It's been dry here lately but really? A visit to R.C. Concrete

On a recent drive in the country,  something on the side of the road caught my attention.  It wasn't another corn maze or pumplin patch, not another farm, not more  lovely evergreen trees. What was it you may ask.  Why, it was saguaro cacti growing in the lawn.  Not something one sees everyday in this neck of the woods.

There's a little dialogue from one of Erma Bombeck's books that my niece and I recite to each other.  It takes place in the Bombeck family station wagon which is speeding down the road filled with a hungry vacationing family and a father who wants to make good time before stopping. It goes something like this:  

     "There's a plaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace..."

     "Where?"

     "Back there!"

     "I can't stop on a dime you know."

     "Not going seventy miles an hour you can't."

     "Look, you pick out a beanery the size of a flea's navel and expect me to see it and drive at the     same time."

 

It's sort of like that when Tom and I are in the car together and he's driving.  I see odd or interesting places and decide that we need to make random stops.  So, when I saw these cacti, Mrs. Bombeck's words went through my head...  THERE'S A PLAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE...

Tom is always such a good sport.  The spacious driveway to the place was blocked off but with some work and driving through some dirt roads, we were able to find a way in.

 

 

 

 

 Turns out that because of a change of zoning, this business, R.C. Concrete, can no longer  operate a retail space on this site and has closed the showyard.  That's Tom waiting in the get away car in case things don't go so well.

Fortunately, a very nice young man who was operating a forklift jumped off; showed me around  and gave me the scoop on the place.

 R.C. Concrete can still do off site installations and work, just not have a showyard which is surprising because there are gas stations, a nursery or two, and other businesses on this highway.  In any case, they can still produce all these gorgeous things.  To learn more, check out their website here.

 

Most of the time I'm not  a fan of faux rocks because they usually don't look at all real and incorporating them in a garden would be the equivalent of using silk or plastic flowers.  However, these concrete rocks look fabulous!

 An added bonus is that they're hollow so that, while they're still heavy, they are much lighter than solid rock and can be transported with less back strain.

 Love the tall "stone" planters and the chairs!

I'm thinking that a pot like this is begging for succulents that would appear as if they're merely growing on the surface of the rock.

 Or perhaps a huge tree.

 Flinstones, party of four, your table is ready.  Pretty groovy.

 Way in the back is a work area which is currently housing this HUGE viking statue in progress. A municipality  has commissioned this work to be placed beside the road as a welcome to their city.  When speaking with Ross, the owner of R.C. Concrete, he said that an extremely talented concrete artist named Mark is working on this piece and invited me back to see the work when it's completed.  Ross says that Mark is magic with concrete and that this viking will look so realistic that one might think there's actually a giant standing by the side of the road.

 Remember the cacti from earlier?  Here's what they look like when they are at the same stage as the viking.

 Stamped concrete surfaces are another specialty of R.C.  I didn't realize how many pattern and color options existed.  Here are a few of my personal favorites.   To see more, check out the website.

Hooray!  A source for the Escheresque tessellated gecko pavers.  You can get the mold online from the guy who designed them and make them but I'd not found a local place to buy the finished product.
by the way, these aren't finished yet but I also like the raw concrete look.

 What a great showyard this was.  Too bad we won't be able to walk around and admire all the cool stuff anymore.