St. Louis to Oklahoma City

It's been too long since I've blogged, but I haven't had much time recently.

Check out the footage at the Chain of Rocks Bridge just north of St. Louis paralleling I-270.  This used to be the main bridge across the mighty Mississippi River for Rt. 66 travelers.  It has now been turned into a walking bridge and still retains some of its Rt. 66 heritage.
Just south in Collinsville IL, is one of the great sights of the old road, the Worlds Largest Cat-Sup bottle.
http://www.catsupbottle.com/
Great to look at, very hard to skate by.


We drove from St. Louis through Missouri on Rt. 66 for the most part.  It is unfortunate that parts of the old road have be closed off near the Missouri Rt. 66 State Park.  Of all the places you'd think would stay open, the road to the park would be one.
We checked out Meramec Caverns, an original Rt. 66 landmark and former hideout of Jesse James.
http://www.americascave.com/ 
Meramec Caverns was one of the first business to really make use of the Billboard and is also credited with creating that great American icon of the road...the Bumper Sticker. 
We also found an awesome "trading post" in Rolla and picked up some of that sweet Rt. 66 route-beer.  Check out Erin's Stickybit clip for a little more info.


We made our way to Stillwater OK to stay with some old friends.  Not exactly on Rt. 66 but part of the journey we wanted was visiting old friends and family.  They took us down to one of the most famous icons on Rt. 66, the Round Barn.  Built several decades before the Mother Road it was one of the reasons Rt. 66 travels though Oklahoma the way it does.
Just down the road a few hundred yards is one of the "newer" icons of Rt. 66.  Pops Soda Shop
http://www.pops66.com/38.0.html.
With over 500 different sodas and rootbeers, it's one of the must sees on the old highway.


Heading out toward Amarillo and the wide open Texas skies, we got caught in an unseasonable rain storm that flooded most of the Oklahoma City area.  Our car got up in the flood waters and is currently at the shop as we sit idly by waiting for news of the damage and what that means for the rest of the trip. 
Like they say "Bad experiences make for Good stories."

Sculpture

Just a little shot of the Sculpture.
This is what we will be placing along Rt. 66 over the next coming weeks.  The first one is going up tomorrow.  Will it be at the Giant Catsup bottle?  Or perhaps on the Chain of Rocks Bridge?  Perhaps it will find a home at the worlds greatest frozen custard stand, Ted Drews?

You guessed it.  We are in St. Louis and the adventure has begun.

NYC

We're in New York today.  I know it's not part of rt. 66 but I figured if we are going to take the great American Highway, we might as well start where most great American adventures do....Ellis Island.
This trip was supposed to be strictly about skating rt.66 but with the family it tow, it is turning out to be quite a good lesson on American History for our son.  Boston to New York to Philadelphia before we even hit Chicago and Rt.66. The concept of "Freedom of the Open Road" may be associated with rt.66 and the U.S. highway system, but its origins go back much farther in our history.

Trailer Contents

Alright.  A couple of people have asked what I'll be carrying in the trailer so I made a little video for them.  I'll be using the teardrop just like the originals were used in that it is only going to hold my Sleeping and Cooking equipment.  Everything else I need such as clothing, water,  cell phone, etc. will be in my backpack.

Sorry for the bad audio.

The Trailer

This is just a quick vid of what the trailer looks like.
This is the "Beta" version and it will need a few modifications to make the trip across rt. 66.
Go date is getting close.

Mapping Route 66

Our views on oil have our minds mired in negativity that riding the open road can only doom "Mother Earth". But we've forgotten what these types of experiences meant to bringing families together -- packed like sardines in a car for hours on end, with endless time to reconnect and get to know each other all over again. Whether you're a family or a group of friends out for a new adventure ...there's nothing like hitting the open road with no expectations.

So, we've tried our best to map our route on the "Mother Road" -- Route 66. However, it's hard to actually know if we've marked it correctly since Route 66 disappeared from official maps in 1984. Creating this google map is an opportunity to layer our story onto something that shouldn't be forgotten... and hopefully in the process -- encourage you to take the journey too.


View Sk8-66 in a larger map

Studio Show

Great showing over the weekend for Sk8-66!  Had tons of interest and everyone seamed to think it was a great idea.   Here's the schpeal.......

"The Trailer and Skateboard are two forms of American transportation that are heading in opposite directions culturally.  One going from Subculture to Mainstream and the other vise versa.  I'll be taking these on the Great American Highway.....Rt. 66, (which has/is going through it's own cultural transitions), and documenting my travels and findings.  Along the way I will be leaving sculptures of Teardrop Trailers with barcode's called "Stickybits" at the major rt. 66 attractions.  If you have an iPhone or Droid you can scan the barcode and info on Americana or the history of Rt. 66 will appear on your device.  The cool thing with Stickybits is that you can then post your own rt. 66 experience to that Sculpture.  I'm hopping to create a sort of "User Generated" kiosk of peoples travels on the Mother Road.  Each one of these sculptures will eventually have numerous stories attached as people leave their own info on them."

If this works, we plan on doing several similar adventures.

I'll be posting some designs of the sculptures here soon......

Studio tour today. Gonna start introducing the concept of Sk8-66 to the public. One month away from "go" date. Wish me luck.

Test of Tear Drop

Tested out the trailer the other day. It needs a ton of work. It's a lot heavier than I thought and the hitch needs a complete overhaul. Right now, every time I push off the trailer "jerks" and then slows down to the point them I'm almost constantly pushing. I need to make the hitch from trailer to board feel like one solid piece. That way, when pushing, it should feel less like I'm towing something and more like I'm pushing a long, heavy board. I took my son out and he video'd the whole thing. I'll try to figure out how to post vids on here. Thankfully it makes turns much better than I was hoping. I should try to get a better board too, but that's down the list.
I did load it up with most of the gear I'll be bringing but will still need to carry a backpack with things like water and possibly clothes. I'm gonna have to get in better shape to this as well, but I kinda figured that. ;)
We're mapping out the route and I'm hoping to have several spots posted before we head out. I'll also be doing something with "Grafedia", more on that another day.
Cheers.

The First Step

So this is the start.
I am in the middle of beginning (?) my journey across Rt. 66 by Skateboard with my custom made Tear Drop trailer attached. No, it's not a full size trailer. It's designed to go on the back of the board. "Why"? Well......that's what I'll try to figure out I guess.
I've been riding skateboards since the early 80's and have always had a fascination with tear drop trailers. Something about the idea that at anytime you can simply hook up and take your home with you anywhere you want to go.
Both are distinctly American modes of transportation, and while one has gone from being almost a criminal activity to complete mainstream acceptance, the other has gone from mainstream to an underground almost cult-ish activity. I guess I wanna see how these two interests are intersecting in our cultural timeline.
Well, so begins the journey. If it all goes right, I be hitting Rt. 66 starting in St. Louis at the beginning of June. Till then.......prepare, prepare, prepare.