One roadside attraction on Route 66 I've really wanted to see for a while was the Blue Whale.
What attracted me to it is how it is just so odd, colorful, and one-of-a-kind.
Plus we don't have whales in Oklahoma, which just makes this so funky and fun.
This was our last 66 stop for the day before dark, and the sun was beginning to set, which made for incredible skies and great reflections in the pond.
I never realized the whale was actually a dock that you can walk out on, as well as a retired swimming hole playground. Can't you imagine the bliss of sliding into the water off a giant blue whale fin?
Tyler is just about to enter the belly of the whale!
The whale is constructed of concrete and steel, with chicken wire holding things together on the inside.
There are all kinds of places that could have been used to jump in the pond when this was still a water park.
The whale tail doubles as a great jumping location - although the pond is now shallow from drought and swimming hasn't been allowed here since the '80s.
The dock's construction.
This is the view toward the whale's mouth from inside the whale. You can see several pipes and hoses that must have been used to run water down the slides.
The whale fins on each side are slides into the pond.
There is a second deck up above! It looked pretty cool...but we didn't go up there.
But Tyler may have taken a peek...
Me with the blue whale!
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| This is the only picture of me Tyler took, and we forgot to check it very closely - my face is distorted! Oops! Oh well, I'm using it anyway. |
I've driven past the Blue Whale so many times, but have never actually stopped to see it, so I definitely enjoyed your pictures!
ReplyDeleteI love how the whale reflects in the water. Two whales for the price of one!
ReplyDeleteThat's so cool! It kind of looks like this big whale that is at Disneyland in the Storybook island. So that's a cool thing to see on a roadside! On the way to Palm Springs we pass by these big dinosaurs on the side of the road, so that's pretty cool to see and I finally stopped by it once and it's so awesome to see these little road side attractions!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it funny how we sometimes ignore the interesting things that are closest to us? I've always driven past this giant spider made from a volkswagen beetle between my parents' town and my college town, and I've never stopped to actually see it. I think it needs to go on my bucket list though.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I like that too! It was a perfect day to get out and see it, and no wind so the water was quite still!
ReplyDeleteThat's cool that it is similar to a whale at Disneyland! The story behind it is that a man from that town built the sculpture as an anniversary gift to his wife in the 60's, and she collected whales. Later the town used it for a water park, now it is just the roadside attraction.
ReplyDeleteDinosaurs on the side of the road sounds pretty cool! There are so many random interesting things on the side of the roads!