Thermopolis, Wyoming: June 2009

A few months ago, I decided that I had collected enough shots of car hood ornaments to group them together and make a post out of them. I didn't think my collection would be complete, however, without going to Skinny's place, one of the junkyards of Thermopolis. So that's what I did yesterday. Here is a satellite view if you would like to visit it yourself.

Skinny told me that "Skinny" has been his nickname throughout his life--even his school teachers called him Skinny. Born in 1939, he grew up in Meeteetse and lived in the old school house I photographed and made a part of that post.

His business used to be where the present Don's IGA grocery store is now, next to the railroad tracks, before he moved it to its present location in the 1970s. He recounted to me the experience of seeing the Liberty Bell pass by on a train during the Bicentennial Celebration of 1976. He said he was so engrossed with his work that he didn't think of getting a camera to record the event.

We also discussed the weather. He said he has never seen it green, as it is now due to all the rain, from Thermopolis to Denver ever in his whole life.

All the vehicles pictured below have not been restored but are the type found in junkyards or behind private garages. In other words, they are part of the "landscape" of Wyoming.

Note the "MADE IN U.S.A." label in the shot below.

Does it surprise anyone that the vehicle below was named in the early 1970s?

I shot the photograph below because it seemed odd to me that a Detroit marketing department would think to call the engine "Job-Rated." A search of the web informs me that "Dodge is bringing back an older marketing term, 'Job Rated,' which means that the vehicle was designed, engineered, tested, and built to meet the standards of commercial truck buyers."

The "GT" stands for Gran Turismo.

The next two photographs I include because they illustrate how times change. Would any present car company think of naming a vehicle "Brookwood" or "Biscayne"?

The rest of the photographs which follow I shot on some of the excursions I have recounted in this blog.

The sign below I found in Meeteetse next to some old junkers.

This final shot, taken last November, I found near Roundtop Mountain, just beyond the natural gas terminal. If you wish to see what it says, click on it to enlarge.