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Crossing the panhandle of Texas was something we had to do. I don't know that Amarillo, TX is on anyone's bucket list, and the drive through Oklahoma to Texas was one of the long legs of the trip just to get it done, but there were a few interesting and thought provoking moments. Now I told the kids that I read you might see buffalo in Oklahoma. My hope was to drive through reservation land where the buffalo really do roam, but our only sighting was along a roadside stop on Interstate 40 which is the midwestern version of South of the Border, called Cherokee Trading Post. Now to get you to pull over, there is a billboard that says there are buffalo! But when we pulled off the highway to see one lone buffalo hiding in a shelter in a caged in area for tourists to see, it was not the awe inspiring vision of the natural beast we had hoped for. In fact it was kind of sad. This poor guy was the unlucky one to be captured and brought to this site as bait for a tourist trap. But there was another tourist trap that was worth the visit as we crossed into Texas...the iconic Cadillac Ranch. This is an art installation created back in the 70's that has gone through some interesting transformations, but is basically 10 fintailed Cadillacs buried nose down into the ground at an angle that matches the sides of the pyramids of Giza. While the once had shiny paintjobs, they have aged over time and perhaps to have the public help keep up their "shiny" coats, the owner has encouraged folks to spray paint the cars when they visit with whatever design, message or color they choose. It is not unintentional that these once automobiles of luxury that symbolized the paragon of quality and excellence are now grafitti riddled, rust sculptures sinking in the mud. Bruce Springsteen sung about this place and used it for a metaphor of things that were once great soon sink into decay. A little reminder that you can try to attain all the luxury in the world, but eventually it all returns to dust. I don't think Trump got the message. Speaking of Trump not getting the message, how about wind farms in Texas!!! I could not believe the amount of windmills we saw crossing Texas. I'm not talking about the quaint wooden ones of Don Quixote. These are giant, streamlined, futuristic structures, spiraling in the northern plains of Texas, where I was expecting to see oil rigs. When I think of Texas, I think of oil...not wind power. Apparently Trump's message of returning to the glory days of fossil fuels missed the mark, because Texas is full on into green energy with windmills as far as the eye can see. Perhaps windmill presents the vision of hope in the future to contrast with fatalistic image of the nose-down buried rust buckets of Cadillac Ranch.
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