Whiskey, Texas: March 2008

Way to New Mexico - 3

"Well, my heart beats with the rhythm of the bumps on the highway
I pickup hitchhikers who look like psycho killers and ask 'em if they're going my way
I get lost in big cities and dirty looks in small towns
and I'm still having fun drivin' aimlessly around
out on the road, destination untold, out on the road"
- Wally Pleasant

You gotta love those downtown areas of small towns in west Texas... always plenty of colorful signage (often badly faded), on storefronts (often vacant or abandoned) lining bumpy brick streets. Growing up in a town like San Angelo, scenes like this never made much of an impression on me. These days, I've really been keeping an eye out for them during my travels.

Lamesa Glass & Mirror - Lamesa, TX

Oversized tire woman - Reid Bethel Tire Co - Lamesa, TX

Royal Crown Cola - Lamesa, TX

"A Barrel of Money to Loan" - Lamesa, TX

Bryant Pharmacy - Lamesa, TX

Big C Auto Service - Brownfield, TX

Big C mascot - Brownfield, TX

Magnolia gas station - Brownfield, TX

Magnolia gas station storefront

Looks like we're almost in New Mexico now... stay tuned for more.

WSC

np: Johnny Bush - Dos Tacos

Labels: fading ads, ghost signs, road trip

Way to New Mexico - 2

"I'm driving around the country, sort of doin' what I please

and I feel like Jack Kerouac or Thelma and Louise

out on the road, destination untold, out on the road"

- Wally Pleasant

Roadside scenes from Sunday, March 16...

Clements-Norred Dry Goods - Putnam, TX

The Arrow Ford sign in Abilene has been catching my eye for over 20 years. I finally stopped to photograph it...

Rockwell Bros. Co., Colorado City, TX

Baker Hotel - Colorado City, TX

another view of the Baker Hotel

Fina's Cafe - Big Spring, TX

heading north on US-87 north of Big Spring

Goodpasture Grain - Brownfield, TX

Stay tuned for more...

WSC

np: Ray Wylie Hubbard - "Cooler than hell"

Labels: fading ads, ghost signs, road trip

Way to New Mexico - 1

Today's entry is the first of several that will document our recent New Mexico vacation -- my first visit there in three years. It's amazing to think that I've been to Hawaii twice since the last time I was in New Mexico.

I'm shooting photos of so many things these days that I'm going to have to break my reports up into separate categories -- trains, ghost signs, kids and family, etc. So if you don't see what you're interested in this time, just check back in a day or two.

Early on the morning of Sunday, March 16, I headed west on I-20. Mom and K and the kids had left the day before. It would be a leisurely trip since I was by myself. Here are a few of the trains I saw...

One of the first trains I saw after hitting the road on Sunday March 16 was this UP westbound led by the Missouri Pacific "heritage" locomotive # 1982, shown here leaving Baird, Texas on a stack train bound for California. Interestingly, once the locomotive arrived in the Los Angeles area, UP sent it north on a ZLCBR train, which rerouted up the Oregon Trunk and through the Columbia River gorge. So by the time I was a few days into my New Mexico trip, the 1982 was in Washington State!

Faded T&P lettering graces a concrete bridge at Loraine, TX.

An eastbound races through a cut at Colorado City, TX.

Brownfield, Texas: Santa Fe-style station sign and locomotives in the Texas Northeastern scheme.

ILSX 1387 at Brownfield, Texas: March 16, 2008

This fading Amerail logo adorns the side of a storage boxcar at Brownfield.

Next up: Way to New Mexico - 2, featuring west Texas ghost signs and other roadside views.

WSC

np: James McMurtry - Angeline

Labels: Baird Texas, Brownfield Texas, Colorado City Texas, UP Baird Subdivision, UP Toyah Subdivision

The Team Texas Experience

Guess who's driving?

Sunday morning at Texas Motor Speedway. Wonder who's behind the wheel...

Meet your driver of the # 18 car...

Last Sunday, K took her driving lesson at the Team Texas driving school out at Texas Motor Speedway. I had given her a gift certificate for Team Texas the Christmas before last. The class I signed her up for had to be re-scheduled a couple different times due to unfavorable weather, but by early March, she finally managed to get scheduled for a class on a weekend with no rain in the forecast.

Her class included 10 laps around the TMS track in the # 18 Monte Carlo. She had a great time, and the rest of us had fun watching.

ready to "drive it like she stole it"

the "official" photograph

Half a Lifetime Ago - updated

Check out the latest entry on my 1990 blog, re-capping a weekend trip from San Angelo to Addison to attend a Circle K convention. Highlights included a couple hours of train-watching near Tower 55 in Fort Worth on Friday, and a westbound on the ATSF Lampasas Sub on my way home on Sunday.

http://halfalifetimeago.blogspot.com/

Until next time...

WSC

np: BR5-49 - "One Long Saturday Night"

Labels: NASCAR, Team Texas, Texas Motor Speedway

last taste of winter

It snowed last Thursday and melted on Friday. With the pear trees blooming and some greenery appearing on the front lawn, that was (hopefully?) our last taste of winter for the year. I had the camera ready...