Cadillac Ranch
The Country Inn & Suites had a nice little breakfast set-up with variation of yogurts, cereal, waffles, bagel, muffins, toast, eggs, bacon, sausage, juice, coffee and tea. I was getting used to eating breakfast, something I haven’t done in years. We hit the road around 10am and stopped almost immediately at the world-famous Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo. The ranch was commissioned by millionaire artist, (and prankster), Stanley Marsh 3 in 1974. We walked way out in a field next to I-40 W, stepping over hundreds of empty spray paint cans used for the graffiti covered Cadillac lined up in the middle of nowhere. We got some cool shots of the art deco! Our next stop was Vega with a visit to the 1920s-era Magnolia gasoline station, which has been restored. We also saw an “Old Route 66 END” sign where the Mother Road abruptly stopped with a grass, bushes and trees taking over. We skipped Adrian and Glenrio, the “ghost town”, before reaching the border to New Mexico. It was nice to gain an hour when we changed to the Mountain Time Zone.
Pretty flat!
One thing I have to remark on driving from Texas to New Mexico was how incredible flat the terrain was. The books described Texas as “rolling”, but we thought it was very flat until we drove into New Mexico. It was FLAT, FLAT, FLAT! I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it! When we looked in either direction, it was like the earth was a pancake and we would drive off the edge when we got there. No kidding! The interstate was straight and we felt the wind gush, especially when passing the tractor-trailers. I did get some video clips, but it doesn’t do justice.
The first few places and towns on Route 66 in New Mexico, we saw plenty of historical sites, some more interesting than others. To be honest, some of the small places including Endee, Bard and San Jon were so abandon, we could barely recognize that people once occupied them. We stopped in Tucumcari where there were plenty of tourist spots including: Teepee Curios, an old gas station with an entrance through a teepee; the Blue Swallow Motel, built in the 1940s and still open; Redwood Motel; and Trails West Lounge. We certainly filled our cameras with memories as we walked around Tucumcari and then drove through Montoya-Newkirk and Cuervo.
