By the time we reached the New Mexico/Arizona border, Tim and I had seen our fair share of strange side-of-the-road flea markets, antique stores, and Native American flute stands. We stopped and admired, but nowhere compared to Stewart's Petrified Wood & Oddities. It's right on I-40 (and the original Route 66) and you won't be able to miss it because you'll be in the middle of nothing-nothing-nothing New Mexico and then all of a sudden you'll look up and see LIFE SIZED PLASTER DINOSAURS eating LIFE SIZED PLASTER HUMANS. But that's not all! Once you drive over the dirt roads that lead to Stewart's, you'll park in front of several large ostrich pens, complete with decorative 10 foot tall teepees and about 30 gigantic birds, which you might be tempted to pet if not for the large painted signs reading "CAUTION: OSTRICHES BITE". In the area surrounding the main building there are broken cars, mannequins that have been baking in the sun for probably three decades, stone bears, and more plaster-of-Paris creatures than you thought existed in America.
I never quite got the whole story from the lady working at Stewart's, but I did find out that regrettably the business is going under. More than anything else on our trip, I'm glad we stopped and explored here-Tim and I talked about it for miles after we left (comma of course). It's a one-of-a-kind place and I'm sorry to see it go. However, if you're interested in saving it (and being the coolest person that ever existed ever) the land is for sale and the ostriches too. No word on whether or not you can buy the dinosaurs or the sun splotched mannequins, but we took a card so... fingers crossed.
Such a weird/intriguing place. Awesome pics.
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