May 23, 2021 Day 36: Alburquerque, NM -- Amarillo, TX
Who knew ten half Cadillacs stuck in the mud would be a tourist attraction? Although I have to say, I can see the appeal. Every hubcap and window was covered with neon graffiti. For miles, there was mud - rows of plowed, brown dirt. The fluorescent cars loudly claimed their bit of land.
We had no idea what Cadillac Ranch was before we arrived. Loads of people were standing around the colorful cars, and returning to their vehicles with muddy feet and spray cans in their hands. When a loud family passed us, they handed us their used spray paint. So here I am in the middle of a brown muddy field somewhere in Oklahoma, having no idea why I’m walking towards a handful of broken cars, and a Hispanic lady, smiling, hands me a can of fluorescent pink paint. I never see her again. I used this paint to cover drips underneath the metal tubes on the undersides of the cars. As far as tourist attractions go, this one is a little strange. It’s my type.
I cover generations of paint caked on and cracking. Nothing written or drawn stands out except that no one really seems to be a graffiti artist here, and the chaos tells its own scrambled story. People are laughing. There’s a large puddle around the cars, and some young women are taking off their sock and shoes to get to the part they can climb. There’s photographs and the wind is blowing this slightly toxic spray paint smell everywhere.
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