Tucumcari

So yes, as I mentioned eons ago, we were in Tucumcari (and Kimberly I told you to stay tuned, I just didn't give you any idea how long you'd have to wait for the Tucumcari post!).  And Chester, I may get writers cramp (or typist cramp or carpal tunnel or something) from this post, since I am so gosh darned out of practice of late!

Hmm, what to say about Tucumcari?!?!  I think Tucumcari has had its day (as some of these photos may prove).  It was an interesting town and an interesting area, but as Rick so aptly put it "been there done that".  The friendliest, most welcoming people, Lodge included, in town seem to be the very pleasant man at the Chamber of Commerce and the very helpful man at the Post Office where we had our mail forwarded to from our forwarding service.  Seems servers in the few places in town had little or no interest in chatting and/or welcoming us!  Perhaps they should seek another line of work, but the opportunities are likely not too abundant in the area.

One of the things we noticed fairly soon about this little town is the murals.  Many of the buildings in town had murals painted on one side or another.  It really was interesting and fun ~ a few pictures above.

Another fun "attraction" of the town was the old signs (mostly old neon signs) of the businesses ~ the ones that have been around since the route 66 days.  Some of the businesses are long gone but the signs, or parts thereof, remain.

Not to mention other remnants of the past scattered about!  Truly interesting this town is.

Then, there is Tucumcari Mountain.  The residents are quite proud of the history of their mountain!  I stopped by the side of the road to buy a ristra (not like the one in that link but similar!).  I'd seen gorgeous short and fuller ones than the one shown in the link when I was at a farmer's market (oh how I love farmer's markets) in Los Alamos and didn't buy it ~ have no idea why I didn't 'cause I really loved it.  Anyway there was an older Mexican gentleman selling them on the side of the road in Tucumcari and I stopped to buy one and he proceeded to tell me all about the Mountain, it's history (folklore?) and hand me an information sheet about the town/area!

When we were out to lunch (seriously) one day we found out about a "shooting range" down the road that was near what used to be a municipal park, back in "the day".  Oh what a sad sad place.  We tried to imagine it in its "heyday" ... Come to find out the bathhouse (photo above) burned down just a few months back.

an old pump house of some sort, on the Metropolitan Park property

I will leave you with some photos of the flora at the park.  I've never been a fan to any degree of cacti, in fact I really hate them, but up close these guys were kind of interesting looking!  I haven't a clue what kind they are - they're all just "cactus" to me!

yeah, I know it's not a cactus, but it had such interesting seed pods!