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Day 10 - Roadside Stops

Cadillac Ranch

We left Albuquerque around 6:30 AM to make our way towards Oklahoma City. Driving into the sun sucks.  We only had two real stops planned for today, and a third stop only if we were hungry enough. 

The first stop was at Cadillac Ranch just outside of Amarillo, Texas  Cadillac Ranch for those not familiar is an art installation of a bunch of old Cadillac’s sticking up from the ground at an angle.  People go there and spray paint them, they have several inches of spray paint on them at this point.   We got there about noon, not the best time of day for photos but it worked for the location. Jim bought a can of spray paint on site so we could make our mark on the installation.  Yes, they sell spray paint, t-shirts, and water there; always have to have a gift shop of some kind.   I got my pictures and would love to go back at sunrise, sunset, or at night and do some light painting.  The location is open 24-hours.  

Jim spray painting a car.
The line of cars

Even though we reached Amarillo, at about noon we really weren’t that hungry so we passed on our potential stop at the “Big Texan”  for lunch.  We really didn’t need 72oz steaks.  I did get a picture of the sign from the road, that was good enough for me.  I was more interested in our next stop in Shamrock, Texas. 

The Big Texan sign

We stopped at Conoco Tower in Shamrock, Texas. The Conoco Tower was the inspiration for the drive in the movie “Cars”.   It is also a classic route 66 stop.  I wish I could have gotten a picture of the tower at night with the neon on, but we just weren’t going to be able to manage that.  Maybe one day.   The little old ladies that run the station, which is now a small visitor center,  were nice and happy when I bought one of their snow globes.  Sadly, the soda fountain that is attached to the station was closed, so we didn’t get any photos of the inside of that.  I do recommend the stop.  

The tower

The Conoco Station


For lunch we just grabbed some subway and drove the rest of the way to our hotel in Oklahoma City.   Tomorrow we head to Memphis.




Comments

  1. Terry and Carol6/06/2022 10:51 PM

    Ethan made his mark on the Cadillacs a couple of years back. There was no gift shop then.

    ReplyDelete

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