Ready for some more?

IOWA

This beauty in Belle Plaine, IA with embossed porcelain panels is gone now.  My photo from 2010 — missing at Google Street View in 2016:

 

The Plaza Lanes in Des Moines, IA caught fire last year and this incredible, animated rooftop sign was destroyed.  They say they may rebuild it but that’s extremely unlikely.

 

This Willie Wiredhand sign in Woodbine, IA disappeared around 2016.  Looks like the location closed.  If you’ve never heard of Willie, here’s info about him:
http://www.reddykilowatt.org/2007/03/22/willie-wiredhand-history/

 

IDAHO

The Lytle Signs location in Twin Falls, ID closed.  This sign was moved to one of the warehouse buildings in back of the previous shop:

The Twin Dragon Restaurant in Boise, ID closed in 2016.  The sign was destroyed during the removal process.  Uff.  I loved this sign:

 

ILLINOIS — lots to cry about there.

This Fraternal Order of Eagles sign in Alton, IL is gone now:

 

Also gone — this one in Willowbrook, IL.  The bowling alley closed in 2016 and the sign was removed soon after that:

 

This Independent Order of Odd Fellows beauty in Collinsville, IL — you guessed it, gone now:

This one in Evergreen Park — gone.  The bakery closed in 2016 and the sign was gone by 2017.

In Homewood, IL — this one gone by 2016:

This one in Streator, IL — still there but disfigured.  In 2009, it looked like this:

Since around 2016 — “Lamp Lite Room” neon text gone, “Lanes” covered up, and boring paint applied.  At lest the lantern thingie is still there:

 

I never got around to shooting this Baptist Church sign in Chicago — what a shame — gone now:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/brulelaker/4125098476/

INDIANA

This sign in Lafayette, IN looked like this in 2010:

As per Google Street View, by 2017, it was advertising for a used car lot.  The neon is gone but at least it’s kinda sorta still there in spirit:

 

This one was in Mishawaka, IN.  By 2017, the store had closed and the sign was gone:

 

That wraps up the “I”s.  I’m whipping up another post starting with the “K”s next.

dj

 

 

I have officially updated my entire website, all the various sections, as best I can with info gleaned from the most current Google Street View images.  A super tedious task that’s taken every free minute of my life for months. But I take keeping my website current very seriously.  Here then, are the latest “discoveries” picking up where I left off in the “C”s from the previous posts.  I’m afraid it’s mostly bad news as there have been a lot of wonderful signs updated with simply awful backlit plastic letters.

But before we dive in… a bit of good news from the “A”s.  The Tucson Inn (in Tucson, AZ) has been purchased by a local college.  The sign will be restored.  Here’s a photo I took in 2012 (by the way, all the photos in these posts were taken by me — and are not to be lifted for Pinterest, Facebook, or any of that):

and here’s an article about the upcoming restoration:
http://www.kvoa.com/story/37354123/pcc-buys-historic-tucson-inn-for-over-1-million

 
CANADA
The Motel Carnaval in L’Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec was demolished last year and the sign is gone now, too:

COLORADO

The Triangle Liquors building in Arvada, CO has been demolished and the sign is gone:

The Hi-Lo Market signs in Commerce City have been adapted for a Save-A-Lot Food Store.  Here they were in 2012 — even without their neon, they were glorious:

And now…(from Google StreetView):

 

Merrill Axle & Wheel in Pueblo, CO has closed and the pole sign and freestanding letters are gone:

The Broadway Motel in Denver was demolished last year and the sign is gone:

 

A little good news:  The Lake Steam Baths sign in Denver appears to have been restored and those god-awful clear plastic panels have been removed.  From 2012:

While on the subject of Denver, if you didn’t know yet, the bulbs on the Satire Lounge sign are chasing again.  The Pete’s Kitchen sign’s pancakes are animated again now, too.  Both businesses are owned by the same guy who got a city variance to get them moving again:
http://www.9news.com/article/news/local/next/restaurants-on-east-colfax-will-get-back-their-flashing-neon-signs/485773244

and here’s a video of the Satire sign:
https://www.facebook.com/SaveTheSignsOnColfax/videos/1629912490402386/

CONNECTICUT

The Battiston’s sign in Avon, CT has been replaced with new panels & backlit plastic letters.  Here’s the sign in 2010:

and by 2015:

FLORIDA

The fun rockets in Kissimmee, FL were removed in 2016.  A super boring sign there now (I’ll spare you):

The World Liquors sign in St. Petersburg, FL won’t be around much longer.  The property’s been sold and the sign will be auctioned off.  The owner wants the money to go to a charity.  The biggest price is more important to him than the sign being preserved on view locally or going to a museum (yes, Tod at the American Sign Museum talked to him):

 

The Brahman Lounge & Liquors sign in Tampa was repainted around 2016.  Here’s the “before” shot:

and the “after” — the nice patina is gone, but the neon and bull are still there so…:

I’ll move on to the “I”s and onward in another post tomorrow night.

dj & the dogs
http://www.RoadsideArchitecture.com

I’ve gone through all of maps at my California pages in the Signs section at my website and I’m happy to say that most things are still standing or hanging firmly with little human alteration.  All of the photos below were taken by me except for the “after” photos snipped from Google Street View (too depressing for me to reshoot).

This sign in Anaheim has been adapted.  The Ben-Key Pool Center sign has been reworked for a Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles.  Here’s the “before”:

and the “after” courtesy of Google Street View:

 

And many losses — the Stardust Motel sign in Bell in 2014.  Replaced with a plastic box reading “Diamond Bell Inn & Suites”:

 

The Century Bowl in Merced closed in the mid-1990s.  This sign stood tall over the vacant lot until last year.

 

These two signs at The Spot in Richmond disappeared last year. The second sign shown below has a twin in San Francisco which is still in place:

Part of the Wheel World sign in Culver City fell to the ground last year and what remained has been removed.  It doesn’t sound like there’s any plan to replace it:

 

The Cockatoo Hotel in Hawthorne was demolished in 2005.  The new hotel let this sign remain until last year.  I assume it was destroyed:

 

The Catalina Pools sign in La Mesa disappeared in 2016:

 

This sign at the Heel & I in San Francisco disappeared last year:

 

The replica Schwab’s Restaurant sign in Los Angeles disappeared last year.  Just the scaffolding left now:

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Prepare yourself for a couple of really sad examples repurposing.

Garfano’s Pizza opened in Los Angeles in 1959.  That might have been at a different location since this sign’s design appears older than that.  And this paint job looks a little modern with mismatched fonts:

But still, it looked much better than what was to come.  In 2015, it was painted black and adapted for the L.A. Hookah Lounge:

And then, in 2016, it was made even uglier by L.A. Hot Wings:

 

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Moving on to the sad saga of the Royal Viking Motel, also located in Los Angeles.  There were two legitimately nice signs there:

Then, in 2014, the place was renamed the Pod Inn and the signs were f***ed up:

Last year, strangely enough, the name was reverted to the Royal Viking Inn.  The Viking helmet and spear are still there are least (for now…):

But the other sign looks worse than ever:

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Well, tat’s enough bad news for now.   How about a dash of good news?  MONA (the Museum of Neon Art) has finished restoring their Grauman’s Chinese Theatre dragon.  It’s currently at the Pomona warehouse but I’m sure it will make its way over to the museum in Glendale soon.  It was unveiled this week:
https://www.dailybulletin.com/2018/01/16/graumans-chinese-theatre-dragon-roars-again-in-pomona/

I’m moving on to other states in my website updating.  I just might have another depressing post for you next weekend.  Stay tuned!

Shoot ’em while you can folks,

dj & the dogs

I’m updating the Signs section at my website now.  It will probably take another couple of months to go through all the pages and StreetView maps.  I’m methodically proceeding alphabetically by state.  Here are some of the tragedies and changes, from Alabama, Arkansas, and Arizona.

The Moon Winx Lodge sign in Tuscaloosa, AL was put up for sale in 2016.  Either the owner changed his mind or he didn’t get a big enough offer.  The sign was repainted this past September.  The neon appears to still be intact. The wording at the bottom of the sign was unfortunately changed and that neon is now lost.  The new paint (evergreen & turquoise) is not as nice as what was on the sign previously.  But glass 3/4 full, right?  Here’s my photo from 2007:

This weblink has a slider bar so that you can compare the old paint/new paint:

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/news/20171018/then-and-now-moon-winx-lodge-sign
Fortunately, no significant changes otherwise for Alabama.  Moving on to Arkansas.

Sadly, this one-legged man (hillbilly?) in Green Forest, AR disappeared sometime between 2013 and last year:

 

This Frigidaire sign in Conway, AR was removed last year when the store below it closed:

The White Spot Cafe in Fort Smith, AR opened in the early 1950s.  “Skinny’s” was added to the sign around 2008.  The place closed in 2015.  The Burrito Bowl moved into the space last year and the sign was badly adapted (1st photo taken by me in 2012; 2nd photo below from Google StreetView):

There have been many sign tragedies in Hot Springs, AR in recent years.  Here are a bunch of before and afters (my photos & GSV):

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This one was repainted but it could have been far worse — 2008:

From Robby Virus in 2011:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/25229906@N00/7990929063/

*******

And then a bit of good news — my photo from 2008 below and then from this year (GSV) nicely repainted:

*************

Moving on to Phoenix, AZ.  I just shot this sign in June and now… it’s gone:

 

California losses deserve their own post.  I’m cooking that one up right now.

dj

I’ve made a lot of progress in my winter website updating.  I’ve scrutinized all of the most recent Google Street View maps for all of the sections to find out what’s been demolished, repainted, restored, etc.  I’ll share some of the updates in the next few blog posts.   I’ll warn you though, most of the news is sad.  But maybe that will be a motivator to get out there and shoot what you can while it’s still around or fight to keep what survives.

All of the photos in these posts were taken by me unless indicated.  So, please don’t lift them for Pinterest, other blogs, or whatever.  Instead, go to my website so you can find more photos of the places along with their histories.  My white keyword search box at the top left of any page makes it super easy to find anything specific or search by city if you’re planning an upcoming trip.  If you are new around here, this is my blog.  My website is way bigger and very organized:
RoadsideArchitecture.com

Let’s start with some mid-century modern building losses.

The Ken Wilson Chevrolet dealership building in Vestal, NY is no more.  It was built in 1964 and featured a phenomenal hyperbolic paraboloid roof (aka “saddle roof”).  It went vacant around 2010 and we all held our breath hoping some cool restaurant or hipster store would move in.  But the wrecking ball had its way in 2016.  My photo from 2010:

 

The jumbo geodesic dome in Warwick, RI was built in 1962 to shelter airport equipment and vehicles.  It was taken apart in 2016 with the hope that it will be reassembled one day.  I’m doubtful.  My photo from 2010:

 

The Firestone tire store in Mountain View, CA was built in 1963 and demolished last year.  The store had closed around 2010 and sat vacant after that.  My photo below is from 2014 after the big red and white bowtie pole sign and freestanding rooftop Firestone letters had been removed.

The good news is that there’s still a scalloped roof like this at the Firestone in Costa Mesa, CA.  I believe it’s the only one left.  The neon letters are now backlit plastic but hey…  My photo from 2013:

The mcm Firestone in Denver, CO is also still there:

The St. Louis, MO location with same design (red & white tile, neon letters, & sawtooth canopy) still survives.  If you’re interested in Firestone, Goodyear, and other tire stores from around the country, I’ve got hundreds of them from all eras at my website here:
http://www.roadarch.com/tires/main.html

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Let’s talk theatres for a moment.  One tragic loss was the Strand Theatre on the boardwalk in Ocean City, NJ.  It was built in 1938 and featured this ultra cool round marquee and ticket booth.  In 1989, it was divided into five screens and became the Strand 5.  It closed in 2013 and sat vacant until last year when it was “remodeled” for a pizza place (second photo below courtesy of Google Street View):

 

OK — let’s move on to some signs.

Zubler’s Indian Craft Shop in Houghton Lake, MI was one of those fun, touristy, non-PC gift shops with mini teepees and Indian war dance performances.  I’m assuming it had been there since the 1950s or so.  The store closed in 2016 and the totem poles, Indian statues, and this sweet sign are gone now:

A couple of Texas losses.   This orphaned sign in Mission, TX is gone now.  Any building which could have been a bus station was missing for at least a decade.  This sign stood guard over a parking lot when this photo was taken in 2011:

 

 

The neon cockroach sign in Austin, TX at Robert’s Termite & Pest disappeared last year.  It was built in 1996 by Evan Voyles (retro neon sign designer for The Neon Jungle).  So, I’m hoping he has it now:

 

A few Ohio losses.  The Colonial Lanes in Canton, OH closed last year and, shortly after that, this sign disappeared.  In 2001, the sign still had neon and secondary panels:
http://www.roadarch.com/p/colbowl.jpg

 

The Louie’s Liquors sign in Lima, OH disappeared last year, too:

 

The Young & Bertke Air Systems sign in Cincinnati, OH is gone.  The original sign was built in 1926 and it was rebuilt a few times. Youbert’s mechanical arms and legs moved — as shown in this mini video:

The company moved in 2013 and had promised Tod at the American Sign Museum in town that the sign would eventually be donated.  However, the sign disappeared in 2016 and not even Tod knows what happened to it.  I suspect it was destroyed.

 

Barringer’s Tavern in Indianapolis, IN closed last year and this lovely sign was swiftly removed.  I’m hoping that the owner or a collector has it:

 

The Culver Ice Arena in Culver City, CA opened in 1962.  This sign was erected then:

The place closed in 2014.  Last year, the sign was adapted for the new tenant, a Harbor Freight store.  The top panel was replicated and the snowflake beneath it and some other building details were spared.  From Google Street View:

As for the skater that was perched on the roof of the ice rink, her location is unknown.  She is supposedly in storage.  The statue was originally installed at an Ice Capades office in Hollywood:

 

Let’s end this post on a positive note.  The Hugo Liquors store in Hugo, CO opened in 1954 with this sign.  This photo is from 2012.  The sign was painstakingly restored last year.

If you are into more positive sign news, I have been writing the quarterly column (Sign Snippets) for the Society for Commercial Archeology‘s Roadnotes newsletter since 2009.  I usually feature three or four signs that have been restored.  I also have a sidebar with each column that covers all the recent losses, restorations, adaptations, etc. around the country.  For more about the organization and how to join, here’s a link:

https://sca-roadside.org/about-sca/

If you just want a sampling before splurging on a membership, you can pick up a copy or two back issues of the twice-yearly Journal here:

https://sca-roadside.org/shop/sca-products/publications/?orderby=date

 

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I’m working on another blog post about signs and just might have that ready later tonight.

Take care,

dj & the dogs

Pardon the diversion from neon signs & all that.  The big news:  there’s a new addition to the family.  Fixie passed away about a year ago and a few months later, I began my quest at Petfinder.com to find a young Jack Russell Terrier.  It was quite an ordeal being rejected by various shelters & Russell Rescue groups for not having a fenced yard or for living out of state, etc.  In frustration, I even hooked up with a reputable breeder which is completely against all my ethics.  She had puppies on the way and I really had a dilemma on my hands.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, I wandered over to the Rat Terrier listings at Petfinder and DANG! there she was.  I was looking for a bold, ball-crazy, water-crazy, monster of a JRT and she is anything but that.  She’s delicate, attentive, sweet.  In other words, perfect!  Well, sort of — the barking, biting, and housebreaking need some work but she’s only five months old, so, we’ll get there.  Here’s the photo from Petfinder that I fell for.  Although she looks almost Border Collie in color/proportions, she’s all of eight pounds and probably won’t get much bigger:

Just in time for my birthday (turned the big Six-O on Xmas) and I can’t think of a better gift.  I emailed the shelter on Thursday and adopted her on Saturday.  It was a killer drive (12 hours roundtrip) but I did make a few stops.  One stop was to shoot the replacement sign at Gillman’s Frosties in Oakdale, CA.  The sign was blown off the roof earlier this year.  Here’s what it looked like in 2014:

And now — I kinda liked the earlier version better but I like the sesame seed bun & lettuce on this one:

In context:

The shelter was in Jamestown and while I waited for the place to open, I shot this neat ghost sign downtown:

The following weekend, I took a little daytrip down to L.A.  The new kid was pretty fearful of cars — both being in them and cars whizzing by on the street.  But after one manic day, she had a big turnaround.  Here’s Griz & puppa Dilly in the back seat — looking pretty cozy (sorry for the blur — this was an over-the-shoulder, in traffic shot).  Yes – she’s ready for the big summer trip already!

Here are a few roadside photos before the onslaught of doggie photos.  Two from Malibu.  Even thought this is a modern KFC bucket, it’s still fun to see one repurposed:

This one is pretty hidden — far back from the road and foliage in the way.  Still such a cutie:

A nice plastic sign in Venice:

 

I uploaded some other L.A. photos to my Flickr account. I added those & others to my website.  Moving on to more doggie photos taken at the beach this morning — starting with one of the new girl:

Dilly’s “stay” is not solid enough for long distance shots yet but here’s the master class of stays.  There are two of these smiley faces at one of our fave local beaches (Seaside Wilderness State Park).

And with that — I wish you all the best for 2018!

dj
sputnik, gremlin, griswold & dilly

P.S. More blog posts coming soon since I’ve been hard at work with the annual combing of my entire website for updates.  I’ve got some partially written posts with the good news/ bad news about what’s been removed, demolished, remodeled, restored.

I’ve decided to lump these two days of shooting together since they were fairly low volume.  There were lots of miles between things plus an early drive home on Saturday.

Let’s start off in San Bernardino with this beauty:

From Lake Elsinore:

The recently repainted Chappy’s Liquor sign in Garden Grove:

 

I’ve been wondering what would happen with the Lyndy’s Motel sign in Anaheim since the motel and coffee shop were leveled to build a big car wash.  The car wash is still under construction but the signs are visible through the tarped chain link.  As promised, there’s a new pole sign styled after the Lyndy’s sign and another similar but much smaller one on the southbound approach.  Here’s the original Lyndy’s sign:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/traderlucas/14263024357/

And the new sign — backlit plastic letters (boo hiss) but at least there’s a little neon & the arrow & star resemble the what-was:

Here’s a heartbreaker.  This lovely neon sign in Buena Park…

…was desecrated a few months ago:

This place in Whittier is so sweet.  But, sadly, long closed.

The wood siding, the little bench near the entrance, the freestanding letters on the front of the building…. reflecting a completely different time.  Now the cars whizz by and chain box stores are all around.

 

From Long Beach.  I think this place has been around since the 1950s so this sign is probably legit (vintage).  And it looks nice at night:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dcnelson0381/9193723001/

These signs in San Pedro were repainted recently.  My photo from 2013:

and their current look — yes, I think the block letters were better than this script but at least they left the neon alone:

From Redondo Beach — swoopy mid-century roof-line & neon:

 

From Los Angeles.  I have no idea what business this bell was associated with originally but it’s damned cute.  There’s a church there now:

 

And lastly — from Huntington Park.  This sign is at the Modern Mini Mart & Liquor:

For more photos from this weekend’s trip, head on over to Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/

More blog-posting soon since I’m in the middle of my winter website updating.  Checking out all those maps in my descriptions for changes (demos, repaints, etc.).  I’ll be sharing the bad news/good news with you real soon.

Happy trails,

dj & the dogs

With a four-day holiday weekend (and no family members other than the canine variety to encumber me), off to the L.A. area, Orange County, and beyond for three days.

Let’s start off in Panorama City with this sign which I think is enhanced by the rust:

I thought I’d stop in at Tommy Gelinas’ (Valley Relics Museum) storage place in North Hollywood to see if I could get a peek at one of his latest acquisitions.  I didn’t expect a soul to be there since it was Thanksgiving but I got lucky and a kind woman showed me around.  There it was!  I hadn’t seen the thing since the 1970s.  The hot dog stand originally stood in Hollywood but went into storage in 2005.  Tommy will eventually restore it.  Here’s the scoop:
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2017/06/tail_o_the_pup_hot_dog_he.php

He’s also got a couple of shish-kebab-ed burgers.  I don’t know where they came from:

And an Arby’s hat sign:

And not one but TWO Helms Bakeries trucks.  Tommy’s sure got a lot of projects!  You bought your bread (and later doughnuts) directly from their trucks since they didn’t sell their stuff in grocery stores.  Here’s what one of these trucks looks like restored:
https://cinemavehicles.com/images/F142555473.jpg

There were some other goodies there but let’s move back out to the streets.  The top panel of the Kopper Keg Liquors sign in L.A. is obviously adapted but it’s still great:

I went to inspect the tragedy in Glendora.  Sure enough, the neon is gone and some cheap LED rope tubing had replaced it.  How could they!!!!

I can only imagine how horrible it looks at night.  For comparison, here’s a photo I took of the sign in 2013:

And more sorta bad news:  Coates Cyclery in Pomona closed earlier this year and there was talk that the sign would be removed — my photo from a few years ago:

Turns out that the sign was adapted for the new tenant:

Back to the rusty/crusty stuff.  The Cask & Keg Liquor store in Pomona.  Missing most of its neon & painted over a bit but still lots of style:

Last stop of the day was way out in the middle of nowhere in Lake Los Angeles to check out the Four Aces Movie Set (http://4-aces.com/).  I’m assuming that the motel signs were brought here from somewhere else:

I don’t know if this sign was originally built for a Four Aces Motel.  I suspect it’s just a mix of old and new pieces:

The diner is very movie set-ish inside and out — surely built on-site to look oldish.

with a classic, vintage bulb arrow:

That’s it for tonight.  I’ll try to get Day 2 up tomorrow.

Happy trails,

dj & the still recuperating dogs

A bunch of Nevada photos to finish off this trio of posts.  Here are several signs from Ely (as I found out, pronounced “Eee-lie”:

The Liberty Club (bar).  I like the protective sheet metal on top.  Way better than the plexiglass covers but I’m sure less effective:

A former Richfield station that was restored as such a few years ago.  Apparently abandoned again as the weeds are growing up through the cement cracks:

A pretty combo (plastic & neon) sign:

 

Moving on to Boulder City.  The sign previously advertised for Harry’s Cafe:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/54177448@N00/214878804/

Another one from Boulder City (Sparkle says “hi” on the left — she turned over 444,444 miles on this trip):

 

“Bliss Dance” was built in 2010 for the Burning Man Festival.  It was installed on Treasure Island in San Francisco from 2011-2015.  It was moved here to downtown Las Vegas last year.  The steel mesh statue is lit at night:
http://blackrockarts.org/projects/civic-arts/bliss-dance

Trader Bill’s was originally a Western theme gift shop in Las Vegas.  Here’s my photo from 2006:

 

The sign was reworked a couple of months ago for a White Castle.  I’m not a fan of the change.  The neon has been replaced with backlit plastic letters.  Too bad this one could not have gone to The Neon Museum instead:
https://vitalvegas.com/fremont-street-white-castle-trader-bills-sign/

On a more positive note — is this sign which was built in 2015 by YESCO.  This animated sign is 30 feet tall and lit at night.  This video shows the manufacturing of the sign:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vyr9wuluJA

That’s it for now.  I’m planning a little L.A. area trip for Thanksgiving weekend.  And there will be small trips here and there until the big summer trip in June-ish (Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, etc.).

More photos from this trip over at Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/

And I’ll be adding a lot more to my website over the next couple of weeks:
http://www.roadarch.com/roadside.html

In case you missed it, my book on vintage signs is out and can be purchased from this English distributor.  It won’t be available until April in bookstores, Amazon, etc.  And it you buy via this link, it’s cheaper (a steal at $13.76 with no tax or shipping) and you’ll have it in a week:
https://www.bookdepository.com/Vintage-Signs-of-Americ-Debr-Jane-Seltzer/9781445669489?ref=grid-view

Happy Trails,

dj & the dogs

 

Moving on to Nevada.  This sign is located at Clark’s Liquor in Hawthorne.  I don’t believe there’s any special name for these signs.  But I just call them “sequin signs”.  They are very reflective and the little “sequins” blow around in the wind.  I’m sure they were very common at one time but there are very few left in the country now:

Some more signs in Hawthorne:

The pigeons perched on top give some scale to this one:

This sign in Tonopah has really faded.  It was much more fun when it had some color:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrphilmy/22056157226/

One of the more vibrant signs at the Clown Motel:

These cards & dice are at the Tonopah Liquor Company (a bar):

About an hour north of Tonopah, this happened.  This tire looked completely fine in the morning.  I always do a walk-around inspection on trips (and even at home).  Plenty of tread.  I was doing about 80, smelled rubber and eased off the road.  The tire was completely shredded like a lawnmower attack.   In the middle of nowhere but, luckily, there was cell phone service and it wasn’t hot.  But it took more than an hour for the AAA tow truck to come.  The only tire shop in town was closed on Saturdays. But the guy came in for me and I was back on the road.  I lost about 3 1/2 hours of driving/shooting time.

Onward to Eureka.  Those that are familiar with the Owl Club Casino will be happy to see that the old sign is still on display, sort of.  There’s a bright but boring plastic sign outside now but these pieces of the old sign are inside the bar.  Here’s what the sign looked like when it was still outside:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/owlsplace/2058877610/

Inside, the owl no longer has any neon:

The two text panels were split up and are displayed on different walls:

I’ll get Day 3 up tomorrow night.  In the meantime, more photos from this trip are over at Flickr here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/

dj & the dogs