A rusty truck and a concrete whale; Midwest roadside attractions on Route 66

CATOOSA, Okla. (WLS) -- ABC7 Chicago is remembering the history of the Mother Road with "Pier To Pier: Celebrating 100 Years of Route 66." This week, Ryan Chiaverini took his 2026 Hyundai Palisade across the borders of three states: Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

His first stop took him to the Queen's Gate 66 monument in Springfield, MO. Inscriptions on the landmark detail the history of Route 66 and Springfield's designation as the birthplace of the road. The Show-Me-State's third largest city is where the telegram was sent to officially declare "66" be the highway's official number.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

Route 66 author and Disney/Pixar's Cars voice actor Michael Wallis gave Ryan advice on where to stop next on his journey. Wallis identified a corner in Galena, KS where Pixar animators found inspiration in a rusty tow truck at a Kan-O-Tex gas station. That truck became Tow Mater in the 2006 blockbuster movie Cars and made the location, renamed Cars On The Route, a must-see stop on Kansas's 13-mile stretch of the Mother Road.

Ryan's final stop was a roadside attraction that has created family road trip memories since 1972. The Blue Whale of Catoosa is an 80' long and 20' high concrete structure built in a swimming pond on Route 66 in Catoosa, OK by Zoologist, Hugh Davis.

"He hand-mixed 5-gallon buckets of cement at a time, hand-applied it," said City Of Catoosa Director of Visitor Services, Jennifer Buchanan. "The city of Catoosa bought the property from the family in 2000."

Painted blue and resembling a cartoon whale, the quirky landmark is often described as a surprise anniversary present for Davis's wife, Zelta. The story, however, is apocryphal.

"It actually was built as something fun for the grandkids and their friends to swim off of," said Buchanan. "It just happened to be finished on their 34th wedding anniversary so he jokingly said, I gave you something no woman has."

Though families can no longer swim in the pond, the City of Catoosa now operates the property as a park where families can picnic and learn about the history of the whale at a visitor center and gift shop. Ryan and his crew made sure to purchase some souvenirs to remember their stop and headed west towards Tulsa as they continued their trip.

Pier To Pier: Celebrating 100 Years of Route 66 is sponsored by Hyundai.