Road to Palo Duro... is lined with... Cadillacs?

This is going to be a relatively fast post. The drive to Palo Duro Canyon was lovely like most of the rides. I knew I was in Texas when I started seeing the acres of wind mills. I think they are the newest crop. Of course there were other signs as well… like the smell of the cattle that roamed beneath the windmills or the occasional oil rig. But windmills are what stick in my mind as being quintessential Texas road fare (of the non-food variety). You drive the country and you see many billboards hawking the ultimate tourist destinations - The biggest crater (ok, maybe) or the biggest chair (big deal, who cares). I have to draw the line at the biggest golf tee or the biggest ball of yarn.

These are not real attractions in my book. Obviously, I am becoming way too jaded already. These are some things that are supposedly “must see” tourist spots and you get there and they are decidedly not. But Cadillac Ranch shows up in all the guide books. It felt like it was real. A guy did an art installation to highlight the fins on successive years of Cadillac cars. He was highlighting the fins so he buried the cars face down in the ground. It was a hit. Who knows exactly why, but it was a hit. So much so that it was unearthed and moved to be closer to the main road. Yup, it was that much of a hit. I suspect that if this were my first stop, I would have been impressed. after all, here is an art installation taken over by the masses… who over the years have spray painted the Caddys so much that they are inches thick with paint. Graffiti raised to an art form.

WAIT… doesn’t that sound familiar? Yup, same concept as the Hope Outdoor Gallery in Austin Texas. Remember how I gushed over that? It’s still a trip highlight, and this paled in comparison in so many ways.

First, it is truly in the middle of nowhere. You pull off the main road where there is nothing for miles in any direction. You hardly even know you are there but for the few cars stopped along the road. So I pulled the RV off the road as best I could and walked up. There was a guy there selling artifacts made from the paint chips that fall off the exhibit over time (I suspect they help them fall off). They were embedded in lucite or laminated to metal and made into jewelry, key chains and notebook covers. You get the picture. The exhibit was moved, but then they sure put it far away from the entrance. It looked kind of cool in the distance… Kind of like a row of ostriches burying their head in the sand. It was an easy walk, but not particularly pleasant because what should have been a beautiful desert landscape, was riddled with litter. Mostly spray paint cans, but also soda bottles and things of that nature. It made me appreciate the care and upkeep that makes Hope Outdoor Gallery so special. You are not terribly aware of the cleanliness. I am not sure I would have found it particularly noteworthy had it not been pointed out, but the difference here was striking.

Then there is the exhibit itself. Yes it is ever changing like Hope Gallery. But Hope Gallery feels like it is executed by artists. Most of the graffiti was ART - it was stunning, it was great. Here there were some “artsy” aspects but much of it is of the sort where people wrote their names… “Joe was here.” Or they professed their relationships… “Joe loves Doris.” To me, this was not ART; it was barely art. But again, I am jaded.

I am posting a bunch of pictures so you can see. Tell me your reactions. I am curious.