2/20/18

Tucumcari, New Mexico

It was a windy afternoon in Tucumcari. New Mexico tends to be a windy state, especially here in the northern half. The wind died down when we were ready to go to bed, although it came up again in the night. As I'm writing this, it's calm. We're hoping it will stay that way for our drive to Albuquerque today.

As for yesterday's drive, we were on what was formerly historic Route 66. The new interstate 40 has cut through the old route in places, but the historic road and some of the interesting places that lined it still exist. Our route out of Palo Duro Canyon took us north toward Amarillo, and then due west on Interstate 40. Just a few miles west of Amarillo, we passed by the Cadillac Ranch. We first drove past it, and then took the next exit, making a U-turn to come back and see it. It was a distance off the road in what appeared to be a harvested corn field.


Here's what Wikipedia tells us about this place:

Cadillac Ranch is a public art installation and sculpture in Amarillo, Texas, USA. It was created in 1974 by Chip Lord, Hudson Marquez, and Doug Michels, who were a part of the art group Ant Farm. It consists of what were (when originally installed during 1974) either older running used or junk Cadillac automobiles, representing a number of evolutions of the car line (most notably the birth and death of the defining feature of mid twentieth century Cadillacs: the tailfins) from 1949 to 1963, half-buried nose-first in the ground, at an angle purportedly corresponding to that of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.

Here's a closer view of it. Folks were there with their spray paint cans, adding to the "art work" already present. In fact, there is so much old spray paint on the cars that hardened drips can be seen hanging from the lower portions like the beginnings of stalactites.



Once you've walked out there and seen it up close, there isn't much more to say about it. We were appalled by the amount of garbage left behind. If folks can pack it in, is it too much to ask that they pack it out again? It makes us grumpy.

It was about 75 miles to the New Mexico state line, and there you have it:


Also, we entered Mountain Time. We haven't seen Mountain Time since last September.


It was another 45 miles or so to our stop for the night. Once there, we tried not to have the doors literally blown off the truck and trailer as we exited and entered. And we didn't go out again. As we sat watching the trees bending in the wind, these fellows sauntered by.


What an unusual bird. They had a head similar to a turkey vulture, but the round body of a chicken. I tried without success to identify them.


Finally, one of my Facebook friends knew them as guinea fowl. They can be a domesticated bird, but these are probably feral.


Okay, so that was fun.

Today we're heading toward Albuquerque, where we'll spend one night. While there, we'll need to finish the laundry. I have some things I'll need to wash in the RV park laundromat, and we need to pick up some groceries. Our next three nights, starting tomorrow will be spent in a New Mexico state park, and we'll need to stock up before then. Also, just east of Albuquerque is the Route 66 Musical Road. I have directions pulled from my New Mexico folder. Once we're unhitched at the RV park, we'll head out to find it. I'll tell you all about it in tomorrow's post.

15 comments:

Kate said...

Oh, good, you're finding things for us to stop and see next month! Thanks! ;)

Vicki W said...

Years ago we had 3 Guinea hens show up on our property. They freaked me out when I first saw them because I had no idea what they were. I thought they were cool until they roosted outside my bedroom window! The local fox eventually took care of them.

Linda M @ Pieceful Kingdom said...

I love all the pottery and designs on the overpasses when you drive through Albuquerque. On our last trip through there I tried taking photos for potential quilts, but we zoomed past many of them too fast. We stayed in Tucumcari once (or twice). Not much to write home about.

QuiltShopGal said...

How fun to travel on the Old Hwy 66 route, as well as see the scenery change, state to state. Definitely looks dryer. As to winds, I'm not sure if New Mexico is getting the storm that came thru California, but we've had high winds which are supposed to stop early this week. I also heard there were some big dust storms in Arizona, as a result of the winds. Stay safe & enjoy.

QuiltShopGal
www.quiltshopgal2.wordpress.com

Lyndsey said...

An interesting art instillation, which I must show Richard later. There used to be guinea fowl roaming free near where my parents used to live. They are an odd sort of bird.

QUILTING IS BLISSFUL, DI said...

I think it sad that they buried the front end of those cars and that people can spray paint on them --can you tell I love old cars!! And I can't figure out why people think they can just leave there trash anywhere--when they are done with something they drop the wrapper--and don't even get me started on the smokers and cig butts!!!!
Hope the wind dies down for you--it is hard to hike in high wind--or even drive for that matters--
enjoy, di

crazy quilter said...

Interesting but I sure did nothing know it was legal to place graffiti on these. I have the same angry feelings about people that just discard litter everywhere. Texas used to have a keep Texas clean motto Don’t mss with Texas, clearly these folks have not seen that one.safe travels

Cathy Smith said...

Good friends of mine who were born and raised in New Mexico refer to it as "The Land of Entrapment". The constabulary LOVES their radar guns. Make sure the resident engineer doesn't think he is tooling along the highway in his C5!

Kate said...

The wind was pretty stiff here over the weekend. Hope you made it safely to Albuquerque.

WoolenSails said...

Those cars would be fun if they painted them nicely and left them alone.
It is a shame that people think it is ok to leave their trash, I agree, easy enough to pack it out.

Debbie

Quilting Babcia said...

It's really fun armchair traveling with you folks! That bird really has interesting feathers with all the white dots. Hope the wind dies down for your travels later.

Nancy said...

My sister-in-law in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan keeps Guinea fowl. They happen to be very good at eating ticks. Which is why she bought them in the first place. She lets them roam free during the day and locks them in at night so the foxes, wolves and other critters do not get them. She has lost a few to the hawks but having them roam around the house and garden has cut down on the ticks she has found on herself.

piecefulwendy said...

I've always thought it would be fun to make a stop at Cadillac Ranch. I don't mind all the graffiti, personally. I would mind the garbage though, and chuckled at your comment. Those Guinea fowl are interesting looking, for sure. I didn't realize their tick-eating abilities until I read that in the other comment. Hope your wind calms.

Brown Family said...

The wild Guinea looks a lot different from domesticated ones. I did not recognize them! I hope the weather and wind improve. We are back to freezing and Brownwood has ice and snow!

quiltzyx said...

What a mess "they" have left at the Cadillac ranch installation. Harumph!

I vaguely remember reading that Guinea hens are good "watch dogs" too - didn't know about the tick eating, but that sounds like a good thing. But it seems there was something about them being noisy though.

It's been colder here lately, I think it was in the 30s overnight, but it's nice out right now. Windy off & on the last few days too.

Safe travels!