. It’s called the Rainbow Bridge (named before that term’s current connotation) and it’s 100 years old this year. It is only one lane wide and is a single-span design called a Marsh arch, after its designer James Barney Marsh. And, it’s the only surviving bridge of this design on the entire 2,448 miles of Route 66.
near Baxter Springs, Kansas
photographed 4.5.2023
an assemblage
It looks as though the trees have called a meeting of broken-down vehicles.
Arcadia, Oklahoma
photographed 4.4.2023
my hot heart
There was just something compelling about the way those two billboards looked together. It was so compelling, in fact, that I made a series of turns to get back around to get the shot. But you probably assumed that part.
Chandler, Oklahoma
photographed 4.4.2023
skeleton
If you feel like visiting Blue Whale (Catoosa’s most famous landmark!) don’t forget to walk around a little bit to see the non-whale stuff. Like the ark*. Or the fiberglass things that may have been intended to look like mushrooms*, or this, uh, skeletal thing.
And definitely check out the restrooms.***
Catoosa, Oklahoma
photographed 4.5.2023
*Yes. An ark.
**They do not look like mushrooms.
***I’m not even kidding.
nine-foot road
I am going to guess that when you think about Route 66, it doesn’t look like this. I mean – there’s no fixed-up 1950s style diners, no quaint old gas stations, no official logo anywhere.
This is a relic of the road that’s known as the Sidewalk Highway because the main roadway was only nine feet wide. The author of the guidebook I’ve been using on this Route 66 adventure lamented the current road condition, saying it has “VERY ROUGH (rub-board) GRAVEL” (his emphasis*) and that it is only for the “die-hard.” But honestly, it didn’t seem that much worse than certain sections of the Oklahoma turnpikes that I paid actual money to drive on and that I am not at all bitter about.**
near Narcissa, Oklahoma
photographed 4.5.2023
*dramatic much?
**dramatic much?
One Day | One Image 