In a word

There are a lot of times when we're out and about that a single word will catch the eye. Maybe it's funny, maybe it's obvious, maybe it's poignant, mundane or ironic. Here are a few we've seen along the way.

Friday night arrives without a suitcase: A too-short visit to the Madonna Inn and other sights of San Luis Obispo, California

This is what we didn't see: any of the 110 outlandishly decorated themed guest rooms. This was shot by photographer par excellence Tom Meinhold. Visit his website, whydon'tcha.

 We didn't make it inside the spectacular Fremont Theatre, either...

 ...or the Sunset Drive-In. Oh, well.

 Pepe has a cool old sign...

 ...and we did do some laundry at the Launderosa, probably my favorite laundromat name of all time.

Back in 2011, we took an incredible cross-country trip from Rhode Island to California. The original plan was to visit San Francisco for a few days and then head to Yosemite National Park. Even though we arrived in S.F. in mid-May, Yosemite was snowed in to the point of only one road to the park being open, leading us to change our plans on the fly, which can be both disappointing (No Yosemite? Boo!) to exciting (let's go down the Pacific Coast Highway. Yay!). We visited the extraordinary Hearst Castle in San Simeon and then decided to head a bit further south to Pismo Beach (and all the clams we can eat), looking for a motel for the night along the way, which happened to be in the sunny central California coast town of San Luis Obispo, which translates to Saint Louis the Bishop for all you non-Spanish speakers like me. We wished we had the correct amount of time to spend seeing this wonderful place, especially the Madonna Inn, known the world over for its eccentrically over-the-top decorated guest rooms. After checking in to our hard-to-acquire motel (the entire area was booked because of a big wine festival weekend), I drove around just to see what I could in our all-too-short stay and was able to wander around the lobby and coffee shop of the Inn, both of which did not disappoint this eccentric roadside attraction fan. This place will have to be a tent-pole destination for some future trip for us. S.L.O. has not one but two retro movie delights, as well: the Fremont, a 1942 palace saved from the wrecking ball due to public outcry, and the Sunset Drive-In. We hope we make it back here some day, but in the meantime nos vemos en nuestros sueños, San Luis Obispo.*

*I used an internet translator so hopefully this means we'll see you in our dreams San Luis Obispo and not something like bite the wax tadpole.

Signed in Penn.: Views from Quakertown, Pennsylvania and thereabouts

When the always-fabulous ModBetty of Retro Roadmap organized a roadtrip blogger summit last fall at Sines 5 & 10 in Quakertown, Pennsylvania, I had the opportunity to take some snaps of the exquisite old crusty signs around town on a beautiful sunny day. Hamlets like this remind me of Tommy Lee Jones's face... all craggy and melancholy and full of hard-as-nails character. I caught a few more hardscrabble veteran signs on my way to my motel in Allentown, another metropolis with some hard miles on it.

Keep fighting, Pennsylvania, you rusty old beauty. You're the Penn. ultimate.

I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die... no wait, that was Johnny Cash

We passed through Reno, Nevada early in the morning on a cross country trip in 2011. There was an odd vibe at that hour...nobody around, nothing lit up, deserted. There were lots of cool mid-century motel, casino and restaurant signs, though, similar to the Fremont area of Las Vegas. We never got out of the car, so here's what we saw driving around looking out our windshield on a gray May morning.

 Sadly, we didn't see any of these gals walking around.

 Reno must be a great place to be a cardiologist.

 Is this where I apply for my new Corolla car loan?

...and after all that decadence, salvation.