Letterboxing~Fortune Teller

On Saturday I asked, Val of Fantastyk Voyage, if she would want to drive me to Tinkertown Museum so I could place a letterbox there that I'd created. Val, always up for an adventure, gladly agreed and we were on our way for the short drive up into the Sandia Mountains.

Tinkertown was created and built by Ross Ward and his wife Carla for more than 40 years. Ross's miniature wood-carved figures were first part of a traveling exhibit, driven to county fairs and carnivals in the 1960s and '70s. Today over 50,000 glass bottles form rambling walls that surround a 22-room museum. Wagon wheels, old fashioned store fronts, and wacky western memorabilia make Tinkertown's exterior as much as a museum as the wonders within. Inside, the magic of animation takes over. The inhabitants of a raucous little western town animate to hilarious life. Under the big top, diminutive circus performers challenge tigers and defy gravity while the Fat Lady fans herself and a polar bear teeters and totters.
Throughout, eccentric collections of Americana fill Tinkertown's winding hallways. Otto the one-man-band and Esmerelda, the Fortune Teller, need only a quarter to play a tune or predict your future. Through a doorway and across a ramp waits a big-sized surprise: a 35' antique wooden sailboat that braved a 10 year voyage around the world, captained by Carla Ward's own brother.
Ever a work in progress, Tinkertown is ready to inspire your imagination and awaken your creative spirit. (Copied in part from the Tinkertown website)
This map shows many of the visitors that have stopped by from around the world.
It's about time for Jenna's little red jacket to go a new little girl. But Jenna loves her jacket, even though it's a mite bit too small for her. For now, that's a battle I choose not to fight. If it makes my daughter happy, that's good enough for me. Winter will soon be over and red jacket will be forgotten. (Click photo to biggify the glass bottle wall)

What's cookin'?
I liked the horse art and Jenna liked the snake art.
An old Chuckwagon.

Val, Fantastyk Voyager was excited to see her trail name moniker as a metal sculpture.

I love this: "Live Life AS the Pursuit of Happiness"
The owner, Carla is a retired Hunter/Jumper Eventer of 14 years. We enjoyed a wonderful conversation about horses and she even gave me her old Parelli halter and rope. I was so surprised and honored and I now consider her a dear friend.

The entryway into the Gift Shop.
One of the plaques inside the museum.