Fellow Roadside Enthusiast Agility Nut is on the road again!

image:  Kickerz (coffee shack) in Whitehouse, from AgilityNut's current road trip

 

She's known for her epic, image-rich marathon road trips, capturing Roadside Culture before it disappears.  Follow her progress on the Roadside Architecture Blog , and through her Flickr Photostream.

Daily Driver Art Car "Scout" reaches 300,000 miles! March 29, 2011

I noticed earlier in the day that we were getting close to a major milestone (ha!), and the Geographic Center of the U.S. was just the right distance away. So, in a spur-of-the-moment move, I headed to Lebanon Kansas, and made it to the Center with 7 miles to spare. I decided to drive the loop around the center until I hit 300,000, but quickly realized (after the first three miles) that the road 'round the Center is only 1/6th of a mile long. So, after 18 laps, I burned up two more miles on a mile-long straightaway, and did two more miles of tiny loops until Viola!! The Odometer crept from 299,999 to 300,000, just past the Geographic Center monument. Whoop!

See more pics on the Flickr photostream ...

It's been a trouper of a truck, a 1995 Toyota Pickup (this was the last year you could just by a "pickup" and not a Tacoma), manual transmission, original clutch, and Daily Driver. I bought it brand spankin' new in Jefferson City Missouri, it was assembled in California, and was only 116 miles old when purchased. Since then it's covered ground from Canada to Mexico, Atlantic Ocean to Pacific Ocean, Highest Points and Lowest Points, and has served as an Art Car for about half of it's mileage life. I've been reluctant to seek out a new vehicle, as this one is just the perfect point of not having all the locator and electronic crap, yet updated enough to be safe, have heat and A/C, and you can still pop the hood to see what's wrong. I'll keep it going - let's shoot for a couple hundred thou' more!

Hand-Drawn Book showing in Portland ME!

As a part of this year's Sketchbook Project from ArtHouse CoOp, our latest hand-drawn book can be checked out and perused at the show opening tomorrow at the SPACE Gallery, Portland ME.

Show is scheduled from March 30 - April 2, if you want to see it in person. Or you can browse through our latest line drawings from the road online: http://www.arthousecoop.com/submissions/43207-if-you-lived-by-youd-be-home-by-now

Happy Vicarious Travels!

-Erika Nelson, Director

WLT Inc.

Erika and the WLCoWSVoWLT profiled in Go Galavanting

Great writeup in a travel mag targeted at independent women, Go Galavanting.

 

"I love finding the bizarre and unexpected that many people pass up because they don't want to be 'taken in' by a tourist trap. I want to see!" So says Erika Nelson, founder and creative mind behind the wandering World's Largest Collection of World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things. Tourist traps are Nelson's stock-in-trade, having navigated the country's backroads and highways in search of the monuments to eccentricity, creativity and good-ole Americana.

World's Largest Things is exactly what it sounds like: curated by Nelson, it is a collection of models resembling those "World's Largest" things you see on the road when traveling. The World's Largest Thermometer, Penny, Turkey… You name it, Nelson's most likely seen it, not to mention created a miniature version of said thing.

Eccentric? Absolutely. But to Nelson, it's much more than that.  Check out the entire story here: Galavanter: Erika Nelson of World's Largest Things

 

 

Hand-Drawn Book being shown in Austin TX

As a part of this year's Sketchbook Project from ArtHouse CoOp, our latest hand-drawn book can be checked out and perused at the show opening tomorrow at the Austin Museum of Art.

Show is one day only, Saturday March 12, if you want to see it in person. Or you can browse through our latest line drawings from the road online: http://www.arthousecoop.com/submissions/43207-if-you-lived-by-youd-be-home-by-now

During SXSW - enjoy the shows!

-Erika Nelson, Director

WLT Inc.

TODAY! PANCAKE DAY! Grab your flaps, Jack, and meet me in Liberal KS!

Pancake Breakfast 6 – 10 am sponsored by Noon Kiwanis – Seward County Activity Center

Breakfast Program 7:30 am, from the Pancake Day Board – Seward County Activity Center

Youth Races 10:00 am - 4th and Lincoln

Last Chance Race 11:30 am - 4th and Lincoln

Men's Pacer Race 11:45 am - 6th and Kansas

INTERNATIONAL RACE 11:55 am - 6th and Kansas

Shriving Service 12:15 pm - Ministerial Alliance – First United Methodist Church

Live Video Conference 1:30 pm - First United Methodist Church - comparing INTERNATIONAL RACE TIMES, Liberal KS and Olney, England

Parade 3:00 pm - Rotary Club – 11th and Kansas to Trail St.

Goin' to Liberal! The Pancake Hub of the Universe.

Tonight, High Tea, then the final Pancake Day Talent Show, 7:30 p.m., Liberal High School. I've picked out an obnoxious pixel-defying suit, have my monster boots (or maybe monster mary-janes) ready, and will try my best to emcee the heck outta this prestigious evening. All happening in Liberal, Kansas, as a lead-up to tomorrow morning's International Pancake Day Race!

See the full schedule and history of Pancake Day here: http://www.pancakeday.net/

TWO exciting events involving the WLCoWSVoWLT this year for Atlas Obscura Day, April 9, 2011

Travel to wondrous and curious places on Obscura Day 2011.