A gloriously sunny day but we didn’t get out of Pep Boys until around 1pm.  I paid the $418.64 bill and fired up Sparkle and picked up shooting.  I noticed about an hour later that my headlights (daytime running lights) were not working.  I called the Pep Boys that worked on my car but they were not interested in working on that.  They said it was related to the wiring harness and that I really needed a new one.  Since the dealer no longer sells them (I have a 2003), it would be about $4,000 to fabricate one and would take at least 3 or 4 days to make & get it.  OK, well.  So, since I wouldn’t have headlights for the rest of the trip, there would be no night driving or lit neon photos.  When I got home, my mechanic found out the guy at Pep Boys had put the fuse in the wrong place and that’s why I didn’t have headlights and he doesn’t think I need a new wiring harness at this point.  So…..  I’m glad I didn’t sit around and spent $4,000 for nuthin!

Moving on then to the pretty pictures.  A couple from Fort Worth:

 

The weird stuff around the edges of the panel and “Century” letters is LED rope (cheap neon “alternative”).  Probably looks horrid at night or might even be broken by now:

 

The “Town West” shopping center letters might have been neon originally.

 

Yates Brothers Motor Company Used Cars — Fort Worth.  This sign probably revolved (different text on the back/front panels):

 

A-AAA Television Services in Fort Worth:

The sign’s doggie detail:

 

My custom interior body work consisting of a Starbucks dome lid and duct tape.  Ugly as hell but it keeps Dilly from decapitating herself when stepping on the power window buttons.  I can slide my fingers under the dome to raise/lower but she can’t press down.  One of my biggest fears was that I’d be across the street taking a photo and come back to an asphyxiated dog.  Problem solved!  Although on this trip, I’ve rarely needed to lower the windows since we’re running the A/C the whole time.

 

Even gray signs look great in sun!  Howell’s Motel in Fort Worth:

 

In Haltom City.  More than likely, the top panel of the panel which is covered up now had a different name and neon:

 

In Fort Worth:

 

In Grand Prairie.  Don’t overlook the cute “RCA Color TV” sign:

 

Last one for this post — Stop N Save Liquor.  I’ll post the other side of this one in the next post.  I assume those spikes had balls or something:

 

Loads of even prettier photos over at Flickr from today & the rest of the trip here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/

Eight more days & posts to go.

Take care,
dj & the dogs