I grew up thinking all ranches were like the one my aunt and uncle had. Some were bigger, of course, and a few might be smaller, but in general a ranch was a plot of land used for agricultural purposes or raising animals.
On our recent cross-country trip we visited four very different ranches.
1. Cadillac Ranch (west of Amarillo, Texas) - In 1974, Texas billionaire Stanley Marsh III wanted to create public art that would inspire as well as outrage the citizens of Amarillo. A group of art hippies from San Fransisco had an idea and Marsh became their silent partner. Ten caddies, ranging from a 1949 Club Sedan to a 1963 Sedan de Ville, were half-buried nose-down in a field. Visitors were encouraged to spray paint them and even take a souvenir. Today the car bodies bear little resemblance to their original form but are delightful to look at. They have now been in the ground as art longer than they were on the road as cars.
2. Slug Bug Ranch (Conway, Texas) - In 1967, Tom Crutchfield opened a service station and souvenir shop on the south frontage road of I-40. Some years later, when a Love's Travel Stop opened on the north frontage road and his business took a nose-dive, Tom decided to add a roadside attraction. He half-buried five VW Beetles nose-down and let folks go to town with their spray cans. It was a parody of nearby Cadillac Ranch and people loved it. The trouble was, they still filled up their tanks at Love's Travel Stop and then came by Slug Bug Ranch for some fun. He eventually moved on and today Slug Bug Ranch is surrounded by abandoned building on either side.
3. Ra66it Ranch (Staunton, Illinois) - Rich Henry bought a parcel of land in Staunton, Illinois and after learning it was right on Route 66, he decided to drive the entire Mother Road. When he returned, he told his wife he wanted to open a kitchy place like Delgadillo's Snow Cap Drive-In in Seligman, Arizona (side note - it's well worth the trip!!) as a roadside attraction. About the same time, his daughter asked him to board her two pet rabbits for a few months. He fell in love with the critters and knew what his "theme" would be. In 1999, he half-buried seven VW Rabbits nose-down as a tribute to Cadillac Ranch but unlike the Caddies, the Rabbits are NOT spray painted. They are buried very close together to mimic real rabbits huddling. He also has a herd of about 20 rabbits, most of them orphaned by their owners, several semi-trucks, and a nine-foot rabbit "statue" you can climb on on the grounds. He runs his insurance business out of the shop as well as sells rabbit- and Route 66-themed souvenirs. We enjoyed talking to him!
4. Bottle Tree Ranch (north of Oro Grande, California) - When Elmer Long was a little boy, he hiked in the California desert with his dad. They collected all kinds of stuff (old garden tools, mattress springs, bottles, discarded glass insulators from telephone poles, washboards, ...) from old dumps. Fast forward several decades and he found a use for all the stuff he and his dad had collected. He started making bottle trees (large metal pipes with bottles and other stuff on them) in 2000 and now has a forest of over 200 of them! He likes to use the things he and his dad found on the top of his trees to give them character.
I am inspired by the creative artistry at these ranches. I appreciate their unusualness and am thankful for owners who aren't restricted by convention. I am amazed that all four of these ranches are open to public and are free of charge (although Ra66it Ranch and Bottle Tree Ranch accept donations). And I am astonished that, at least on the day we were there, there were no gang tags, obscenities or inappropriate anythings spray painted on the cars at Cadillac Ranch and Slug Bug Ranch.
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