Cadillac Ranch

Travelled through the Texas Panhandle and camped outside Amarillo, between the airport and the train tracks. Met Jo and Jason who are on their way to a wedding in California and are having a great Route 66 adventure. Stopped just south of town at the Cadillac Ranch.

From www.answers.com:

"Cadillac Ranch is a public art installation and sculpture in Amarillo, Texas. The cars as you face east, towards Amarillo. It was created in 1974 by an artists' collective named Ant Farm, and consists of ten "junker" Cadillac automobiles, representing a number of evolutions of the car line from 1949 to 1963, half-buried nose-first in the ground, at an angle corresponding to that of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.

Its original location was in a wheat field, but in 1997 it was moved two miles to the west, to a cow pasture along Interstate 40, in order to place it further from the limits of the growing city. Both sites belonged to the well-known local helium tycoon and eccentric Stanley Marsh 3, a supporter of the project.

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 (most recently white, and pink before that) to provide a fresh canvas for future visitors."

We made the required photo op stop at the Midpoint Cafe in Adrian where the proprietor rushed out to take a photo of our smart car with the sign that states you are half way between Chicago and LA.

From there we detoured south to Clovis, New Mexico where we had a fabulous tour of the Norman Petty Studio where Buddy Holly and many others recorded hit records in the late 50s and early 60s.