The Thing – One More for the Road

By Bennett Owen

Credit: A.C. Huestis

You’ll start seeing the billboards as soon as you cross from California into Arizona, or heading west from the New Mexico border.

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And you’ll keep seeing them, the deeper you drive into the desert – ‘Mystery of the Desert’ – ‘The Thing’ - 247 road signs in all, captivating the kids’ imaginations and enticing the weary traveler to go even further out of their way to stop at a curio shop that’s as close to the middle of nowhere as it’s humanly possible to get.

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And people stop here in droves, putting down good money for the sucker punch of the century…the desperate need to find out what “The Thing” really is.

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No, we’re NOT going to tell you, although most visitors say it’s worth every cent of the 1 Dollar entry fee. Talk about damning with faint praise!

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Although if you really want to spoil the surprise, my favorite website, Roadside America, does a hilarious inventory.

The owner…Bob Hope…says the original shop started up in 1950 and has been in the same ‘central’ location since 1965. That’s some true staying power.

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And, over the years ‘The Thing’ has gained enough of a reputation that it’s marketing its anachronistic quirkiness.  Hence the Thing caps, shot glasses, t-shirts, beer mugs, and bumper stickers .. there’s even thing-branded bottled water.

Credit: Eccentric Roadside

Credit: Roadside America

In all, it’s an utterly ridiculous collection of crap that’s is far too good, far too entertaining to pass by.

PS: The My-West staff would like to give a hail and hearty hat tip to the intrepid RJ Burns for tipping us off to The Thing!

WESTERN VACATIONS – Discover Your Routes

By Bennett Owen

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4 Bucks a gallon be damned, Memorial Day is approaching at a speed that would surely merit a night in jail if Mother Earth were twirling up the turnpike in an SUV.  So with the family outing looming large, the My-West staff has assembled a series of helpful hints to enhance your vacation, entice Dad to stop for something other than gas, food and lodging and perhaps even keep the kids’ noses out of the play station for a few minutes.

In cooperation with my favorite website, Roadsideamerica.com, here are some quirky stop-offs to spice up vacation 2011.  Most are open 24/7 and as we all know, the best things in life…are free.

Our first route takes us from Salt Lake City to Yellowstone Park and our number one roadside attraction is located right in the Utah state capital:

1 - Gravity Hill - E. Capitol Blvd.

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Also known as “a cheap date” when I was going to school there, Gravity Hill is truly one of the most brain-twisting optical illusions I’ve ever experienced.  

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You will swear the road is pointing downhill and yet when you throw the jalopy into neutral it will actually roll upwards.  Try it at night and you will feel a strange and irresistible magnetic pull that will soon lead to some heavy necking with your wife. I mean, the view is phenomenal.

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2 – After defying gravity, it’s time to hit the road, and along the way you can admonish the kids that “money doesn’t grow on trees…but shoes do,” at least in Park City, Utah.  Yes, it’s the Shoe Tree at 780 Main St., a monument so moving it is immortalized in poem:

“Symbol of mystery, intrigue and fun...Body for free spirit deep in town's roots (or is that routes? Ed.)...You invite us this summer to throw off our shoes...We celebrate all that you stand for.“  -  Park City Magazine

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Legends abound on the origin of the Shoe Tree and all involve one pair getting tossed up for some reason or another and everyone else following suit.  Say, as long as you’re in town, you might as well have lunch at the High West Distillery, an experience good for the ‘sole.’ But don’t make it the liquid variety or you’ll never get out of Park City!

3 – By mid-afternoon you’ll be driving through the Wyoming wilderness and perhaps wondering how the pioneers survived and thrived in such a forbidding landscape. Well, all the answers are waiting at the Museum of the Mountain Man in Pinedale. It’s a touch off the beaten track but worth the visit for the Beaver Top Hat alone! 

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4 – Of course we try to save the best for last…forget Sasquatch, the elusive Jackalope is the stuff of true western lore…a cross between a jackrabbit and an antelope (I bet they met at Gravity Hill!). 

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Well, Dubois, Wyoming has captured the creature and even saddled him up so the kids can have a ride.  Everything you ever wanted to know about Jackalopes is right here.

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After driving through Jackalope Junction, ya gotta love it, you ONLY have the Tetons and Yellowstone Park to keep the kids occupied. So, happy traveling and next week’s offbeat tour takes us from Yellowstone to Glacier.  

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