If you’re stuck on I-10 between El Paso and Austin, don’t miss this quirky little roadside attraction!
Iraan Texas Museum: a Big Gem in a Small Town
When you find yourself driving one of the loneliest stretches of I-10 between El Paso and Ozona, take a few hours to go 13 miles north on Texas Highway 349.
Here you’ll find one of the Lone Star State’s most rustic old towns featuring an abundance of dinosaur-era fossils and a larger-than-life monolith tribute to Alley Oop, that popular caveman comic from the 1930s.
And just as entertaining is the Iraan Texas Museum’s curator Edna “Snooks” Collett, an 85-year-young cowgirl dynamo.
Here’s a short video about this off-the-beaten path West Texas attraction that shows some of the highlights that make this offbeat spot so much fun. The park is always open but the museum hours are from 1 to 5 pm (closed Mondays and through Christmas to March).
Ira-Ann, Not Iran
Iraan sits atop one of the richest oil field deposits in North America. During the early 20th century, oil was discovered on land belonging to Ira and Ann Yates. When a contest was held to name this newly formed town, the winning result was “Iraan,” a play on the couple’s first names.
During the late 1920s, local artist VT Hamlin was fascinated by the bounty of prehistoric dinosaur-era artifacts found in the Permian Basin lands surrounding Iraan. This was during a time when fossils were dug up and discarded without any real regard for preservation.
In 1932, Hamlin gained worldwide fame when his comic strip Alley Oop caught the eye of newspapers around the country. The comic chronicled the time-traveling adventures of Oop, a burly, axe-wielding caveman, his curvaceous girlfriend Oola, a pet dinosaur Dinny and their kingdom, Moo.
To honor VT Hamlin’s contribution to putting Iraan on the map, locals created the 7-acre Alley Oop Fantasy Land Park, featuring ginormous statues of Alley Oop characters Oop, Dinny, oola, Dr. Wonmug and Oscar Boom.
Snooks’ Museum Walks You Through Time
In keeping with the time-traveling spirit of Alley Oop’s adventures, longtime notable resident Snooks Collett created the Iraan Texas Museum.
This free attraction features hundreds of local artifacts from prehistoric times to the town’s oil boom heyday to the modern era of alternative energy development.
You can spend hours examining these treasures and learning about the region, but you’ll want to reserve even more time to chat with Snooks, who at her advanced age is still running the museum and going on field digs for local artifacts. This rugged but charming western cowgirl who actually lived on the ranch where oil was discovered in Iraan, can tell you endless stories about the region’s rich western history.
If you don’t have enough time to get to know the museum, you can spend the night in your RV. Iraan has two city parks (one located adjacent to the museum) with full hookups for just $12.00 a night. Visit in the springtime, and Snooks, along with the local archaeological association, will welcome you to come along on a real fossil dig.
Our visit to the Alley Oop Fantasy Land and Iraan Museum was too fast, since we were booking it west to California while trying to beat an oncoming winter storm. But we’ll definitely return; this little western outpost is too entertaining to miss whenever we’re on I-10.
Get off the interstate and see the real Texas. Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind attraction.
When you’re in a spot for a while, those little annoyances you didn’t see upon your arrival tend to make their debut. But not here, not for us.
Sure, there’s the pine beetle epidemic that’s killed quite a few magnificent trees, but we can’t control what the beetles do (thank you, climate change), only try our best to shoo them off with pheromones and natural tree fertilizers.
Sometimes this place does cost more than if we were still fulltime RVers. And while I don’t like the financial burdens of having a piece of the American Dream, I keep reminding myself that ultimately our little place will serve us even better than it does now.
Property values actually increased this year up here, which was a shock. Still, we felt incredibly fortunate to have been in that boat, even if our taxes went up.
Where to Next?
If we stayed here during winter, I think my complaint list would grow.
But we’ll still fly south in winter for the forseeable future. Just as we start to get fat, happy and settled into routines, it’ll be time to go test our wits out there in the world and live spontaneously once again.
We love Red Feather Lakes. And although it’s nice to have a beautiful place to stay for a while, the adventure of the road tripping lifestyle will always beckon.
How fitting, that as we left Moab and headed back to our mountain home where we’ll be remaining stationery for the summer, we heard this hilarious parody of the Hank Snow song, I’ve Been Everywhere …
Who woulda thunk the Keymaster of Gozer could create such a funny take on such a classic travel tune, let alone an entire country comedy album. But then again, ever since his Bob McKenzie days I’ve always thought Rick Moranis is one funny guy.
Check out his new Agoraphobic Cowboy album for some fun loving alt country bluegrass with a twist. We especially like I Ain’t goin’ Nowhere because it is full of silly excuses to not enjoy the ramblin’ lifestyle we love so much:
I ain’t goin’ nowhere, man.
I ain’t goin’ nowhere
It’s dangerous out there, man
Might ‘a been a big bomb scare.
Hard to get off of this easy chair.
I ain’t goin’ nowhere
I go
Online, dsl, amazon, buy and sell,
Ebay, layaway, last bid noon today,
Plasma, Judy Judge, broadband, Matt Drudge, J.Crew, B&N, dotcom, CNN
JPEG, e.mail, pop-up she-male
Shower cam, filter spam, slam bam.
I think it’s ma’am
I ain’t goin’ nowhere, man
Never gonna go nowhere
It’s a bungled jungle out there, man
Some kid got mauled by a bear
Surround sound in my own lair
I ain’t goin’ nowhere….
As a full-time road tripper, do people you meet on the road ever say to you “Gee, you travel all the time? What, didja win the lotto?”
What do you say to them?
I hesitate to tell people how Jim and I live because most assume that we’re loaded (with money, that is). Which we are not. Ok, it’s all relative, but still.
We manage to do what we do because we keep our expenses extremely low and stay debt free. Our wallets are thin but our spirits are not.
Of course explaining this to a stranger takes more than a 15-second spiel, so I usually just say “we’re snowbirds.”
One of the ways we can do what we do and still eek out a living is through our Internet connections and by scouring the countryside for freebie spots like this one in Utah.
But before braving the Colorado cold, we stopped near Moab to soak up some sun and camp for a few more days.
Spring has sprung here and we wanted to see more. We also haven’t experienced any warm weather whatsoever since last summer, so I was hoping for high temperatures.
Some fellow road trippers told us about this pretty spot, which I’ve since added to the Escapees Day’s End Directory. (go buy a copy to find out where it is!).
These free spots are widely available to wintertime road trippers in Southwestern deserts. Winter brings many more options for finding solitude on the road.
It’s rare that I actually feel like I’m getting something for my tax dollars, but when we camp on free public land like this, I love knowing that my tax dollars paid for it.
I never thought I would feel any sense of exhilaration over the death of an individual, but I surprised myself with my reaction when Jim screamed “They got Bin Laden!”
“GOOD!” I said. Yes, I was happy that they killed him. Ecstatic that this horrible human being was wiped off the face of the earth. Now it’s really time for the collective “We” to move forward toward better days ahead. Is that so wrong?
Our time in Arizona has come to an end, just in time for the heat to set in.
We arrived in Elfrida in mid-February, already knowing that the caretaking job we had agreed to do at one property had morphed into a caretaking job at another property just down the road. Long story.
Unsure of what to expect when we agreed to that job, we went with the flow and gave it a shot.
“At it’s core, adventure is a willingness to commit to an uncertain outcome with an open heart and an open mind.”
Our situation ended up being much different than we originally envisioned, but it was still a positive adventure. We connected with some great folks who we plan on staying in touch with for future winter caretaking opportunities.
Just as we were getting ready to go, a very dear friend of ours from Eureka passed away. He was young and vibrant and should never have left this earth so soon. The unfairness of it all is upsetting beyond words.
We’re not ready to share his story just yet, since a life like his deserves so much more mental bandwidth than I can dig up right now.
When word came of his passing, we knew we had to be there for his memorial service in Eureka. So instead of pointing east to Texas, we turned and went the other way.
After a too-brief visit with family in L.A., we’re now driving north and will be in our old stomping grounds, Humboldt County, for a short stay. Time to dig up the winter clothes that I had just put away. Brrrr….
Good, bad, boring, adventurous, whatever; there’s never any telling what will happen in life. All we can do is live as best we can and try to make a positive, lasting impact on others in this world, just as our friend did.
Industrial tourism has a place in the American landscape. These sites are like train wrecks and natural disasters; you just can’t help but look twice at the horrific results.
Some of them make great attractions, while others make you want to turn your head and weep.
We’re here in Bisbee, ground zero of Arizona’s copper, silver and gold mining boom of the late 19th century.
This town once prospered because of man’s awesome ability to cut open the earth and extract riches.
Bisbee was a company town complete with housing, schools and stores for employees who took on this dangerous work to feed their families for a pittance of a salary.
Bisbee Today
There was once incredible wealth here and today many of the oldest buildings still stand.
Bisbee’s narrow streets and twisted pathways lead to houses stacked on top of eachother, perched alongside the steep hills this town was built on.
Funky thrift stores housed in historic buildings and cafes built into mountainsides give it a dusty Southwestern flair that’s attracted tons of creatives.
Soon after the artists arrived, however, so did the art buyers, which meant that real estate prices went sky-high and proprietors figured out how valuable those antiques in their junk stores really were. There are few real deals to be found here.
That’s alright though. Some of the “come here’s” progressive attitudes have really improved this community. There’s recycling on every corner and a true appreciation for public art, not just the kind that hangs over a wealthy person’s mantle.
Relics of Bisbee’s past blend with modern artistic touches that make it an interesting place to amble along on a Saturday afternoon.
While it’s somewhat out of your way to get here unless you’re going to the Mexican border, trust me when I say it’s worth a visit.
We hit the road last weekend, and are now boondocking at the Slabs, in nearly the same spot we were in last year.
The frantic pace of L.A. is behind us and the roaring din of freeways is gone. In fact, the loudest noises we hear at any given time are packs of dogs barking, music playing, and occasionally the “thwap! thwap! thwap! thwap!” of mid-afternoon V-22 Osprey training drills on the adjacent Navy bombing range.
As we drove to the desert, I couldn’t help but be horrified at the cost of diesel, as high as $3.89 a gallon. Just as I started to panic when thinking about the triple-digit fuel-ups we’re in for, I got an email from Flying J, to let me know about their new Frequent Fueler Advantage Program.
Instant fuel discounts at the pump on diesel, gas, and propane
$0.03 off diesel (currently available at RV and auto diesel lanes only (coming soon to truck diesel lanes)
$0.02 off gas
$0.10 off propane
$5 off dumping fees
Members-only offers for anyone who takes time to register their card:
Unlimited fuel discounts (no max gallons)
Pump Start*
Other benefits like the Coffee Club, buy 5 hot beverages and the 6th is on us!
What got me interested in signing up with the program is the “Pump Start” benefit. This perk enables RVers to start the fuel pump instantly, just by swiping the registered loyalty card.
For passengers like me, this means that I don’t have to interrupt my knitting, just to go inside and pay whenever we stop for fuel.
If you already have a Flying J or Pilot loyalty card, like the Driver Payback Card or Frequent Fueler Card, you don’t need a new card, you can keep using them. But just be sure to go online to register your existing card so you can get all of the benefits of the new Frequent Fueler Advantage Program(you can also have the station clerk do it).
Ah, California. Land of sunshine, beaches, beautiful people and . . .
The most outrageous fuel prices in the country!
When we arrived, diesel was just up over $3.00 a gallon. Now, it’s almost at $4. The longer we hang out, the higher prices climb. It’s like a flashback to 2008. Scary stuff.
After several weeks of hanging out, the L.A. basin is starting to remind us of crabs in a pot.
Soon, we’ll beat a path out of here, and head somewhere far away.
Here, actually.
A small ranch in Southern Arizona, where our friends Kelly and Al have been caretaking every winter. We camped there with them for a night once, and loved the peace and quiet. Last Fall, Kelly and Al hooked us up with the property owners, and now we have a short caretaking gig at their place in February/March.
We’ll have some animals and acreage to look after, along with wide open skies, big views and a whole lot of quiet.
Then in late March, as long as fuel prices don’t get too much higher, we’ll head to Big Bend National Park once again. Where the skies are even bigger, and the Longhorns outnumber the people.
Home is where the heart is. And the food. Oh, and my Mom and Dad.
No matter how far we wander, or off track we get, there is nothing nicer than knowing we always have a place at Casa Agredano.
Christmas is a big deal here, loaded with pan dulce, tamales and multiple festivities. From the tamalada to Mom’s New Year’s Day homemade menudo brunch, we cram a year’s worth of visits into one solid month.
My four sisters and all of their kids and grandkids (I stopped counting at 12), keep us busy and entertained, especially on Christmas eve during the White Elephant exchange.
Yesterday we had a blast boating with three dogs on Newport harbor, on a classic Southern California winter’s day. I felt kinda guilty having so much fun on the ocean after hearing about the horrible blizzards back east. California Dreamin’ indeed!
Meanwhile, the rig sits outside with birds poopin on the roof, and black streaks accumulating from all of the rain. Inside, it’s cold and lonely, waiting for our return.
We’ll be leaving here soon, and off to our wintertime adventures. Leaving my family will be just as hard as ever.
Since we can’t go any further West, we’ll be heading east toward the Slabs for a spell, then off to Quartzsite for our first snowbird experience. We’ve avoided a Quartzsite pilgrimage for this long, since the snowbirds there mostly consist of old timers and it just seemed too conservative and boring for our taste.
This year, however, we changed our mind, since the hipsters from NuRVers and the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous will be there to add a little life to that party. Or more like a lot of life! Good times are in the works!
When you live the hobo lifestyle, many people will mistakenly assume that you’re either a trustafarian or you’ve won the lotto. We’ve had many people comment “oh you must be rich” when we tell them how we live.
Rich in spirit, mind, body and soul maybe, but financially, we are not (yet! hah!).
Most people don’t believe it, but you really don’t need to be rich to take an extended travel sabbatical and see the sights you’ve always wanted to see. All it takes is the determination to work out the details and finance the trip.
No More Excuses!
If you’re thinking of hitting the road but your finances, job, family, pet or health situation is keeping you from doing it, stop right now and pick up a copy of “Answers to the Common Excuses Not to Travel Full-Time.”
Our NuRVer friends Chris and Cherie recently published a useful 78-page e-book that addresses 15 different excuses that people make for not living the travel lifestyle they’ve always dreamed of. From figuring out how to get rid of your stuff, to planning for health care and making a living, “Answers to the Common Excuses” will motivate you to put your dream in motion.
Along the way, we made time for one attraction that’s been on our bucket list, the Alley Oop Fantasy Land and Museum of Iraan Texas.
Here you’ll find one of the Lone Star State’s most rustic old towns featuring an abundance of dinosaur-era fossils and a larger-than-life monolith tribute to Alley Oop, that popular caveman comic from the 1930s.
In keeping with the time-traveling spirit of Alley Oop’s adventures, longtime notable resident Snooks Collett created the Iraan Texas Museum.
If you don’t have enough time to get to know the museum, you can spend the night in your RV. Iraan has two city parks (one located adjacent to the museum) with full hookups for just $12.00 a night. Visit in the springtime, and Snooks, along with the local archaeological association, will welcome you to come along on a real fossil dig.
Get off the interstate and see the real Texas. Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind attraction.
What do you say to them?
One of the ways we can do what we do and still eek out a living is through 
Spring has sprung here and we wanted to see more. We also haven’t experienced any warm weather whatsoever since last summer, so I was hoping for high temperatures.
It’s rare that I actually feel like I’m getting something for my tax dollars, but when we camp on free public land like this, I love knowing that my tax dollars paid for it.
“GOOD!” I said. Yes, I was happy that they killed him. Ecstatic that this horrible human being was wiped off the face of the earth. Now it’s really time for the collective “We” to move forward toward better days ahead. Is that so wrong?
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