Drove down to Indio today to pursue an elongated penny squisher. Remember those things? Well, I am slightly embarrased to say that I am not so fanatically collecting them. It's actually a very half hearted effort. The way that I see it: it gets me out, gets me to a place that I may not have otherwise gone to. Today it took me down to my friends at Clark Travel Plaza just off of old route 99. Clarks is famous for an event that took place in 1991 where Rev. Jimmy Swaggart picked up a "date" and got busted for it...they even made an squished penny out of it (see below). I don't know if an event like this makes a place famous, since it is very likely that since event was 20 years ago no one remembers who Jimmy Swaggart is anyway. All fame aside, Clarks has got it all: Gas, food, car wash, racing gas, old signs, a penny squisher, a mural, history and of couse the Swaggart thing. It's not much to look at photographically, but the penny squisher got me down here, so I may as well look around a bit. Just down the street is a cool old hotel called the Tropics Motor Hotel, very cool signage. Downtown Indio provided me with some cool shots of an old taco stand and 3 thrift stores in one city block! I am liking this place so far. But as night began to fall, I felt less and less like I should be hanging around shooting pics with $4K worth of camera gear in my hand that could be easily snatched. So I got my shots and I shot right out of there....nice place to take pics, but I dont want to live there.
Tropics Motor Hotel on Rt 99
The first elongated penny reads: "Rev Jimmy Swaggart picked up a date at Clark's 10-3-91" The second is the rt99 historic penny.
Vintage Signage at Clark's in Indio
Former taco stand old town Indio. Was this a white castle?
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