6-15-09 Monday (Who You Calling Odd?)

Before bed last night, we purposely left the room darkening shade up so that the morning light would give us more reason to get our lazy asses out of bed.  We did this in conjunction with setting the alarm clock.  How’d that work out?  Pretty well.  It’s hard to wake up, snooze the alarm, close my eyes while sun is shining into them, and not get up.  Well almost.  Since I use a CPAP while sleeping, it gives me an air supply so I simply put the comforter over my head to block the light.  I didn’t have to worry about a lack of oxygen or constantly making it humid under the sheets. All in all, we slept in about 15 minutes more than the alarm wanted us to.

Sometimes getting up isn’t the problem.  Sometimes it’s just all the eating, crapping, showering, shaving and dressing that get in the way.  That too, went by pretty easily.

If you remember the other night we went to see Texas which was at the Palo Duro Canyon State Park.  Today we went back so we could see the park itself.  The pictures are included in the video slideshow.

First off, let me get a rant going.  World Famous.  In our travels, we’ve seen so many signs about world famous hotdogs, world famous burger, world famous this or that.  If I had a nickel for every time we saw a world famous something, I’d weigh a lot.  How does something qualify as world famous?  Any thoughts?  Can you picture people in Italy talking about a Palo Duro Canyon burger?  They’d be talking Italian so I’m not sure what they’re saying.

We went to visit a local oddity, discovered a new one, and researched some we’ve questioned.  Yes, Amarillo, has quite a few of them.  Let’s start with the one we went to visit, Cadillac Ranch.  (I’m going to pull the primary piece of information from websites or you can click on the link provided for uber-information.)    Cadillac Ranch was assembled in 1974!  Cadillac Ranch is visible from the highway, and though it is located on private land, visiting it (by driving along a frontage road and entering the pasture by walking through an unlocked gate) is tacitly encouraged. In addition, writing graffiti on or otherwise spray-painting the vehicles is also encouraged, and the vehicles, which have long since lost their original colors, are wildly decorated. The cars are periodically repainted various colors (once white for the filming of a television commercial, another time pink in honor of Stanley's wife Wendy's birthday , and yet another time all 10 cars were painted flat black to mark the passing of Ant Farm artist Doug Michels or simply to provide a fresh canvas for future visitors. The cars were briefly "restored" to their original colors by the motel chain Hampton Inn in a public relation sponsored series of Route 66 landmark restoration projects. The new paint jobs and even the plaque commemorating the project lasted less than 24 hours without fresh graffiti.

Today, while driving to the parts store, I noticed strange road signs in people’s front yards.  I snapped a few photos, but only had 1 worth publishing.  The rest were blurred.  I did a little research on what I was seeing.  I found this website that explains the Dynamite Museum: Brainchild of Stanley Marsh III, local legend/millionaire with more artistic vision than all the lofts in Soho. He is also the major funder of the Dynamite Museum. What, you may ask, is the Dynamite Museum? I have to tell you, this is what hooked me on Amarillo. The "museum" is a bunch of mock road-signs, planted in front yards all over the city, with cryptic, humorous, sage and ridiculous messages and/or pictures. From Walt Whitman’s "The fog comes on little cat’s feet", to a picture of a "Scuba Pig", to "Hear the Fat Lady sing, one block over"and "Hey, buddy, got a smoke?", to my personal favorite "I look really dangerous, and people hang on my every word". In and of itself, the Dynamite Museum is probably the greatest work of outdoor art ever, but the really cool part is talking to the locals about it. If you ask your waitress "What’s up with the signs?", she will look you straight in the eye and tell you they just appear in the night, and if you try to remove them, the city will fine you. If you ask someone at City Hall the same question, they might tell you the City wants them out, but Mr. Marsh will remove any Mayor who says so. And the next person will tell you Stanley Marsh doesn’t exist, the Chamber of Commerce is behind the whole thing. So, it is not just a work of art, but an inside joke, shared by the quarter million townsfolk, and a way to have fun at visitors expense. You could honestly spend two days, just driving around sign spotting. If you want more sign examples, click here.

Lastly, we’ve been seeing horse statues in front of a lot of businesses since we arrived.  We question what the meaning or purpose is.  We then theorize of course.  Maybe this, maybe that.  Since I was in research mode, here’s the answer per Wikipedia: The American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) is an international organization dedicated to the preservation, improvement and record-keeping of the American Quarter Horse breed. The organization is headquartered in Amarillo and has a museum. There is also an American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame exhibited in the museum; among the inductees was J. L. "Dusty" Rhoades of Odessa, who served as AQHA president in 1966 and 1974. In addition, the AQHA and Center City of Amarillo co-sponsors the project, "Hoof Prints of the American Quarter Horse" which consist of horse statues located in front of several Amarillo businesses, such as the downtown Amarillo National building, Nationwide Insurance, and Edward Jones. An area business would purchase a horse statue and a local artist paints on it.

The End

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