Monday, December 6, 2010

So send me a letter

This year, my company gave the employees the day after Thanksgiving off, so, with four days in a row, I decided to take a mini vacation with my Mom. We planned to go letter-boxing down in Las Cruces and then over to Tucson. That is the answer to my Sunday Stills Potluck photos. Thursday, we had a wonderful turkey dinner with family and then on Friday, while everyone was out shopping at the crack of dawn, my mom and I loaded up the car and the two small dogs (Buddha and her pug) and began driving west and south.

Here's Buddha ready for the trip
 and my mom with the letter boxing clues.
First stop was Truth or Consequences where we attempted to find two letterboxes at the Veteran's Memorial Park. This is where the neat looking water tower in the Potluck photos was.

The park was nice, with a miniature Wall of Tears and the reflective Columbarium (Potluck photo) but, alas, I couldn't find either of the two letter boxes. Here's inside the museum. Of course, the letterboxing wasn't helped by the fact that the curator was sitting inside and looking out the window the whole time. I wondered if they had discovered it and removed it. Or maybe, I'm just a terrible letterboxer.
 This was a really neat design on the wall in the museum. It's quite similar to my Pegasus logo and I might even consider something like it for a tattoo someday although I think I'd stick with only four legs on the horse. ;)
 Here's the Columbarium. This was where I took another of the Potluck photos.

 They also had several over sized figures like this eagle and the statue of liberty.


 Here's a section of the Wall That Heals.

It was a very moving display.

Here's some more of Hatch. Notice the very large cowboy boot to the right? It was also used for a Potluck photo.

Here is a chile ristra that I thought was quite decorative. These are green chiles that are hung up to dry out. As they ripen they turn red or yellow, as in this case. Later, when you want to use some for cooking you just pull them off the string, soak with a little water or oil to soften and use in recipes calling for red chile. Here are some sample recipes.


Looking for letterboxes was stressing us out so much that we decided to just bag the boxes and go on with our road trip. We drove on to Hatch next and had lunch at Sparkys. See previous post. I think the town collects oversized figures. I stopped at an RV place to take pictures of their collection of outdoor figures like the tiger from the Potluck photos and they showed me more in their showroom.






Then I noticed across the street that there was a propane powered rocket waiting for liftoff!

How about this little Piggy all dressed and ready for market?

I think this "little" girl is part of the A & W Root Beer family.
 
Anyone know who Harbie is? I googled, and he was Harbie the Harbor Seal, the mascot of Harbor Gasoline, a chain of gas stations in Los Angeles and Orange County. This guy was in great shape!

I didn't recognize this All American Hot Dog either but I thought he was pretty cool. He even has a dinosaur or a Geico lizard or something? on his back. lol.

Yee Haw!!!

There was even an antique slot machine.

Oh, and since they were selling RV's I gotta show you one of my favorites.

And check out this classic car!

More to come...


So send me a letter - song: Tumble and Twirl, artist: David Bowie, album: Tonight

6 comments:

Dan and Betty said...

Neat pictures and it sounds like it was a great trip.

Dan

Achieve1dream said...

I don't think I would have ever guessed road trip lol! Looks like fun! Can't wait to see the rest of the pictures.

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

That All American Hotdog looks sort of "suggestive"...and naughty...ahem. lol!
I like the pig. Very cute. Would look great at a BBQ place.
My favorite is that little camping trailer. Adorable!
I would so love that. I would join that group "Sisters on the Fly" (google it) and join them camping with all their nifty vintage style trailers.

I don't think you're a terrible letterboxer. Sometimes it's easier to box with others because one will notice things the other doesn't....kind of like bouncing ideas off one another.
We'll have to plan a letterboxing adventure together soon.

~Lisa

Ed said...

cool shots and great post, looks like Thelma and Louise are on the loose in New Mexico..:-))

Jo Castillo said...

Ummmm. I miss New Mexico chili and the restaurants. Sigh..... Nice memories for me.

The Wades said...

Craziness! I like what Ed said--Thelma and Louise. :)