tahoka's starbucks

 

A morning road trip necessitates refreshments.  Tahoka (pop. 2,673) has neither Starbucks nor Dunkin Donuts. However, the Tahoka Donut Shop is the place to get your fix!

 

Tahoka Donuts

Tahoka, Texas

8.27.2016

the sentinel of tahoka lake

 

The formal name of the place is Tahoka Lake Pasture, and yes, one drives an unpaved road through the pasture to get there. This gentleman didn't seem too concerned about our arrival but I still shot from the car!  About 20 yards off the road with no fence!

 

Tahoka Lake Pasture

FM 400 Lynn County, Texas

9.27.2016

architectural style?

 



In its day this storefront on the west side of the square was cool with the blue tile and rounded windows. Don't know it was '50s modern or some other architectural style. Today it is just sad -- another small town business closed. 

 

Gattis Drug

Tahoka, Texas

8.27.2016



end of summer

 

Sunflower Field

Lynn County, Texas

cowboy day at the fort

 

There wasn't a big crowd at Cowboy Day at Francisco Fort in La Veta.  In fact, I caught this cowboy napping at his station.  Francisco Fort Museum is a collection of buildings, artifacts, and collections.   Founded in 1958, the museum is situated on the site of the original adobe fort, built in 1862.

 

La Veta, Colorado

8.20.2016

idle: not active or in use

 

The Idle Hour Café lived up to its name.  All its hours are now idle.  The "no trespassing" sign on the door means the roof has fallen in and the floor is a sea of mud and rubble.

 

Cimarron, New Mexico

8.19.2016

house on the prairie

 

The village of Grenville isn't even a wide spot on the road -- US 64/87 that is.  The cluster of a few houses is located on caliche roads just west of the highway running between Clayton and Raton.  The 2014 population was 36, up 44% from the 2000 census.  From a distance I thought this was an abandoned church,  but appears to be more a house with a tower.  If you like wide open spaces, then Grenville is the place for you.

 

Grenville, New Mexico

8.22.2016

ready, aim, fire

 

Can you spot the white buffalo without a telescope?  The target, not the sign!  This is the rifle silhouette range at the Whittington Center.  The white buffalo is 1,123 yards up the hill, in the clearing even with the head of the sign buffalo.  Those other black spots down range are silhouette targets for chickens at 200 meter, pigs at 300 meters and rams at 500 meters.

 

NRA Whittington Center

Raton, New Mexico

8.21.2016

 

jeans so stiff they stand alone

 

Evidently there weren't enough cowboys to keep this motel/restaurant/laundry in business because the place is closed.  Ever order your jeans with "rodeo starch?"  Ironic to find Texas style starch in New Mexico.

 

Crystal Motel

Raton, New Mexico

 

Trinidad

 

Trinidad, Colorado is 20 miles over the pass from Raton.  I wanted to visit the sign and could even see people up there.  However if there was a road I couldn't find it and heaven forbid that I hike or climb!  The Raton sign is at the end of the road up Goat Hill and one can view the town through the rear of the sign.  No such luck for me in Trinidad.

 

May 27, 2010

make yourself at home

 

While visiting the Kit Carson Museum in Rayado, the last thing I expected to see was chickens -- yet there they were -- right at home on the settee.  Although touted as a ghost town Rayado is anything but, situated on the edge of the Philmont Boy Scout Ranch.  "Staff at the Kit Carson Museum dress in period clothing and demonstrate frontier skills and crafts like blacksmithing, cooking, shooting, and farming. Each room in the museum is outfitted with reproduction furniture and objects typical of New Mexico in the 1850s."  And evidently that includes chickens?  The only living objects I saw here were chickens.  In fact, half a dozen or so welcoming chickens came up to the car as I pulled into the parking lot and there were two under the car as I backed out.  I was afraid I'd have fried chicken for dinner.

 

Kit Carson Museum

Rayardo, New Mexico

summer shower over the stock pens

 

Raton sits on the New Mexico side of the Raton Pass with Trinidad on the Colorado side.  The thunder in the Sangre de Christo Mountains was an awesome sound today.

 

Highway 64

Raton, New Mexico



elvis forever

 

It seems in my travels I run into Elvis everywhere.  Here he is on the sidewalk in Swansboro, North Carolina -- strumming his guitar on the sidewalk.  It's like he's still around and not gone for 39 years.

 

Swansboro, North Carolina

6.27.2013

western migration

 

Spotted in Lubbock, Texas.

shiner, my new next-door neighbor

summer storms

 

Rain clouds fill the sky over the entrance to the South Camp Headquarters of the Spade Ranch.

 

Spade Ranch

Hockley County, Texas

b&b

 

Roaring Springs is not a big tourist destination.  If you are headed there (and one must go to, not through Roaring Springs, unless you are on TX 70 between Dickens and Matador) and you are not a member of the Ranch Club, then the Travelers Inn Bed & Breakfast is your only option.

 

Roaring Springs, Texas

9.21.2013

 



the store where you can do better

 

Abe Kessel had several stores in Slaton.  The building he constructed for Kessel Dry Goods in 1929 is now an events venue.  What's cool is that, in this adjacent vacant lot, is planned a neon sign park featuring old signs from the town.

cash only

 

If you are making lodging reservations in El Paso, do not confuse the Hotel Cortez with the Cortez Motel. 

 

The Hotel Cortez was in downtown El Paso, built in the 1920s as Hotel Hussman and renamed later in a contest.  JFK stayed there in 1963.  The hotel ceased operations in 1970 but there are on-going renovations plans for the building.

 

The Cortez Motel is on Alameda and accepts cash only.  An internet ad stated for the motel stated: "Cortez Motel is located near endless parking possibilities, allowing drivers to park with ease. So check in to Cortez Motel for a great night's rest while you're on El Paso."

 

Cortez Motel

7174 Alameda Avenue

El Paso, Texas

6.10.2016

open air toilets

 

An unusual sight along the Loop is two toilets on a concrete slab, shining in the morning light.  Naturally I did the u-turn thing (actually made a block) and went to photographically preserve this occasion.  The demolition man on the front loader looked askance when I said I wanted to take pictures.  He told me I was welcome to take the toilets as well -- but I declined.

 

4800 Loop 289 Access Road

Lubbock, Texas

lady alisha's emporium

 

License plate frame:  don't follow me.. I'm lost

 

As I've driven down Main, I noticed the rear of what I took to be a pink travel trailer parked under a carport. Today the vehicle was in the adjacent parking lot.  Instead of a trailer, it turned out to be a vintage Toyota camper -- which might have been considered a "hippie van" in my day!  This one is completely decorated and even sports a mini shrine with a doll relic.  The bumper proclaims it to be "Lady Alisha's Emporium" which puzzled me because it didn't appear to be a mobile shop.  A quick dictionary reference enlightened: "from Greek emporos 'merchant', based on a stem meaning 'to journey'. I always thought it would have been fun to journey in such a van until my tastes changed and I now consider "Motel 6" roughing it!

 

Main Street

Lubbock, Texas

morado

 

A recent issue of "Outdoor Photography" featured black/white and infrared photography. It inspired me to rework some of my images.

 

Penitente Meeting House
Santa Fe, New Mexico 

3.9.2012



flamingo

 

My friend recently had her flock of flamingos forcibly removed from her yard.  Some made their way back home.  In memory of the lost ones!

 

Homosassa, Florida

October 2008