Everybody Loves A Road Trip

July 2, 2013July 2, 2013Leave a comment

I’m using Roadtrippers, too. It’s a great hybrid of trip reviews and maps, despite a few hurdles. There’s a little learning curve (hint: add stuff not on the map to your bucket list, then add to your trip), but it’s fairly easy to get started. It includes LOTS of fun, quirky roadside attractions. I just wish it had calendar/date functionality so it could generate a complete itinerary.

–obsessive hobbyist

Travel Between The Pages

Well, almost everybody loves a road trip, in fact in the U.S. at least 80% of travel and tourism is by motor vehicle. A newly launched website/app called Roadtrippers is designed to help travelers plan road trips while eschewing generic chains and mundane attractions. Like a hybrid between Yelp and Mapquest, Roadtrippers combines mapping, travel guides, and gps functionality into a single simple and intuitive interface that syncs across web and mobile platforms. It offers a wide selection of places to stay, food choices and cultural attractions for vehicle-based travelers. Plan a route, explore sightseeing options, flag pit stops, find entertainment and custom itineraries. And, it’s all free.

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Obsessive Travel Research (it’s a thing)… Route 66

June 30, 2013July 13, 20201 Comment

A little light research

My tools…

I marked a FEW things to check out(!)

I suffer from OTR, Obsessive Travel Research (OK, it’s not really a thing – but it should be). I like to think of myself as a spontaneous gal. But I also don’t want to miss anything, and I don’t want to end up sleeping in my car, so I tend to over-research. SO…if you’re getting ready to check out Route 66, you’ll benefit from my obsession. Here’s what I’ve been checking out…

OLD-SCHOOL BOOKS —

EZ66 Guide for Travelers, by Jerry McClanahan, noted Route 66 author, artist, and historian — If you can buy only one guide to Route 66, this is the one. Recently updated (3rd edition, 2013), it meticulously documents Route 66, step by step. If you’re traveling West to East, you have to get used to reading from the bottom of the page up, but it’s worth the effort. http://mcjerry66.com/
Route 66 Dining & Lodging Guide (16th edition, 2013) — Also published by the National Historic Route 66 Federation, this is a great companion book to McClanahan’s guide. Both volumes are spiral bound and small enough to keep on the center console in the car while you’re cruising. Buy on Amazon
Route 66 Sightings, by Jerry McClanahan (are you starting to see a trend here?), Jim Ross, and Shellee Graham. This coffee-table photography is gorgeous and captivating. These 3 friends have been traveling the Mother Road for decades, and they have amazing shots of Route 66 stuff that often no longer exists. Each shot is documented with a bit of history and a great personal story. I bought my edition from the gift shop at the Wigwam Motel (http://wigwammotel.com), but the best resource is the Ghost Town Press site: http://www.66maps.com/home.html .
Roadside America, by photographer John Margolies — A gorgeous coffee-table book from Taschen, one of my favorite publishers. But I buy all of their books on Amazon — cheaper, and if you have Amazon Prime, free 2-day shipping. And everyone should have Amazon Prime — $79/year for Amazon Prime Video + free 2-day shipping on most items. Buy on Amazon
Off the Beaten Path: A Travel Guide to More Than 1,000 Scenic and Interesting Places Still Uncrowded and Inviting — A Reader’s Digest Publication (yes, they’re still publishing stuff!). The book is almost as long as the title. Buy on Amazon
The Most Scenic Drives in America — Another Readers Digest Publication. Great maps, info, photos. Buy on Amazon
National Geographic Guide to Scenic Highways and Byways, 4th Edition: The 300 Best Drives in the U.S. Buy on Amazon
On the Road: America’s Legendary Highways, by Andrew Montgomery — Great photos, organized by scenic drives across the U.S. Buy on Amazon
Legendary Route 66: A Journey Through Time Along America’s Mother Road, by Michael Karl Witzel & Gyvel Young-Witzel — I bought my copy from Angel Delgadillo, the modern Route 66 gladiator who led the resurrection of Route 66, at his gift shop in Seligman, AZ. If you ever get a chance, visit the shop! Buy on Amazon
National Geographic Guide to State Parks of the United States, 4th Edition — Buy on Amazon
National Geographic Guide to National Parks of the United States, 7th Edition — Buy on Amazon
Traveling with Your Pet: The AAA Pet Book, 14th Edition — Buy on Amazon
BEST FREE BOOKS — State Travel Guides and maps from your local AAA office are free if you have a AAA membership. And you should never go on a roadtrip without a AAA card!

APPS (iPhone) —

Free apps, paid apps, crappy apps…I love apps! Here’s a few good ones —

Road Trip 66 (Propaganda3) — This is the best app I’ve found that is specific to Route 66. It’s an interactive map of the route with nearly all Route 66 attractions noted. You can flag places that you want to see, to narrow down the field. There’s varying amounts of info available on each place, often including phone numbers and websites (for hotels and restaurants). It integrates with Google Maps, but not as well as I’d like — you have to leave the app to go to the Google Maps app, but it’s really a minor inconvenience. Most of the data seems up-to-date, although we found a few signs that are now missing on a recent day trip. But you can notify the app makers of changes, so hopefully that will help keep it up-to-date.
TripAdvisor — The best all-round travel app around.
Hipmunk — “We compare all the top travel sites so you don’t have to.” Great place to search for hotels. Generally returns results for the hotel chains, vs. the mom-and-pops.
Google Maps — Of course. And the iPhone Maps (in spite of all the problems) has great turn-by-turn directions.
Hotel Tonight — Last-minute deals.
Roadtrippers — This one is fun. It combines travel reviews with Google Maps. There are some quirks, and I wish there was calendar integration, but it’s fun and useful.

WEBSITES —

OK, why re-invent the wheel? Jerry McClanahan has already gathered a huge list of Route 66 resources — http://mcjerry66.com/links.php

I’ll share more resources as I use them along the route — have to go pack now!!!

Salvation Mountain is all about LOVE…

February 13, 2013February 13, 20132 Comments

This amazing desert destination is a testament to one man’s determination, creativity, and love. Leonard Knight is the artist who created this mountain of love…

Photo by Stephanie Roberts, http://ObsessiveHobbyist.com

Noah Purifoy Outdoor Desert Art Museum of Assemblage Sculpture in Joshua Tree, California

February 7, 2013July 27, 2019Leave a comment

“Born in Snow Hill, Alabama in 1917, Noah Purifoy lived and worked most of his life in Los Angeles and Joshua Tree, California, where he died in 2004. He received an undergraduate degree from Alabama State Teachers College in 1943 and a graduate degree from Atlanta University in 1948. In 1956, just shy of his fortieth birthday, Purifoy received a BFA from Chouinard, now CalArts. His earliest body of sculpture, constructed out of charred debris from the 1965 Watts Rebellion, was the basis for 66 Signs of Neon (1966), a landmark group exhibition on the riots that traveled throughout the country. As a founding director of the Watts Towers Art Center, Purifoy knew the community intimately. His 66 Signs of Neon, in line with the postwar period’s fascination with the street and its objects, constituted a Duchampian approach to the fire-molded alleys of Watts. This strategy profoundly impacted artists then emerging in Los Angeles and beyond, such as David Hammons, John Outterbridge and Senga Nengudi, who all worked with him. For the twenty years that followed the rebellion, Purifoy dedicated himself to the found object, and to using art as a tool for social change. In the late 1980’s after eleven years of public policy work for the California Arts Council, where he initiated programs such as ‘Artists in Social Institutions,’ which brought art into the state prison system, Purifoy moved his practice out to the Mojave desert, where he lived for the last fifteen years of his life creating ten-acres full of large-scale sculpture on the desert floor. Constructed entirely from junked materials, this otherworldly environment is one of California’s great art historical wonders.” — http://noahpurifoy.com

It’s in the middle of the desert and not easy to find…like any oasis or mirage. But it’s well worth the effort and, if you’re lucky enough to have the place all to yourself, as I did for a brief time, it’s spiritual, awe-inspiring, whimsical, and an amazing testament to one man’s determination and genius. I spent almost 4 hours there recently (including the 30 minutes my dog decided to go on a big adventure in the desert), and it passed in the blink of an eye.

MORE magical photos here

Burano, Italy – This makes me want to travel…

February 4, 2013February 4, 2013Leave a comment

My Profound Post

January 11, 2013January 11, 20132 Comments

Photo by Stephanie Roberts, http://ObsessiveHobbyist.com

I’ve been paralyzed since the New Year started. I wanted to make my first post of the year profound, pithy….important. Then I decided…screw it! It’s January…it’s 72 degrees…I have a job — that’s enough to celebrate!!! Here are some iPhone photos I took at lunchtime a couple of days ago, in a stroll around Santa Monica…

Wishing you all a happy and sunny New Year!

Photos by Stephanie Roberts, http://ObsessiveHobbyist.com