Day 30: July 18, 2013 Return to Tinkertown

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I enjoyed my 2011 visit so much that I promised myself that I would return to Tinkertown whenever I could. Today I could. I've tried not to post photos that duplicate those of the 2011 journal (I encourage you to look at those, too.) and, as expected, I did see things I'd missed. I had Esmerelda tell my fortune today but I'm not so sure I should have. Sounds like I'm going to meet someone at a party who will release my destructive side and alter the course of all our lives. Of course, it was written three years before I was born so it might not be completely accurate. The doctor's office scene is typical of the many in Tinkertown. The 1840 bride & groom are part of a collection assembled from nearly every state. The dolls are some of those collected by Ester and Francis Goodale as they walked around the world.

Tinkertown is the creation of Ross Ward who passed away in 2002. His wife, Carla, now runs the place. The 35 foot wooden cutter on display at Tinkertown was once the home of Carla's brother, Fritz Damler. Damler has written a book, Ten Years Behind the Mast, about his globe circling trip on the boat. I bought a copy and missed meeting the author by two days. When Carla told me she had taken Fritz to the airport yesterday, I bemoaned the fact and said that, had I know he was there, I might have hurried on to Tinkertown rather than stopping in Albuquerque. That wouldn't have worked, she said. They had gone to the airport very early and meeting Fritz would have required being there the day before. That made me feel better, of course, because missing by two days didn't seem nearly as bad as missing by one.

Here are a couple more Route 66 icons with my old Plymouth front and center. When I checked email at the end of the day, I had a message from Hudson aficionado Alex Burr telling me that the latest issue of White Triangle News, official publication of the Hudson-Essex-Terraplane Club, featured the Blue Swallow and its recently acquired 1957 Hudson Hornet. Although I didn't specifically photograph the Hudson on my brief stop (office was closed or I'd have at least said hi to Kevin & Nancy), it is in the background of some shots. This one's for you, Alex.

I ended the day in Vega, Texas. Dinner was a tasty and bargain priced catfish buffet at the Boot Hill Saloon. My little Panasonic didn't do too well capturing the glass boot and feather boa on the cash register but I tried.

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