Thursday July 11

Best Laid Plans...

Last night, while at the Amarillo Visitor's Center, we realized we'd never make it to Albuquerque by 8 or 9 PM. We made a reservation for a motel in Tucumcari, NM instead. What a wonderful change it turned out to be.

This is a town I had originally considered overnighting in, but it wasn't far into NM enough and I needed to drive as far as possible each day in order to make the most of my time and money. The name Tucumcari comes from an old Indian legend. The historic Route 66 runs through town and Tucumcari is very proud to be included along this famous route. We took many photos in town and will eventually upload for this page.

Route 66 no longer "really" exists... or so they say. Long ago it was replaced, and in some places built over, by I-40. Remnants of the original road still exist, but no longer as part of the U.S. Highway system. These fragments were made into state roads and their route numbers vary by state and town. Due to public outcry, however, every town we visited that lies on the old Route 66 has reinstated the route number with signs which now read:

     "State Route #.../Historic US 66"

Of course, such nostalgia has been quite good for business. We can buy Route 66 everything! Calendars, magnets, playing cards, postcards, shot glasses and ashtrays, T-shirts and even books!

The road from Tucumcari to Albuquerque was probably the most amazing scenery I'd ever seen. Changes from flat to caprock formations, each uniform, each angled, and sparse vegetation. Several funny signs appeared along this route, also. The first was a billboard for a KOA campground which proclaimed proudly, "Free BathroomTours." Corey and I saw it at the exact same time and laughed out loud, asking each other, what does THAT mean?

I really don't know which was funnier, but... bear in mind that New Mexico does not have the lush greenery that Tennessee has. On the contrary, their mountains look like rocks with measles. Along the roadside, they have very dried out scrub grasses and a few plants that look as if they are on their way to becoming cactus. We therefore were very amused to see a sign which read, "Mowing next 2 miles." I read that sign out loud and asked Corey, "WHAT are they mowing?"

What we saw of Albuquerque was really nice, very modern and very New Mexico-looking. I had to stop at Circuit City to see if they could help me with my camera memory card problem, but they couldn't. Back on the road, I decided to parallel I-40 for awhile to get the flavor of the town. Just when I decided it was time to turn toward the Interstate again, I came upon the Pueblo Cultural Center! Knowing that I had already had to scrap my plans to tour the Acoma Sky City and the Zuni Pueblos, I now had the chance to at least visit them in spirit. The Cultural Center is a great place to learn about all 19 of New Mexico's pueblo tribes. It's also a wonderful place for one-stop shopping for everything from souvenir T-shirts to signed pottery from the pueblo tribes as well as the Navajo. I bought 2 framed Navajo sandpaingtings there, as well as the traditional American souvenirs such as postcards, magnets and T-shirts. And, of course, every Indian craft sold there is authentic.. and very reasonably priced.

Although Corey would prefer to sleep away this trip, there were times I insisted she wake up... like when I needed a picture taken from a moving vehicle. She got so annoyed that once she actually told me to take the picture myself. My seats recline and she has a pillow, so she's quite comfortable.

About halfway between Albuquerque and Gallup lies the town of Grants. Along the Interstate in this area, the terrain suddenly turns to a rich, chunky black. This is the result of an ancient volcano, which the National Park Service now maintains as a conservation area, El Malpais. Although the volcano was about 40 miles south of where the road now sits, ancient lava can be seen for many miles along I-40.

Gallup is another town which is proud to be part of the Route 66 heritage. Not only do they have signs proclaiming "Historic Route 66" but the hotels, restaurants and motels are all lit up in neon, some with flashing lights and one even a hot pink! It was so much fun to go out in the freezing night air and drive east along the main road which looked very much like the old (pre-casino era) Atlantic City boardwalk.

Route 66 in Gallup is the most concentrated area for independent dealers of Native American arts and crafts. If I had an entire week and a few thousand dollars to spend, neither would be enough to cover the 7 or 8 miles of shops, galleries and museums.

Tucumcari Mountain (east end of town)	Welcome Sign (west end of town)	Lousy picture (Historic Route 66 Sign)
Mountains in NM (sparse vegetation)	Pueblo Cultural Center Albuquerque	Pueblo Cultural Center 19 Pueblo Cultures

Mow what?

Stairstep Mountains

Welcome to Gallup, NM

Corey at Motel 6, Gallup

Corey finally cools off

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