|
|
|
|
Tucumcari Today! Our next stop, another KOA. One thing about traveling this time of year, you don’t need reservations. We’re here early enough for some exploring. We went back to Glenrio for some major searching. We always had stopped here with our motor home, which limits our activities. After checking out town very thoroughly we hit the dirt section and headed west. We are following the “middle” alignment. This is a wonderful section, taking you first to old Endee and then Bard. It seems to be a real desolate section. It’s amazing that people still live in these towns. I want to live in the country, but not this far from things.
First/Last in Texas Motel/Cafe Glenrio, Texas
|
|
Arriving in San Jon we were eagerly awaiting seeing the block long mural. To our disappointment it was not to be found. A check at City Hall informed us that it was in storage. It is done on panels. The building that it was attached to collapsed. They are working on finding another place for it. We will have to be content by looking at our postcard of it. There are several old buildings in town worthy of a look, so it wasn’t a complete loss. We followed the road back to camp.
Next day took us back to Vega TX. We wandered around a bit and then set our sight on Landergin. We had tried, unsuccessfully, to meet the Rooks and check out their collection when they were in Amarillo. We would have luck on our side this time. They have a great place that is full of treasures. We were told everything was for sale. In fact, the business is for sale. George no longer has his complete set of original signs. George and Melba are really nice and interesting people. It was great to meet them. On to Adrian, where we were met with disappointment. The Adrian Cafe was closed for the day. Earl was heart broken; he was looking forward to coconut cream pie. We were forced to grab a bite at the Stuckeys. We had no choice but to get on the Interstate until we reached new Endee. After a bit of exploring here we followed the road into San Jon and then drove back to Tucumcari for some looking. We checked out the Route 66 sculpture at the convention center. A nice piece. We followed the road to Montoya and looked around, then back to camp.
A new day and a new town, Santa Rosa. This was our first time stopping here, another KOA. We ate lunch at the Comet Drive In, great Mexican food. Since the day was young we traveled back to Montoya and picked up the old road again. We followed it through Newkirk and then into Cuervo.
After checking out town we headed for the “Cuervo cutoff’ for a true adventure in driving. Not far along the road we met a farmer, Mr. Maestas. He runs a towing business out of Cuervo and owns 3000 acres here. He was out feeding his cattle, who waited patiently while he talked with us. He told us the church was used once a year. His great great grandfather and uncle built the church. He does what he can to keep it in fair shape. Continuing on was a very interesting trip, eventually the road became crowded and narrowed due to the encroaching thistle bushes. We finally made our way out to a regularly traveled piece and headed back to camp.
Abandoned Post Office - Cuervo, New Mexico
|
Old stretch of 66 west of Cuervo, New Mexico
|
Next day we headed for the lost highway, the Santa Fe loop. We will be using Jerry’s and Jim Ross’ articles in Route 66 Magazine (Winter 94/95, Spring 95 & Summer 95). We had done the west side and it was now time to do the east side. Before setting out, we drove through Santa Rosa and also checked out the Blue Hole. While pretty, it was a bit of a disappointment. It was not as big as we thought it would be. There are lots of old motels and cafes through town. Heading west we climbed the hill towards Colonias. We drove what we could here and also at San Ignacio. We then headed north towards Santa Fe. The first town we came to was Dilia. A quiet little town full of old buildings. Between here and Los Montoyas are several ruins of old rock buildings. Some would still be livable with the addition of a roof. It is a steady climb all the way to Romeroville, a town of about 30 from the looks of it. We drove the sections that we could here.
We headed into Las Vegas for a bite. There isn’t much else out here, so a 5 mile drive was a necessity. Next was Tecolote, a rustic town. Very quiet. The church here is fashioned in a similar architecture as most New Mexican churches are, they’re quite pretty. We had hoped to see the bridge here. It is gone and only the pilings remain. On into Bernal, not much here. Nice, just the same. The next town we encountered was San Jose. This town reminded us of Cordova. A town northeast of Santa Fe where one of the episodes of the TV series was filmed. Full of character. There is a wonderful old steel truss bridge here, not usually seen out west. We completed our journey by going through Sands and Rowe. It’s a very scenic drive. Since we had already done most of the next section, we returned to camp.
It is close to Thanksgiving, so we will lay low in Albuquerque until the mad travel rush has passed. Our camp is the American RV Park, where we usually stay. A little pricey, but a great park. A separate area for computing and phones that are indoors. We have driven most all of the road here but there are a few sections we will drive again. We had missed the Sedillo hill loop, a very nice drive. There was supposed to be an abandoned store, we never saw it. Since we were already out that direction we will take the road through Tijeras canyon. It is very beautiful here and you can take your time, drive leisurely. Then we hit Central Avenue and all the neon. Try as we might, we couldn’t pass up the 66 Diner and the great food it has to offer. Good as usual. It had been several years since we had taken the road down to Los Lunas and we decided to do it again. It’s like a step back in time. This drive takes you through the towns of Isleta, Bosque Farms and Peralta before reaching Los Lunas. These towns are rather run down and dirty. Upon arriving in the city and we had a look around we took the Interstate back to camp.
Albuquerque, New Mexico
|
|
|
|
