h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Thanks, pailaway!

For anyone else who might be interested:

A3456065 The Main Street of America: Route 66
A2276822 Route 66 in Illinois
A1304623 Route 66 in Missouri
A1321381 Route 66 in Kansas
A2276813 Route 66 in Oklahoma
A3101347 Route 66 in Texas
A12490184 Route 66 in New Mexico
A12490238 Route 66 in Arizona
A12490265 Route 66 in California


Six, I know you're settling into your new place, but please don't forget my update
Thanks!

Good work I like this very much

Here's a few minor typos and such:

>>Early Highway 66 California-bound travellers are treated to the most exotic landscape on the route yet.<<
suggest *were* treated

>>the captial of Santa Fe<<
*capital*

>>or staked planes<<
*plains*


And here's a few general comments:

Your footnote 3 really does The Blue Swallow Motel justice, imo.

The transition from Texas to New Mexico is certainly dramatic. Travellers descend from the flat caprock of the Llano Estacado into the broad red sandstone valley cut by the Canadian River. Tucumcari Mountain is rather a large feature that is more a butte than an actual mountain, but it's a landmark nonetheless.

>>awesomely restored neon rotosphere spins atop the El Comedor restaurant sign<<
'Tis a grand thing to see

>>The Uranium Cafe in Grants is also experiencing new life, still serving 'home cooked' dishes, only now more Mexican and less American.<<
Is it worth mentioning that the name refers less to the hotness of the food than to the proximity of uranium mines outlying Grants?

Great job!

I've only read the first one so far but didn't see any problems.

to both of you for such an ambitious and well-done project!

Thanks pailaway
plains/planes

I didn't really think of uranium being 'hot', I knew it was for the mines. I don't know that a distinction really needs to be made.

Thanks, too, Elentari! The rest of them aren't that long, I promise

that comment about the uranium was really more tongue-in-cheek and should be freely ignored

Sorted. I have just got online for the first time in my new home, so I should be a bit more punctual from now...

Should.

Thanks! Getting settled in alright?

Since you provide parenthetical phonetic spellings for a couple of the towns, you may want to also consider: San Jon (San HONE)
(if you blink, you will miss this town)

I had wondered about that one. I put the other two pronunciations in because I thought they'd be foreign and difficult for Brits (and other Europeans) to read, kind of like Welsh is to us.

Unless lots of people come by and say it was helpful though, I probably won't include the pronunciation of San Jon, if only because it's such a small place that most people will drive right through it.

You're right - unless they desperately need fuel, most people will drive right through. (It's only geographical significance is that you turn right there to go to Ute Lake.) So, no need to add the pronunciation.

I've printed out The Main Street of America and the two following for a good (enjoyable so far) read. At first glance, I wonder if it can it be that you don't mention Burma Shave signs or link to your entry on them? (A3152198)

Will finish reading and get back to you by tomorrow eve.

Burma Shave is mentioned (and linked to, of course) in the Arizona stretch. There's a general store there that has on display a plethora of old road relics, including some Burma Shave signs. Good catch, though!

I'm glad you're enjoying them, pailaway! It makes writing so much more rewarding.

I really meant to read it all, but people keep distracting me.

In other words, I haven't really read much so far, but there are two things I noted:

Route 66 in California A12490265

I looked up Oakies, and this is what i found:

Oakies: Offensive Slang: A migrant farm worker from the south-central United States, especially one seeking work in the West or Southwest during the 1930s and 1940s. (dictionary.com)

If it really is that offensive, maybe think of another term?
>> National Trails road that <<- Should it be plural?

I'll try to read more, I promise.

You're probably right, Bel. I'll do something with that. Thanks!

Number Six, can you change 'Okies' in CA to 'victims of the Depression', please? Thanks!

Two more things I found in the California entry:

Comemmorating the end of.... - Commemorating

Route 66 Rondezvous - Well, not sure about this one, the French word is spelled Rendezvous, but as it's a name, I can't tell.

I'll post what i find as I go through the entries, if that's ok.

Oh, and it reads very well.

Thanks!

Commemorating is on of those words I can never get right, like amount (which I usually spell with two 'm's).

Rondezvous should indeed be Rendezvous. Thanks for the catch!

Don't we all have words like that? There are a few I never know whether they need an a or an e, like descendent/descendant? Looks wrong with the a, but I would have to look it up to be sure, same goes for words which take either 'un' or 'in' at the beginning, I often have to look them up.

Ok, here's Route 66 in Arizona A12490238



neighbouring Americana classics - American?

stripped of brances, - branches

revelers - BE = revellers

including tours and accomodations - accommodations

dead chicken sandwiches, - in contrast to living chicken sandwiches? Or are they on the menue as 'dead chicken...? In that case, maybe put it in italics?


corvette - can link to: A17719059 The Corvette: An American Legend


premesis - premises

When US 66 - Is that another name for Route 66?

abandonned - abandoned

these days it carries pipeline from - doesn't the pipeline need an article?

The only way to cross this part of the Colorado River into Needles, California any more is the Interstate 40 span. - the last part of the sentence, esp. the 'any more' doesn't make sense to me.

Like New Mexico, many Arizona Mother Road towns - Like in New Mexico... ?

That's it for Arizona.

Say, just to muddle things a bit - Oakie is actually no more offensive than, say, Canuck - especially after Merle Haggard famously sang 'I'm Proud to be an Oakie from Muskogee' It's colorful and descriptive language that should probably be left in. Especially since 'victims of the depression' describes pretty much everyone in the US and outside too. No need for political correctness here.

(My father-in-law is an Oakie and was a moonshiner too - he identifies himself as the former and admits to the latter.)



(still reading the first three)