So, I got left behind at the UTEP/ Rice game because Nico wanted to leave after 30 minutes.  I had left my car in the KLAQ parking lot so I had to walk all the way from the Sun Bowl to just shy of Executive Center Blvd, about 2 miles.

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You notice things a lot differently when you’re walking as opposed to driving. Here are three important things I noticed walking 2 miles of Mesa Street on Saturday night.

1.)    There’s Ample Parking (that No One is Allowed to Park In)

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There are 3 main ways people handle parking for Miner home games. If you have season tickets you might also have a parking permit. Some of the permit parking areas are VERY close to the Sun Bowl but some of them are so far away they hardly seem convenient at all.

The 2nd option is paying to park, either in the Glory Road parking garage or some other place that will charge you 10 or 2 dollars.

Option #3, you just FIND someplace to park, whether it’s permitted or not.

There are TONS of parking spaces near UTEP, like this former car dealership that’s now a Covid-19 testing site:

That’s a lot of space! If this were a BIG TIME college football town like Tuscaloosa or Norman you would see somebody collecting money to park at every single one of these places. I’m not even suggesting they let fans park free, although that WOULD be nice.

2.)    LUBY’S is Still Open

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Seriously, you could’ve told me Luby’s has been shut down for 10 years and I would have taken your word for it. And I LIKE Luby’s! Where else on Mesa can you get a Luanne platter for $6?

There were only 4 cars in the entire Luby’s parking lot meaning, a.) there were even MORE parking spaces not being used, and b.) Luby’s probably could have made more money on the evening JUST by charging for parking.

3.)    Try Making Sense of Some of These Crazy Marquees

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Photo by Buzz
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One thing about walking as opposed to driving, you really get a long look at some of the business signage. When you’re driving by you never have a chance to REALLY take a look at the sign at the La Posta Motor Lodge.

What the hell is going on here?

Let’s try to make some kind of sense out of all this. Clearly, there have been a lot of messages on this marquee over the years. Let’s take it line by line.

4.)   DESERT AUES

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There used to be tiny little shops in this motor lodge. I’m thinking maybe there was a massage parlor and maybe it was called “Desert Masseuse”? Alternately, perhaps they used to offer “desert” but only on “tAUESday”.

NEXT, THERE’S A PHONE NUMBER

But, the last four digits are 777.

 BRAZILIAN and UNIQUE PE PL

Not sure if this is all part of the same message but that’s what it says. I’m thinking “Brazilian” might refer to the wax job? Was there a Brazilian Wax place back in the day? If so…that’s horrifying. I bet all their customer were, indeed, “UNIQUE PE PL”.

BIO OTT

Clearly, there’s a biography of retired Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Ed Ott that you can check out.

AS EEN ON U

For my money, this is the most intriguing line. We’re assuming “AS SEEN ON” are the first three words. But what is the “U” for? “As Seen on Univision”? “As Seen on UTEP”? What IS it? The only programs I can think of that the La Posta Motor Lodge might have been on are either “Cops”, “Live PD” or maybe “Dead Hooker Report”.

KEEP READING: What were the most popular baby names from the past 100 years?

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