2008 The Thing
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Why do we put anything about The Thing here?  Do we have to have a reason?

 

  We counted this time, and there were exactly 17 signs like this one advertising The Thing as you approached from the east, at least between Las Cruces and the exit for The Thing.  There are undoubtedly a few more on the section of I-10 between El Paso and Las Cruces, and who knows if any are in Texas.  The next time we're out there and are coming from the west, we'll count them the other way.

Most of the signs have an enticement like this one ("Mystery of the Desert").  Besides this, the other enticements were

bulletMystery of Arizona
bulletA Mystery Worth Seeing
bulletTour Buses Welcome (seen twice)
bullet106 Miles Ahead (seen only once obviously)
bulletWhat Is It?
bulletAlien Conspiracy?
bulletJust 45 Minutes Ahead
bulletBig Rig/RV Parking
bulletAhead (seen three times)
bullettwo we couldn't read in time

How can you resist?  We sure couldn't!
     
 
The front entrance in 2005.   The front entrance in 2008.  It hasn't changed much.
     
 
Admission prices in 2005.  The question mark still bothers me.  There's no doubt that it is a thing.  The question is, what KIND of thing.   Admission prices in 2008.  Unlike those at Farley's, these have not gone up.  Those 5-and-under types, who get so much out of seeing mummified corpses, can still get in for free!
     
The actual "Thing" on our first visit in 2004.
     
 
The Thing in 2005.  Here you can see that there are actually two "Things," both a mama Thing and a baby Thing.   The "Thing" in 2008.  NoTHING has changed in four years, and well it shouldn't!  After all, if it could survive for thousands of years in this condition, the few years between our visits is nothing.

Note the careful placement of the sombrero.  Modesty prevails, although I'm guessing that anyTHING still under there would be pretty mummified by now as well.
     
     
 
Having grown up in the 1960s and 70s, these two names are very familiar, and these are as much museum pieces as anything on display on "The Thing" tour.  Photo from 2005.   Same view in 2008.  Someone stuck an AAA sticker on the window, but otherwise they're unchanged.  If they ever tear this building down, I want to buy this pane of glass.  By the way, you can see in the reflection that the trim around the canopy over the gas pumps has been painted yellow.  It was red in the 2005 photo.