rubber duckies

 

These floating props in the "Duck Pond" carnival game looked a little sad.  Probably had lots of nautical miles behind them.  Photoshop perked them up and then they became eerily other-worldly.  I didn't pay my money at this game of chance; photography is enough of a risk.

 

McAllen, Texas

3.25.2014

Feliciano

 

Our delightful waiter this evening was Feliciano.  When I asked like Jose Feliciano, he replied "light my fire."  I'm not sure he was around to hear that hit tune in 1968 but I'm sure he's used the reference frequently.

 

Palenque Grill

McAllen, Texss



sideshow

 

On my visit to the Rio Grande Valley, I anticipated blue skies and palms.  The reality is dreary clouds, drizzle and temperature in the 60s.  The weather is reflected in the attendance of the carnival that was happening beside the freeway.  The hawker is reading his newspaper and I'm the only one interested in the two-headed cow, five-legged dog, elephant woman, mermaid and other freaks of nature.  Supposedly in years past, the John Strong Strangest Show on Earth was a feature on Coney Island but packed tents and left.  It's a "fur piece" from Coney Island to the vacant lot in McAllen, Texas.  However it appears John Strong's banners made the trip.  One reviewer called them "gorgeous in a retro sort of way." Strong’s banners were painted by Jorge Rivero and Coney Island’s Takeshi Yamada, who also operated a freak  show.  Visit Sideshowworld for more information to this disappearing art form.

 

McAllen, Texas

no hunting

 

The "no hunting" sign is ironic since I drive the countryside hunting for old barns and structures like this.

 

FM 1075

Swisher County, Texas

3.14.2014

garage sale

 

If you are thinking about advertising your garage sale or lost dog, telephone poles on city corners are handy.  This one at 46th and University has displayed its share -- at least on the south side.  One thing you should know is that City of Lubbock Ordinance 7084 Section 40.01.003(73) prohibits signs of any kind (including garage sale signs) on utility poles. Lubbock citizens are law-abiding.

if walls could talk

 

Vendors at the antique mall pound nails and hang their wares, probably unknowingly, on historic walls.  Grand Central Station does business in a former bowling alley where supposedly Buddy Holly and Mac Davis bowled.  The "antiques" sign outside is imposed on the gigantic bowling pin that marks the location.  When the bowling alley closed, the lanes and equipment were shipped to China.  However, the murals, painted in the 1940s by an itinerant artist who had worked for Disney, are still evident -- although faded and pockmarked by nail holes.  This "almost" representation of Monticello is on the north wall; the south wall has fanciful creatures reminiscent of Disney characters.  When you visit the antique mall, be sure to stop by Abbeville Antiques to see what my friends Don and Sally have that you can't live without!

 

Grand Central Station Antiques

4020 Avenue Q

Lubbock, Texas

 

 





What is it with the propensity to perch automobiles atop things?  Not long ago, in Floydada, I spotted a 1965 Triumph on a hill of dirt.  Today it was a Volkswagen on a pole.  That actually makes some sense as advertising for wrecking yard, although it also seems a popular pigeon roost.  And, in Lamesa, the 1955 Cadillac on the brick building that used to be the Country Store was a great "come-on."  But the Chevy Cavalier on top of a semi-trailer on a backlot in Claude?  No idea.  Evidently elevating automobiles is a fairly widespread occurrence.  The blog artcarcentral has a whole category dedicated to "cars on poles."

 

 



AAA Wrecking

4509 E. 4th Street

Lubbock, Texas

 

 



1955 Cadillac Hard-top Coupe

603 S. Lynn

Lamesa, Texas

http://www.waymarking.com/gallery/image.aspx?f=1&guid=7f631061-920a-4265-bd45-b2cdd8e11d7f

 



Chevy Cavalier

Claude, Texas



vestibule of hell

 

In the Inferno, before entering the Nine Gates of Hell, Dante and Virgil pass through an anteroom referred to as the "vestibule of hell" where they read on the portal "abandon hope all ye who enter here."  This sad building in Swisher Country (March 15, 2014) has a screened anteroom before the single large room.  The door has been reinforced with bathroom tile board, the curtains are tattered and the floor littered with broken glass and droppings.  Those who left here must have abandoned all hope as well.  (You probably didn't realize my background included a degree in English!)

 

FM 1424 north of Road G

Swisher County, Texas

3.14.2014

 

 

no, plywood

 

Wonder why a business whose primary product is steel would use plywood for their sign?  And not even keep it painted?  I do.

 

Levelland Steel Distributors

1st and Avenue K

Levelland, Texas

happy 90th birthday pop

 

 



one-eyed clara

 

McDonalds Birthday Party

Lubbock, Texas

3.16.2014



party hearty

 

We celebrated Pop's 90th birthday at McDonalds.  The entertaining floor show was watching the great-grandkids play.  Everyone had fun - especially 14-month old Collier who is newly mobile.

off the beaten path

 

Abandoned buildings with lost hopes are found throughout the plains.  Generally you can determine their function -- house, barn, school or church.  This structure has me puzzled because it doesn't seem to fit those categories.  I am guessing it was a store -- out in the middle of nowhere.  It's one-room, with double door and large front windows.  There is a kitchen in the rear with a counter separating it from the rest of the space.  Beside the building are two large areas, curbed with concrete.  No sign, no clue -- just a building hiding behind a hedge of evergreens.  Shotgun shells and empty casings show hunters have wandered by.  And the mattress?  Not a clue but it appears to be recently deposited and I wasn't touching it with a ten-foot pole!

 

FM 1424 north of Road G

Swisher County, Texas

3.14.2014

 

 

 





cowboy up

 

According to the Tex Randall story, everyone remembers the first time they saw him.  Well, today was my first time seeing him.  He's been in Canyon since 1959 but during my college days there I must have been in a daze!  This 47-foot cowboy started out as an attention-getter for a local western store but time has taken its toll.  One eye is gone, the cigarette in his hand was replaced by a spur and he no longer wears real denim jeans.  You can "cowboy up" and contribute to save this roadside attraction.

 

Tex Randall

Canyon, Texas

 

wide open spaces

 

Route 207 from Silverton to Claude is scenic, going through Palo Dura Canyon, but there's not much to see.  Texas Highway 86 is 149 miles long -- from Bovina to Estelline.  You'll drive a ways on it going to Clarendon.  And you'll have time to ponder why the rancher/farmer named his place "Shinbone."

 

Highway 86 east of Claude, Texas

2.21.2014

 

 

out to pasture

 

Both the barn with its leaning stance and peeling paint and the horses with bony haunches and visible ribs have seen better days.  Founded in 1880, Benson  was as a stopping point for the Butterfield Overland Stage mail delivery route.  The stage robbery on the Benson-Tombstone Stage Route in 1881 took the life of stagecoach driver Bud Philpot and became one of the events that led to the Earp-Clanton gunfight at the O.K. Corral in nearby Tombstone.

 

Benson, Arizona

2.28.2014

. 

love 

 

Baby-to-be became Blakely Addison.

March 10, 2014

first baby

 

Blakely was born March 10, 2014.

kendall

 



The pink rhinestone tiara on Princess Kendall's headband is apropos.

country road

County Road 3600 through Yellow House Canyon is a scenic drive -- in all seasons.  It looks quite different from the usual Lubbock aspect.  A flock of turkeys crossed the road in front of me.  It's best to start in Slaton on Railroad Avenue.  At the feed store, turn north and cross the tracks.  After a few miles of flat farmland, the vista of the canyon appears. 

hotel closed

 

If you are seeking lodging in Clarendon, don't plan on the downtown hotel.  The sign in the alley tells you it is closed -- if the open air windows weren't a clue. In the 1880s the Panhandle had cattle and cowboys but few towns.  Clarendon was originally established as a town where cowboys could "dry out.  Methodist minister Lewis Carhart envisioned Clarendon as a "sobriety settlement" and named it after his wife Clara. If you had stayed here then the "no liquor-no gambling" rule was in effect. For over 100 years Clarendon was dry but a recent election approved liquor sales, despite some opposition.  So today you could buy a beer and enjoy it at the "It'll DO Motel."

 

Clarendon, Texas

2.21.2014

sombreros

 

El Charro advertises itself as the "nation's oldest Mexican restaurant in continuous operation by the same family."  Tia Monica opened the café in 1922 and legend has it she invented the chimichanga (although I heard that story in several different establishments!)  I can recommend the margaritas.

 

El Charro

311 N. Court Avenue

Tucson, Arizona

2.27.2014

smoke signals

 

There's nothing really remarkable about the Levelland ethanol plant except today's strong north winds made the smokestacks stream horizontally.  After up and downs the plant is back in production with the capacity of producing the 40 million gallons of ethanol a year.  The plant started making the alcohol-based fuel  by fermenting and distilling starch crops, such as corn  Today the primary source is milo or sorghum -- requiring  40,000 bushels of sorghum each day to produce about 115,000 gallons of ethanol.

 

103 South FM 2646

Levelland, Texas

night terrorz

 

Pay money to experience extreme panic, screaming, flailing, fast breathing, and sweating? No thanks.  I'm not one for horror movies either.  This barn of a restaurant, formerly known as the Bum Steer, was home for a few years to Scared Stiff Entertainment.  They produced Halloween haunted experiences, zombie balls and other horror-themed events. Evidently business was dead and people weren't dying to be scared because the place is closed.

Scared Stiff Entertainment
1910 N. Stone
Tucson, Arizona

3.1.2014

neon cactus

Tucson is home to the nation's largest cacti. The giant saguaro is the universal symbol of the American west and 5he saguaro blossom is the state flower of Arizona.   To view the saguaros in their natural habitat, drive the scenic loop in the Saguaro National Park ( I used my national park senior pass and entered for free).  Or you could drive down Drachman Street and see the 30-foot neon saguaro.  It was erected in 2010 as a tribute to the neon signs of yore. The southbound side reads "Tucson," the northbound "Miracle Mile." The road on which it stands was the first divided highway in Arizona, and was called "The Miracle Mile of Safety" when it opened in 1937.

Tucson, Arizona
3.1.2014

sign of the time

Back in the 1950′s and 60′s when the automobile was king, Tucson’s  Miracle Mile was a passage aglow with the neon signs of motor courts beckoning tourists with promises of swimming pools, lush courtyards, desert gardens and names like  La Siesta, El Rey, Frontier, and El Rancho.. Today, some of these  old establishments are still in business while others stand abandoned and deteriorating signs.  Preserve Tucson restored and reinstalled a series of historic neon signs along Drachman (between Stone Avenue and Oracle Road) along the alignment of Tucson's Historic Route 80 & 89 and State Route 84.  Click here neon signs to see a photo essay of the old signs.  (This blue sky is in contrast with the dreary clouds and 20 degrees welcoming me back home!)

Tucson Inn
Tucson, Arizona
2.28.2014