Sign of the Times

When a sign defines you

I was a lot thinner 51 years ago, but my penchant for junk and curios continues to this day. Readers of this blog already know how I feel about treasures that I find at our recycling center. This photo was taken in California in 1972. I was driving cross country, camping along the way. The fish grill seemed like a good idea. It wasn’t used on the trip, it was never used at home. After 46 years I brought it to the Green Center, our recycling mecca.

Don’t drink the water – Las Vegas trip

I was on a road trip with my Navy buddies headed to Las Vegas. Almost immediately we were stopped for speeding. Frank Chupko was driving his Ford Galaxy with New Jersey plates and remarked that we were targeted for having out-of-state plates. At the time the Jerry Reed’s song When You’re Hot You’re Hot was a hit on the radio, so we started to sing it, knowing that we make it big in Vegas. The speeding ticket was nothing to high rollers like us.

When we stopped at a rest stop in Nevada, I photographed this sign.

The Galaxy Motel – No Fishing

Needless to say, Vegas was not as lucrative as we might have hoped. We were the second line in the the Jerry Reed song, “When You’re Hot You’re Hot”, – “WHEN YOU’RE NOT, YOU’RE NOT“. We were COLD.

Since we had such little money Frank had the idea that we could sleep in his Ford Galaxy in the desert. I had taken a sleeping bag with the idea of sleeping under the stars rather than in a car with two other guys. I learned a few things about the desert. It gets mighty cold. A cold wind blew into the bags and I was bit chilly. Later I reflected on what might have happened if I had a visiting snake, spider or Gila monster, but I was spared that adventure. We were near Lake Mead and I noticed a sign which in my opinion indicated what we already knew, no fishing in the sand.

Vegas

We felt a little scruffy after sleeping in the desert. We headed back to Vegas to Caesar’s Palace to see if we could win back some of our losses. It was early in the morning but these places never close. There we met a celebrity, the legendary Liberace. He was very gracious to us, maybe he just a bit intimidated since the place was empty and we moved in him. It would have been nice if he bought us breakfast.

I wanted to take one last shot that was unique to Vegas, but not the neon lights, that has been done ad-nauseum. This is what I chose.