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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.

Abandoned Subaru Dealership

Mosta, Malta

Abandoned Subaru Dealership

This garage is frozen in the late 1990s, full of rare and untouched cars and motorcycles.

The Mandarado yagura cluster.

Kamakura, Japan

Mandarado Burial Grottoes

An eerie cluster of medieval cave-like tombs carved out of a cliff, hidden in a historic mountain pass.

Tire Dragon!

Littlestown, Pennsylvania

Tire Sculptures of Breighner’s Tire Center

Intricate, eye-catching, award-winning rubber sculptures liven up this Pennsylvania town.

Ben Amera Monolith

Mauritania

Ben Amera Monolith

The second largest monolith in the world was once betrayed by its lover, Ben Aicha.

The Upper Falls - in September (photo by Trent Wexler)

Paradise, Michigan

Tahquamenon Falls

These dramatic cola-colored falls have appeared in a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and a song by Sufjan Stevens.

The Old European Tombs

Pune, India

The Old European Tombs

These fascinating 19th-century tombs in the center of Pune belong to Europeans who lived in the city in that era.

Pohang Space Walk

Pohang, South Korea

Pohang Space Walk

This 317-ton walkable art installation is an homage to Korea's "City of Steel."

Inside one of the massive chambers

Bristol, England

Clifton Suspension Bridge Vaults

Cathedral-like Victorian vaults are hidden within this iconic bridge.

Thermal Spring Cascades

Hot Springs, Arkansas

Thermal Spring Cascades

Two gushing waterfalls of hot spring water within a block of each other.

marker and information panel

Thorpdale, Australia

Site of the World's Tallest Tree

The massive mountain ash that once stood at this site was cut down in an effort to prove that it was, indeed, the tallest of its kind.

mountains, sand, blue waters and cactuses

Cuatrociénegas, Mexico

Las Playitas

A miniature beach in the middle of the desert.

Fucina Museo

Bienno, Italy

Fucina Museo

A place to appreciate the sweat and ingenuity it used to take to make a pot.

Bacalhôa Buddha Eden

Portugal

Bacalhôa Buddha Eden

Explore a remarkable 35-hectare sculpture garden located an hour outside of Lisbon.

Brady's Rocks are the southernmost surface exposure of the massive Niagara Escarpment.

Eagle, Wisconsin

Brady's Rocks

These modest Midwestern formations are kin to Niagara Falls' impressive cliffs, more than 600 miles away.

Summertime Mooses

Hatfield, Pennsylvania

The Hatfield Moose Family

This family of wooden moose statues have become local celebrities in their hometown.

The Sound Arch.

Ojai, California

Trimpin Sound Arch

Make sweet music as you walk through this interactive sonic sculpture.

Haven Hill

White Lake, Michigan

Haven Hill

Once the extravagant escape of the Ford family, this enigmatic ruin now stands as a haunting reminder of its former glory.

Cabin in Helvetia

Randolph County, West Virginia

Helvetia

In 1869, Swiss and German immigrants settled in this small town in the mountains of West Virginia.

Replica

Fresnedillas de la Oliva, Spain

Museo Lunar

The small Spanish town that played an important role in a human's first steps on the moon.

Methuselah Tree (Redwood)

Woodside, California

Methuselah Tree (Redwood)

This massive redwood tree has stood in Northern California for nearly 2,000 years.

Grandma Moses Homestead

Eagle Bridge, New York

Grandma Moses Homestead

The farm where one of America's most famous folk artists created her paintings.

The Govan Cat

Glasgow, Scotland

The Govan Cat

This small memorial honors a ferocious feline and local hero.

By the way the metal gets hot

Falmouth, Massachusetts

Rachel Carson Memorial

A monument to the groundbreaking environmentalist sits near the place where she first experienced the sea.

Back end of the hospital (2022)
Permanently Closed

Louisville, Ohio

Molly Stark Sanatorium

This former tuberculosis treatment facility now stands at the center of a public park.

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