Day 2 - Cadillac Ranch (Amarillo, TX)

Our next stop right outside of Amarillo was Cadillac Ranch. It's an art installment of ten Cadillacs sticking out of the ground at an angle in a row in the middle of nowhere. 

Yes, this is what they were referencing in the Pixar movie.

I had visited before, but there's so many ways to have fun with a bunch of cars sticking up out of the ground.

Jodie being photogenic.

There were a few other tourists with spray cans (yes, you can spray them) painting their initials on the cars. Sometimes people get creative, and sometimes people come with their children and just make everything wet and sticky.

Layers and layers of spray paint + Texas sun = sticky and unpleasant to touch.

Drippy tire.

We all took turns trying to be original, but we're pretty sure everything's been done when it comes to this landmark.

Paint cans lined up along the top of one of the cars.

Me on a painted car.

Jodie and I.

The twins.

Jodie and I being delicious.

Less successful result of a cute siblings photo.

We took a few attempts at mid-air pictures.

Jodie anticipating the fall.

Gavin wins this round.

How?

We even chipped off a few pieces to keep as souvenirs.

Frown, smile, smile.

Gavin found a few spray bottles that still had some paint in them, so he decided to make an art.

Gavin sprays the car.

Making use of the gold spray paint.

And then planked over it.

What a troll.

We'll always be sure to stop by Cadillac Ranch every I-40/Route 66 trip.

Beasts from the East.

-Marie

Day 2 - The Big Texan (Amarillo, TX)

Wait, everything's bigger than Texas?

The Big Texan is the #1 place you wanna go if you want to die of ruptured stomach. They have a deal where if you eat 72oz of steak in an hour, you get it for free. What could go wrong?

This picture is deceiving, they don't actually sing for you.

Cockroach mouth.

Jodie put on her patriotic pants.

However, we arrived around 8AM (shortly after they open) and were in no mood for steak. I have vague but fond memories of The Big Texan from my childhood, mostly of a large dining area decorated with various animal heads and a child's meal served to me in a souvenir cowboy hat. I later found that The Big Texan is the most horrifying, nightmare-inducing place on earth disguised as a Texas-themed Chuck-ee Cheese.

When you enter, there is a gift shop to the left. That makes sense. 

Horse figurines.

A hat that I wouldn't buy.

However, there is a shooting game directly in front, complete with gems like these -

The Big Texan, proudly sending children to therapy since 1960.

Brb, gotta go change my pants.

+2 points if you shoot the adorable piglet.

This guy would talk to you every time you passed by. Also has the ability to blink. Creepy.

There were also framed portraits on the way to the bathroom that turned into skeletal nightmares as you passed.

We were the only group in the place besides a French family, whom I can only imagine were just as if not more uncomfortable than us. We sat in the large dining area saturated with Texas-themed things such as massive moose heads looming over tables and chairs made completely out of bull horns.

Just watchin' you eat, that's all.

We all ordered coffee to keep us going and flipped our menus over to discover coloring activities.

Never too old.

There were some familiar faces hidden around the store -

You gotta get out of there.

And then, uh..

It might be a smile.

Don't get the impression that we regret going. We definitely got a kick out of the place and stayed longer than anticipated. I recommend visiting, but don't go far out of your way and don't bring your children.

-Marie

Day 2 - Shamrock and Groom, TX

Gavin drove most of Arkansas which mostly consisted of tedious road construction. He also had an unfortunate encounter with a rude female gas station janitor in the bathroom.

I drove straight from 1:30 AM to 7 AM (40 miles of Arkansas, all of Oklahoma and 20 miles of Texas). Everyone knows Arkansas and Oklahoma are the boring states, so we didn't mind passing through them as quickly as possible. I only shared the road with trucks (that constantly tried to merge into me without warning) and for about an hour I had I-40 to myself, which was nice.

When planning this trip, I looked up iconic places to catch along Route 66. Jodie and I switched at the U-drop Inn along Route 66 in Shamrock, TX.

U-Dropp in in Shamrock, TX along Route 66. Find it in Pixar's Cars.

I only got about an hour of sleep before we arrived in Groom.

More like Gloom, TX amirite

Water tower built purposely at a tilt, begging people to visit Groom (pop. 500-something)

Groom is famous for having the largest cross in the US. It is impossible to miss from I-40, being so tall and also in the flattest stretch of the trip.

Of course, Texas.

Jodie, Lewis and I had passed by the cross once before in a trip three years ago and took a few pictures from afar. This time, I had printed precise directions to the base of it. We were pretty blown away by what we found at the base of it.

Pretty overwhelming.

Bet you didn't see that coming.

Por que?!

Jesus and the fetus.

We *may* have taken a few blasphemous photos...

u ok?

Groom is such a party.

plank.

I'm over here, Jesus.

Hanging out with our new friend.

We left after messing around for about half an hour, Amarillo-bound. TO BE CONTINUED.

-Marie

Day 2 - The Drive (Amarillo, TX to Holbrook, AZ)

The drive from Amarillo, TX to Holbrook, AZ was by far the most interesting stretch. It started out like this:

How inviting.

And slowly turned to this:

Entering New Mexico

Finally something to look at.

Sage.

Perfect skies.

Roadside rock formations.

We visited a western-themed roadside emporium and bought a few trinkets.

We definitely did not purchase this.

The song Albuquerque by Weird Al lasted the duration of us driving through the city.

Anyone on the street would gladly shave our back for a nickel.

Wakka wakka doo doo yeah (Leaving Albuquerque)

Things began to get more interesting in Arizona. Rocks got larger, people got stranger. Stops became more scarce. We agreed that the welcome sign should have read, "Welcome to Arizona! Hope you got gas in New Mexico!"

Cliffside in AZ.

Interesting rock.

Everything sort of looks like the surface of Jupiter.

It's when we started running out of gas that things took a left turn. We stopped by a petrified forest national park and hung out in the gift shop. Some lady handed us some anti-atheist literature. We thought about grabbing gas but we knew that it was way too expensive at that one shop, so we held off. Nobody told us that there wouldn't be gas for miles. That's when we pulled off into Stewart's.

Seems legit.

We didn't have to stick around too long to know that there wasn't any gas there. We continued to drive down 40 for about 15 more miles below empty, but I insisted that we go back and explore.

Gas station near Holbrook, AZ. Dinosaurs are the theme of Route 66 in Arizona.

Abandoned building.

We turned around and saw the faint outline of a rainbow, positioned directly right above Stewart's. It was the only place in the whole area where it was raining. We had to go back.

By far the most interesting stop along Route 66 this trip.

Stewart's: EXIT NOW

The entire place was positioned on a cliff overlooking 40. There was nobody working there, but several signs begging us to "feed the ostriches" and grab some "free petrified wood". There was one other car of tourists but they understandably did not leave their car for any photo opportunities. Whoops.

Mannequins (eeuughh) littered the yard surrounded by barbed wire fence.

No hands.

Raining = bad, blurry pictures.

In a field of junk.

So inviting.

There were several homemade statues that resembled papier mache.

Take Pictures Now/Exit Now/Free Polished Petrified Wood/Trucks "OK"

We don't know, either.

Mannequin riding the fossil dinosaur.

Dinosaur munchin' on a lady.

What you see from the road.

Fossils.

A log with the word "logs" on it.

hello welcome to stewart~

there is nothing to fear~

I took as many pictures as I could before Gavin, Jodie and Lewis voted that we move on and decrease our risk of being part of a murder. We headed across the street to another western themed store. Again, dinosaurs.

Across the street from Stewart's, East of Holbrook.

Outdoor decoration.

The two women running the store were closing in 15 but didn't mind having conversation and letting us shop around. They admitted that neither of them had been across the street to Stewart's, but you know that looming cliffside dinosaur must have sparked their interest at least once. Then again, they had a few quirks of their own...

We seriously just aren't in NC anymore.

They're not real but you still can't touch them.

It stormed the rest of the way to Holbrook, but we finally made it an hour before we had to check into our hotel.

Sign near a Mexican restaurant in Holbrook, AZ.

And trust me, it wasn't some ordinary hotel...

TO BE CONTINUED.

-Marie