We made it! I got through most of the remainder of my AZ list. Then, after a big drive across the desert and over the mountains, we arrived in the San Diego area after dark. A lot of stuff to shoot here tomorrow. Including another (hopefully) brief trip back into Mexico to shoot a couple things in Tijuana.

The weather forecasters were wrong again. A beautiful day in Phoenix and for most of the day as we moved westward. Went to the Chaparral Dog Park in Scottsdale first thing in the morning and got everybody good and tired for awhile. An awesome place:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/chaparral-dog-park-scottsdale

I was shooting a mini golf in Scottsdale before it opened and saw lots of these wild rabbits. It seemed so sad that all these rabbits are being booted out of their habitats as the city expands ever outward into the desert. But on the other hand, these guys probably like having grass and easier-to-find grub around.

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Taking some pictures of an apartment building in Scottsdale, I noticed these oranges literally falling off the tree and decided to try one. More bitter than sweet. Grip and Fix were not at all interested in trying it. Nik made some faces when he ate his. And Grem just swallowed without question. I don’t think she ever chews anything so probably never even tasted the thing. I was going to hold onto the remainder as a room freshener for the van. But I had to surrender it when crossing into California.

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I haven’t had the time or energy to research this one but it appears to be a retro-y (made to look old) affair. Scottsdale is loaded with lots of interesting architecture.

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Scottsdale also has lots of these strangely contained rocks. I’m not sure what the significance of these are:

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Mesa has an annual outdoor art installation. Lots of fun statues of animals and people doing things. This was my favorite of the ones I got a chance to see:

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This little midcentury building in Phoenix must’ve had an entrance in front under the freestanding canopy originally:

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True diners are extremely rare outside the Northeast since that’s where most of them were manufactured. This Phoenix building is a simulation — and apparently, part of a chain:
http://www.5anddiner.com/

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I saw lots of recycled buildings and signage today. It’s nice to see the pylons left alone even when the building below is subdivided into a million pieces:

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These two buildings are probably still identifiable — but I don’t know what they originally were used for. Perhaps the building at the right was the motel’s attached restaurant?

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This one was probably not part of a chain — but a neat A-frame nonetheless:

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I like the masculinity and hugeness of this big steakhouse sign:

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And lastly, as I prepared to settle in for the night in El Cajon — there it was. A sign of positive things to come I think. We have arrived in Denny’s-land! Although this location didn’t have the spikey ball on top of the sign, it did have the boomerang roof.

I didn’t make as much progress as I thought I would — shooting lots of wonderful stuff and having a great time and that’s what matters. Still, I don’t want to cut into my California time. Two things I went after in Tucson were way out of town and wasted at least a couple hours. One was a dud & barely worth photo-ing (a Swiss chalet motor court); the other (a bottle house) turned out to be on private property and closed up tight with nothing visible whatsoever. Ah well. An afternoon romp at the Bark Park in Chandler that was supposed to be 15 minutes, turned into an hour because the dogs were having such a good time. That’s what vacations are for, right? It was time to indulge my passengers who have put up with two-and-a-half weeks of my madness.

Weather glorious again — I’m not complaining! I hear we may get some rain here in Phoenix tomorrow. I noticed a tire was a little low and stopped someplace to get looked it at. Sure enough: an embedded screw. That pitstop took about a half hour. I’m a fanatic about noticing anything up with the van: tiny noises, tire pressure, anything dripping, monitoring gauges constantly while driving, etc. I don’t want to get stuck anywhere but, particularly, not in the desert. Yes, pretty to look at, but not where you want to get stranded. (photo taken between tucson and phoenix where we might have been stranded)

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While they seem to be smashing up 76 ball signs in other parts of the country, I’m happy to report that in Tucson, different gas companies are just repainting them. In fact, in addition to these “ballies”, I noticed several stations that repainted the big flat disc signs as well.

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From Tucson, here’s a neat starburst-y sign and its building (which looks vaguely familiar but I can’t figure out what it was originally). I’ve never seen this style sign though.

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Also, in Tucson, my eye was caught by the mid-century rippling canopy at first. But what was really intriguing were the figures on the roof. It looks like there may have been more of them at one time. Does anyone know the story about this place?

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I dropped in on this place for a quick visit: “The Garden of Gethsemane in Tucson is the work of artist Felix Lucero, who was wounded in WWI and vowed that if he recovered, he would create religious sculptures. In the garden can be seen his images of Christ at the Last Supper, on the Cross and with the Holy Family. Across Congress Street is Tucson’s largest tree. The Garden of Gethsemane has been a Tucson landmark since 1945 and is maintained by the Knights of Columbus.”

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I stopped in Picacho to see Nickerson Farms restaurant, which is right next to I-10. I knew it was long-closed but wanted to see if the Indian Maiden was still there. However, it seemed I got there too late. However, when I looked at this photo tonight, the legs don’t seem to match and now I wonder if there was yet another statue that I missed or that was destroyed:
http://www.pbase.com/bearpaw/image/53441601

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I thought about going a little further up the road to see the restaurant itself but the gravel road looked somewhat littered with metal and trash and after my little tire incident, I decided not to go up there.

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A splendid little Art Deco house in Tucson. I know L.A. will be loaded with them but right now they look so sweet:

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And lastly, from Tucson, a couple great iconic signs that show their age. I love this diving woman variation.

I spent way more time today in NM than expected. Much longer drives between stuff than anticipated. Asking locals for directions when I had bum addresses (or none at all). Driving was stressful as well: dust storms with warning signs “Drive with Extreme Caution: May Be Zero Visibility”. Luckily, that never happened. But the winds were intense and you had to keep strong hold of the steering wheel. And this was all day long. I imagine Sparkle’s not all that aerodynamic when the wind is blowing against her sides. The wonderful sun continued but I found myself taking three shots of everything and hoping that at least one wouldn’t be blurry from the wind gusting at me. I started bracing myself against poles, walls, anything I could find in hopes of being steadier.

Oh, and one other thing that held us up in NM. In Lordsburg, which is truly a dusty, desert, Western type town, Gremlin decided to bolt and it was a good 20 minutes to capture her. I thought it would be safe to cut her loose in this fenced school-yard-y area. Her recall has been so good lately. Happy and quick. And I’ve been working with cheddar cheese which is pretty much her favorite treat. The place seemed pretty secure all around. But somehow, she found her way out and was just blasting around in the desert scrubby bushes. I had to follow in the van as she must’ve covered a half mile. She becomes like a feral dog when she does this. Running willy-nilly, panting, and acting like she doesn’t even know me when she sees me or hears me. I have to be careful how I approach her — slow, kneeling down, praising her like mad (when I really want to kill her). Anyhow, that’s IT — the little shit is on the long-line for good now. I’m going to ask my training pals for suggestions. I have never had a dog like this before.

Enough talk! On the way out of Hatch, NM, I noticed this one. I haven’t seen any other Quail Express gas stations so I imagine this is probably an independent operation. The quail painting was lovely.

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This great vintage motorhome was getting some major work done in Deming, NM. I had to look up the BrinkMobile on-line and the concept and photos are pretty cool:
http://www.brinkmobile.com/

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It seems the cactus just gets weirder and scarier the further south you go. Here are three examples from Columbus, NM which is right at the Mexican border. I have no idea what any of them are called. Anybody?

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Bisbee, AZ is copper mining country. A cute little town with old buildings and artsy folks but then you get a little south and you see the hillsides ripped apart from the mining. Here’s a pretty rather than gruesome shot of the red hills.

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Here’s a shot of a place in Lordsburg. I love the mural and the signage overkill:

Another beautiful and productive day. Late in the afternoon, I even found a bona fide doggie park in Albuquerque to cap things for them. Big and well-fenced so Grem got to be FREE of her long-line and play with the big local dogs and run like the wind. Fixie found new humans to pet her and coo over her. Grip retrieved a few balls but mostly sniffed and hunted for crumbs. Nik & I played ballie til he had to lie down in a puddle of water.

Late now — so let’s move right along.

A couple neat cleaners & laundry signs today — this one in Portales (I would’ve shot it from the other side to avoid the sun but it didn’t have any colored paint):

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This one in Clovis. I’ve never seen such a big laundromat sign!

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Both Portales and Clovis have F-111 bombers as their town mascots. Wow. I’m certainly no expert on aircraft but I assume this is some sort of precursor to today’s Stealth Bomber. This is the one in Portales:

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Sutton’s Bakery in Clovis is a sweet little place, literally. I uploaded an exterior shot over at Flickr tonight. But what’s inside is actually more interesting. They have wonderful cake decoration display suggestions. Here are a couple:

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and I had to get a dozen of what seems to be one of their specialties: thumbprint cookies. They come in about 12 different colors (I was told they weren’t different flavors, except the chocolate, which is of course what I got).

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Everywhere I go on this trip, I see these great little drive-up motor banks (no such thing in NYC). This is a pretty nice mid-century example from Clovis:

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Now, for some more signs. Here’s an almost unidentifiable one in Clovis:

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These neon K-Mart signs used to be everywhere but are now pretty rare:

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At the end of the day in Socorro, I came across this nicely unrestored painted Owl Cigar sign. The last photo is taken from the other side of the building (into the sun, sorry) which also shows a Bull Durham ad.

I finished up about a dozen stops in El Paso & finally moved on to New Mexico. The weather was glorious and I’ve got lots of blue skies and puffy white clouds in today’s photos. Even though it wasn’t that hot today, it felt so dry. I had to play ballie with Nik on pavement and gravel. Any time I found what looked like grass, it would be full of stickers and he’d run 10 feet and start to hobble. Even Grip who HATES her feet touched is happy to let me help her out with sticker removal. Looking forward to California grass!

No tickets or other incidents to report so let’s move on to the photos.

A detective agency that really takes itself seriously in El Paso:

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This was really hard to photo so it will be my art-y shot of the day. Jack Key Motor Co., a car dealership in Las Cruces, uses these giant strings of balloons to catch motorists’ attention. It’s a clever idea because you really can’t help but notice them and they probably can’t be regulated as signage.

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Time for a snack in Las Cruces. Caliches frozen custard is non-fat, non-dairy and tastes just fine. I had the chocolate with walnuts and bananas (my two favorite toppings).

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Ruidoso was quite a change from the desert I’ve been in for the past few days. Pine trees and chilly. Even some snow visible on the mountains just above town. This chalet-like Shell gas station is pretty neat.

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Also in Ruidoso, this mariachi guy was on the roof of Chileo’s Mexican Restaurant. I’d say he was close to life-sized:

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I’ve seen a few of these Southwest style water machines since crossing the border into NM. This one was in Roswell:

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Yes, Roswell. I came for the neon signs and a few other things I swear! But, hey, if one of these souvenir shops had been open when I got here, I’m sure I would’ve been tempted to pick up a few alien items.

A Honda dealer:

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OK, just one more sign for good measure. The Mayo Motel sign in Roswell is all plastic and boring now but they at least kept this little diving woman & pool detail:

It was a busy, beautiful day. Started out early with a goldmine of stuff in Odessa, TX. Mid-day was lots of driving through desert between destinations. And early evening, more frantic picture-taking in El Paso where we’ve stopped for the evening. A bit more here and then onward to New Mexico (finally).

Gotta love the 80mph speed limit in western TX. That really helped me out with some long hauls today. But when they say 80, they mean it. I got stopped for doing 83 and was issued a “warning” (another souvenir to hang on the wall at home).

Another oil change this morning (I’m religious about them) which means we’ve passed the 6,000 point on this trip already. And Sparkle turned over a new milestone: 170,000 miles.

The dogs got lots of snoozing in today during our desert drives. The ground is dry and stickery and my two seniors don’t like walking on it. When they’re off-leash with the van door open, Fixie pees and goes right back in. She’s the biggest but the wuss of the family.

OK — here come the photos. A bunch of signs so let’s do them first:

Two from Big Spring:

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A potato-themed restaurant in Midland. How I wish it had been open as I definitely would’ve supported them!

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The Midland Inn. I don’t know if this motel had a different name originally that might explain the kangaroo:

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From Odessa, an adapted sign, probably many times over, that must’ve revolved:

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Another sign of mysterious origins in Odessa — love that curve-y arrow:

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Now, I don’t smoke, never have, not even once. But I’m overly fond of cigarette signs. I’ve never seen an ashtray depiction before (sorry I had to shoot into the sun — and the other side was pretty broken up). This one’s from Odessa:

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A giant ciggie pack sign from Fort Stockton:

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A plastic sign in El Paso. I’d love to know if it’s always looked like this or if it originally had neon components:

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OK — now for some non-sign things. I had to stop at a Southern Maid Donuts and buy a half dozen to help sustain them (and me!). These were some of the most colorful donuts I’ve ever seen and it was hard to choose.

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I posted a sign photo from Kimbrough’s Super Service in Odessa over at the Flickr account tonight. But I had to take this photo of the former station itself. I’ve not seen white porcelain pumps like this before:

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Meeting this guy was one of the high points of my day. I had just arrived in Fort Stockton and was taking the business route into the small town en route to see the giant statue of the roadrunner. I pulled over for a terrific old motor court (the Comanche Motel — also a photo over at Flickr) and saw this guy hopping around. I was trying to get close to take a photo without scaring him — the dogs were barking berserkly at him from the van. He seemed very curious about them — not really that worried. The owner came out and explained that this guy pretty much lives at the place and come up real close whenever they’re working. When they rake, it stirs up the bugs and he loves that. So he’s always keeping an eye on what people are doing. I thought it was so strange the I came to town for the statue — and then saw the real thing for the first time.

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And lastly for tonight, a cute little food stand (I think) in a park in Van Horn. I think it’s a little small to have really been a streetcar. It just seems so adorable and incongruous in this desert scene.

Today, I fell in love. No, not with a midcentury building or another rescue dog or some grand theatre. I am now addicted to “ranch gates”. I wrote down the locations of each of these but I hope you’ll forgive me not including them since it’s 1 am and I should be resting for tomorrow’s next big photo-shoot. I’m going resist the temptation to start a new section at my website for these guys. Surely, there must be books or websites about them already. (If so, please let me know as I need to know!)

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This one came out blurry (shot in pouring rain) but at least I got a detail shot as well:

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The day started off in Devine with flash flood warnings, thunder & lightning, and torrential pouring rain. I thought I might have to sit the day out in a hotel. That’s what a sensible person would have done. It was scary driving through barren landscapes with no cell phone service. But the day got better as we went westward. By mid-afternoon, the skies were just incredible (forgive a few bugs on the windshield):

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I ventured across the border to Mexico to shoot a Muffler Man. Getting across was sure easy enough. But getting back was a bit of an ordeal. I had my passport and my dogs’ papers with me but the agents still made me feel like I was lucky to get back in. The dogs had to stand in a kennel near the van while the agent went through it for illegal aliens, drugs, fruit & vegetables… And then the questions… I should’ve just lied and said I was visiting a relative. But, no, I had to say I went to take a picture of a statue & that just seemed too fishy I guess. And I was going to California via south TX and Mexico? My honesty has always gotten me into trouble.

I was in and out of Mexico so quick that I really only took photos of the Muffler Man. I was pretty paranoid that I didn’t have Mexican car insurance (which I think I’ve read you really should have or god knows what will happen to you). And then the road signs were in Spanish (which I only speak about 20 words of). And the streets were full of giants puddles from the rainstorm). Plus I was a bit worried about getting lost with a quarter tank of gas and no map.

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So, let’s end with a few sights from Del Rio. A town that despite smelling of overpowering cow poop (at least that’s what I think it was), still had a lot of surprises:

Be careful what you wish for! It was hot today — in the 80s I think. Of course, we were skirting the Mexican border for most of the day so I guess that was part of it. I even turned the AC on in the van: something I really only do when the dogs start panting hard. Poor Grip still has a heavy winter coat on. They say it helps insulate but I have my doubts. She was much more uncomfortable than the other naked members of my family.

Vast distances covered today between stops. We’ve reached the sandy, dusty, dry part of the state that’s for sure. Most small towns looked bad off economically. Downtowns just scraping by or totally deserted (however, it was Sunday so most things were closed I guess).

Here’s a long-closed theatre in Harlingen:

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A neat Stremline Moderne building in Harlingen — I have no idea what it housed originally:

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The remains of a sign in McAllen. I love the different shapes and colors of the lightbulbs. And the blue & white Streamline-y building against the much-appreciated blue & white sky.

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There’s also a Streamline-y J.C. Penney store in McAllen:

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I love the little perched windows on the side of that building:

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Another example of old-fashioned display windows in Alice:

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Also in Alice, these street lights looked exceptionally old to me:

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Bougainvillea, right?

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Let’s wrap up with three signs. This one stands on a vacant lot. The building next door sure doesn’t look like it might’ve been a bus station:

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Certainly a sign of the times — Lonnie’s, having lost its neon, is surrounded by new development. I fear plans for a Sonic Drive-in or Burger King are already in the works.

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As I was pulling off the highway to settle in for the night in Devine, I saw this nice plastic sign:

Now we’re talking: sunny all day & t-shirt weather. They say 80 tomorrow! Hearing that it was rainy and cold back in NY made it seem all the nicer. Covered a lot of miles today. Houston to Harlingen in itself is 330 miles. Add on sidetrips off the highway. That means I didn’t take as many photos as usual but I’m getting back on schedule and am set up nicely to take a lot of photos tomorrow. I have never been in South Texas so this is exciting for me.

I found a spot of beach for the dogs to play in Corpus Christi. Nik got to play in the Gulf which wasn’t too cold for him to swim. Fixie got some of those nasty goatshead stickers in her feet and was not happy. Grip found a dead seagull. Grem had fun barking at the live ones overhead. She would jump straight up in the air as if she might catch one if she tried hard enough. Pretty funny.
OK — on with the show.

A couple not worthy of the website but deserving honorable inclusion here:

An old used-ta-be theatre in West Columbia:

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A cute ice cream stand in Beeville:

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Quite an ATM machine! (Corpus Christi):

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And at the same bank:

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Time for a regional diversion — I’ve been seeing these guys around. I think they are some sort of yucca but I’m not sure. I asked a few locals and they didn’t know either.

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We had these cactus in my backyard when I grew up in Southern California — but I can’t remember what they’re called:

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I’m pretty sure these are Texas Bluebonnets, right?

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Miami Beach? No, Corpus Christi!

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I had a great time in this city which has a rich mix of architectural styles. I have no idea what this building was originally but you gotta love the bright paint:

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I came upon this car dealership that features two retro elements: a huge silly sign and a diner-esque gigantic office. Both pretty tacky but I still found them entertaining.

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I managed to sneak in a stop in Raymondville as the sun was setting. I wish I’d had more time to check the little town out — but I did grab a couple quick shots of these two interesting buildings:

a Streamline Moderne affair (theatre? dept. store?):

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I love the grandiose details on this little cutie:

I forgot just how huge Houston is and it seemed to take forever making my 20 or so stops. Also just getting to Houston took longer than anticipated. Even despite speeding and getting my first ticket of the trip: 81 in a 65 = $200. Ouch. The last sign that I saw was 70 — most of the interstates in TX have that speed limit. But I guess I was just close enough to Houston to rate a lower restriction. That cop wrote me up in record time and was right on to the next “customer” before I even pulled away. Ah well, part of the cost-of-living on the road. I usually get one speeding ticket per major trip which is well worth it. If I obeyed the letter of the law, I’d probably only get to half the things I want to shoot. Nevertheless, I’ll be a little lighter on the gas pedal for awhile.

Weather was lovely for the second day in a row. Only I was stuck in the car way too much to put it to good use. I’m really going to have to scale back on TX stops at this point so I can arrive in CA with enough time to make the distance driven worth it. Hopefully, by next weekend.

The dogs got treated to an outstanding off-leash dog park today: the Harris County Dog Park. We’ve been to Millie Bush Dog Park in Houston before and this was just as great. Huge open grassy space, water for swimming (still too cold really), stuff to climb on, other nice dogs to run with. It was good to let Grem off her 50′ tether for awhile and her recall is getting much better.

http://www.houstondogpark.org/
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/4768749.html

On with today’s pictures!

I made a few stops en route to Houston. The little town of Hallettsville had some fun & nice signs:

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I’ve been noticing just about every small town in TX has these sidewalk steps. What’s the deal with that? Is there more flash flooding in TX than say PA? I don’t recall noticing these in the Northeast.

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I’m not sure what business this Rubber Ducky is associated with. There was a Drury Inn behind him and a rental car company. I know Comfort Inn uses rubber ducks in their advertising (and leaves small ones in their bathrooms which Nik always finds and decapitates). But there was no sign of a Comfort Inn around (unless Drury Inn took possession of the hotel). That might have been awhile ago and explain Ducky’s semi-flat tires. I don’t know if he got dragged around in parades or what. Quite a mystery.

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These suspended traffic signals in Houston freak me out. They really blow around in the wind and I’m worried one will drop on my roof or worse on my windshield while I’m passing under them:

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A couple “art installations” in Houston within about a block of each other:

The Flower Man:
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/TXHOUflowerman.html

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and “Field of Vision” with giant eyeballs on pedestals:

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And lastly, this little bit of specialness from the day. An abandoned sign on an empty lot. Long may it continue to survive!