Slug Bug Ranch Route 66 Restless Viking

Update: January 2023 This site is privately owned now. Please respect to the owners! One should only peer from a distance.

Tom Crutchfield created the Slug Bug Ranch in 2002 as a last ditch effort to bring customers to their Longhorn Trading Post and Rattlesnake Ranch businesses next door. These enterprises had been their family’s livelihood since 1967. With Loves Travel Plaza being built on the other side of the highway, the Crutchfields were desperate. They placed five VW Bugs nose down, on an angel in the dirt, much like the Cadillac Ranch 35 miles west.

The Crutchfields painted the vehicles bright yellow with a notice, “Sign a Bug!” Unfortunately, the corporately owned travel plaza on the opposite side of the highway re-routed customers. Sadly, all three Crutchfield businesses closed a year later. The family moved to east Texas. I hope they have found fulfillment. I searched for them on the internet, but was unable to find any information about Tom Crutchfield and his family.

Now these abandoned locations draw more curious visitors than when the stores were open. My heart was heavy while creeping through the rubble of this family’s vocation.

The pay phone was still waiting for someone to make a call. The wind carried an uneasiness as it whistled around the Volkswagens and through the emptiness of this once buzzing enterprise.

*The Longhorn Trading Post and Rattlesnake Ranch as it used to look in the 1970’s.*
*Photo Credit: Kathleen Maca*

*The ruins of the Longhorn Travel Post and Rattlesnake Ranch as it is today.*

Giggling broke the maudlin feeling. Two girls were skipping and taking short video clips of themselves as they wandered the property.

*This gas station had also been owned by Tom Crutchfield.*

Trucks whizzed along the highway nearby. (background) With the convenience of a gas station I wondered how this roadside attraction hadn’t created more interest.

*Da Viking always finds the most curious places to relax!*

*The Crutchfield’s home was located behind the gas station*.

The back door of the Crutchfield’s house kept banging as the wind stirred memories of the past. Another group’s slamming of their vehicle doors answered the abandoned home. Voices broke my sentimental moment.

*Chuck investigates a small building while more travelers appear for photo opportunities.*

*Da Viking hunkered down in yet another curious place to relax.*

As with many roadside attractions along Route 66, they have met an equally dilapidated state. When the expressway was built, it circumvented the small towns along “The Mother Road” which left small businesses in economic crisis. Populations of these small towns assimilated to larger cities, leaving buildings abandoned.

Time keeps marching forward, however I feel it’s beneficial to know where we’ve been. Please feel free to take a peek at the Route 66 History article: https://www.restless-viking.com/2021/04/20/route-66/

Here’s the Cadillac Ranch Article: https://www.restless-viking.com/2021/05/11/cadillac-ranch-route-66/

Take a look at our merchandise: https://restless-viking.myshopify.com/