Drawn the Road Again

Tag: west

  • Our best idea

    Our best idea

    Mt. Rainier National Park, WA Tomorrow is the 100th birthday of the National Park Service. All of America seems to be celebrating right now, and rightly so. In my opinion, our wildest pockets are our true national treasures, and our national parks, as Wallace Stegner said, our best idea. Olympic National Park, WA So since…

  • A flash of intuition

    A flash of intuition

    This post is part of an ongoing series called 66 Fridays, which explores the wonders of old Route 66. Click on the preceding “66 Fridays” link to view all posts in the series, or visit the initial overview post here. There are few Route 66 landmarks more iconic than the art installation known as Cadillac…

  • Hitching posts for Harleys

    Hitching posts for Harleys

    I’ve mentioned before that I always seem to end up in the Black Hills right in the middle of the Sturgis Rally. Well, last summer I didn’t just sneak by on the highway—I jumped right into the fray. My destination wasn’t Sturgis proper, but rather nearby Deadwood, that infamously lawless frontier town of yore. I…

  • Bridge over troubled water

    Bridge over troubled water

    This post is part of an ongoing series called 66 Fridays, which explores the wonders of old Route 66. Click on the preceding “66 Fridays” link to view all posts in the series, or visit the initial overview post here. Route 66 was commissioned during something of a golden age of American infrastructure design. Thanks…

  • Fill ‘er up

    Fill ‘er up

    This post is part of an ongoing series called 66 Fridays, which explores the wonders of old Route 66. Click on the preceding “66 Fridays” link to view all posts in the series, or visit the initial overview post here. Polly want a pit stop? If you’re going to take a road trip, at some…

  • Dino you are, but what am I?

    Dino you are, but what am I?

    Now, I’ve seen a lot of roadside dinosaurs in my day, but for me, nothing can top the iconic giants of Cabazon, CA. For one thing, unlike some others that come to mind, these guys are beautifully crafted and amazingly realistic (and no wonder: their designer, Claude Bell, created all the statuary at Knott’s Berry…

  • Slapshot statue

    Slapshot statue

    San Jose’s Muffler Man might not be the most unusual fiberglass specimen out there, but he’ll always have a place in my heart for combining my favorite type of roadside attraction with my favorite sport. Heck, the Muffler Man’s standard pose is perfect form for holding a hockey stick: top hand pointing down, bottom hand…

  • The proof is in the pavement

    The proof is in the pavement

    This post is part of an ongoing series called 66 Fridays, which explores the wonders of old Route 66. Click on the preceding “66 Fridays” link to view all posts in the series, or visit the initial overview post here. It’s easy to take for granted the fact that the American West is crisscrossed with…

  • Phantom cone

    Phantom cone

    Sometimes, the local ice cream feels like the stuff of legends. And sometimes, it’s merely a ghost. Here in Ukiah, all that’s left is a flaking sign and the whisper of a name.

  • Roadside ziggurat

    Roadside ziggurat

    This post is part of an ongoing series called 66 Fridays, which explores the wonders of old Route 66. Click on the preceding “66 Fridays” link to view all posts in the series, or visit the initial overview post here. Here’s a unique one. If you drive Route 66 through the seemingly unending sprawl of…