Life in the Desert
Welcome back for part 2 of our journey out to Utah! We're starting off in western Colorado, then heading across the stat line to Moab, UT.
This looks like an 80's Exxon, but has spent a large portion of its life as "W." I'm sure that's not its full name, but that's the only branding on their sign. In 2018, they became a Phillips 66.
Sorry for the terrible picture, but I had to include this. Rite Aid's got practically no presence in Colorado. They didn't have many here before Walgreens r
Now this is a relic! Looks like it opened in the 60's, and aside from having the signage replaced looks like it's never been remodeled. It even still had the Brazier signage as late as 2016. Despite its small width, the restaurant actually goes pretty far back and has a few seats inside.
Denny's itself seems to be a dying chain, despite it having the funniest social media presence of any restaurant. As a result, they're one of the chains I follow an "I see, I shoot" policy when photographing. I didn't realize this location had some history too at the time, but in researching for this post I found it actually began life as a Sambo's restaurant in the 70's, and was one of the locations Denny's bough off them in the 1982 bankruptcy auction.
This one's of about the same vintage as the one pictured previously, but was remodeled in 2017. Apparently the later remodels are less tolerant of the tile roof.
I know Motel 6 is a bottom-of-the-barrel place to stay, but it surprises me that even they won't update a sign this badly faded; especially at a time when the vast majority of their motels have been given the new logo.
This station's been here since the 80's, and was given a major remodel in 2016. The remodel added a Weinerschnitzel and Tastee Freez to the store. I know both are prominent West Coast chains, but this is the first and only time I'd seen either of them in Colorado.
A state line, that is. The rest of this post is going to be photos from Utah.
Cisco's a relatively famous ghost town, which as of last year had an estimated population of 1. The town dried up for the most part in the 50's, but still had about a dozen residents as recently as 10 years ago. Despite its fame, it consists of little more than a gas station and a sprinkling of collapsed wooden shacks.
This station is independently-owned by a local oil company. It was fixed up a couple years ago, it used to look a little more run-down, as you'd expect from a local company station.
Conoco-Phillips and Maverik have no relation, despite the very similar canopy design. The underside of the canopy was painted light blue recently, around the same time switched out the lights for LED's. It's an unusual color but I really like it.
This diner closed in 2008 after the building was sold, and was then converted into the offices for a tour company. They didn't change much with the building, even though its current use couldn't be more different than what it was built for.
I don't think this kayak & raft tour place has much retail history if any, but I liked the building.
I'm not sure what's more interesting about this building- the architecture or its history. The beautifully preserved 50's design is certainly photo-worthy, but I'd be obliged to take a picture of anything named the "Uranium Building" regardless. Moab first got put on the map in the 50's when several uranium mines opened nearby as a result of the Cold War. This building was the headquarters for one of those mines. The population quadrupled by the time the mines closed down in the 80's. By that point, Moab had become a major tourist town, so it wasn't hurt too badly.
Fiesta Mexicana opened in the 2000's, but I suspect this building is much older. It looks 70's to me, and most likely began life as another independent Mexican restaurant.
This opened in the 60's, and was rebuilt (without closing! They built this building over the existing one, and then demolished the old building from the inside) in 2012. They tried to pay homage to the original building with a 50's-inspired façade, though the new design is totally different and looks much better than the old one.
This was built as an outparcel for Walker's, and still has the same design they did before rebuilding.
I'm positive this building began life as a fast food chain, but in recent years has been home to a number of independent restaurants, of which Gilberto's seems to be the longest-lived. I'm thinking Jack In The Box, but that's really just a guess.
They did a really nice job blending their regular 2000's restaurant design with the traditional southwestern architecture. It was probably done voluntarily too, since there's plenty of new buildings in town that don't use any local influence in their design indicating there isn't any ordinance.
I'm not sure if this location just had an extreme remodel done or if it was a total rebuild. The back half of the building matches up with the pre-2010 footprint, meaning they could have feasibly kept that. However, the dining area was definitely torn down and rebuilt. The new one is much wider and looks a fair bit taller too.
This store design kinda reminds me of a pre-Marina style Safeway. The vestibule to the left of the tower was a recent addition, it looks like the center's been remodeled (to varying extents) three times in recent years- 2007, 2012, and in 2016. It's been independent grocer Village Market for probably longer at this point than it Safeway would have lasted.
For the number of times this place has changed hands, I'm impressed the exterior hasn't been totally redone yet. Domino's had opened here by the 90's and closed around 2010. China Cafe moved in a few years later, and as of 2018 is now a Mexican restaurant.
This station was first built in the mid-2000's, and expanded with another canopy in 2015.
This store first opened in 2006, with two small vacant storefronts attached. They sat vacant for years, but finally in 2013 a tire shop took over both.
Chevron's another popular West Coast chain that doesn't get much representation on here. This location opened in the 90's and was redone in 2012.
This is the first operational Texaco I've seen in the US in years. Chevron hasn't abandoned the brand here either, it was redone to their current prototype in 2015.
Despite being two different store names, City Market and King Soopers fall under the same arm of Kroger. They share everything. Like many other King Soopers or City Markets, this opened in the 90's with wannabe neon décor, had a remodel to the script décor in the 2000's, and was redone again to Fresh & Local recently.
This opened in the 90's and originally had somebody other than 7-Eleven operating the convenience store. Unfortunately, the sign in the 2007 Streetview is illegible so I can't tell what that is. This station also had a Subway, which closed not long after I took this picture.
Shell opened here in the 90's. The convenience store was originally a Shell Food mart, but was taken over by 7-Eleven around 2015. The station converted to Exxon in 2018.
This location opened in the 90's and underwent an interior remodel around 2012. So far, it's survived their current remodeling campaign.
This is definitely an old gas station, but its design is too generic to match to a brand. It's been a rental place for several years now, though has changed names a few times.
The motel itself isn't much to see, but they had a beautiful old sign out on the town's main drag.
I thought this sign was another 50's holdout, but apparently Desert West didn't open until 1996. It's still a neat logo.
It seems like most National Parks had their infrastructure built in the 50's. They're usually great places to get a dose of midcentury modern architecture. Canyonlands was no exception.
Today's song was (fittingly) stuck in my head this entire trip. Yes, I took every chance I could to make a reference to it. Yes, everybody hated me for it. No, I don't regret it.
Grand Junction has some cool stuff! I really like the old DQ, and that Motel 6 sign. Moab has a nice BK as well.
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