25 March 2007

RETURN TO THE TURQUOISE TRAIL

When I last left off, my buddy Rudy and I were headed north towards the back roads of New Mexico. On Highway 14 aka the Turquoise Trail we found the quiet yet quirky former mining town of Madrid [MADrid].

As you walk along the main drag you'll find alot of the houses have been turned into store fronts. Lots of cool artworks and handicrafts...pricey handicrafts...they may be artists but they are capitalists too!! The blanket hanging on the left side of this picture can be yours for $2,350 smackers.











As in Tinkertown, there are alot of humorous signs all around town.















Lots of pooches too. We saw a faded posting on a wall to 'get your dog pictures in' for the annual Madrid Dog Calendar. You can see pooches lying all over town in doorways or wandering the street...they were all friendly I'm glad to say.




This one was asleep in front of the local bar, The Mine Shaft [no relation to the one in LA lol].









In the movie WILD HOGS, Marissa Tomei runs the local diner, called Maggies. The diner was built by the movie company [Touchstone]. It does not have a foundation, heat, electricity or running water [in fact a sign we saw posted on one store front read that there IS no running water in Madrid. Port-a-potties are all over town...yet the bar had a mens/ladies room and there are a few bed and breakfasts so not sure whats up with that]. Rather then knock the set down, the town purchased it from Disney and hopes to make it operational as a tourist draw. The climactic scene/showdown takes place at the diner as the bikers led by Ray Liotta confront the four 'yuppy bikers' from Cincinnatti. Guess who wins....hahahaha....




...poor Rudy...something fierce was in the air that day...allergies are bad here.

All in all it was a cool way to spend the afternoon. The spring weather was awesome and it was Monday so there were hardly any tourists...just folks wandering quietly down the dusty main street of a town in the middle of nowhere.




...next up we get our kicks on Route 66 and find the Aztec Motel...not to mention a 'cow on the roof'!!!

I'm out.
http://www.turquoisetrail.org/madrid.htm

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