Travel Tuesday at the Bug Ranch

Remember back when we took our trip to see that silly beaver at 

Buc-Ees? Well, on the way home we were happy to stop and walk around the Route 66 Slug Bug Ranch!

The original Slug Bug Ranch was built by the Crutchfield family and was located in Conway, Texas(about 30 miles west of Amarillo). In 1967, the Crutchfields opened the Longhorn Ranch. The Ranch had a service station, a curio shop and they even added a  Rattlesnake Ranch to attract people from the highway. 

The business did pretty well for awhile, even as the population of Conway dwindled(it is a ghost town now). BUT, in 2002 they opened a Love's Travel Stop near the same exit as the Longhorn Ranch. 

The Love's Travel center was bad news for the Longhorn Ranch, and they struggled to think of something that would stand out and help bring tourists to their little business.

The Cadillac Ranch(about 20 East of Conway) was attracting bunches of tourists at the time. The Crutchfields decided Volkswagons, buried in the sand, might do the same for their business!

Unfortunately, the VWs didn't hold the same appeal as the Caddies, and the Longhorn and Rattlesnake Ranch closed for good in 2003.

Luckily, in 2024, the Big Texan RV Ranch aquired and reburied the original 5 Volkswagons.  They buried 10 more Volkswagons, along with 7 Cadillac Limousines(as you can see in the above pictures).

Here's a fun fact....the first vehicle Mama drove was a Green 1967 VW Van!

But that's a story for another day....

 After our visit to the Slug Bug Ranch, the pawrents informed us that it was time to head home. The picture above was our reaction to facing 6 more hours in JeeJee, the Jeep!!

Thanks for joining us for our visit to the Slug Bug Ranch. 

What's the craziest Roadside Attraction you have visited??

  

We are joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for the 

Happy Tuesday Blog Hop this week!