Amarillo, Texas

[kalt]

Nice photos! I used to was born in the panhandle and lived there most of my life...it's good to see nice shots to remember the city with.

I hope the downtown revitalization goes well...They should renovate the older buildings and put in condos or new offices. I've been hoping to see a new high-rise downtown...but that's probably not going to happen for a long time. I guess the problem is sprawl and the availability of land there to just build outward instead of up.

[kalt]

Here are a couple of photos from a few years ago...I would have posted more but the photos already posted are much nicer and more detailed.


View from the North side of town.


The Ambassador Hotel, right off of I-40...a nice play to stay with a great view.

[haux]

Sorry it took so long for another update. Here's the Cadillac Ranch just west of town. My brother was in town, so we bought some spray paint and headed out there.


It's 10 cars in a field off the interstate.




My brother gets ready to paint.


The first thing he wrote was "buy war bonds." He's so 1940s patriotic.


There were a lot of spray cans around. We cleaned up our mess.


As we arrived, two women finished up their masterpiece.


They left, and it was ruined.


My brother painted eyes on this "face."


Someone was trying to tell people about the giraffe conspiracy.


Gotta nuke something.

The end. I hope you guys enjoyed this. I'll probably go out shooting more buildings in the near future. If it snows, I'll try my hardest to get out then too. I've got this new SLR, and I love it, so I should be shooting more.

[kalt]

Image from the Amarillo News (amarillo.com) from the recent snow storm.

[dmoor82]

I've been to Amarillo alot ,going to The Grand Canyon and Cali!!! it's an alright place,nice people!its The only worthwhile stop inbetween OKC and ABQ!oooo I almost forgot The Big Texan!! yuuuuum

[haux]

I've got pictures from the snowstorm that I'll probably be showing you tonight. Five days later, and the streets aren't cleared. The main arteries and the two interstates are, but the city will not tackle the residential streets. It's ridiculous.

I'll show off my photos when I get home from work.

[haux]

The first significant snowfall of the winter. We got 7.1 inches officially, though parts of the city got 10 inches. The snow started a little before noon Jan. 28 and snowed through the evening. It let up by night. The city then spent a few days digging out.


This is what I saw when I left for work about noon.


It was worse when I got to work.


The tallest building in the city was shrouded.


I greeted my car after work.


When I got home, I got my tripod and walked out to Interstate 40.


Looks like someone thought this was the exit.


I'll probably never be able to do this again. I am standing in the middle of the eastbound lanes of Interstate 40. I-40 is one of the busiest interstates in the country, and 93,000 vehicles drive on it a day in Amarillo.

The next day


The sun came out.


But the roads were still bad.


At least one of the parking lots at work was sort of clear.


But the roads were still awful.



Three and four days later


Roofs are clearing up.


Drip, drip


But residential streets are still pretty bad. The city has only (poorly) cleared main arteries. The Texas Department of Transportation cleared the interstates.









More to come soon? We're expecting a couple more inches Wednesday evening.

[diskojoe]

man yall really did get some snow. it snowed in houston in december but it all melted away within that same day. it was maybe an inch total.

[haux]

It's been awhile, but I'm back with more photos. Amarillo's amusement park, Wonderland, opened today. I was there with both my cameras, a Fujifilm FinePix F650 and a Canon XSi.

I visited the park twice last year. It's a pretty good park for the size of Amarillo. Wonderland has four roller coasters, and one has two loops. I could ramble on about the park and rides, but I'll let the photos do the talking.


I was the first guest in the park. Ha. I'm such a dork. I wandered around for about an hour taking pictures. The roller coasters weren't open yet.


It was windy, which is typical of the Texas Panhandle.






That's Texas Tornado. It used to be all white, but it got a great paint job in the offseason. I think it looks spectacular.






Because the coasters haven't operated since Labor Day, maintenance greases the track in places where the rides might slow down.

But Wonderland's more than just roller coasters!














Note the girl on her cell phone. Ha!

The park wasn't 100 percent set up for opening day. Maintenance people were still wandering around roping off the water rides, which weren't open because of the wind and the temperature.


There were benches and trash cans lined up and not set up yet.


Maintenance worker roping off a water ride.


They just drove this thing down the midway!

But eventually, all the roller coasters opened. Yay. That's why I came!







There are also some amusing things around the park.


Like this. Weird.


And this. It's really just a meeting spot.


And this. Cool.

I wandered around and rode a few things. I rode the swings, Ferris wheel and all four coasters. I spend about 3 1/2 hours there.



Now that the weather's nice, I'm going to try to get out more. A co-worker and I are going to visit Palo Duro Canyon sometime, so expect plenty of photos. I'll also get my butt out to the Big Texan. Of course, I'll get more photos of downtown. And I've got a special update planned of something downtown.

Thanks for checking out my photos. I'll leave you with a shot of downtown Amarillo from Wonder Wheel.

[diskojoe]

awesome new pics. i really mean that. this is your best set yet. you got some nice style developing here. i could see some artsy touches starting to develop. i like the picture with the colored benches. you took that one at a good angle. i like the people sprinkled in too. always a good touch.

[Fraghawk]

Anyone hear about the city wanting to build a 300 room convention center hotel?
Finally, a new building for the skyline!

[haux]

The city's talking with developers to build that hotel. In the most recent news, eight developers are in talks. I think it's a little outrageous. This city's not big enough for it. So someone attending the quarter horse convention has to stay in a motel on Paramount Boulevard. It's 3 miles from downtown.

The city's new planner is from Fort Worth, and she helped spark downtown development there. But I think she's dreaming that Amarillo's the size of Fort Worth. It's not. The city's official guess for the 2010 census is that we don't crack 200,000 people.

[haux]

The city's talking with developers to build that hotel. In the most recent news, eight developers are in talks. I think it's a little outrageous. This city's not big enough for it. So someone attending the quarter horse convention has to stay in a motel on Paramount Boulevard. It's 3 miles from downtown.

The city's new planner is from Fort Worth, and she helped spark downtown development there. But I think she's dreaming that Amarillo's the size of Fort Worth. It's not. The city's official guess for the 2010 census is that we don't crack 200,000 people.

[kalt]

Originally Posted by haux

The city's talking with developers to build that hotel. In the most recent news, eight developers are in talks. I think it's a little outrageous. This city's not big enough for it. So someone attending the quarter horse convention has to stay in a motel on Paramount Boulevard. It's 3 miles from downtown.

The city's new planner is from Fort Worth, and she helped spark downtown development there. But I think she's dreaming that Amarillo's the size of Fort Worth. It's not. The city's official guess for the 2010 census is that we don't crack 200,000 people.

I'd hope they work on redeveloping downtown. Urban sprawl sucks... As long as they don't build a new hotel out by the mall/medipark we should be fine!

[haux]

Would anyone be interested if I did a photo feature on the newspaper? I work there, as you know by reading this thread, and I've been going around shooting various shots inside and outside the building. I think it could be kind of cool to show this place's sights.

I've got a growing folder of material for my next update, which will most likely be general shots around town. That or the Big Texan. If the weather's nice (it's been raining A LOT lately), I hope to get out there for some shots.

I hope this thread's not for naught. Amarillo may not be too interesting or huge or have big, pretty skyscrapers, but I hope I can give it some attention.

[Ranger762]

I'd love to see pics of the newspaper. I assume by your eye for good framing and that you seem to have your camera with you all the time that you're a photographer for them.

I've really enjoyed your pics of Amarillo. I've been through the area years ago, but never even stopped that I can recall.

[haux]

Actually, I'm an editor. I just shoot as a hobby. But thanks for the compliment.

[haux]

OK, it's time for another update. This time, it's just random shots from around town.


Amarillo National Bank Plaza One, the second-tallest building in the city.


Barfield Building, a frequently stalled condo project.


Buildings downtown. I'm not sure if they're in use (the wood panels at the ground floor says they're not). I just liked this shot.


Chase Tower


Chase Tower along Tyler Street.


The streets downtown empty on weekends and after 5:30 p.m. on weekdays.


The Fisk Building. It's well on its way to becoming a Courtyard by Marriott.


Here's a new view. The normally locked door to my work building's roof was open, so I ventured up there and took a few pictures. That's the Chase Tower. Far in the distance is a little crop of buildings. That's the abandoned hospital I visited earlier in this thread.


Looking down Polk Street. This street has all the bars and clubs downtown.


Santa Fe Building with a furniture store sign in the foreground.


The Santa Fe Building from the roof of the newspaper.


The city skyline from the east.


Downtown from the newspaper's roof. Building IDs from left: Chase Tower, Amarillo National Bank Plaza One (black tower), Barfield Building, Amarillo National Bank Plaza Two (blue glass), Petroleum Building (no windows, foreground), Eagle Centre (behind Petroleum Building), Fisk Building.


A smaller building downtown.


A sushi place downtown.


This picture is "Amarillo." The Santa Fe Building in the background. The truck is for Toot'n Totum, a local chain of convenience stores.


And finally, a Big Texan bench at a bus stop. The restaurant is advertised around town.

[Ranger762]

More great photos! Most of your shots seem to be of downtown. Do you have any from around the rest of the city? How about the Palo Duro canyon? Keep 'em coming!

[haux]

Thanks. Downtown's the only interesting part of the city.

Really, I've been so busy with work, I just relax on my days off. A lot of the pictures downtown I took when I was on my dinner break. I work downtown, so it's just a little jog to get some of these shots.

I promise I'll get out more eventually. I'm trying to get some co-workers to come to Palo Duro Canyon with me. I'm sure we'll go someday. And the Big Texan too. I wonder if they'll let me go inside and take pictures without ordering. I could act like a tourist.