Stop #30: Driving through New Mexico & Texas wasn’t nearly as interesting as I had hoped it would be. Guess I expected more Old West towns and giant roadside attractions. Other than the crazy weather, which kind of made me think I had a detached retina at one point, it’s pretty flat and boring. There were thunderstorms off to one side or another for several hours of the drive. At one point, I kept seeing flashes of light out of my right peripheral vision, but when I would turn my head quickly to see the lightening (or what I thought was lightening) it wouldn’t happen. Then I thought it was electricity jumping on the high wires, which I now know is “arcing power lines.” I suppose it could have been, but seems kind of far fetched. When I couldn’t see it as the storm moved in front of me, I of course thought the flashes were in my head, hence the fear of a detached retina…obviously. After I got through the storm, the flashes stopped, so I figured I was ok.
Amarillo was again just a conveniently spaced stop on my way to Dallas, but I was pretty excited that it brought me to Cadillac Ranch. This is one of those roadside attractions you hear the name of for years without really understanding what it is. At least, I didn’t really understand what it was until I was researching for this trip. It was really pretty cool.
- Luna was less than impressed.
It’s kind of neat that it’s out in the middle of these corn fields and people a) go out there, armed with paint cans to leave their mark, and b) that so many people go out there to see it. I was walking behind a few people and they turned to ask where I was from. When I said, Connecticut/Boston, they asked me to repeat myself and then said, “wow, you came a long way to see some cars.” Yes, I drove across the country just to see this.
The dumpster told quite the story about the number of people who had visited.
I think I did expect the Cadillacs to be painted more professionally artistically, but thought it was worth the visit, nonetheless.
After Cadillac Ranch, we went and set up at camp. Luna needed some outside time, so we used the remaining sunlight to walk around.
Off to Oklahoma City tomorrow!
Lesson of the Day: Always carry spray paint. You never know when you will need to leave your mark.
L&K Take America 