Let’s start off with a few photos from Wenatchee.  This sign is part of a former gas station that houses a collection of pumps, cars, and other signs.  The station is painted to read “Chuck’s Thrifty Gas”.  This sign and the collection popped up sometime  between 2009 and 2011.  “Gas for Less” was a chain of gas stations but I haven’t seen a sign like this one for the company.  So, I don’t know if these were mass-produced or if this was just an imaginative re-use of another sign:

 

A ripple tin paneled oldie with a sort of shaky repainting from around 2008-ish.  It was previously a faded grey.  I don’t know what color the sign was originally:

This sign is right new door to the Empire Hotel.  The sign panels had neon and were lit until just a couple of years ago.  Up until then, the “House of Booze” panel read “Tavern.”  What a shame.

Moving on to Ritzville.  The Top Hat Motel has a boring backlit plastic box but there’s this nice neon add-on:

Also in Ritzville – the Whisperin Palms Restaurant has this nice skeleton sign in the window:

 

From Moses Lake — the Sage N Sand Motel had another neon sign which has been replaced with siding and plastic letters (I’ll spare you).  But this one still stands as it did in the 1950s/1960s:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hollywoodplace/7331600210/

A few more signs from Moses Lake — the Ripple Tavern:

and Danny’s Tavern:

and the Dockside Pub:

This building in Moses Lake is wacky wonderful.  It houses the Broadway Bar & Grill.  I’d love to know what it looked like originally:

Moving on to Ephrata.  These two signs at M&H Glass (still in business) are embossed plastic.  The red paint has faded on both of them but I’m glad they haven’t tried/failed repainting that.  Dig that perforated slipcover on the building on the right:

Also in Ephrata — this motel is gone and the sign is tucked back on the lot behind chain link fencing.  There was a man with a top hat perched on the right of the sign — breaks my heart that he’s gone now:
http://www.thom.org/gallery/decay/hiu/

From Coulee City — god bless those clouds!  This points at the Ala Cozy Motel which is across the street:

And, lastly, these two signs are at the Trailwest Motel in Grand Coulee:

The rooftop sign is apparently lit at night:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahhhsucre/9675058931/

Five more blog posts to go.

dj