A few days ago, I got to be part of Another Roadside Attraction* on the side of HWY60, just west of Magdalena New Mexico. (Pop: 821 as of 2020 census)
Tumbleweeds Diner hosted a foodie road-trip/meetup event.
There was live music all day, great vendors, some space cowboys (the Very Large Array of telescopes is under 20 miles away), blue highway travelers from all over the country, one person from the Netherlands another from Germany, and above all great food.
My all made from scratch by an incredible chef black bean vegan burger on potato bun with hand cut fries was delicious.
Of course the ubiquitous New Mexico spring wind attended so cloth displays had to be held down by my recycled fencing signs. Hanging displays were not an option.
Let’s hear it for unique roadside diners and the two lane roads less travelled, even if HWY 60 was uncharacteristically busy on that day as it became the detour route for anyone (big truckers I’m looking at you) who had hoped to head west on Interstate 40, closed due to train derailment on Arizona border and resulting huge fuel fire from the gas tankers it was pulling.
The official photographer hired for the event took the above picture just after setup, of what turned out to be a surprisingly successful day full of stories, joy and community.
I needed a good show as that not inexpensive market canopy I am using was on her maiden voyage.
A sudden haboob completely destroyed my previous market canopy at a farmers market a few weeks back. Desert dust devils can be a special hazard at spring outdoor markets here.
A canopy is essential to shelter cloth and other creations from the beautiful, bright, blazing, bleaching New Mexico sun.
*thanks to author Tom Robbins for theft of his first novel title: Another Roadside Attraction (1971) Though it does feature a restaurant, I probably prefer others like Even Cowgirls Get the Blues and Still Life With Woodpecker or even Half Asleep in Frog Pyjamas. I recommend Tom Robbins for highly entertaining, unserious diversion. Caveat: reviewers often use words like rollicking or sometimes even bawdy. Where were you in the early seventies? Rolling with the sixties?
Footnote: I interviewed once for a library job in north western Washington State where Tom Robbins, as chair of the Library Board, sat on the interview panel. I didn’t accept that tulip town job. A tiny town in far north eastern Washington got in first to lure me over the mountains. Then. There.
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