Another Roadside Attraction

My daughter's horseback riding lessons are at a stable way the hell out in the middle of nowhere. When I take her there, there's nothing for poor little me to do – no Starbucks, no library or bookstore – no nothin'.

So I like to bring my bicycle along. And on a recent ride out in the boonies, I came across Blake's Small Car Salvage, Inc.

Blake's is a couple of miles from my daughter's lessons. It's right there off the side of the road, plain as day – but the first time I rode by I didn't even notice it right away.

I think that's because of the art studio on the property adjacent to Blake's. (To call it "next door" doesn't feel quite right, out in those wide open spaces, but I suppose that's what it really is.) The art studio's roof is very eye-catching, as you can see in the photo below. Once my eye was caught, I stopped for a closer look.

I saw these roadside attractions in early May. I didn't have a camera with me but vowed to return, which I did on June 3. It just seemed so very odd – this auto salvage business with its distinctive neighbor and imaginative sign, way out in the boondocks.

I don't know how noticeable it is in the top photo, but if you squint, maybe you can tell the sign for Blake's is made of old Colorado license plates, which someone – Blake, or perhaps someone from the art studio – has re-fashioned. In modern parlance, "re-purposed."

Here's a photo detail that should be a little easier on the eyes. Blake's is on County Road 5 in Weld County. "WCR-5" in the middle probably represents that. Now that you know where it is, you can junk your next car there!

(By the way, I hope "re-purposed" turns up on someone's list of words and phrases to be banned from the English language. Matt Groening, for one, used to do such lists in Life In Hell, usually at the end of year. But that's another post for another time.)

Final note: Along the property line, Blake or whoever has erected this interesting barrier, below. I didn't shoot the whole thing. Portions of it are made of old school buses.