A PHer's Guide to Route 66 part 7 New Mexico
Discussion
In New Mexico. Route 66 had one very significant variation. In its earlier years it looped up to Santa Fe a fair diversion from the straight shot West. Later on the loop was cut , and 66 ran through Albuquerque, a shorter route West. Both versions of 66 are well worth doing.
New Mexico 66 starts at the end of the Ghost Town of Glen Rio onto an unpaved road, ( if it is wet, best stick to I-40 and skip this part.)
FROM GLEN RIO
On the Texas/New Mexico border sits the ghost town of Glen RIo, which we had visited previously. However, if you continue onto the dirt road, it is the original, now abandoned Route 66, down to Endee NM. This should not be attempted in wet weather. As we drove to Endee we noticed a vast scrapyard on the left, long abandoned and inaccessible, even the access roads gone. Lots of "keep out" signs, and walking through the snake-infested long grass is not a wise idea.
Interesting little vid of Glen Rio here:
http://route66news.com/2013/04/04/a-ghost-on-the-b...
You can run the entire dirt road to Endee and come out at the Russell's Truck stop. or exit I-40 if you went back to the highway.
ENDEE
Back on the highway, we exit at 369 for the Russell's truck stop where the owner has a rotating exhibit of his classic car collection. Notable is a Corvette that has never been driven. The original owner, a car dealer who had retired put it in storage, and the current owner bought it from the kids after his passing:
TUCUMCARI
A long strip of 66 goes through this town, once home to thousands of motel rooms.
The beautifully restored Swallow Motel is the pick of the traditional places to stay.
Rich Henry at the Rabbit Ranch had recommended that we stay at the Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari. It is a much-photograped place, but staying there is entirely more satisfying. When motels ( originally called Motor Courts) originated in the thirties, the style was to have a garage beside each room where your car was parked. The Blue Swallow is the best preserved of these, with some of the original garages. The rooms are original too, except that the beds are modern, comfortable with very good quality sheets. Outside each room are small fifties-style metal chairs and tables where guests sit out and drink their wine or beer and converse ...it is a wonderful atmosphere, and the owners are hospitable and good humoured. A definite, highly recommended 66 experiece:
When is the last time you used a functioning dial phone? They are in every room:
We ate at the Pow Wow Cafe, good because they shuttle you back and forward to your motel, food good for Mexican, steak disappointing. However, the pictures of staff and customers on the walls were interesting:
Early next morning it was time to go, and we found our first Porsche...right outside:
Route 66 was quiet as we departed:
an old
Pacer
and more abandoned motels on the same route
The flatness continues:
SANTA ROSA
and we hit a kitschy but fun Route 66 auto museum
nice Auburn for sale for $45000.
Option 1 SANTA FE LOOP
We head up the loop to Santa Fe..
La Fonda hotel has a good Huevos Rsncheros:
anta Fe even has Starbucks...
OPTION 2 MORIARTY
When we took the direct route to Albquerque through Moriarty NM, we met Archie Lewis. Archie was sitting in his easy chair at the entrance to his warehouse, a fly swatter in his hand. His wife sat opposite in her easy chair. Behind him sat 40 cars inside, and 700 of his other cars outside. Covering acres, all sorts of domestic cars and trucks sit in a massive parking lot. Conditions varies from eminently restorable to scrap, but Archie likes them anyway. A man came up when I was talking to Archie and said" Congratulations on your collection, Mr Lewis. I have a 1923 Model T Truck,and need a rear fender". Archie smiled and easily said ""Kinda hard to find. those, and in any case I am not selling"….Archie sells nothing> He charges no admission either, but accepts a donation. He also has thousands of toys.
THE MUSICAL ROAD:
Just East of Albuquerque near Tijeiras is the musical road, a rumble strip tuned to play America the Beautiful if you drive on it at exactly 45MPH. Sorry about the quality of the vid, if you stick with it for 30 secs you will hear the music:
ALBUQUERQUE
If you are not staying, there is a quick breakfast at Garcia's Cafe not far off the exit for Central Avenue:
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n29/RMcG/ROUTE%...
On one trip Albuquerque was in a snowstorm, fairly routine by Canadian standards, but they do not use salt there, and the roads were lethal, Hard to believe that it was 88 the previous day.
Route 66 runs for about 17 miles through the centre of Albuquerque, although it can be rough at night. Manny's restaurant has good food but utilitarian interior
A brief stop in Albuquerque on another trip was worthwhile as we lunched at the Route 66 Diner, originally a gas station, but with good diner food:
My co-driver is a big fan of a series called Breaking Bad ( I do not watch TV), but apparently there is a Hot Dog stand that frequently features there......
Was closed on the trip(2021) but we will return and try it.
BUDVILLE
The hamlet of Buddville is names for Bud Rice who had the trading post here and named the place after himself. After many years here, old Bud was gunned down by desperadoes in a botched robbery. The trading post, now closed, still stands.
mccartys
GRANTS
The town of Grants NM was once a centre of Uranium Mining and had a wide stretch of 66. Today, there are many abandoned motels and it is a little forlorn, but it has great period signs, including the surviving sign of the Uranium Cafe, now a fairly good burger joint....
CONTINENTAL DIVIDE
GALLUP
Gallup is a railroad town and also has a lot of 66 history. The Railroad and the street are parallel, and 24 hours a day the trains rumble through, horns blaring. There are numerous motels and hotels, but the best is El Rancho, Founded in 1937
by a guy called Griffiths who used the celebrity of his brother, the legendary director DW Griffiths to attract movie stars. Each room is named after a movie star. Amusingly, when Mr. Griffiths died it transpired that he had no blood relationship whatsoever to DW Griffiths. Now owned by Armand Ortega, this charming gentleman sits like a Don on the front porch and people come to visit. Beggars know him by name and he seems to have a roll of dollar bills as they give him a slight bow. The rooms are not modernized. Late time I stayed I had a Great Dane and a Poodle, so my room was clean, but a little tired. I joked with the receptionist that there might be a better room this time. "Well", he said " it'll cost you".
"How Much?"
$53 extra.
That's how I ended up in the Ronald Reagan Presidential suite
Armand Ortega- proprietor was a lovely guy, sadly passed away in 2015.
Gallup is famous for its trading posts and pawn shops. The most famous is Richardson's which has very high quality stuff, though if you want an Albino bison they will oblige:
Cheap motels abound...and not that much changes:
Here is a shot from this trip and one from 1995
2013
1995
There are some great surviving signs here:
The dogs had a look at John's used cars:
It was the Great Dane's last trip (2012) ...she was tired and died a few days later:
New Mexico 66 starts at the end of the Ghost Town of Glen Rio onto an unpaved road, ( if it is wet, best stick to I-40 and skip this part.)
FROM GLEN RIO
On the Texas/New Mexico border sits the ghost town of Glen RIo, which we had visited previously. However, if you continue onto the dirt road, it is the original, now abandoned Route 66, down to Endee NM. This should not be attempted in wet weather. As we drove to Endee we noticed a vast scrapyard on the left, long abandoned and inaccessible, even the access roads gone. Lots of "keep out" signs, and walking through the snake-infested long grass is not a wise idea.
Interesting little vid of Glen Rio here:
http://route66news.com/2013/04/04/a-ghost-on-the-b...
You can run the entire dirt road to Endee and come out at the Russell's Truck stop. or exit I-40 if you went back to the highway.
ENDEE
Back on the highway, we exit at 369 for the Russell's truck stop where the owner has a rotating exhibit of his classic car collection. Notable is a Corvette that has never been driven. The original owner, a car dealer who had retired put it in storage, and the current owner bought it from the kids after his passing:
TUCUMCARI
A long strip of 66 goes through this town, once home to thousands of motel rooms.
The beautifully restored Swallow Motel is the pick of the traditional places to stay.
Rich Henry at the Rabbit Ranch had recommended that we stay at the Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari. It is a much-photograped place, but staying there is entirely more satisfying. When motels ( originally called Motor Courts) originated in the thirties, the style was to have a garage beside each room where your car was parked. The Blue Swallow is the best preserved of these, with some of the original garages. The rooms are original too, except that the beds are modern, comfortable with very good quality sheets. Outside each room are small fifties-style metal chairs and tables where guests sit out and drink their wine or beer and converse ...it is a wonderful atmosphere, and the owners are hospitable and good humoured. A definite, highly recommended 66 experiece:
When is the last time you used a functioning dial phone? They are in every room:
We ate at the Pow Wow Cafe, good because they shuttle you back and forward to your motel, food good for Mexican, steak disappointing. However, the pictures of staff and customers on the walls were interesting:
Early next morning it was time to go, and we found our first Porsche...right outside:
Route 66 was quiet as we departed:
an old
Pacerand more abandoned motels on the same route
The flatness continues:
SANTA ROSA
and we hit a kitschy but fun Route 66 auto museum
nice Auburn for sale for $45000.
Option 1 SANTA FE LOOP
We head up the loop to Santa Fe..
La Fonda hotel has a good Huevos Rsncheros:
anta Fe even has Starbucks...
OPTION 2 MORIARTY
When we took the direct route to Albquerque through Moriarty NM, we met Archie Lewis. Archie was sitting in his easy chair at the entrance to his warehouse, a fly swatter in his hand. His wife sat opposite in her easy chair. Behind him sat 40 cars inside, and 700 of his other cars outside. Covering acres, all sorts of domestic cars and trucks sit in a massive parking lot. Conditions varies from eminently restorable to scrap, but Archie likes them anyway. A man came up when I was talking to Archie and said" Congratulations on your collection, Mr Lewis. I have a 1923 Model T Truck,and need a rear fender". Archie smiled and easily said ""Kinda hard to find. those, and in any case I am not selling"….Archie sells nothing> He charges no admission either, but accepts a donation. He also has thousands of toys.
THE MUSICAL ROAD:
Just East of Albuquerque near Tijeiras is the musical road, a rumble strip tuned to play America the Beautiful if you drive on it at exactly 45MPH. Sorry about the quality of the vid, if you stick with it for 30 secs you will hear the music:
ALBUQUERQUE
If you are not staying, there is a quick breakfast at Garcia's Cafe not far off the exit for Central Avenue:
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n29/RMcG/ROUTE%...
On one trip Albuquerque was in a snowstorm, fairly routine by Canadian standards, but they do not use salt there, and the roads were lethal, Hard to believe that it was 88 the previous day.
Route 66 runs for about 17 miles through the centre of Albuquerque, although it can be rough at night. Manny's restaurant has good food but utilitarian interior
A brief stop in Albuquerque on another trip was worthwhile as we lunched at the Route 66 Diner, originally a gas station, but with good diner food:
My co-driver is a big fan of a series called Breaking Bad ( I do not watch TV), but apparently there is a Hot Dog stand that frequently features there......
Was closed on the trip(2021) but we will return and try it.
BUDVILLE
The hamlet of Buddville is names for Bud Rice who had the trading post here and named the place after himself. After many years here, old Bud was gunned down by desperadoes in a botched robbery. The trading post, now closed, still stands.
mccartys
GRANTS
The town of Grants NM was once a centre of Uranium Mining and had a wide stretch of 66. Today, there are many abandoned motels and it is a little forlorn, but it has great period signs, including the surviving sign of the Uranium Cafe, now a fairly good burger joint....
CONTINENTAL DIVIDE
GALLUP
Gallup is a railroad town and also has a lot of 66 history. The Railroad and the street are parallel, and 24 hours a day the trains rumble through, horns blaring. There are numerous motels and hotels, but the best is El Rancho, Founded in 1937
by a guy called Griffiths who used the celebrity of his brother, the legendary director DW Griffiths to attract movie stars. Each room is named after a movie star. Amusingly, when Mr. Griffiths died it transpired that he had no blood relationship whatsoever to DW Griffiths. Now owned by Armand Ortega, this charming gentleman sits like a Don on the front porch and people come to visit. Beggars know him by name and he seems to have a roll of dollar bills as they give him a slight bow. The rooms are not modernized. Late time I stayed I had a Great Dane and a Poodle, so my room was clean, but a little tired. I joked with the receptionist that there might be a better room this time. "Well", he said " it'll cost you".
"How Much?"
$53 extra.
That's how I ended up in the Ronald Reagan Presidential suite
Armand Ortega- proprietor was a lovely guy, sadly passed away in 2015.
Gallup is famous for its trading posts and pawn shops. The most famous is Richardson's which has very high quality stuff, though if you want an Albino bison they will oblige:
Cheap motels abound...and not that much changes:
Here is a shot from this trip and one from 1995
2013
1995
There are some great surviving signs here:
The dogs had a look at John's used cars:
It was the Great Dane's last trip (2012) ...she was tired and died a few days later:
Edited by RDMcG on Thursday 3rd February 14:28
Edited by RDMcG on Thursday 7th July 21:33
Next section is part 8 Arizona:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=140...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=140...
Edited by RDMcG on Wednesday 21st May 15:06
TheHighlander said:
Awesome write up buddy.
Just read all the threads.
When I am finished 66 I might to Highway 61….very different. The Blues trail through some very poor areas, but lots to see……..Just read all the threads.
I stall have a list of things I have not seen or done on 66, so that will be completed first
.Edited by RDMcG on Wednesday 21st May 15:12
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