Most of us probably have an image of the West that includes dry and dusty plains…and the sun beating down on the head of John Wayne etc etc. Well, that’s what I expected the West to be like… until today.
We left Santa Fe under low cloud and grey skies and drove through a succession of showers that became more frequent throughout the day.
Today was mainly a Route 66 day and we stopped in the little town of Tucumcari that was once a bustling town with dozens of hotels and cafes serving those making the big trek west along that famous route. Today it’s a shadow of itself and many of the hotels and shops are shuttered and closed but you can still see the charm of the 1950s signage and style. A few of the hotels seem to be doing well, catering to the increasing number of nostalgic types “doing” Route 66 so, maybe, Tucumcari will see a rebirth soon. I hope so.
We stopped at the Tee Pee Curios Gift Shop, one of the original classic shops that still operates today. It was full of memorabilia and we felt we just HAD to buy something to help keep the place alive.
Just over the border into Texas we detoured off the Interstate to drive a short section of Route 66 and to see some more erelict ruins at the ghost town of Glenrio. There’s the remains of an old gas station and motel, but there were also plenty of sign saying “Keep Out”, “Beware of Dog” so we didn’t hang around!
Derelicts at Glenrio
I’d been looking forward to a stop at the Midpoint Cafe at Adrian, Texas. This cafe marks the exact midpoint of Route 66, with 1139 miles to Chicago one way and the same to Los Angeles the other. They have a reputation of making delicious homemade pies and shakes and I’d been drooling in anticipation, So you can imagine our disappointment when we arrived to find they were closed on Tuesdays! Oh well, next time….
Finally we approached Amarillo, our stop for the night and on the way into town we stopped to see one of the most famous of Route 66 sights, Cadillac Ranch. This is an installation sculpture of 10 old cadillacs buried nose first in the dirt. It draws hundreds of visitors a day at peak times and the “done thing” is to bring spray paint to leave your mark on the installation. When we stopped in the rain was falling down and we noticed that it looked VERY muddy all around the installation, so we decided to come back later on. We needed to go to Walmart to buy our spray paint and Neil had the brilliant idea of buying a cheap pair of shoes each to sacrifice to the mud.
When we returned late in the afternoon the sun was peaking through the clouds but the ground was still like a quagmire! We felt very superior in our disposable shoes when we saw other trying to pick there way to the statue with plastic bags tied over their shoes!
Neil getting ready to start painting
We were here!
We squelched our way to the cars and Neil waded into the water to spray paint our mark, then we squelched back to the car laughing the whole way. We certainly won’t forget Cadillac Ranch!