Ages ago I posted a pic of a painting I was working on.  Unfortunately, it met an untimely end… it got wet in my garage.  I scrapped it and focused on another project at the time, finishing up our demolished bathroom that had been idle for the greater part of a year since the February 2011 freeze.

Anyway finish bathroom, Christmas, New Years, my birthday, all of February 2012 and a quick trip to Lubbock passed by. Well I’m back on track and just recently started a new painting:

It’s moving along pretty quick and I already have a couple of ideas stacked up behind it.  I’m still photographing interesting/weird stuff that I come across and will continue to post those mini adventures as well.  Finally I brought back from the dead my previous Blogger blog, the j10chronicles about my J-10 Jeep truck and moved it to a wordpress site, the NEW j10chronicles.  Right now its just an archive of the previous site with a new theme. There is some activity going on with the truck that i’ll be updating soon.

Lots going on, stay classy El Paso!

The end of spring break brought us a quick trip to Lubbock, Texas.  We have a nephew there and our boys love to hang out with their older cousin.  His birthday also happens to be the same week as St. Patrick’s day so it always makes for an interesting trip.

View A Few Things in Lubbock in a larger map

We were there Friday to Sunday, working around his parents schedule so there wasn’t a lot of time to do a bunch of stuff but I did manage to get a few shots of some interesting things while driving around Lubbock.

On Saturday morning we had some time to take the kids to the National Ranching Heritage Center. The facility was established to preserve the history of ranching, pioneer life and the development of the livestock industry in North America. They have large collection of original ranching buildings on the grounds that they have restored.

The building collection is pretty impressive, they have everything from pioneer dugouts to the fancy Victorian house above.  There’s also a steam engine with caboose, a small train depot, windmills and several barns.  The walk doesn’t take to long and by far the boys were most interested in the steam engine.

We headed out for lunch and after getting a quick bite to eat stumbled upon some carved wooded sculptures along 98st.  It looks like at one time these were trees that lined the property but this crafty individual chopped them down and carved them up into what you see below.

I’m not usually into this sort of thing but you have to admire the individual who has the drive to not only cut down some very large trees on his property but to then transform them into folksy works of art.  The most impressive was the attacking eagle, with its wings outstretch and claws out, it makes the best use of the previous trees shape.

Once we wrapped up there we dropped the boys off at their cousin’s so they could go golfing with their Uncle and Grandpa.  Virg and I headed off to the depot district to check out the Buddy Holly Center.

The center sits in a refurbished train depot on the edge of the depot district.  The Buddy Holly sculpture that used to reside around 8th street has been relocated across the street in a park that has a local “Walk of fame”

We did briefly tour the museum whose admission will also get you into the Silent Wings Museum, though we didn’t stop there.  That was enough sight seeing for the day so we headed down the street to the JJJ Chophouse and then on to Crickets Grill for some frosty beverages.

It was starting to get crowed from all the St. Patrick’s day revelers so we decided to head back to the family for dinner.  For a better view of the Ranch Museum, carved sculptures and the Buddy Holly Center, click on the Flickr link below:

Lubbock 2012

Empty Farmhouse and Packing Plant

I think I have saved the best for last.  This was the last stop on a quick tour of three, easily accessible, derelict farmhouses in and around the Upper Valley in El Paso.  This last property is not far from the Gato Road House.  It’s along Highway 28, on the way to La Union New Mexico.

View Empty House and Packing Plant in a larger map

I hesitate to call this property abandoned.  There is a house on the plot that while it’s empty at the moment, has been maintained and even has a security system visible from the front porch window.  All of its doors and windows are intact with no signs of vandalism or forced entry.

To the left of the house is a storage shed. It contains a lot of old supplies and stuff you would expect to see on a farm. There was a pile of old Glidden paint cans and a cool old oil lantern that was missing its glass.

The next building on the property is the largest.  It looks like it was some sort warehouse or packing facility. Old refrigerators, stacks of flat cardboard boxes and other assorted junk are scattered all around.  The roof looks to have been removed save for a few pieces of corrugated metal left in a few spots.

This building could have started life as some sort of feeding place for livestock.  On each side of the building a concrete trough ran the length of the building.  There was one neat find in here, some old hubcaps.

Outside on a large concrete slab a old tracker trailer sits.  It won’t be going anywhere fast, all of the tires are rotted to the hub.

The last building on the property is the oldest.  Its an adobe structure that has lost it roof and all the wall plaster.  Slowly its returning back to the earth.

This collection of buildings was the most interesting and really shows the range of how long it had been in use. It could have easily spanned two or three generations and been an important player in the areas farming past.  I took a bunch of pictures that I could not include in this post so if you want to browse the full set on Flickr click below:

Abandoned in the Upper Valley

The previous two abandoned properties I vistited are here:
Abandoned Farmhouses (pt. 2)
Abandoned Farmhouses (pt. 1)

The Gato House

After moving on from the shell of a house, I traveled down Westside drive turning left on Gato road to the next structure.  This one is a bit more traditional, It even looks like somebody at some point was trying to revive it but for some reason their plans had been cut short.

View House on Gato in a larger map

The adobe construction looks to have stood the test of time and it may have been a comfortable home in its heyday.  Its a single story dwelling with a storage shed in the back.

Inside the house is gutted and what remains leaves little to be desired.  The original construction looks pretty rough and the fix up attempts don’t get past the basic stage.

I’m not real sure how salvageable the structure is.  The condition of the house may have been what derailed the reconstruction. Not much is left save for a few doors and some old cabinetry. The fireplace is a real wood-burning one complete with an old school chimney.

Out back in a gated area is a storage shed.  Whats interesting is how this area is fenced in with the house on the outside. There is a clothes line and in the shed is either a hot water heater or well storage tank.

Not much else is on the property so I packed it in and headed on down the road to the final abandoned property.  If you missed part 1 you can find it here:
Abandoned Farmhouses (pt. 1)