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 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).
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!
Hari Om
ReplyDeleteBOL... what a fun and quirky place... In OZ there is tendency for various stop-offs to have "The Biggest..." For example, The Big Merino at Goulbourn, or the Big Pineapple at Woombye. Silly but fun! Hugs and wags, YAM-aunty xxx
the buggy car was not only a car... it was the symbol of a whole generation and we love that this ranch is there to be a memory of a timer we liked so much.. and you saw it with your own eyes and you left pawprints there, like the bug left tireprints on our roads and in our hearts..
ReplyDeleteThat looks like a fun place to see. If we get to Texas one day we will have to find it and check it out.
ReplyDeleteHow totally fun!!
ReplyDeleteWhew those kinda bugs...are adorable and so colorful. I can 100% see mama in a 1967 Green VW Bug Van. She is a traveling girl and I know she found a place to buy some delish coffee too
ReplyDeleteI recall riding back from the beach with my uncle in the mid 1960s in his VW Beetle. It was 150 miles and I was sure my tushie was dragging on the road. I felt every single bump and rock
Hugs AC
What a fun place to visit. We can see you two weren't thrilled about that long trip.
ReplyDeleteThese are my kind of bugs. I would love to visit here. How fun. You all do the most fun things and your peeps are most good looking.
ReplyDeleteThank you for joining the Happy Tuesday Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous Happy Tuesday. Scritches to the pups and my best to your wonderful peeps. ♥
What a colorful trip! Mom's first brand new car was a 1973 Volkswagon SuperBeetle and how she loved it!
ReplyDeleteI think this tourist trap may have outdone all the ones I have seen in Florida and I know the two of you were the most fun attraction of all while you were there. wild and crazy and fun
ReplyDeleteYou sure do find the most interesting things to take a look at sweeties!
ReplyDeleteIt's always nicer to stop at the small places and see the fun stuff, isn't it.
ReplyDeleteit looks like the Grateful Dead built a commune
ReplyDeleteOona: "Oona would love to visit a bug ranch. She would chase those bugs and smack them around like a ninja."
ReplyDeleteJava Bean: "Ayyy, I do not think it is that kind of bug—"
Oona: "LIKE A NINJA!"
Xena: It's a ghost town cause of the rattlesnakes biting everyone! Be careful there aren't any still there.
ReplyDeleteChia: Slug ranch...and you two just went through it and are licking your lips. Hmmm.