around usa with happy travel
11.10.16 – Texas (continues)
Departure from the hotel at 10.00 and the first point – the museum of retro cars Bill’s Backyard Classics, which some of us did not go to. Andrei and I sunbathed and shot boomerangs. Honestly, I don’t really know about cars and before that we already looked at beautiful cars in Pontiac, so our decision was conscious. In addition, the museum was not free and the cost was not included in the tour. Our calculation is simple – 20 bucks will not be superfluous, especially when the city of sins awaits you ahead.
Next top – Cadillas Ranch or American Dream.
As soon as we approached the “ranch” I was already overwhelmed with admiration. On the way to the installation itself, Andrei and I were a little behind the rest. We enjoyed the views of the endless corn fields and in the distance shining in the sun, hardly half buried by cars. Although in fact we just took a picture. I wanted to make as many frames as possible. Who knows when else we can visit such a special place. Before I even reached the Cadillacs themselves, various topics for photo shoots were already spinning in my head. I plunged into the world of imagination. Not everyone is enthusiastic about such art installations, but I just adore them.
The trick is that, such projects are based on a simple and fairly banal idea, which over the years acquires a deep and refined meaning / character. But the most important thing is that, even if you do not know the history of the project, your imagination comes up with your own. Where else will you see 10 painted, half buried at the same distance and at the same angle, cars? This fact alone deserves attention and respect. Now, having returned home, I studied the history of the “ranch” on several sites on the Internet. From my read articles, I made my brief description of the history of the Cadillac Ranch.
Meaning: These remarkable monuments represent American hope and dream, art and commerce, materialism and spiritualism, recklessness and fame.
1974 by Chip Lord, Hudson Marquez and Doug Michels,
The creators: Hipari Chip Lord, Doug Michels (both architects) and Hudson Marqueise (artist), originally from San Francisco, called their collective Ant Farm.
In all the Russian-language articles that I read, the facts and meaning are quite confused. It is said that the artists came to Texas for the American dream of becoming rich and famous, which the eccentric millionaire Stanley Marsh 3 helped them realize, and it was he who gave them the task to come up with an interesting art installation. I did not see such an interpretation of events in one English-language article, therefore, based on the data I read in English, including the site, I dare to provide you with a history of the idea and implementation of the Cadillac Ranch project.Создатели: Хипари Чип Лорд, Даг Михельс (оба архитекторы) и Хадсон Маркеиз (художник) родом из Сан Франциско назвали свой коллектив Ant Farm.
The guys from Ant Farm did not consider Amarillo as a city for the reproduction of their project. They had a list of millionaires who might be interested in providing their plot of land for their art installation, and Stanley Marsh 3 was one of that list.
Installation idea itself:
Ant Farm team member Hudson Marquez drew a sketch of the Cadillac Ranch project after reading the children’s book “The Look of Cars” found in a bar, not far from where he and Chip lived in northern San Francisco. One section of the book talked about raising and lowering the caudal fin as part of the design of a car’s design. Hudson Marques greatly admired and loved the Cadillac brand. In an interview with Stanley Marsh 3 explains that from 1948 to 1964, Cadillac was the American dream, and still remains for many of us.
Ant Farm team member Hudson Marquez drew a sketch of the Cadillac Ranch project after reading the children’s book “The Look of Cars” found in a bar, not far from where he and Chip lived in northern San Francisco. One section of the book talked about raising and lowering the caudal fin as part of the design of a car’s design. Hudson Marques greatly admired and loved the Cadillac brand. In his interview. From the interview you can see the original location of the installation, created in 1974. Ten cars of different years of production (1949, 1950, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962 and 1963) were dug into the ground with their bow, observing at the same time a slope equal to the angle of inclination of the Egyptian pyramids in Giza.
From the interview you can see the original location of the installation, created in 1974. Ten cars of different years of production (1949, 1950, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962 and 1963) were dug into the ground with their bow, observing at the same time a slope equal to the angle of inclination of the Egyptian pyramids in Giza.
Stanley Marsh 3 himself encouraged people to visit the “ranch” and was absolutely not against graffiti. So if you are heading towards Amarillo, be sure to stop at the “Cadillac Ranch”.
Stanley Marsh 3 himself encouraged people to visit the “ranch” and was absolutely not against graffiti. So if you are heading towards Amarillo, be sure to stop at the “Cadillac Ranch”.
Stanley passed away on June 17, 2014.
Our next location was MidPoint Cafe в Adrian– the middle of Route 66 between Chicago and Los Angeles. The signs at Adrian proudly announce that the distance from here to each side is exactly 1,139 miles, and the slogan of the nice cafe is “when you’re here, you’re half way there” – “when you’re here, you ‘re halfway there ”. Met the owners of the cafe and did not refuse to try their cakes. Absolutely worth trying their cakes.
New Mexico 12
Than we moved to Russells Truck & Travel Center, based in New Mexico State. At this place you can have a bite to eat in a cafe or buy food in a store. The center also has a gift shop and a free classic car museum. The name speaks for itself – Truck & Travel is not only the institution itself, but also the huge area around it – a recreation area for trucks and cars. It was impossible not to use such a space, and Lena and I took turns to drive our wonderful tank. I drove 2 laps at the gas station. The feelings are unforgettable, just a delight! That’s how America discovered the driver in me. We visited the museum, bought boiled eggs in sealed packaging, burritos, natural buffalo jerky (Buffalo Jerky) and drove to our last tourist destination – Blue Swallow Motel. Blue Swallow Motel – this is a motel in the style of highway 66, which has been operating since 1939. We didn’t take long walks there, as the road was long from the previous point, and as it turned out, there was nowhere to go to the toilet. We typed “liquor store” in google maps on the way to our next hotel Rodeway Inn 
in Albuquerque and went cross-legged in search of. It was unprofitable to do two stops in time, I really wanted to go to the toilet, but I even wanted to have a rest in the evening. And so we drove up to the liquor. Lena and I left the guys to study the goods, and ourselves rushed in search of the restroom. There was a strange sensation, it seemed that everyone had died out: in the district buildings, gas stations and shops were closed. There were almost no people on the street, and cars on the road could be counted on the fingers. We met only alive at the liquor one. After 5 minutes wandering around the street in search of a toilet, we returned to the point of arrival and it was already very difficult, and around the bottle with liquids, questions about our alcohol preferences were beaten in the bladder. They asked metal sellers and they advised us to try in a cafe across the road. There was an absolutely empty burrito – a fast food establishment, which is why we initially did not go there, but now it was worth a try. It looked like only the drive in service worked, but we decided to stop by. To our question whether they are open, the staff responded positively. And here it is this moment when there are no more people in the institution and all the attention is on you two. You are absolutely not interested in the menu of this food service, you probably would never have gone here to eat, but you stand and pretend that you are interested in choosing, but already swimming in your eyes. The tension was on the edge, so we didn’t pretend for a long time and asked where the toilet was. And here it is salvation! After using the paradise, we thanked the workers and politely asked if we needed to buy something. The answer pleased us – I did not have to buy anything. Refreshed, light, like airy we went outside and now we could enjoy the magnificent scenery. The view from the gas station next to the liquor was just fabulous! Like in the movies! In general, we often repeated this phrase in America.
The characters who drove up in wheelbarrows to the store, I must say, were colorful. Beer at the wheel – generally know the problems. In the car, probably, covered by a newspaper, the trunk of each lay. Everything looked intimidating, as did the sellers themselves – metalworkers who shook their bosks under heavy metal, rattling to the fullest in the store. Although they served us nicely and very politely, they did not even ask for documents. We did not go to look at the house in which “Breaking Bad” was shot, we had enough adventures. But the guys from Dodge went and got the matyuk from an old woman exhausted by tourists. So before you go there, think carefully, because the laws on weapons in New Mexico are very sparing. “Breaking Bad” – 3828 Pieremont Dr Albuquerque, NM 87111.
We got to our hotel. Finally, the hotel had a working washer. In previous hotels, we were unlucky, just some kind of karma. I, Andrei and Lena quickly packed up their not fresh things and occupied one of the washing machines. And who did not have time, he was late.
Laundry(washing) 1.75$, (drying) 1,25$.
We loaded the laundry, it’s time to have a bite. On the advice of a couple from the 3rd car, the four of us went to eat seafood in Altamar. 
Both the prices and the service were quite pleasant for the local eatery, until two more guys joined us, and in the end, they started to tear us with overpriced tips. When the guys arrived, we asked to change seats at a larger table (the restaurant was empty enough), but Andrei soon left to get our washed clothes out of the car, so that most of the time we were less than 6. Taught by experience, we got out again and left so many tips, how much was deemed necessary. When we left, the manager apologized and said that we were absolutely right. However, their opinion did not bother us much. Do not get it wrong, there are places where you can, you need and want to leave a decent tip, and of course we left. In such places, as a rule, there is no “party for 6 or more”, because they earn this tip even without it. And there are places that simply do not correspond to the requested tip. The point is to pay the waiters: they are paid a minimum wage and automatic tips are included in the bill so that the salary is higher. Do not be afraid to include criticism! There is no tip law. There are generally accepted concepts of tips, values in percentage terms, but in different countries they are different. In America, for example, it is believed that 10% of the tip of the total amount means you are not completely satisfied, 15% are satisfied, 20% and above are excellent. In many places, tips are automatically added, but you are not required to pay them if the amount does not match your satisfaction. If you are shy and don’t like to find out and prove something there, I advise you to find out about tips as soon as you enter the institution (what percentage is turned on automatically if it is turned on, and are there lots for 6 or more). Do not forget that in America, in many states, a tax is added and your account may ultimately differ greatly from what you expected when you made an order based on the prices in the menu. I personally don’t think it’s right to be afraid to disagree with the payment for the service and I don’t understand why I have to pay for low-quality, sometimes even rude service. And sometimes just the atmosphere of the place and the quality of the products are not worth the requested tip. This is exactly the case of Altamar.
Slightly spoiled mood needs to be fixed, which is what we did. The guys came to our room to listen to music and drink cocktails. That evening we met outgoing ladies and their dog from the next room. It was very interesting to chat with local Americans. The issue of election did not pass by, but they were not going to vote, because they considered both candidates a disgrace. We all drank cocktails, played with the dog and chatted. In our party, only the local sheriff was not enough, so he decided to visit us. He patrolled the area and said the neighbors complained about the noise. There were a lot of similar hotels in the area, but people were closing in rooms and it was very quiet, so even a couple talk on the balcony was quite noisy, and we had a whole company. The sheriff asked us to be quieter and not to shine especially with alcohol, which we did. We sat a little longer in our room and sleep.
