Now, when I say “tagging”, I am not referring to the in vogue use of the word (“tagging” a friend on a Facebook picture of comment). Nor am I speaking of a playground game. No. I am speaking of the straight up, old school version of tagging. Spray paint, baby!
Now, just to give fair warning: Using the real deal spray paint is probably not one of those recommended activities I would normally suggest you do with your kiddos. But if the opportunity (legally) presents itself, then press on!
***If you are looking for a way to make your own kid-friendly spray paint, click here to use food coloring. Or, you can click here to find other ways to make it using tempura, acrylic, or poster paints. Personally, if I were at home, I would ABSO-FREAKING-LUTELY use a homemade version.
But, I wasn’t home.
And I had a rare opportunity to go against the typically uptight parenting mode that I tend to dabble in. So, here goes…
On the 17th day of summer, we woke up from our exhausted, motionless sleep in Amarillo, TX. This was the beginning of the second day of our road trip. The novelty had worn off a little, and the reality had set in that we were almost 1,000 miles away from our home and even more miles away from our destination. We tried to brighten that reality with a stop at Cadillac Ranch, which sits just outside of Amarillo, TX. If you’ve never heard of Cadillac Ranch, it’s one of those little quirky places that one must see if they are venturing out on a half-planned, cross-country road trip.
If you’re a parent, chances are this image looks familiar to you:
This is one of the views seen in the Disney/Pixar movie “Cars”. The mountain range in the background is called Cadillac Range. It was inspired by the real-life artistic venue of Cadillac Ranch (below).
For a history of Cadillac Ranch, click here. Basically, Cadillac Ranch is a roadside attraction that beckons many a weary road traveler. It stands confidently and uniquely in the middle of a corn field. (Or, at least it was a corn field two years ago…this year it’s a huge field of dust.) The idea is that you bring your Krylon or Rustoleum or whatever, walk up to a face-planted Cadillac, spray paint to your heart’s content, then leave. It is perfectly acceptable (and expected) that visitors will do exactly that.
And we were more than excited to hoodlum-ize the kids.
We learned of Cadillac Ranch the last time we drove through Amarillo, which was two years ago. So we were already armed with the how-tos…and three cans of spray paint. Each kid got to pick their own color, in exchange for some explicitly clear instructions: “Look, this is the only time and place in your life you can use this stuff. Do NOT get any ideas otherwise. Understood?”
Three little heads nodded up and down in unison in the Amarillo Wal-Mart. It was just enough to convince me that they may actually heed our instructions.
After arriving at the site, we set about removing a minivan’s worth of humans, spray paint, camera, and dog. We walked down the dusty dirt path to the ten maltreated Cadillacs. While we were walking, I couldn’t help but think of one of the quotes from the Statue of Liberty. “Give me your tired, poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Granted, this quote was originally intended for an entirely different set of circumstances and group of people, but I couldn’t help but snort a laugh when I realized how completely applicable it was to a cross-country bound minivan, packed to the gills…filled with more males than females.
We finally got to our destination and started the multi-faceted effort of training, observing, photographing, and aiding our littles as they operated their various cans of paint. Our oldest caught on pretty quickly. At nine years old, we figured he could self-manage…
...and it shows.
Our six-year-old had an immediate plan for her art. We supervised her pretty closely, but she proved to be very responsible.
Our artiste
She was quite proud.
And then there was our youngest. He needed some hands-on help. He probably thought we were the nuttiest parents on earth, and simply didn’t have the strength or dexterity to push down the nozzle. Being four, and the most ‘adventuresome’ of the three, this was probably the best possible outcome a parent could pray for. With help, he was able to do a bit of tagging. His eyes were the size of saucers when he saw what a spray paint can could do.
He liked the shiny gold paint.
I'm really hoping this kind of 'education' doesn't bite me in the butt in ten years.
All in all, the kids thought this was a great stop. The dog was a barking fool, which was aggravating to an extent. But her barking was far less abrasive in an open, dusty field, and much better than the deafening in-your-ear version we were accustomed to while in the van.
As parents, we enjoyed the stop too. It’s not often you can teach your kids the finer art of being a hoodlum. (Well, it shouldn’t be, anyway.) We also liked that we could illustrate how art can take on many forms, and can be ever-changing. Basically, whatever art you leave will most likely be covered by someone else’s art within a day. If I had more time, it would be fun to just sit back and watch the steady stream of visitors come and go as they continually change the art. The sedentary layers of spray paint are truly amazing. There’s a pretty deep crust of paint coating what once was a car.
But we couldn’t stay terribly long. Our goal was to drive 600 miles to a hotel in Flagstaff, AZ by that night. We were also hoping to do a quick drive through tour of Tucumari, NM (one of our favorite Route 66 towns). After getting a late start that morning, we had to get our happy butts back on the road.
