September 14th - part 2 Midpoint Cafe & vintage signs

Ever Westward...

What is left of the Roadrunner Drive-In

We stopped to eat at the Midpoint Cafe, 1139 miles away from L.A. and Chicago via 66

Ed ponders our travels

 

while I resist the urge to steal a dining set.

We made it into New Mexico and saw quite a few Rt. 66 icons, here is a (very tiny!) selection of the vintage signs and other sights we saw.

 Mid century modern architecture. I'm drooling.

Deserted

September 14th - part 1 Cadillac Ranch

After our night spent inside of the teardrop away from the rattlesnakes, sans pudgie pies, we woke up to this gorgeous view...

We made our way through Amarillo Texas and spotted a few of Stanley Marsh's signs. I was quite excited, "Ed look there's another one! Over there...look!" as he tries to navigate city traffic while towing a ridiculous trailer. Here is one we were able to pull over for. It was a pleasant foreshadowing of what was yet to come that day...

Cadillac Ranch!! The Mecca of Roadtrippers everywhere.

Working on leaving our mark (which was probably long-gone by next week)

Victory

BYOP

They still spin

Ant Farm (also known for other happenings in the 70's such as Media Burn) partnered with Stanley Marsh (remember, the sign guy?) to construct this piece of public art. Deconstruction of the cars is tolerated, even encouraged. I think the whole thing is a striking criticism of the American obsession with materialistic excess. We're driving ourselves into the ground.

Don't let the pictures fool you, there was a steady stream of onlookers coming and going the whole time we were there. I think we heard 5 different foreign languages out in this empty field on the side of the road. That is one of the many curious aspects of Rt. 66. Being an epitome of Americana, there is much international interest, meanwhile the "locals" don't seem all to impressed, or concerned with preservation.

September 13

Day 4! We made our way into Shamrock Texas to marvel at the art deco wonder that is the Conoco Tower! Everything is green is this town btw.

Green glazed ceramic tiles, mmm...

 More art deco details

Next stop, the Devil's Rope Museum in McLean TX.

At first glance it seems to be a laughable roadside curiosity. Turns out, you could spend hours in this place, it was quite interesting!

 Who knew there were so many types of barbed wire? And ways to splice it? And attach it to posts, and materials to make those posts, and machines to make the wire, and spools to hold the wire?

We saw all the brands for different ranches, as well as the different ways to tattoo, clip and tag the ears of cattle.

There was also a very somber section dedicated to telling how barbed wire has been used against humanity. How it changed combat in war, and how it has been used to contain humans.
So...on to something less depressing...

Like this water tower in Groom, TX.

No one seems to be able to agree on the history of this water tower, does it/did it ever function? Why is it there? Did it ever stand strait? The most popular version I've heard, is that it was intentionally built this way so that rt.66 drivers would stop into the nearby gas station to ask about it. And likely fill up their gas tanks and bellies since they're already there.

How you know you're in Texas.

So, today we decided that we were going to plan ahead, buy some bone dry firewood, and find a campsite early on in the day. We got this beautiful, secluded campsite in Palo Duro Canyon State Park. We had our own picnic shelter and everything. Absolutely wonderful, the park itself was beautiful, and we would finally be able to take our time setting up in the daylight, and enjoy cooking some delicious pudgie pies over the fire.

Well, that was the plan at least.

See those bushes right at the back of of the teardrop? And that brush in the foreground on the right? And the greenery just behind and to the right of the fire ring? There was a fucking rattlesnake trifecta. Set to overthrow our campsite, and prevent us from partaking in delicious pudgie pies, or any enjoyment whatsoever of our campsite. We didn't see them, but we definitely heard them. Oh, and not to mention the giant spiders everywhere. Seriously, there was one on the side of a dumpster 100 ft away...you could clearly see it from the campsite.

So instead, we retreated to the fallout shelter, armed with a couple bottles of wine contraband (alcohol wasn't allowed in the park). We watched movies on the lappy and had our own little party :)

See look, you can stand up and walk around inside!