https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/14700
Recycled Roadrunner
Our first stop of the day was at the Recycled Roadrunner found at the rest stop just west of Las Cruces, NM on I- 10. The roadrunner is NM’s state bird. This artwork was created by Olin Calk. It is 20’ tall and 40’ long. It’s eyes are made from old VW headlights. Looking at it from the parking lot, we could identify crutches in its’ wings, and old tennis shoes in its’ tummy.
World’s Largest Chile Pepper
The pepper was built in 2010-2011. It is 47’ long. It can be found outside the Big Chile Inn. Since peppers are a favorite of NM they decided use this to attract tourist to their neighborhood, but also to distinguish themselves from all the other motels around them. Walking around, I found a couple of smaller chilies!
https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/22051
Toth – Carved Big Native American Head
This is a very large carved Native American carved by Peter “Wolf” Toth. He has carved at least one carving for each state.
House of Sugar La Casa de Asucar
Rufino Loya Rivas created the beautiful piece of art between 1973 and 1998 as a homage to the city of El Paso. He uses many religious figures and ornate decorations based on churches he remembered as a young boy in Mexico. He has written several descriptions in both Spanish and English. It is apparent he still takes great pride in his place. The artwork, fences,sidewalks and even signs all look freshly painted.
https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/18902
Van Horn, Texas: Mexican Restaurant John Madden Tribute
Mexican food is my favorite! When Zoom Zoom said he wanted to go to Chuy’s for linner, I was on board! The original owners have a love relationship with John Madden and every year he would stop at their restaurant. They have a lot of memorabilia about him, they had a mural painted on the wall depicting Jesus praising the restaurant as his tour bus would stop by, and they even created him his own “thrown.”
