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Osage

Joined Atlas Obscura in 2018

The trip that bit me with the travel bug: I did my first real traveling when I went on my first cross-country road trip in the summer of 1961 at the age of six in a brand-new red Pontiac Catalina convertible with my brother & parents. We began in Columbus Ohio and traveled to see my grandparents in Santa Barbara California, by way of Yosemite, & the Painted Desert, traveling a lot on old Route 66. While passing through Yuma Arizona we were caught in a flash hailstorm that came out of the blue and only lasted 20-30 seconds yet left 1.5 inches of hail just a bit smaller than a golf ball in a layer all over the road. Being in a convertible, my dad had to do some quick thinking and swerved into a gas station that had a 'wing' triangular-shaped roof canopy supported by steel poles over the gasoline pumps. Only my father's quick thinking and the fact that there was an open space at one of the pumps, saved the convertible top, the front and rear windows and our vacation trip. Other cars around us were not so lucky - I saw many that had cracked or broken windshields as Dad pulled back out onto the road. Still today, I clearly hear in my mind, the loud popping sounds of the hailstones breaking under the tires as he pulled out. It was not long before the clouds disappeared entirely, the sun came out in full fury and the hailstones were history; small rivulets of clear water headed for the sides of the road. Within minutes there was no sign of them, including no moisture left on the pavement! While in California we saw the redwoods and visited relatives in Bakersfield and Shell Beach. In New Mexico we stayed one night in an air-conditioned concrete[!] tipi at a small motel. I recall my uncle Raymond who was the sheriff of Santa Barbara County at the time [or at least that's what he told us kids], taking my brother and me on a ride in his police car while on duty and he even pulled over someone with lights & siren! I have a few B&W photos from that CA trip that have survived all these years. Funny, the ride home was not as memorable, maybe because we were all tired and grouchy and I just wanted to be home again sleeping in my own bed! Hey, I was six years old! I've loved to travel, especially to wild and natural places, all of my life.

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Places Edited by Osage

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282

Places edited

Places this traveler has helped edit.

Harper's Topiary Garden

San Diego, California

Harper's Topiary Garden

A couple turned their front yard into an artistic masterpiece.

Roosevelt Island Octagon Tower

New York, New York

Roosevelt Island Octagon Tower

A former insane asylum despised by Nelly Bly and Charles Dickens is now fashionable apartments.

Manhattan's Art Nouveau Pizza Parlour!

New York, New York

300 West 38th Street

Cheap pizza and all of your naughty bedroom needs housed in a stunning example of Art Nouveau architecture.

Brazil

Parque Nacional Serra da Capivara

Site full of incredible prehistoric paintings and archeological findings.

Swetsville Zoo
Permanently Closed

Fort Collins, Colorado

Swetsville Zoo

This "zoo" is a cross between a junkyard and a sculpture garden, featuring animals you won't see anywhere else.

Jessica K Walters

Friday Harbor, Washington

Afterglow Vista

This family mausoleum is steeped in symbolism and looks more like a fantasy location than a grave.

Storyville

New Orleans, Louisiana

Storyville

Storyville was New Orleans' historic red light district and hotbed of jazz music, sometimes referred to simply as "The District."

The path on which lovers meet

Riomaggiore, Italy

Via dell’Amore

A lover's walk between hilltop towns, decorated with graffiti love notes.

June 2023

Kane, Utah

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

This rugged area of red rocks and arches is often considered one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

St. Vincent de Paul up above the altar

Paris, France

The Wax and Bone Relics of Saint Vincent de Paul

Saintly bones pressed into a wax effigy of a Catholic superstar.

Greyfriars Bobby

Edinburgh, Scotland

Greyfriars Bobby

The most loyal of little dogs, or a Victorian era publicity stunt?

Cave of the Mounds

Blue Mounds, Wisconsin

Cave of the Mounds

This cave holds a surprisingly colorful variety of geological oddities.

The site of the tomb in the 1920s

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Eve's Tomb

An archaeological site believed to be the burial place of the "mother of us all."

Rocks and climbing routes in Margalef

Margalef, Spain

Margalef

An isolated village literally built into the crevices and rock formations of a mountain.

An anatomical model.

Naples, Italy

The Anatomical Machines of Cappella Sansevero

These "anatomical machines" are only one of the many strange items in this Italian crypt.

Elaeocarpus bojeri

Mauritius

The Last Bois Dentelle Trees

Only two of these trees remain in the natural world, found high in the cloud forest of the island of Mauritius.

Dog Collar Museum

Hollingbourne, England

Dog Collar Museum

A showcase of canine neckwear spanning five centuries of doggie fashion and function.

Stones and Henge, respectively.

Amesbury, England

Stonehenge

Famously misunderstood wonder of the ancient world

One of the craters of the nuclear explosions

Semey, Kazakhstan

Semipalatinsk Polygon

One of the most horrible legacies of the Cold War is a site where the Soviet Union tested nuclear bombs on civilians.

Redpath Museum

Montreal, Québec

Redpath Museum

One of Canada's oldest museums, the beautiful Redpath has been serving up Natural History and Ethnography since 1882.

Mokolea Lava Pools

Kilauea, Hawaii

Mokolea Lava Pools

Submerged lava formations create incredible waterworks.

The green sand on Papakōlea.

Naalehu, Hawaii

Papakōlea Beach

A beach made of semi-precious green sand on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi.

Villa Des Cent Regards

Montpellier, France

Villa Des Cent Regards

100-windowed castle turned art gallery, built by one dedicated mason.

(Flickr/matthiassiegel)

Ghan, Australia

Henbury Meteorites Conservation Park

Curious crater remnants in the middle of the Australian outback.

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