Killing time during Ken Burns

(9/29/09 UPDATES at bottom)

I know I should be watching The National Parks: America's Best Idea with rapt attention, but I find myself able to multi-task just fine. So tonight I've been exploring Yellowstone via Google Earth -- flying through the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, looking for bison in the open fields, being underwhelmed by the geysers (note to self: some things are better photographed from the ground than from space).

But I was surprised to stumble across this 3D building.

If you've been there, you'll know it's the beautiful Old Faithful Inn, just steps away from its namesake geyser.

So now I'm wondering...what other 3D buildings are there in National Parks? I flew to other parts of Yellowstone with no luck. I went to my favorite lodges in Glacier NP, but only saw grainy rooftops. I'm sure the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island are in 3D (everything in New York is in 3D now, isn't it?), but what other monuments, lodges or national icons are in 3D in our National Parks?

Go hunting and let me know.

UPDATE:
Here are some other good 3D renderings from national parks.  First...Devil's Tower National Monument in Utah.

This one surprised me...from Mesa Verde in Arizona:

And, of course, Mt Rushmore in South Dakota.  Even in person, this place is a little creepy.  It's even stranger in Google Earth:

So what else is out there?  Keep looking and let me know...

New layer for mobile GoogleEarth

With the marriage of geospatial mapping + mobile Internet devices + GPS, users on-the-go can finally get answers to these questions: 

1. Where am I now?

2. What's near me?

Google's has made the answer to #2 even more robust by adding another layer to its iPhone app.  Google's blog about it:Google LatLong: Businesses layer for Google Earth on your iPhone

"You'll find businesses like restaurants, bars, banks, gas stations, and grocery stores all just a touch away."

Of course it offers address and telephone information, too. 

Adding this feature to GoogleEarth original "spin the globe" functionality, the mobile app becomes a LOT more practical than it was before.  I'll use it more in the real world than I did. (All this information is available for desktop GoogleEarth, too.)

Now, as any good journalist does, I want to ask the next question:

3. WHY does my world look like this?

That's a different layer for a different time.