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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?
chasing after every trend
A few years ago, on a really long road trip, I listened to some podcasts to pass the time. One of them was on the history of miniature golf courses; the hosts of the show said it was invented in order to keep the ladies off the “real” course at St. Andrews Golf Course, which of course everyone knows is THE golf course.
I am not real sure what the St. Andrews fellows thought they were protecting the course and/or the gals from, but what happened was that this new, simplified game took off and by the 1920s there were scaled down golf courses all over the place.
And that brings us to this out-of-commission miniature golf course on the edge of town.
Miami, Oklahoma
photographed 4.5.2023
left alone too long
There are certain mundane things that I like to photograph – those self-service, drive-through car washes are on that list. I’m not sure why I always photograph them, especially since I almost never post those images.
So, as I wandered through Luther, Oklahoma, the other day, I spotted a car wash and pulled in to get some photos. And then, just on the very next lot, I saw these two old cars (which, ironically, were definitely unwashed) and the house in a state of abandonment.
And that’s how it ended up not being about the car wash at all.
Luther, Oklahoma
photographed 4.4.2023
except locks: he can’t help with locks
I don’t even want to admit how hard I laughed at this particular juxtaposition of signage. Apparently, he can’t help with locks?
Claremore, Oklahoma
photographed 4.5.2023
One Day | One Image 