We left Texas early knowing that we had a long drive today. Our calculations had it at 300 miles. So by 8.00am we were on the road. Our first stop was the obligatory road side stop just outside Amarillo, the Cadillac ranch. Apparently a guy called Stanley Marsh (some eccentric millionaire) commissioned the planting of 10 cadillacs nose down in a field! Why? We may never know!
Somebody actually bothers to leave a load of spray cans just there in the field so that people like us can enjoy a spot of graffiti whilst we visit. Of course we obliged. But the boys prefrred this little bit of grafitti on the way out!
Enough of the fun there we moved on and drove past Bushland, Wildorado and on to Vega from wher we travelled on to Adrian where is located the famous Mid-Point Cafe. This is the official and actual mid way point on Route 66 between Chicago and LA. A stop was of course in order.
From here it was on to Glenrio which is a town that officially represents the Texas / New Mexico Stateline. In we went and were now into our next state. Bye bye Texas, it was a pleasure driving through you. In Glenrio we had a choice of either getting on the Interstate or taking what is called the "Dirt 66 Option". We have avoided the Interstate as much as possible (it is too easy to drive and is not the original road) so of course we opted for the dirt option. Great fun to drive. It lasted for 18 miles of original 66 over dirt and gravel through Endee and all the way to San Jon. There were some interesting old relics to see along the way:
We drove from San Jon through Tucumcari, Newkirk and Cuervo and into Santa Rosa. We stopped here at a Denny's for lunch before driving on into Moriarty. At this point you have a choice. Either take the quicker option straight to Albuquerque which again is mostly Interstate. Or you take the Santa Fe loop option which takes much longer but rewards you with stunning scenery. You know which option we took. The Santa Fe loop is essentially the pre 1937 variant of Route 66. Off we went up through Dilia, Remeroville, Telecolte, Bernal and San Jose. Then past Sands and Ilfield to Rowe, Pecos, Glorieta and into Santa Fe. I've said all that quickly but the route was not quick at all! It did take hours along slow roads through a combination of amazing vistas - plains, mountains, valleys, wide open spaces, forests. It was a tremendous drive and gave a real taste of what we know is to come. We are all eagerly anticipating Arizona where such vistas are apparently common place along 66. There were hints of silence and even maybe the odd tear in the eye as these vistas rolled ever onwards before us.
Photographs cant do justice to what we were seeing. Videos are better and we took loads of them. But as ever uploading to this blog proves a total pain in the proverbial and the videos remain on the hard drive here!
These huge vistas need more to capture them. I wish you could see the images stored in my head. Ill never forget them. There were also quaint little things to see, more easily captured on a camera, which showed that we were in ZZ Top land:
I should mention that whilst at Pecos we decided to take what is known as the Santa Fe Trail. This is nothing to do with Route 66 but is a trail up into the mountains. Well, when I say we "decided" what I mean is we missed the turn in Pecos and ended up there! But in the end we were glad we did, we drove up and up and up into the mountains where the scenery was another "belter". A river ran down this mountain. We stopped and chatted to a couple of local fishernmen. Gone was the American accent. This was clearly New Mexico. The lilt was the stuff of the "One Sheet" advert! As Cory asked from the back of the car, "Why haven't we seen any one wearing blankets?" They were fishing for and catching wild rainbow trout. Very enjoyable stuff and I wished I had my fishing tackle with me.
Once we'd completed what was in fact a 50 mile detour and got ourselves back to Pecos we found the turn we'd missed (it was pretty obvious!) and drove on into the town of Santa Fe. That was as Mexican in appearance as you might imagine it.Clearly New Mexico is a very different part of the USA, and we were equally glad to be in it.
We arrived in our hotel after what turned out to be a 9 hour drive - and do you know what? It seemed like we'd only just started it. Time driving out here just flies by so quickly and we have come to regard a 6 hour drive as a short trip. We had a swim in the pool before meeting up with Matt and Katie for dinner. We had a lovely meal and sat and chatted in the hotel bar until about 11.30 when bed-time called. Matt and Katie are driving 500 miles today so they need their sleep. We on the other hand have a more leisurely day to follow. Our plans now are to drive to Gallup so will remain in New Mexico another day. The following day we will drive in to Arizona and stay in Flagstaff. From there we will take a detour up into Monument Valley. Stay the night there before returning back South to Williams, from where we will catch a train into the Grand Canyon. Then its on to Las Vegas. I am pleased to have discovered last night that Matt and Katie will be in Vegas at the same time so we will meet up again. I am just loving this trip. Weve been away for over a week now. At this point I am normally home-sick. Not this time. I dont want this to end. Should have done it years ago but I'm so glad I'm doing it now.
Next post will be from Gallup New Mexico. Route 66 in NM achieved! Be back to y'all later!
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