The sun looked great this morning in Albuquerque — but then it was like one massive white cloud overhead after the first hour.   I got through about 80% of what I wanted in the sun though.  Finished up and was on my way — east to Edgewood, south to Belen & Socorro.  Then west to Grants & Gallup.  And finally way up here to the northwest corner (Shiprock for the night).  Tomorrow, I should be able to finish up here and start on Arizona.  A day early despite all the setbacks!  I sure have contributed to New Mexico’s economy in the past 10 days or so.  I’m hoping Arizona is kinder and cheaper.  Bring on the heat and the sun — the A/C seems to be working.

The dogs have been really quiet today.  I think walking them around in the heat yesterday really zonked them.  One more shot for you from Albuquerque — the giant white cloud on its way:

 

East of Grants at exit 96 on I-40 are these signs for Whiting Bros.  They’ve been abandoned for many years:

 

On to Grants and Gallup — where the clouds were only the playful type.  From Grants:

 

The wind was intense in Grants & Gallup.  I’d say 50 mph or so.  Making just standing still to take a photo a challenge.  You can see the tree blowing in this shot from Grants:

 

Way too many signs at my blog posts lately.  How about this mid-century modern liquor store in Grants.  The two canopies spear through those rocky supports:

 

Last one from Grants:

 

The rest of the photos in this post are from Gallup:

 

This appears to be a refurbished old sign:

 

I’m really developing a deep fondness for these “corduroy” (corrugated plastic) signs:

 

A road snack.  I really needed it since I had hardly eaten anything all day in the interest of maximizing photo taking.  I’d never had guac-flavored chips before.  Pretty mild but tasty.  Though nothing beats plain old Doritos Original Nacho chips or just plain Fritos  in my opinion.

 

One last sign and I’m getting into bed.  Really need a decent night’s sleep.   I needed three cups of coffee today because of all the boring long interstate drives.  The scenery has been beautiful but not stimulating enough.  The gum and radio are not enough sometimes.  More long drives tomorrow between stops.

This curly arrow sign is at the Red Mesa Express gas station in Gallup.  It doesn’t look like much here — but it has to be at least eight feet long:

Hope to be writing to you from Arizona tomorrow night.  We’ll be heading mostly north to south but, as with New Mexico, big cities, tiny towns, all over the place.

I started the day proactively — took Sparkle in for the post-Accident alignment at 7am.  Check that off the to-do list.  I got it for free at least since I’d wisely gotten that Lifetime Alignment thingie at a Firestone back in San Angelo, TX.  The procedure took about an hour.  Then I began shooting in Albuquerque.  I was psyched!  Great sun and a huge list of stuff all dense and organized.

Around noon, it started getting really hot — the dogs were panting.  So I turned on the A/C. Nothing.  Dammit!!  It was working fine just last week.  And no matter how much I have it looked over before I leave home, no matter how many thousands of dollars I spend on it (probably close to $5000 in three years now), it breaks down on my trips and takes up gobs of time.  But no choice here — it’s gonna be 110 in Phoenix and wherever else.  Had to get it fixed.

I spied  a Firestone immediately ahead.  Yup, freon all gone and they took two hours to find the source of the leak.  Finally, discovered cracks in the “hose set”.  Sparkle has an A/C hose that runs to front, rear and sides — a big octopus thing that’s about ten feet long.  It took them an hour to find the part.  Then they said maybe two hours to install it and recharge the freon.  It was killing me to sit there with that gorgeous sun.  So I headed off in the heat to shoot some nearby stuff with the dogs in tow.

We were nearly dead after two hours.  I had brought water along and tried to keep us in the shade as much as possible — but it was killer.  So, we went back and sat around the waiting room some more.  Finally, just past their closing time of 6pm, it was finished. SIX HOURS!!!  I was not a happy camper.  Oh, and another bill:  $788.  Good god — is this the most expensive roadtrip ever or what?

I tried to find my motivation and get a little shooting done before the light went.  But I was just so miserable and pissed.  Plus — a new little irritating noise that wasn’t there before the A/C was fixed.  The hood isn’t closing tightly since The Accident.  No big deal.  But now it’s squeaking!  Eee-eee, eee-eee, eee-ee.  I’m trying to ignore it but it’s like fingernails on a chalkboard.  I finally stuffed a small towel in there just so that it cuts back on some of the noise.  Will play with it some more tomorrow — and maybe even stop at a body shop and see if I can do something quick and easy to quiet the thing.

OK, enough whining.  I did manage to get a lot done today despite the ordeal.  Here’s another example of the local approach to fast food buildings:

What’s left of the cavalier at the Cavalier Motel.  Another business has covered up the rest of the sign with a vinyl tarp:

 

Many of you probably thought the Uptown Plaza Roto-Sphere in Gallup was destroyed when it was removed in 2006:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joeyharrison/152903023/lightbox/

But I tracked it down and went to pay it a visit today at Southwest Signs.  It’s still sitting there gathering dust.  The arms in another corner.  The shop is waiting for the owner to come up with the money to pay for the restoration:

More about Roto-Spheres if you’re unfamiliar:
http://agilitynut.com/sca/roto.html

I got a little tour of the sign shop.  No neon signs sitting around — but some other interesting stuff.  Including this Dennis the Menace sign which I was told was installed at a Dairy Queen:

I didn’t know about the Dennis & DQ connection before but Wikipedia provides this:

“Dennis the Menace appeared in Dairy Queen marketing from 1971 until 2001, when he was dropped because Dairy Queen felt children could no longer relate to him.”

 

On to Central Ave. (Route 66) and all the treasures and used-to-be treasures.  I’ve often wondered if there weren’t stars or something else on the harp-like neon strings:

 

I believe a modern (not adapted) sign.  I like the crude shape:

 

Some of these photos were taking with my panting crew along, god bless ’em.  I’ve done a lot of training with them and it’s handy to be able to tell them to stay, drop the leashes and step out into traffic to get the right shooting angle for things:

 

Never noticed this one before — that’s what happens when you’re walking vs. driving.  But walking still sucks:

 

OK — what braniac installed all these freaking white lightposts on Central Ave. since my last trip?  I can’t believe how stupid this “improvement” was.  I guess they just stuck them in every 30 feet or whatever completely ignorant of anything else.  This is the recently adapted Nob Hill Motel sign — a link to the unobstructed, pre-adapted view in 2006:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/283158933/

Nice white pole, huh?  And here are a couple other examples:

 

This motel is gone — but the sign still there.  The text beneath it reads “Hiway House” and was used for another motel which is still down the street.  More info about the history of this place here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/madronaway/5570203314/

 

Another sign I don’t think I’ve shot before but stopped since we were on foot:

 

And some post-A/C-repair shots.  Just kick me again!  Here’s my 2008 photo of Galles Chevrolet:

And the remodeling in January this year — dammit!:

At least they left the interior alone:

 

I took a little break when the sun got too low and then hit the streets again later for some night shooting.  Therefore, I’m writing this post right now at 1:40 am.  Sheesh.

 

Lastly, this window “skeleton” sign (just neon, no sign panel) is at the Modern Cleaners.  It’s a two-part animation with the worker’s right arm and iron moving back and forth.  I can’t tell if it’s vintage or new:

 

Tomorrow’s forecast is for more sun with maybe some clouds (the good white kind or the bad interfering kind, I don’t know).  With a few hours sleep, I’ll be full of determination and positivity again.  Maybe I can still get back on schedule even with today’s delay.

Another full day of sunshine.  And I made the most of it motoring all through the forests and mountains north of Albuquerque, down to Santa Fe, over to Cuba — and back to Bernalillo to set us up for Albuquerque tomorrow.   Whew!  And now, getting a very late start.  Not promising much coherency or flourishy writing tonight.  Sparkle running great — got her third or fourth oil change — I’ve lost track.  The dogs got a couple swims today — weather still pretty mild and the water is COLD.

Let’s start with Raton — yes, that’s 7:19 am.  If the sun is there, I get cracking early!

 

At a former Conoco gas station.  I’ve never seen a Dr Pepper machine before (no, it wasn’t filled with bottles or working):

 

Two signs are better than one:

 

Signs in the window indicated that this is soon to become the “Rockin’ Raton 50s Diner”.  Gawd.  I hope they don’t mess with the sign — but it seems inevitable:

 

I couldn’t resist slipping across the border to nearby Trinidad, CO:

 

Back into New Mexico — this is in Cimarron:

 

North of Taos — a couple of shots from the headquarters of Earthship Biotecture:
http://earthship.com/

 

From Embudo — the Gasoline Alley Museum.  Which is Johnnie Meier’s collection of all kinds of stuff — mostly gas station related:

 

Lots of gas station signs as well.  This ice cream sign came from someplace about an hour north of town:

 

And the more valuable stuff is locked in a building.  Gas pump globes, photos, ephemera, etc.:

 

On to Espanola:

 

Down to Santa Fe:

 

Taos & Santa Fe are really decked out in Pueblo styled buildings.  Including the chain restaurants like McDonald’s & Burger King.  Here’s a unique IHOP in Santa Fe:

 

Another one from Santa Fe — a bus stop shelter:

 

Getting late but westward I went — the former Big Chief Gas Station in Zia Pueblo.  No pumps anymore but this sign remains:

 

A fun, modern sign in Bernalillo:

 

And, lastly, shot just as the sun had set behind the clouds.  Had to use the flash for this one.  It’s this time of day, I can’t help but think where I could have shaved a few precious minutes off somewhere and gotten a better shot.  But I think you guys will like the moodiness anyway:

 

That’s it — 1 am and a big day tomorrow.  I’ve got a huge list for Albuquerque which will take at least two marathon days of shooting.

Yes, the Land of Enchantment really came through today.  Non-stop sun, cloudless skies.  And more of the same forecast for tomorrow.  Busy, busy all day long.  Didn’t get settled til after 10pm because I wanted to set us up in Raton for tomorrow’s schedule.  It’s already close to midnight and I have a LOT of photos cropped & ready for you.  Sparkle only got breaks at gas stations.  And she ran like a champ — twisty mountains, city driving, desert driving, all of it.

Grip, Fix and I got bit by fire ants.  Nik & Grem were running around too fast I guess for them to latch on.  Grip was licking a front paw for awhile.  But Fixie, the drama queen, has been limping all day and barely will get out of the van.  I got them up my pants leg.   Even though it was somewhat a public area, I didn’t care — I just dropped my pants and plucked them off of me.  I stepped on them and they squashed out my blood.  Disgusting.  I believe all animals have the right to a healthy and happy life — except bugs that bite me or my dogs.  I can’t kill those suckers fast enough.

Let’s get to it.  Starting with Portales:

 

What’s with New Mexico’s water?  Is it not safe to drink?  Everywhere, just everywhere, there are those water vending machines and now a water store.  Love the water bottle entrance:

 

From Texico (yes, that’s right, at the border of TX & NM):

 

Over the border slightly to Bovina, TX:

 

On to Clovis, NM:

 

A Streamline Moderne / Art Deco building:

 

Love the little shield letters and how the blue & white & black match the rest of the photo:

 

Glad to see this place is hanging in there — despite being surrounded by other fast food places:

Had to show some support — had a craving for onion rings and these did not disappoint!

 

On to Tucumcari:

 

Detail from the Golden Dragon restaurant sign:

 

An interesting building I hadn’t noticed before — I’d say Art Deco with neat fruit?, pine cone? & cactus details:

 

I’ve shot a lot of these Phillips 66 stations on this trip.  This one I’ll include because I like the tires with the Tires sign — and the garage sign across the street:

 

A modern-ish billboard downtown — don’t forget, all my photos are clickable to get a larger size.  The shark/drugs chasing the girl/our youth.  The boat says “Our Community” on it:

 

 

On to Santa Rosa — the La Mesa Motel:

 

From the boarded-up Western Motel:

 

Some flowering cacti.  Haven’t seen that much cactus on this trip yet — only the stuff installed by humans in planters and such:

 

On to Las Vegas (NM, that is):

 

Yes, that’s Sparkle on the right — another view of the unique bumper:

 

On a depressing note — over to Dalhart, TX to shoot a few things.  I checked up on the Mission Twins Theatre that I shot last year when it was being “renovated” for a church:

Sure enough — they stripped it:

 

Over to Clayton for one more sign for the evening:

 

Tomorrow, we’ll be up and down the mountains north of Albuquerque.  After that, the rough plan if you’re interested:  Thurs & Fri, Albuquerque; Sat south of ABQ; Sun west of ABQ; and then Monday or Tuesday, on to Arizona.  I think it’s do-able and puts us on schedule.  We are officially just past the halfway point of this trip — 19 more days to go!  Seems like forever since we were in Ohio and West Virginia, doesn’t it?

I never thought New Mexico would be like this.  Some incredible, pull-it-over and wait downpours today.  Really lousy drainage in places.  Entire right hand lanes underwater.  Crazy intersections with no idea of water depth but cars flying through nevertheless.   The sun would come out every so often and be gone within minutes.  Then more torrential rain.   It was an easy day to exercise the dogs since nobody anywhere was using city parks with the lousy weather.  I banged away at the list and am making good headway.  I might even get back on schedule despite the “delay” in Silver City.

Let’s start with Ruidoso:

I was hoping from the sign maybe some fake concrete teepees — but there were only cabins.  Neat log cabins though:

 

Even Ruidoso has been invaded by aliens now, too.   Lots of wood carved ones in Ruidoso and Roswell that weren’t there four years ago when I was here last.  This one at the Ruidoso River Museum:

 

Moving on to Roswell.  Damn that little SUV for ruining my shot:

 

Farley’s has apparently “borrowed” their sign design from Ship’s Coffee Shops in Los Angeles:
http://www.oldlarestaurants.com/ships/

 

Even McDonald’s has jumped onto Roswell’s alien-theme bandwagon with this unique UFO building:

 

Pretty fancy for a mobile homes sign — but the neon holes match the letters… so maybe it always was for that:

 

From Artesia:

 

Although the hail didn’t affect Sparkle’s front end at all yesterday — today’s rain sure killed the white paint on that black bumper.  I guess I’ll have to decide when I get home whether to a) get it repainted, b) strip it to black, or c) let it be whatever it wants to be.  I kinda favor c) as it will always be a reminder of this trip.  But maybe it’s just TOO hideous.  What say you guys?

By the way, I got a phone call tonight from my Silver City mechanic — can you believe it?  He was checking in to see how things were going.  I told him how great Sparkle was running.  I also mentioned the bumper paint problem — and that I really didn’t mind.  After all, it was really just an extra (I don’t think I was charged).  He said it should really be allowed to dry longer.  I’m also wondering if yesterday’s hail didn’t loosen the paint and then today’s rain just ate into that.

 

In Carlsbad — the Apache Canyon Trading Post — which appears to be long-closed:

Some details:

 

In Whites City — this sadly deteriorating, big motel court — known as White’s City Deluxe Motel originally:
http://www.cardcow.com/173513/whites-city-deluxe-motel/
http://www.cardcow.com/251469/whites-city-deluxe-motel/

The sign says it’s being restored — but I have my doubts.

 

On to Arkansas Junction.  It appears this sign advertised for the long-closed cafe next to it.  This star is technically known as a C-152 Lectra.  This video of one in Raytown, MO shows how this sign would have operated at night:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-m4xcocevI

 

From Hobbs — not sure why they white-painted the “Liquor” when it’s still a liquor store:

 

And last one for the night from Tatum:

 

According to all the weather predictions — tomorrow is supposed to be gorgeously sunny.  In every single city that I expect to be in.  So I’m hitting the hay early expecting a marathon day of shooting.

As promised, here’s today’s brief installment.  First off – I want to thank several of you for contributing to the Put Sparkle Back Together Again Fund.  I really, whole-heartedly appreciate it.  I’m deeply touched by your enthusiasm, emotional support and generosity.  It confirms that what I’m doing is appreciated – and that, hopefully, more of these roadside places will be recognized, valued, and preserved.  If you still want to drop some coins in the bucket, you can do it through this page — or simply use the agilitynut account at PayPal.com.
http://agilitynut.com/donation.html

While Sparkle’s getting her front end repaired, we did a bit more exploring of our new neighborhood.  I found a nearly dry riverbed for the dogs to run around in.  We’ve been there three times already today.  It’s rough living with athletes.  I could leave the seniors back in the room – but they also enjoy the sniffin’ around.  Grip, even though she’s blind, still finds crunchy bits to munch on.  Bones from discarded KFC or bits of roadkill or – I don’t want to know.

If you’re feeling mid-century deprived since The Accident, the Drifter Motel does have a restaurant with roof diamonds.  Turquoise paint jobs are, uh, very big in New Mexico:

 

And there’s another building down the road with mid-century details:

 

Just another typical and random beautiful New Mexico style building.  There must be a name for it – “adobe style”, “casita”?  Shamefully, about the only thing I know is “vigas” which are the log-like projections below the roofline.  Note the killer clouds and sunny weather.  Sure wish I was driving and shooting today:

 

And some random beautiful plants & flowers.  I think the tall guy is a yucca – but not sure:

 

An interesting arty mural.  I don’t know the story.  It’s hard to do Google research here in the parking lot – but something about the hot springs and a bottling plant destroyed by fire:

The bottles and bottle caps are in relief.  Very cool, nicely done:

 

I checked out the local pet store and got Nik a new toy.  He loves Cuz toys and this was one I’ve never seen before:  a Mummy Cuz.  And some “floaties” – my name for small dog treats that float in water and get Grem & Fix to swim and cool off.  The brown bag contains my lunch:

 

Don Juan’s Burritos is my fave discovery in town.  This is the “order” side of the building.  You drive around to the other side for pickup.  Or if you’re a lowly pedestrian like myself, you ring the buzzer for service:

The bean & cheese burrito was pretty dull.  But the chile relleno burritos are great!  I’ve had two now.  Spicy and homemade – REAL burritos like I grew up with in SoCal.  In New York, they think spicy means with jalapeno peppers or, if they’re imaginative, hot sauce.  But it’s not the same as these which seem to have neither but are far superior:

 

And here are the kids and the deluxe accommodations of The Drifter Motel’s Room #218.  It’s really not that bad if you look past the obvious stains.  The shower was hot and I’ve been watching some local public access channel about all the doings and geologic history of Silver City:

 

My mechanic says Sparkle might be ready tonight.  It’s 3:30pm right now – so we’ll see.  He said something about “patching” of brake lines and other stuff which makes me nervous.  I might make a stop soon to get things looked over for safety concerns.

Hopefully, there will be more exciting subjects tomorrow.

 

5:30pm update:  The mechanics (yes, two now involved — this is gonna cost me!) were nearly done before discovering a cracked master cylinder reservoir (brakes).  They’re pretty confident that some fancy epoxy stuff will repair it — and I’ll be rolling sometime tomorrow morning.  The part can’t be found anywhere — not even El Paso.  So, let’s hope it works.

It started out to be a wonderful day.  On schedule, loads of sun, lots of great cities and “targets” on my list.  Off to Lordsburg and then over to Silver City.  Then it happened.  Somehow, I didn’t see a red light.  But according to witnesses, it was red.  I thought it was green and I was then looking left at a street sign.  Then all of a sudden, a little red pickup truck directly in front of me.  Bam!  The little red pickup had garbage in the back and the garbage shot up as I hit the rear end.  I pulled over.  Nobody hurt.  Pickup had big dent in the rear and poor Sparkle – really bad front driver side.  The two month old radiator obviously destroyed – fluid on the pavement.  The bumper completely removed, the hood crunched a bit, lights broken, and fender dented.  A third car got some minor scraping from hitting the garbage in the street.  The pickup driver had no insurance but it looks like it will be covered by my insurance.  I have never followed my insurance policy that closely but evidently I don’t have collision.  And since witnesses saw the light as red – I’m at fault so Sparkle’s bill is all mine.

I weighed my options as I waited for the cops and the tow.  Get a new van?  Rent a van for the duration of the trip?  How much to repair?  Especially considering I just put about $1000 into her in the past three days.  I’m glad I got that lifetime alignment with the tire two days ago at Firestone because I’m gonna need one immediately.  The tow truck driver does body work and collision stuff so my life and money is in his hands at the moment.  He estimates $4000 or $5000 – no cosmetics just functional.  I can’t buy a van in the shape mine is in for that.  Since my engine, transmission and all that are in superb shape, I have to go the repair route rather than the replace route.  I attempted to rent a vehicle – but there’s not one to be found in town or even in Las Cruces.

I hurt my left wrist a little – nothing broken – feels no worse than a fall on pavement.  The airbag didn’t deploy so I don’t think it was that high speed of a crash.  I had just gotten gas maybe a quarter of a mile away and was not speeding – honest! (yet)  The dogs were all fine and enjoying all the police presence (barking).  This has all been just another fun adventure for them.  But mom’s dreading the increased insurance rates – which are already astronomical in NYC.

So here I sit in Silver City – all the motels were booked.  Just this one smoking (ick!) room at The Drifter.  Which is pretty much what you would expect from the name.  The kind of chairs and bed you don’t even want to sit on.  No A/C.  No internet so I have hang out in front of the building and mooch on the other mom & pop motel across the street.  And twice the price of a really nice Red Roof Inn.  Plus a $30 non-refundable charge for dogs – ridiculous!  But the only game in town.  At least there’s a TV – and even a remote!

Depressed and determined and shaken – I took a good long walk with the dogs in the 86 degree heat to downtown Silver City to hit the places on my list.  So at least I got a handful of photos.  I’m not sure when I’ll be shooting again.  Possibly tomorrow – but unlikely – more likely Monday or later.  Right now the mechanic is in El Paso looking for parts – and having trouble.  He couldn’t find a hood so we’ll have to do some rope and bungie sort of thing.  And he can’t get a headlight til tomorrow morning.  So he has to stay in El Paso tonight – just add that to my bill…

Just goes to show, life can change in the blink of an eye.  But the main thing is nobody and no canines were hurt.  Guess I’ll be working lots of overtime this fall and winter to whack back the bills from this trip!

Alright then on with some photos to cheer us up a bit.  Life was good back in Separ.  This fake teepee at Bowlin’s Continental Divide Historical Trading Post:

 

From Lordsburg.  I don’t remember seeing this Oscar’s sign previous trips:

 

And then, Silver City.  There it is.  Poor, poor Sparkle.  I’m so, so sorry:

 

From our downtown walk – the Gila Theatre:

 

And from my across the street neighbor, the Copper Manor, providing our internet for the night – god bless ‘em!  I wonder if the rooms are nicer there?  Ah, but I shouldn’t begrudge The Drifter.  They still have their awesome sign (over at Flickr tonight) and they gave some nutjob from NY with four dogs their remaining room.

 

Looking for the silver lining here in Silver City.  I’ll get back to you tomorrow with the latest.  Maybe I’ll take nature photos or something mundane for you tomorrow.  I’m committed to this blog – highs and lows doncha know.