Driving into Amarillo, TX, we passed
Cadillac Ranch, on the old Route 66. This iconic sight consists of Cadillacs of different years (1949 - 1963) buried halfway into the ground.
This closeup of some of the cars shows Cadillacs from the late 50's, complete with fins. This is a remarkable sight of a real piece of Americana and is unlike anything else we have ever seen. Quite a welcome to Amarillo!
Amarillo is the site of the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, we arrived on a day that the museum was closed, but we still were able to view these amazing statues in bronze outside.
This sculpture portrays the original cowboy days of calf roping and range riding.
These lifesize bronze sculptures are very impressive and life-like. Amarillo was originally the real cow town and the site of thousands of cattle coming through. Must have been quite a sight.
We had already seen a couple of the painted horse statues in town and began to look for them as we traveled.
Amarillo is also know for it's helium production and indeed we stayed at an RV park on Helium Road. Amarillo is a true American original and well worth a visit.
2 comments:
Great pictures! We loved those Caddies!
Nearly all of the world's helium supply is found within a 250-mile radius of Amarillo, Texas (the Helium Capital of the World). A byproduct of billions of years of decay, helium is distilled from natural gas that has accumulated in the presence of radioactive uranium and thorium deposits. If it's not extracted during the natural gas refining process, helium simply soars off when the gas is burned, unrecoverable.
The federal government first identified helium as a strategic resource in the 1920s, and refused to sell any to other countries, including Germany, hence the use of explosive nitrogen in the Hindenburg, with terrible consequences.
Ask me what time it is, and I'll tell you how to build a watch.
Post a Comment