Don't Pass This Place Up!

Tijeras, New Mexico
Leisure Mountain 

It's been a very long time since we've enjoyed a place as much as we did today.  How do I explain what this place is?  Well for starters it was featured on quite a few TV shows.  It's also listed on Trip Advisor as "12 One of Kind Places Not to Be Missed."

I picked up a brochure about this place at a welcome center.  Bill is an excellent  wood carver and appreciates any form of art.  I thought this place looked a lot like the National Museum of Wood Carving in Custer, South Dakota, but the two can not be compared.  This was so much fun!  It is incredible and can't be duplicated.

Now, know before you go, the parking area is very small and down over a steep driveway.  If you are in a RV you'll need to park along highway 14 and walk in.  If we ever return we will not take the long bed truck into the parking area.

Now you're wondering where we went today, aren't you.  If I said Tinkertown, what would you visualize?  Well it is called Tinkertown and it's definitely for all ages.  I didn't see one tinkertoy in the whole place.  


It's no secret I love a bargain.  For example this RV park is also a Passport America park and it is $17.50 a night for 50 amp full hook ups, pull thru and WIFI.  I loved the admission sign--$3.75 for adults and $3.25 for Geezers.  I knew this was going to be fun.  When Bill paid for the admission we were given a quarter so we could play one of the machines.

Even before we entered the museum we found the building interesting.  There are over 50,000 bottles in the walls.

Since there was a large group ahead of us, we opted to look around on the outside before we went into the museum.





There was an area off to the back that looked interesting.

The archway has a sign on the opposite side that says "Live Life As the Pursuit of Happiness".

Naturally, Bill was impressed with this old wagon complete with a cowboy.





Even the walkways were interesting as there were license plates used to join sections of the wood.

This medicine show wagon was built by Ross Ward on a Studebaker wagon frame as a puppet theater in 1994. 

I loved all the signs everywhere.

Family members are still adding more bottles today.

This is still outside the museum.  I love the use of the bottles and the old red wagon.

Shall we enter the museum now?

We used our quarter to play the first mechanical that we came to.  I had no idea there would be more.

We then walked down narrow walkways that had rows and rows of carved villages and scenes that were either moving or you pushed a button to see them light up and move.

Ross Ward said "I did all this while you were watching TV".

Incredible!

The detail is amazing.

You can tell by this photo the rooms are narrow and packed with stuff.

There was so much to see in each little village.

Even the ceilings were covered as we entered the circus section.

The old west and the circus were definitely something Ross loved.

This circus scene had moving tigers, trapezes moving, spinning girl with knife throwing, elephants and dog acts all moving.  It's just something a photo can't convey.  

  Here's some of Ross's talent.

Tinkertown is someplace everyone would enjoy.  I'm sure we probably missed a lot as there was so much to see.  

Tomorrow we head north on I 25 to Raton.  I wonder if the elevation will be any higher than today.

Turtle Safely..........