Throwback Thursday - Santa Rosa NM Part 2

Santa Rosa NM - Motel Signs

March 2013 - Santa Rosa NM

We'll go with an automotive Route 66 theme this week.

Santa Rosa was connected by railroad to Chicago, El Paso, and the world at large in the early 1900s.

Santa Rosa's stretch of U.S. Route 66 is part of film history. When John Steinbeck's epic novel, The Grapes of Wrath, was made into a movie, director John Ford used Santa Rosa for the memorable train scene. Tom Joad (Henry Fonda) watches a freight train steam over the Pecos River railroad bridge, into the sunset. It was also one of shooting scenes for Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw starring Lynda Carter in the titular role.

The town was the childhood home of author Rudolfo Anaya, and is the basis for the fictional town of Guadalupe in his autobiographical novel Bless Me, Ultima.

The remains of the Rio Pecos Ranch Truck Terminal. This truck stop featured a cafe at one time, and was crammed with big rigs. You can just see in the broken neon on the sign, the truck driver’s faint Howdy, which no doubt drew folks in with its friendly wave.

The terminal opened around 1955 but has been abandoned for many years and the gas pumps are long gone. In 2003 the city of Santa Rosa expressed an interest in reloacting this sign and replacing the white plastic portion with a "Welcome to Santa Rosa" message board. The owner of the sign wanted too much money and the project ell through.

Not the posts are rotting and no one is sure how much longer it can support the sign.

Disney - Day 7

THROWBACK THURSDAY JAN 22, 2026

December 2013

Links to some other Disney posts:

Day 6

Day 5

Day 4

Day 3

Day 2

Day 1

Birthday Cocktails

Birthday Dinner

Coronado Springs Resort

Animal Kingdom - Festival of the Lion King

Animal Kingdom

Epcot - Canada

Epcot - Germany

Scavenger Hunt

Hollywood Studios - Christmas Lights

Epcot - England

Polynesian Resort

Sadly, all good things must come to and end... Tomorrow we pack up and move our separate ways.
I haven't mentioned that my husband was fighting a valiant battle with a cold that week and was a trouper.

The guys had decided that since it was American Thanksgiving and there was lots of football that they should go over to ESPN Sports (owned by Disney) and we could do what ever we liked. We took the bus over to Epcot where they were told they could pick up a bus to ESPN.
Anyone we asked had varying answers as to how to get there, but clearly no one really knew until someone said it was easy to walk there from Epcot near France.

 

We decided to see if we could get Fastpasses for Soaring as it had been "sold out" all week.

The guys left for ESPN after we made arrangements to meet back for Soarin'.

We headed for some more country hopping beginning in Mexico.

 Then to Norway!

 Time for some fortification in China. It's hard work travelling like this!

WOW Temple of Heaven looked just like the real one!

 And we have to hurry to get back for Soarin'! Where we soar over California, yes, some of us ducked when the golf ball came flying!

Here's a Youtube video of the ride.

Then we visited Living With the Land, a slow moving ride through the Disney greenhouses where they grow much of the food they use. I will write a longer post on this.

Since we've met up with the guys we head back around by Mexico, Norway and China with a stop in China for a snack for the guys.

Dinner time so we have to head over to Downtown Disney and decided to take a water launch there from Epcot. It takes us by Boardwalk where the guys were earlier, then a couple of resorts before we get off at The Swan and Dolphin, another upscale Disney resort where we can pick up a bus to Downtown Disney. I personally wouldn't stay here as it is off the beaten path and the bus makes a few stops at the other resorts in the area. 

However, going around this way makes you realize the multiple transportation choices you have to get around.

Dinner reservations were at Portobello's, Italian and not part of our meal plan. But reservations still recommended.

Sculpture Saturday

 We have found Plensa's work around the world.

Montreal QC Source
Des Moines IA Nomade
Toronto Canada Dreaming
Antibes French Riviera Nomade
Bordeaux France Sanna
Barcelona Spain Carmela
Chicago IL Crown Fountain
Calgary Canada Wonderland
Beverly Hills CA Endless

August/October 2025 Montreal QC

We saw Source twice in Montreal

April 2025 Des Moines IA
We found Nomade at the Pappajohn Sculpture Park!

November 2021 - Los Angeles CA

I found ANOTHER Plensa in our archives! 2017 Beverly Hills, Los Angeles CA!!

Endless by Jaume Plensa

September 2021 - Calgary AB

 I was cleaning out photos in my archives and was stunned to find that we had another Jaume Plensa sculpture from a 2013 trip to Calgary!!

This sculpture called Wonderland is at the base of Calgary's tallest tower, The Bow. The wire mesh piece stands 39 feet high and resembles a young girl's head. (It was actually inspired by a real girl in Spain.) Interestingly, the sculpture has two entrances so that visitors can walk inside of it. “My vision for Wonderland is to inspire everyone who experiences the sculpture: I believe the architecture of our bodies is the palace for our dreams,” said Plensa.

Lest We Forget

 

Twin Towers taken in 1987.

1998

December 2001 we went to New York right after 9/11. Photos are pre-digital.

September 2013 - Manhattan NY

9/11 Memorial

Plaque in Central Park

TORONTO