We visited Radiator Springs!

Well, Sally wasn’t on duty at the Cozy Cone Motel when we stopped

BUT Mater was there!

Could this be Sheriff?  He needs to have his black and white paint job re-done! (Maybe he should get over to Ramone’s House of Body Art shop.)

Doc Hudson is looking a little tired:

Could this be Guido in disguise?

Ramone-(he says that his latest paintjob is his favorite…looks like he’s gone back to basics…where is his signature flashy metallic?)

Not sure but we MAY have caught a glimpse of Lightning McQueen…a bright red-colored car streaked past us speeding down Main Street toward town square!

Red was inside over at the firehouse but we didn’t drive out in the country to see if we could find Frank the Combine or Tractor.

I would venture to guess that everyone who saw the movie “Cars”  loved it.  We spent a night in Holbrook, Arizona along old Route 66 and drove over to see the historic Wigwam Motel which provided inspiration for Sally’s Cozy Cone Motel in the movie. It appears that this is a project in the works to assemble the cars that the movie characters are based on.

Disney’s fun website for “Cars’ is  http://disney.go.com/cars/

A collection…thanks to Mary and Linda

This is my Bauer pottery collection.  Did I mean to start a collection of Bauer pottery? No, it was quite accidental but I sure love it now. 

It all started when we went through Gary’s Mom, Mary’s possessions; but even then it wasn’t a real start.  “Hum, look at these pottery plates.”  Gary is from the Los Angeles area and said he remembered the Bauer factory. (Which, I’m guessing is where Mary bought the plates at a very low cost.)  Then we packed them in an old picnic basket and forgot about them.

We again came across them while we were cleaning out our rented storage a few years after we started full time RVing .  “These are really neat.  We should start using them in the fifth wheel.” 

Mary “willed” us four 9-1/2” plates, the maroon, orange and two green. I think they are called luncheon plates but are perfect to use as smaller portion dinner plates. I later bought the yellow one and also a beautiful blue one the color of the little flower pot.  (The blue one later was among the two bags of broken dishes I had one particularly bumpy travel day on I-10 in the Southeast U.S.)

Mary with her only child Gary.

Enter Gary’s cousin Linda who grew up with Gary in Los Angeles: I’m not sure she knew we had a set of Bauer plates but did know that I love love love blue so gave me the little blue #3 flower pot.  Yes, it was now really a collection!

Linda on the left with Gary and their cousin Rhonda.

A few weeks ago during a visit with Linda and Clif in Hermosa Beach she gifted me with a large 10-1/2” green dinner plate. (Top in the first photo) I plan to use it as a serving platter.

I thought all of the plates were of the Ringware pattern but wonder if the yellow plate is possibly another pattern called Monterey?  The bottom is a bit different plus the rings on the face are closer together.

All of the plates have a three-point potter’s mark and imprint “Bauer Los Angeles---Made in U.S.A.

The imprint is deeper as with this green plate or more shallow depending on how many of the pottery plates were in the run.  As the run continued the imprint became more shallow as bits of pottery stuck in the form.  Some are quite faint but still legible.

The yellow plate--note that the rings are closer together than the other Ringware.

The adorable little #3 blue pot. It is about 3’ tall and 4” wide. I fill it with shells, sand dollars and bits of sea glass I find during our travels.

It also has the typical three-point potter’s mark, Bauer imprint and a #3 indicating its size.

While I was browsing the internet for information about vintage Bauer pottery I learned that a company has reintroduced Bauer 2000 pottery at a studio near the original factory.  http://www.bauerpottery.com

The new company even has a blog:  http://bauerpotterycompany.blogspot.com/ 

I would love to say that I am searching for more pieces but where would I put them in my RV home?  BUT. . .if one jumps up in front of me I will find a place for it!  Well, MAYBE, just maybe, I need to have a set of six plates.  UMMM.