Decrepit buildings telling their own tales

When I was coming to the Southwest during my vacations I used to travel all over the Four Corners in search of the places I had read books about. I was totally taken by this land and by its uniquely weird history. Friends often followed me from Italy.
One summer a girlfriend who actually lived in Milan in the same house I used to live in, joined me for a long road trip. I accepted to take her to the famous icons of the Southwest, Chaco, Mesa Verde, Monument Valley, and the list goes on. On our way north from Santa Fe we had to go by Tierra Amarilla, near the peaceful yet stunning Chama Valley. I had just read a book about this small town and its history caught my attention.  I didn't know how many similar stories I would have read over the years!
Here I wanted to find a building that had a fascinating story that now, honestly, I can't even recall! So, I told my friend about it and she got intrigued. For days I went over all the places on our itinerary and she was eager to begin the trip of her lifetime!
We drove round and round and finally saw THE building! An old decrepit thing with nothing that could remind me of the legendary historic facts. Bare, falling down, grey cement. Oh well, I thought, I tried.

The best part of the story was my friend's remark. Very tactfully, knowing how involved I was in everything Southwest, she looked at me and asked: is the trip going to be all like this? I can't forget her facial expression! No digital cameras then, so no photos for you to laugh at.

Years later another friend wanted to go with me on one of my expeditions thinking I knew so much that the trip was going to be a very exciting one. Indeed we went, among other places, to the Grand Canyon which covered with snow and freezing cold but empty offered quite a different picture of this natural wonder. But I had more in my plan. I meticulously researched the roads we were going to drivealong to get from A to B and marked the weirdest spots I could find.

So, we arrive somewhere along Route 66, past Flagstaff, Arizona. Nothing was there but vast areas covered by dry brush and windy. I suddenly announced: we have to stop here, it must be fantastic! She walked with me for a while and then kindly announced that she would let me continue on my own. Didn't she understand the special place we were at?

Remember the old Roman maps where on the African continent's silhouette instead of place names, that they ignored, one would read HIC SUNT LEONES (HERE ARE THE LIONS)? Well, on an old and..guess what...decrepit building I read this

Here, in the middle of nowhere, once upon a time someone had a small zoo, really! I then learned that I was not the only one to stop at Two Guns because I'm not alone in loving creepy places with a lot of history. Two Guns is not the regular ghost town, it's a no-town. The picture above shows the only standing wall in the whole area! That's it, period. But if one is stubborn as I am when it comes to travel in obscure places and reads about Canyon Diablo (its main street was named "hell street" due to the high number of murders carried out on the site...how nice!), Apache versus Navajos, first tourists and much, much more, will agree with me that this stone wall was worth it.

Here's the back of the...wall

However, I also got a fun photo, one of many of Route 66

I didn't lie when I told you that the area didn't really offer much in terms of scenery!