Tim and I took a little cruise down the main roadway in Alamogordo and what did we see? Well we found some of the signs we were looking for. Most of the really cool neon signs have been torn down or just left to rust away. Back in the 50's & 60's when neon signs were all the rage and the best way to advertise the neon was gas but sometimes the signs would be painted to really get a colorful effect. The previous information on neon is curtesy of Jean Carlton. Thanks Jean! There was evidence of that at one point Alamogordo was a neon sign haven. We did come across some odd tourist things. The slideshow that I posted today shows some signs and the odd things we found. We found the Worldest's largest pistachio. It is located at the McGinn's Pistachio Tree Ranch and it is a sight to see. The pistachio was built in 2009 in honor of the founder of the tree ranch, Tom McGinn, who loved visiting roadside attractions. The giant pistachio is 30 ft high. It took 5 yards of concrete to construct and 35 gallons of paint to cover it. The ranch is a great place to visit. We were fortunate to be there during Pistachio harvest time and watched as the pistachios were shaken from their trees into a pistachio collecting machine. McGinn's also has a winery. The store is a log cabin and if you like pistachios you would love the store. It has any flavored pistachio you could think of and several brittles. It was a fun place to stop, sample and shop.
Along our cruise down White Sands Blvd we also came across a roadrunner (state bird of New Mexico) made of scrap metal, a dinosaur made of used auto parts, a anti aircraft gun and the Running Indian souvenier shop that was a famous truckstop at one time. I know, since when are truck stops famous? Well, according to the advertising this one was! So our exploration of Alamogordo was a success.
I know I have been talking about the weird weather here but last night it got even weirder. Once again, there was weather all around Holloman AFB but nothing hitting the base until 8:15 pn when the bubble burst and the storm hit. It rained, it poured with sound and light effects. It was quite a show. So, it may not rain on the base as often as it does in town but when it does it Rains! I will have some storm pictures posted later this week.
Today is a no plan day. I don't have a destination to seek out so you will have to check back tomorrow to see what I ended up doing today. Right now, it is a mystery to me!
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