Day 3: New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma

Let’s start with a couple of giant things. This bicycle is in Amarillo, TX near the Cliffside Event Center:

This giant flip flop in San Jon, NM is still under construction:

This strange rabbit man is installed in front of the Milburn-Price Culture Museum in Vega, TX. He looks big in this photo but he’s only about 3 feet tall:

Ellie the Elephant at this Empire Slice in Oklahoma City has been stolen a few times and is now inside. She was previously painted pink:

Oklahoma City has produced three Miss Americas — here they are:

This double-canopy former Conoco gas station in Edmund, OK now houses the Sunnyside Diner:

This former Magnolia gas station in Oklahoma City has housed countless things over the years. It’s currently the Margarita Garden:

The glorious, former Conoco gas station in Shamrock, TX was restored around 2003 with neon. Here’s a photo I took in 2012:

In 2014, the neon was replaced with LED tubing. I took a couple of close-ups of the ugliness on this trip (which I’m sure looks worse at night with missing bits and uneven lines):

This topper on top of the tower is missing tubing on the left and the tubing isn’t even straight:

This Coca-Cola building in Oklahoma City had stainless steel Coca-Cola letters which have been replaced with the plastic sign shown at center below. But the mid-century building itself is still incredible:

The Lincoln Plaza in Oklahoma City has been renovated as the Presley Apartments:

I happened to be in the right place at the right time on this trip to see the interior of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Oklahoma City:

This former Mr. Swiss restaurant in Oklahoma City is now a barber shop. Never heard of the chain? See my website here:
https://www.roadarch.com/eateries/aframeswiss.html

This cute plastic sign is in Oklahoma City:

This modern sign is at Pearl’s Crab Town in Oklahoma City:

This bowling alley in Amarillo, TX is still operating:

The Meridian Lanes in Oklahoma City was demolished but this sign remains:

I’m always relieved to see the former Big Giant Supermarket sign in Oklahoma City is still there. The building now houses an events center and the sign that the giant holds reads simply “Enclave”: