Kathy and I have maintained two separate blogs for the past few years, but the times are a changin. This will be my last Blog under Legends Tech, however I will leave the previous posts up for the foreseeable future. In the meantime, I will be contributing to the official Legends Of America Blog (http://legendsofamerica.blogspot.com/), with interesting tidbits on what's new, featured travel spots and of course Kathy and I's wild travel adventures in the American West.
You can also join us on Facebook! Go to http://www.legendsofamerica.com/facebook.html and become a fan today!
Showing posts with label Route 66. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Route 66. Show all posts
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Friday, July 18, 2008
There's Treasure in Them There Hills
A good friend of mine pointed out this week that it's been a while since I posted a blog. It's not that I haven't had anything to say, but this summer is quickly sneaking by us at Legends of America, and I better catch up before it leaves me behind.
Readers of Legends of America are also busy dealing with the latest economics, politics and general mayhem 2008 is bringing, so the web site is starting to see a bit of a change in traffic. Primarily focused on travel to those out of the way places in the Old West and Route 66, the web site still draws thousands to read about places like Tombstone and Flagstaff, but readers are also starting to turn to treasure tales. Junes statistics saw just under 382,000 unique visitors, a 19% drop in traffic from May. Kathy tells me that's normal for summer months, but what caught my eye is the fact her treasure page has jumped into the top 10 most visited at number 8 in June (when excluding site search results and main page).
TOP 10 Pages in Legends of America - June 2008
Search Terms also reflect the increasing interest in treasure, with the term treasure hunting making it in the top 10 as well.
Top 10 Search phrases on Legends of America - June 2008
So maybe I should take a cue from the readers and consider doing some treasure hunting of my own. Could be a nice break from just taking pictures of Ghost Towns. Better check them rules though before I go, make sure I'm not upsetting any spirits or lawmen.
The rest of the summer is about to go at warp speed. Kathy and I spent most of June at Legends of America's future headquarters on the Lake of the Ozarks. Finally got a most of our landscaping done and now in the planning stages of building an additional office/garage for a shipping center. We have photo's of the latest work on our second home and I promise to post a link here as soon as they're up.
Tomorrow we fly out for a 10 day tour of Wyoming, Montana and all the incredible sites in-between. Definitely going to enjoy it as it promises to bring many new adventures. I'll be out of the loop most of August and September doing my corporate gig, but I'm sure Kathy will stay in the thick of things catching everyone up on our trip.
I'll try to post again within the next few days and let you know if I find any treasure in Yellowstone ;).
Readers of Legends of America are also busy dealing with the latest economics, politics and general mayhem 2008 is bringing, so the web site is starting to see a bit of a change in traffic. Primarily focused on travel to those out of the way places in the Old West and Route 66, the web site still draws thousands to read about places like Tombstone and Flagstaff, but readers are also starting to turn to treasure tales. Junes statistics saw just under 382,000 unique visitors, a 19% drop in traffic from May. Kathy tells me that's normal for summer months, but what caught my eye is the fact her treasure page has jumped into the top 10 most visited at number 8 in June (when excluding site search results and main page).
TOP 10 Pages in Legends of America - June 2008
Search Terms also reflect the increasing interest in treasure, with the term treasure hunting making it in the top 10 as well.
Top 10 Search phrases on Legends of America - June 2008
| 76616 different keyphrases | Search |
|---|---|
| route 66 | 4554 |
| jesse james | 3537 |
| la llorona | 1773 |
| robert ford | 1487 |
| dutch oven recipes | 1199 |
| geronimo | 910 |
| goldfield hotel | 735 |
| doc holiday | 553 |
| treasure hunting | 519 |
| old west | 512 |
So maybe I should take a cue from the readers and consider doing some treasure hunting of my own. Could be a nice break from just taking pictures of Ghost Towns. Better check them rules though before I go, make sure I'm not upsetting any spirits or lawmen.
The rest of the summer is about to go at warp speed. Kathy and I spent most of June at Legends of America's future headquarters on the Lake of the Ozarks. Finally got a most of our landscaping done and now in the planning stages of building an additional office/garage for a shipping center. We have photo's of the latest work on our second home and I promise to post a link here as soon as they're up.
Tomorrow we fly out for a 10 day tour of Wyoming, Montana and all the incredible sites in-between. Definitely going to enjoy it as it promises to bring many new adventures. I'll be out of the loop most of August and September doing my corporate gig, but I'm sure Kathy will stay in the thick of things catching everyone up on our trip.
I'll try to post again within the next few days and let you know if I find any treasure in Yellowstone ;).
Thursday, June 12, 2008
On my feet again after May slowdown
Finally back into normal tennis shoes after being on my back most of May. You would think I would have gotten a lot of blogging done during my down time, but was too caught up in the ceiling paint and other distractions.
Legends of America was a little off as well. Looks like the high price of gas is effecting many peoples desire for travel, however if you live in the American West, this site is perfect for those short little day trips. It's also a good way to see most of Route 66 from the comfort of your computer, and dream about those Old West ghost towns and legends.
May numbers broke down like this.
Legends of America had 468,904 unique visitors, or about 15,126 per day. Those visitors represented 34.8 million hits on the site.
The top five most popular pages visited, with the exception of the main page and search results, are:
3687 different pages-url Viewed
What are the top subjects you're searching for?
An estimated 72% of Legends visitors added the site to their favorites in May. For that we say a big Thank Ya!
Kathy's been busy adding more stories and pages than you can shake a stick at. Be sure to check what's been added by visiting her "What's New" page.
June's busy getting things caught up on the site before our next big adventure in Montana next month. Kathy's added Canvas prints to her photo print shop so be sure to check it out.
Legends of America was a little off as well. Looks like the high price of gas is effecting many peoples desire for travel, however if you live in the American West, this site is perfect for those short little day trips. It's also a good way to see most of Route 66 from the comfort of your computer, and dream about those Old West ghost towns and legends.
May numbers broke down like this.
Legends of America had 468,904 unique visitors, or about 15,126 per day. Those visitors represented 34.8 million hits on the site.
The top five most popular pages visited, with the exception of the main page and search results, are:
3687 different pages-url Viewed
| /WE-JesseJames.html | 27126 |
| /GH-TwistedHistory3.html | 22125 |
| /66-Mainpage.html | 16497 |
| /LA-OldWestLegends.html | 12447 |
| /LA-Ghosttowns.html | 12419 |
What are the top subjects you're searching for?
| Search Keyphrases (Top 10) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
An estimated 72% of Legends visitors added the site to their favorites in May. For that we say a big Thank Ya!
Kathy's been busy adding more stories and pages than you can shake a stick at. Be sure to check what's been added by visiting her "What's New" page.
June's busy getting things caught up on the site before our next big adventure in Montana next month. Kathy's added Canvas prints to her photo print shop so be sure to check it out.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
April Numbers
Legends of America continued to gain readers in April, increasing daily unique visitors by about 1% over March.
April's average unique visitors per day was 15,779, compared to 15,501 in March. And your spending quality time on the site as well, with over 6% staying up to 15 minutes, and 3.1% up to an hour.
What did you read about in April? Our figures show that, besides landing on the main page or using the on site search, Jesse James still tops the list as the most visited page. Twisted History, Route 66, Old West Legends and Ghost Towns rounded out the top five.
And an estimated 72% of you added Legends of America to your favorites!
Historically, many of you get ready for Travel in May, which brings a lot of visitors to Legends Of America. Be sure to check out the Travel Destinations of the Old West, or bone up on the in-depth coverage of Route 66. Kathy is busily adding more, so check the What's New page often for updates.
Thanks for making April a banner month for Legends Of America!
| Reported period | Month Apr 2008 | |||
| Unique visitors | Number of visits | Pages | Hits | |
| Traffic viewed * | 473395 | 653770 (1.38 visits/visitor) | 1640053 (2.5 Pages/Visit) | 36046618 (55.13 Hits/Visit) |
April's average unique visitors per day was 15,779, compared to 15,501 in March. And your spending quality time on the site as well, with over 6% staying up to 15 minutes, and 3.1% up to an hour.
| Visits duration | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
What did you read about in April? Our figures show that, besides landing on the main page or using the on site search, Jesse James still tops the list as the most visited page. Twisted History, Route 66, Old West Legends and Ghost Towns rounded out the top five.
| |||||||||||
And an estimated 72% of you added Legends of America to your favorites!
| Add to favorites (estimated) | 343698 / 473395 Visitors | 72.6 % |
Historically, many of you get ready for Travel in May, which brings a lot of visitors to Legends Of America. Be sure to check out the Travel Destinations of the Old West, or bone up on the in-depth coverage of Route 66. Kathy is busily adding more, so check the What's New page often for updates.
Thanks for making April a banner month for Legends Of America!
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Legends of America in Hollywood Magazine
Before I write part two of our Utah Adventure, I must catch everyone up on Kathy's little interview with a Hollywood Magazine. As I mentioned in my blog "The Las Vegas Launch Pad", Kathy met me out in Vegas on a Wednesday, patiently waiting for me to wrap up work at the NAB Convention. She doesn't do the Vegas thing very well, so instead, she gallivants off through the country side finding more ghost towns to write about, and meeting off the wall, interesting people along the way.
While Kathy was driving out in the boonies of Nevada, she gets a call from a gal identifying herself as being with OK Magazine. She wanted to talk to Kathy about Route 66, and in particular, the Blue Whale just outside of Tulsa Oklahoma. Kathy starts going into her usual Route 66 rant, thinking that it was someone from an Oklahoma Magazine. Then the gal asks Kathy why she thinks that Brad and Angelina should take their kids there. ....pregnant pause... "Brad and Angelina who?" "Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie!"..."This is who again?" "OK Magazine"...."Oh, Brangelina!"
Needless to say Kathy isn't used to being asked about Hollywood stars, but it was a good for a thrill anyway. This week, OK Magazine released their May 5th edition, and theres Kathy's quote right on page 48. What's even more cool is the fact this is the second time in less than a year Kathy has been associated (in round about ways) with Hollywood. The first time was via the Special Edition DVD of "3:10 to Yuma", and her work appearing in a documentary included on the disc. My gal and her site are getting around more and more. Don't worry though...I'll keep her grounded in the Old West.
Ps. I still promise to write part 2 of our Utah Adventure. Hope to get to that before weekends over, but may get interrupted by a quick trip to Toronto. Check back soon.
While Kathy was driving out in the boonies of Nevada, she gets a call from a gal identifying herself as being with OK Magazine. She wanted to talk to Kathy about Route 66, and in particular, the Blue Whale just outside of Tulsa Oklahoma. Kathy starts going into her usual Route 66 rant, thinking that it was someone from an Oklahoma Magazine. Then the gal asks Kathy why she thinks that Brad and Angelina should take their kids there. ....pregnant pause... "Brad and Angelina who?" "Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie!"..."This is who again?" "OK Magazine"...."Oh, Brangelina!"
Needless to say Kathy isn't used to being asked about Hollywood stars, but it was a good for a thrill anyway. This week, OK Magazine released their May 5th edition, and theres Kathy's quote right on page 48. What's even more cool is the fact this is the second time in less than a year Kathy has been associated (in round about ways) with Hollywood. The first time was via the Special Edition DVD of "3:10 to Yuma", and her work appearing in a documentary included on the disc. My gal and her site are getting around more and more. Don't worry though...I'll keep her grounded in the Old West.
Ps. I still promise to write part 2 of our Utah Adventure. Hope to get to that before weekends over, but may get interrupted by a quick trip to Toronto. Check back soon.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
The Vegas Launch Pad
As I stare out my hotel window a block off the strip, I can see the lights of the Old Vegas, still shining, but maybe not as bright as they once were. 12 stories up in the Las Vegas Hilton, I peer to the left and see the New Vegas, it's neon seemingly brighter, beckoning in it's Disney like, yet corporate way for me to leave the comfort of my room and venture into their fantasy world of constant bells and chimes, begging for me to stick in that next $20 bill with the false promise of riches as a reward.
It's 3am. Back home in Kansas City I would still be dreaming...jumbled thoughts racing at 'rem' speed, on the verge of the magic moment where the days revelation, quickly to be forgotten, brings me out of blissful rest. Not today. Not in Vegas. Here I wake early, trouble finding rest for my weary mind as anticipation of the week ahead works to a frenzy. It's quickly becoming a yearly tradition, this restless dance that promises adventure and memories abound.
For the past several years, each April I travel to sin city as part of my wonderful career in Radio Broadcasting. It's the annual National Association of Broadcasters Convention, bringing thousands of visitors from around the world to see the latest innovations in Television and Radio. Doesn't really mean a whole lot to those not in the industry, but for some companies it's make or break for their products. At first, for me, it was a nice distraction from the daily office routine. A chance to meet many of the clients I'd only visualized through the other end of a phone line. And they never look they way they sound...the guy with the deepest and ballsiest voice is usually the 5'6" scrawny disc jockey who, when speaking, appears almost cartoonish with a voice that could never match their physic. The whole Vegas experience quickly became routine after only a couple of years, and it was almost robotic how I prepared my mind for the four days of standing on the show room floor, almost losing my voice, preaching the gospel of our latest Radio Automation software.
That all changed when I met Kathy, and my travels to Vegas took on a new dimension through Legends of America. For her, it was the perfect staging area for searching out ghost towns and history of the American West. She makes it a point to coordinate her trip so that she meets me here in Vegas about a day before I'm finished with the convention. Travels close to Vegas while I wrap up work, then takes me on a longer adventure as soon I'm done. In 2006, we traveled down to northern areas of Arizona, spending some time at the Grand Canyon and concentrating efforts for her in depth work on Route 66. It was a nice trip, but by then the whole Route 66 trek was becoming old hat for me. I think it was Kathy's 2nd or 3rd round on the Mother Road, making sure to document each and every detail of those out of the way places that once thrived before the Interstate stole away their life's breath.
Last year she changed things up a bit. Instead of meeting me in Vegas, she flew into Phoenix. Spent a couple of days traveling northern Arizona visiting some very interesting 'way out of the way' ghost towns of the Old West. As soon as the NAB dog and pony show was over, I met her there and we started making our way south. Once we got through Tucson and started down I-19, I quickly realized just how south we were. Border Patrol agents in green and white Home Land Security trucks dotting the road every few miles as we moved in closer to Nogales on the Mexico border.
The real adventure began when we veered off the interstate, out to seek our featured destination of the day, Ruby Arizona. After about a mile on the state highway it occurred to me. "I'll just bet we see some illegal immigrants sneakin in on this trip"... The words still hanging in the air of our rented Jeep when out of the corner of my eye I caught a small group of men running through the brush just a few yards from the road. Being raised in the Texas Panhandle, then living in Kansas for so long, it caught me by surprise. I mean, think about it..how often do you see a group of men running through desert brush, then all simultaneously hitting the deck as soon as they spot you. I didn't know how to react, so I went with my first instinct and quickly put on the brakes as I declared "Like those right there!"
Now, I know I'm the one who stopped, but as Kathy started turning on her camera and moved toward the door handle, a since of panic hit that told me I should hit the gas as quickly as I hit the brake. "Wait! I've got to get a picture of this" Kathy said, as each man peered up like prairie dogs then quickly ducked back down. Too late, my chicken shit ass was out of there, not wanting to stick around for the spectacle and hoping that just one of those Homeland Security trucks would appear out of thin air. As we built up distance between us, Kathy could see them jumping the road, almost seeming to laugh with glee as some kid would do playing hide and seek. It should have been our cue to be more prepared, and think through where we were heading, but we were focused on history, and Ruby was a Gold Mine.
We soon left our nicely paved State Highway, for the dirt and rock of a State Road. How they could call this a State Road was beyond me, aren't their rules for what qualifies? There were places washed out that I would never dare travel in my car, but we anticipated this and the Jeep made it just fine. Along the way we would see milk jugs of water placed along the side of the road, we assumed for the immigrants passing through. But as far as seeing any more, the hills of southern Arizona would shield them from our quizitive view.
We finally reached Ruby, and it was worth the effort. The once thriving mining town had a rich history, including bandits, murder and justice. We could even feel the ghostly presence of occupants past as we toured the abandoned school house, and had a wonderful time hearing the stories told by the lone occupant, hired by the lands owner to safe keep the towns historic treasures. By the time we were done, I was ready for more stable ground though, and glad to be heading to the hotel in Nogales.
Nogales it self has a great history, but that wasn't our focus. The next days travel started early as we had a busy schedule traveling along the border, seeing more ghost towns once thriving on Arizona's mining opportunities back in the late 1800's. Towns like Harshaw and Washington Camp that would delight Kathy for days digging up stories of yesteryear. The plan was to stick as close to the border as possible, traveling down some pretty desolate back roads at a snails pace, dragging out what was probably a 70 mile trip over toward Bisbee, to a day long adventure.
Kathy and I, still in our gh0st town bliss, were ignorant to the danger we were putting ourselves in. We finally realized just how much danger when after a long stretch without seeing a single soul, we happened upon five border patrol vehicles. Their watchful eyes as we passed by should have been enough to tell us we shouldn't be there, and as one of the agents pulled in behind us, thoughts of being interrogated raced through my mind. He never 'pulled us over', just kept a distance behind as we made our way toward more abandoned ruins. As we finally stopped to take pictures, the agent slowly made his way beside the jeep and stopped. "What are you folks up to out here?" His eyes moving toward the back of the jeep, then landing on Kathy in the passenger seat...her straw cowboy hat pitched back with a silly grin on her face as she held a map up declaring "Ghost Town Huntin!" The agents eyes seemingly relieved as he quickly sized us up as tourists and didn't bother getting out of his truck. "We normally don't get visitors like you back here. Usually their too scared"...."Scared of what?" I retorted, trying to imagine what would be so bad, other than a few illegal immigrants crossing our path. "Drug smugglers mainly", the agent's voice rang out with a tinge of amusement at just how naive we were.
It hadn't even crossed our mind. You hear about it all the time in the news, but for what ever reason we were so caught up in our adventure, we never stopped to think about the real danger of running into less desirables in the middle of a drug transaction. People who wouldn't think twice about shooting us on the spot, or stealing our Jeep, leaving us deserted, miles away from any civilization. Needless to say, Kathy and I didn't stick around long, and soon we were back on our way to Bisbee, thankful for the reminder that ghost town hunting should be better thought out.
The rest of our trip was fantastic. Catching the sites of Tumbstone, Bisbee and many other notable Old West main stays. The trip wasn't long enough though, and Kathy and I have said more than once that we need to hit that area of Arizona again. It gave her plenty of writing material though, and both of us some great memories.
This year, Kathy's meeting me in Vegas again. She'll arrive Wednesday, day before my work is wrapped up. Plans on hitting a ghost town or two she didn't get on the last trip nearby, then Thursday doing Route 66 again out to Barstow and back. Friday, we're heading out for Utah, where we will spend the next several days visiting places of yesteryear and digging up history. I'm sure it will be another great adventure, with plenty to blog about here in the days to come. In the meantime, it's daylight now, and time for me to come back to reality. Vegas awaits to tempt my wallet.
It's 3am. Back home in Kansas City I would still be dreaming...jumbled thoughts racing at 'rem' speed, on the verge of the magic moment where the days revelation, quickly to be forgotten, brings me out of blissful rest. Not today. Not in Vegas. Here I wake early, trouble finding rest for my weary mind as anticipation of the week ahead works to a frenzy. It's quickly becoming a yearly tradition, this restless dance that promises adventure and memories abound.
For the past several years, each April I travel to sin city as part of my wonderful career in Radio Broadcasting. It's the annual National Association of Broadcasters Convention, bringing thousands of visitors from around the world to see the latest innovations in Television and Radio. Doesn't really mean a whole lot to those not in the industry, but for some companies it's make or break for their products. At first, for me, it was a nice distraction from the daily office routine. A chance to meet many of the clients I'd only visualized through the other end of a phone line. And they never look they way they sound...the guy with the deepest and ballsiest voice is usually the 5'6" scrawny disc jockey who, when speaking, appears almost cartoonish with a voice that could never match their physic. The whole Vegas experience quickly became routine after only a couple of years, and it was almost robotic how I prepared my mind for the four days of standing on the show room floor, almost losing my voice, preaching the gospel of our latest Radio Automation software.
That all changed when I met Kathy, and my travels to Vegas took on a new dimension through Legends of America. For her, it was the perfect staging area for searching out ghost towns and history of the American West. She makes it a point to coordinate her trip so that she meets me here in Vegas about a day before I'm finished with the convention. Travels close to Vegas while I wrap up work, then takes me on a longer adventure as soon I'm done. In 2006, we traveled down to northern areas of Arizona, spending some time at the Grand Canyon and concentrating efforts for her in depth work on Route 66. It was a nice trip, but by then the whole Route 66 trek was becoming old hat for me. I think it was Kathy's 2nd or 3rd round on the Mother Road, making sure to document each and every detail of those out of the way places that once thrived before the Interstate stole away their life's breath.
Last year she changed things up a bit. Instead of meeting me in Vegas, she flew into Phoenix. Spent a couple of days traveling northern Arizona visiting some very interesting 'way out of the way' ghost towns of the Old West. As soon as the NAB dog and pony show was over, I met her there and we started making our way south. Once we got through Tucson and started down I-19, I quickly realized just how south we were. Border Patrol agents in green and white Home Land Security trucks dotting the road every few miles as we moved in closer to Nogales on the Mexico border.
The real adventure began when we veered off the interstate, out to seek our featured destination of the day, Ruby Arizona. After about a mile on the state highway it occurred to me. "I'll just bet we see some illegal immigrants sneakin in on this trip"... The words still hanging in the air of our rented Jeep when out of the corner of my eye I caught a small group of men running through the brush just a few yards from the road. Being raised in the Texas Panhandle, then living in Kansas for so long, it caught me by surprise. I mean, think about it..how often do you see a group of men running through desert brush, then all simultaneously hitting the deck as soon as they spot you. I didn't know how to react, so I went with my first instinct and quickly put on the brakes as I declared "Like those right there!"
Now, I know I'm the one who stopped, but as Kathy started turning on her camera and moved toward the door handle, a since of panic hit that told me I should hit the gas as quickly as I hit the brake. "Wait! I've got to get a picture of this" Kathy said, as each man peered up like prairie dogs then quickly ducked back down. Too late, my chicken shit ass was out of there, not wanting to stick around for the spectacle and hoping that just one of those Homeland Security trucks would appear out of thin air. As we built up distance between us, Kathy could see them jumping the road, almost seeming to laugh with glee as some kid would do playing hide and seek. It should have been our cue to be more prepared, and think through where we were heading, but we were focused on history, and Ruby was a Gold Mine.
We soon left our nicely paved State Highway, for the dirt and rock of a State Road. How they could call this a State Road was beyond me, aren't their rules for what qualifies? There were places washed out that I would never dare travel in my car, but we anticipated this and the Jeep made it just fine. Along the way we would see milk jugs of water placed along the side of the road, we assumed for the immigrants passing through. But as far as seeing any more, the hills of southern Arizona would shield them from our quizitive view.
We finally reached Ruby, and it was worth the effort. The once thriving mining town had a rich history, including bandits, murder and justice. We could even feel the ghostly presence of occupants past as we toured the abandoned school house, and had a wonderful time hearing the stories told by the lone occupant, hired by the lands owner to safe keep the towns historic treasures. By the time we were done, I was ready for more stable ground though, and glad to be heading to the hotel in Nogales.
Nogales it self has a great history, but that wasn't our focus. The next days travel started early as we had a busy schedule traveling along the border, seeing more ghost towns once thriving on Arizona's mining opportunities back in the late 1800's. Towns like Harshaw and Washington Camp that would delight Kathy for days digging up stories of yesteryear. The plan was to stick as close to the border as possible, traveling down some pretty desolate back roads at a snails pace, dragging out what was probably a 70 mile trip over toward Bisbee, to a day long adventure.
Kathy and I, still in our gh0st town bliss, were ignorant to the danger we were putting ourselves in. We finally realized just how much danger when after a long stretch without seeing a single soul, we happened upon five border patrol vehicles. Their watchful eyes as we passed by should have been enough to tell us we shouldn't be there, and as one of the agents pulled in behind us, thoughts of being interrogated raced through my mind. He never 'pulled us over', just kept a distance behind as we made our way toward more abandoned ruins. As we finally stopped to take pictures, the agent slowly made his way beside the jeep and stopped. "What are you folks up to out here?" His eyes moving toward the back of the jeep, then landing on Kathy in the passenger seat...her straw cowboy hat pitched back with a silly grin on her face as she held a map up declaring "Ghost Town Huntin!" The agents eyes seemingly relieved as he quickly sized us up as tourists and didn't bother getting out of his truck. "We normally don't get visitors like you back here. Usually their too scared"...."Scared of what?" I retorted, trying to imagine what would be so bad, other than a few illegal immigrants crossing our path. "Drug smugglers mainly", the agent's voice rang out with a tinge of amusement at just how naive we were.
It hadn't even crossed our mind. You hear about it all the time in the news, but for what ever reason we were so caught up in our adventure, we never stopped to think about the real danger of running into less desirables in the middle of a drug transaction. People who wouldn't think twice about shooting us on the spot, or stealing our Jeep, leaving us deserted, miles away from any civilization. Needless to say, Kathy and I didn't stick around long, and soon we were back on our way to Bisbee, thankful for the reminder that ghost town hunting should be better thought out.
The rest of our trip was fantastic. Catching the sites of Tumbstone, Bisbee and many other notable Old West main stays. The trip wasn't long enough though, and Kathy and I have said more than once that we need to hit that area of Arizona again. It gave her plenty of writing material though, and both of us some great memories.
This year, Kathy's meeting me in Vegas again. She'll arrive Wednesday, day before my work is wrapped up. Plans on hitting a ghost town or two she didn't get on the last trip nearby, then Thursday doing Route 66 again out to Barstow and back. Friday, we're heading out for Utah, where we will spend the next several days visiting places of yesteryear and digging up history. I'm sure it will be another great adventure, with plenty to blog about here in the days to come. In the meantime, it's daylight now, and time for me to come back to reality. Vegas awaits to tempt my wallet.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Awesome March
The numbers are in for March, and Legends Of America saw over 480, 000 unique visitors stop by. According to Awstats, here's the breakdown
So what were you reading about in March? Well, for the most part, Jesse James continued to have a strong hold, mainly due to the release of the DVD "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford". The Top 10 search phrases (out of over 247,000) that brought visitors to Kathy's website were:
Besides the main page and search results, the Top Ten pages visited were:
We're working on getting stats from last year for a comparison, but due to the server move in February it's taking a while. We have the data, it's just that it's on Kathy's computer. And getting Kathy to relinquish her computer long enough for me to get the data off is a challenge. She works on the premise that no matter what's wrong with her computer, or what's needed, there's never time to stop updating stories, restoring photos, and answering emails. Now, you might wonder why I don't just do it while she's taking her daily power nap, or in the middle of the night while she's sawing logs. That's because she never closes any of her work, and if I just happen to reboot I'm afraid I'll be sleeping on the couch for a week. So, I've resigned myself to the fact that there must be a distraction that will prompt her to let me do my techy stuff.
That distraction will come soon enough as Kathy meets me out in Las Vegas next week while I'm on a business trip, and we take a few days to travel through parts of Utah on another adventure. She has to turn off that damn laptop to travel, and I'm sure I can get access to the data from the hotel room before she starts her day. It's going to be a fun trip to Utah, and one that will produce several blogs here for sure ;).
| Reported period | Month Mar 2008 | |||
| First visit | 01 Mar 2008 - 00:00 | |||
| Last visit | 31 Mar 2008 - 23:59 | |||
| Unique visitors | Number of visits | Pages | Hits | |
| Traffic viewed * | 480546 | 644352 (1.34 visits/visitor) | 1662610 (2.58 Pages/Visit) | 36068275 (55.97 Hits/Visit) |
So what were you reading about in March? Well, for the most part, Jesse James continued to have a strong hold, mainly due to the release of the DVD "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford". The Top 10 search phrases (out of over 247,000) that brought visitors to Kathy's website were:
| jesse james | 2.2 % |
| route 66 | 2 % |
| robert ford | 0.8 % |
| la llorona | 0.7 % |
| doc holliday | 0.5 % |
| doc holiday | 0.5 % |
| geronimo | 0.4 % |
| wyatt earp | 0.3 % |
| harriet tubman | 0.3 % |
| calamity jane | 0.3 % |
Besides the main page and search results, the Top Ten pages visited were:
| /WE-JesseJames.html | 34430 |
| /GH-TwistedHistory3.html | 23762 |
| /66-Mainpage.html | 15531 |
| /WE-JesseJames6.html | 12810 |
| /LA-Ghosttowns.html | 12607 |
| /LA-OldWestLegends.html | 12396 |
| /LA-VintagePhotos.html | 10595 |
| /WE-JesseJames9.html | 9700 |
| /WE-RobertFord.html | 9516 |
| /LA-GhostlyLegends.html | 9142 |
We're working on getting stats from last year for a comparison, but due to the server move in February it's taking a while. We have the data, it's just that it's on Kathy's computer. And getting Kathy to relinquish her computer long enough for me to get the data off is a challenge. She works on the premise that no matter what's wrong with her computer, or what's needed, there's never time to stop updating stories, restoring photos, and answering emails. Now, you might wonder why I don't just do it while she's taking her daily power nap, or in the middle of the night while she's sawing logs. That's because she never closes any of her work, and if I just happen to reboot I'm afraid I'll be sleeping on the couch for a week. So, I've resigned myself to the fact that there must be a distraction that will prompt her to let me do my techy stuff.
That distraction will come soon enough as Kathy meets me out in Las Vegas next week while I'm on a business trip, and we take a few days to travel through parts of Utah on another adventure. She has to turn off that damn laptop to travel, and I'm sure I can get access to the data from the hotel room before she starts her day. It's going to be a fun trip to Utah, and one that will produce several blogs here for sure ;).
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