Roadside Architecture

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Day 15: More New Mexico

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.







6 Comments:

  • Hey DJ,

    Just wanted to say thanks again for taking the time to do these every night after a long day on the road. I enjoy reading these each evening and hearing how the trip is going.

    Jeff

    By Blogger Vintage Roadside, at Thu Mar 13, 11:14:00 PM PDT  

  • You're very welcome! It's fun keeping an eye out for misc. stuff during the day. Maybe I can look back at these posts when I'm 80 and have lost my memory and can relive these adventures all over again. I probably should've video-ed the A&W Family today just for you. Any other special requests?

    By Blogger Debra Jane Seltzer (aka agilitynut), at Fri Mar 14, 06:20:00 AM PDT  

  • Thanks for the kind offer of taking requests. I must say it's almost more fun from my end to be completely surprised by what you find each day. The range of great things you're finding is amazing. Every thing from a Green Stamp sign to wonderful theatres - it's all good stuff. Glad to hear things are rolling along smoothly! I hope when you're 80 you're still out there (in the latest version of Sparkle) finding the good stuff to share.

    By Blogger Vintage Roadside, at Fri Mar 14, 10:07:00 PM PDT  

  • Ah, shucks. Glad you are enjoying the mixed bag of stuff. I hope to have a less gas-hoggy vehicle when I'm 80. Prices are ranging from $3.19 to $3.79 per gallon on this trip. I hate to think what it'll be when I do the PNW trip in Fall.

    By Blogger Debra Jane Seltzer (aka agilitynut), at Fri Mar 14, 10:14:00 PM PDT  

  • We're worried about prices when we drive out to Tulsa in October too. But, there's really no better way to really experience things than these trips. It's just great you stay up every night to do these and give the rest of us an idea on what's out there:-)

    By Blogger Vintage Roadside, at Fri Mar 14, 10:37:00 PM PDT  

  • Gas prices will only go up. It's just one more reason to travel as much as you can - the sooner the better. This trip will set me back a few thousands dollars but, as they say, the adventure is priceless.

    By Blogger Debra Jane Seltzer (aka agilitynut), at Sat Mar 15, 05:56:00 AM PDT  

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