Greetings! Better get you a cup/glass of your favorite beverage and settle in to your favorite chair. Put your phone to Do Not Disturb, put your feet up and start scrolling! There's a whole lot of ground to cover today! First up, we went to the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame & Museum. Truth be told, Driver wasn't all that keen on visiting this museum, despite the coupon for Buy One, Get One Free admission. We have done so very much of the things *I* wanted to do, I really didn't think it was fair to force yet another activity on him, so I was content to just visit the site and take photos of the large statues outside. I don't think I could have lived with myself if I hadn't at least snapped a couple for you, Vicki T! But, he & the pup waited patiently in the cool of the car while I walked around the grounds and snapped to my heart's content. I posted these to Facebook as we were driving away, and it was only a few minutes before Vicki found them and commented!
Next, we headed back down to Canyon, TX. This would be our third trip, for anyone who's counting. Yes, that's pretty unusual for us. Yes, for such a small town, there was certainly a lot to see! This trip was especially to visit the Panhandle - Plains Historical Society Museum. We were greeted at the door by this mold of a Texas Longhorn and various historical brand tiles. It was really quite impressive. We entered the beautiful wooden doors...and were greeted by....
...someone not quite so impressive. Now, you ALL know I can't do math. I rarely even attempt it anymore. Don't have to, don't need to. Have a calculator and a husband, both of whom are very adept and proficient at math, and are rarely wrong. WELL. Even *I* knew that 2 $10 admissions, less a $2 each discount cannot possibly add up to $21. Not even remotely possible, not even in my world. But that's what the college-age young man decided we should pay. ?????? It took him about 3 minutes to figure out what the real charge should be, after Dick convinced him that it couldn't be as originally stated. THAT, too, took a couple of minutes. Really. So very disappointing. At least I know math is not my forte, so I'm not taking any jobs where it's required. But this young man was in charge of the admissions fees! And taking money. So sad. Nevertheless, we paid what was really due, and entered the museum. I guess we rattled him badly, because he didn't offer us a map or any sort of advice on how to proceed. We were simply handed a receipt and thanked for coming. At least he had manners! Well, let me just tell you, the map I found showed 2 floors and several galleries. Let's take a look in the first one, shall we? What do you know, it's a 1926 Mack Truck. I've always had a special place in my heart for Mack trucks - I think because of the little doggie hood ornament!
Behind the truck, was this partial oil drilling rig. It was an original, and it was moved here in 3 truckloads. The room was set up for a wedding reception, so if you spy a nicely set table or buffet station in any of these photos, that's why.
We left the oil drilling rig display and walked into the Windmill Gallery. There were lots of samples, all original, even though some were in pieces.
We left the Windmill Gallery and were transported to the Early Transportation Gallery. Each of the cars had its owners' story along with its specs posted. I liked that we could get to know the people behind the cars; that really brought them to life for me.
There were some built-in display cases by the exit doors, and they seemed as good a place as any to house the salt and pepper shaker collection.
Transportation modes were not limited to horseless carriages - there was a section devoted to two wheelers, too.
But, back to cars. This was a stunner!
I wanted this sign for our camper, but it was firmly attached, and way high up, so it was safe from my grubby little hands!
And we can't forget the earliest of motorcycles!
Back to touring cars...
And this adorable little guy.... Hop-Right Inn Motor Court! I don't think it was an actual sign from an actual place, but it made me chuckle out loud!
So, we walked through the doorway into the next room, and what do ya know. We walked right into the Pablo Duro Canyon! ????? OK. So, here's a really good picture of the Lighthouse formation, as well as the explanation of how it came to be. Too bad we hadn't known that before we went to the Canyon, eh?
We rounded the corner and were face to face with this Wooly Mammoth tusk fossil. Holy mackerel!! That sucker must have been HUUUUGE!! Then Dick read me the description...14 feet tall, AT THE SHOULDER. Do you realize our camper is only 12 feet 11 inches tall? Yeah, we call it 13 feet just to make it easy to remember, but that means the Wooly Booger was still a foot taller!! AT THE SHOULDER!
Three-horned Ceratopsian. Notice how blurry that sign is? A certain someonepup just may have tugged on her leash just as I was pressing the clicker!
A Wolf-Herring, a bony fish fossil found in Wyoming!
A Phytosaur, similar to present-day crocodiles.
We'd been wandering the halls for about two hours by now...and pup had even been walked outside twice. There was a whole Frontier Town replica we wandered through, with lots of buildings and period pieces to explore. There was even a replica jail cell and sheriff's office that served as the Security Office for the whole museum. It was even staffed by a few friendly "Guards." One of them suggested we be sure to go downstairs, to view the "special exhibits." Well, with a recommendation like that, how could we skip? We didn't. There was an elevator, and we found ourselves with only one other visitor, in a huuuuge basement room, filled with intricate and detailed 3D dioramas of the early settlers and their life, created and presented to the museum back in the early 30's! They were all in huge wooden display stands, with glass fronts, and there was simply too much direct light to get a good picture without a glare, so there are no photos of them. But there must have been about 10 of 'em, and they took up an entire wall. In the photo below, you can see an early hand-crafted hall tree behind a Comanche cradle board.
There were two cases full of basketry samples. It's surprising how detailed they were, and how little basketry has changed over the years.
The larger cradle board was for a real baby, and the smaller, red one was a toy cradle board, circa 1870. The workmanship in the toy was just as amazing and detailed as in the one for a real child.
Two display cases were devoted to Kachinkas.
Pottery....
Seashells....
Beadwork...
More beadwork...
A War-bonnet from the early 20th Century...
And, finally, we had seen everything in the basement, so it was time to move up to the 2nd floor.
We walked through THREE smaller galleries of paintings and sculture...and finally, we found the Textile Gallery. Of course, they had some pretty early sewing machines, and a Bernina from the early 70's way in the back.
Truly Vintage clothing...
Then we moved out into the hallway, which was filled with collections of stirrups...
Western-themed lunchboxes...
Spurs...
and more stirrups. It was at this point that I believed we might never see everything. Shortly after I had that thought, I was approached by the friendly guard who had suggested we visit the special exhibits in the basement. I asked him about the extensive collections and he politely informed me that we were seeing only a very small portion of specimens. The museum apparently houses enormous collections that they rotate frequently. Ay-yi-yi-yi!
Down the hall was the Petroleum Gallery. It was established by a bequeste of Don D Harrington, so they recreated his office with original pieces. Click on that panorama pic down there for a better idea of how formal and stuffy it was. And it was stuffy!
By now, we'd been in this museum for almost five hours!! Oh yes, really!!!!! And we still had about an hour's drive to get home!! My back was screaming, and my dog was HANGRY! She was doing her dinner dance, and let me know in no uncertain terms, it was TIME.TO.GO.
And, didn't I want to stop in at the quilt shop we had learned about the other day when we were down in the historic district?? Oh yeah....Scrap Sisters here we come! Bailey, we'll be home shortly. I'll just be a minute. (said no one ever, when entering a quilt shop!) They had a few nice local (Texas) fabric, but nothing I really needed except for some fusible interfacing. I had it cut, paid for and we were outta there in record time. A little fuel at Sam's Club, and we were on our way. So, how are we going to prevent such a looooong day on Monday?
Well, we both decided we didn't want to go all the way from here to Monument, CO in one day, a distance of about 400 miles/6 to 7 hours travel time for us. So we real quick, made a reservation up at Raton, NM for tomorrow night. Sometimes, double booking is worth the price and taking two days to make such a long trip is less costly in the long run. Tired drivers make for poor drivers, sore navigators make for grumpy navigators. So, we'll leave a day early, and get through Amarillo on a Sunday, instead of a Monday. That'll be a good thing, for sure.
So, it's a wrap! Till next time...be safe out there!
The panhandle museum looks like fun. Not sure the quarter horses would have interested us, but the pictures are great.
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