Amarillo Armadillo

 

I'm sitting in Albuquerque, New Mexico reflecting on the past couple of days.  I'm sad to report that the snow seems to have followed me West all the way from Salem.  I cannot seem to shake the hold it has on me.  Is it really too much to ask to get a little sunshine?  Maybe a day with temperatures over 60*?  I mean, come on!  This is getting a little ridiculous!  I hardly even recognize this city that was so full of color and beauty last time I visited.  Winter is the same everywhere.  Grey and dull and dreary.  I can only hope as we drive even farther that we will cross a line somewhere and we will be catapulted over into a warmer climate. 

 

The snow has forced us onward even sooner than we expected.  Danielle and I left Amarillo on Thursday.  Yesterday around 3 pm.  We had to escape the storm that was brewing before it hit and trapped us there for another 2 or 3 days! As we drove, mostly on the interstate because the roads were better treated and safer for us, we had some tense moments.  The snow was already beginning and the clouds were low and threatening.  We stopped in Adrian, TX because we HAD to!  No trip on Route 66 is complete without stopping at the official mid-point between Chicago and Santa Monica.  Everything was closed, though, and so it seemed more of a ghost town than even the "official" ghost town which was listed as our next stop. 

 

At the border of Texas and New Mexico there is a little town called Glenrio.  Its a sad little place, definitely abandoned in a time long ago forgotten.  It was a fun photo op.  From there, we continued on down the road which turned into an unpaved early segment of 66.  I was really excited to drive one of these segments because it moved along totally independently and away from I-40 so that we felt like we were in the middle of nowhere.  If we had broken down out there, who knows when the next car would have come along to offer help.  I doubt AAA would have ventured out there either!

 

Tucumcari was our stop for dinner.  This was a larger destination than the previous towns had been but still pretty small.  Tucumcari was the first stop over the border in NM.  We enjoyed our food and then pushed on to Santa Rosa, our stopping place for the night.

 

 



Now let me back-track a little.  Our day touring in Amarillo was really a lot of fun! There was beautiful scenery, deep blue skies, and warm temperatures... at least until the afternoon.  We got lunch (Tex Mex) at Ruby Tequilas with Chrysler, Amy, Noel-Paul, and Debbie and we enjoyed good conversation and some good food.  This included jalapenos covered in cheese! I was suspicious of them despite Chrysler having promised that they weren't spicy without the seeds.  I took the tiniest nibble just in case he was wrong, or joking.  He wasn't! I ate the whole thing without dying! I learned that I like jalapeno! Crazy, right?


After lunch, we toured the church where Noel-Paul works (and we toured the church where Debbie works the next day).  Then we drove off in search of 6th street where the famous Nat is located.  The Nat used to be a Natatorium with a swimming pool but they filled it in to make a ballroom and now an antique shop.  We walked up and down the historic street, got gelato from Cowboy Gelato, and then drove to Cadillac Ranch.  The first picture on this blog is of the car where I left my own mark to commemorate my visit and prove that I was there.

We were going to drive to Palo Duro Canyon but it was closed by the time we were heading in that direction so we turned around and went in search of dinner instead.  We ended up eating at the Big Texan steakhouse.  It's been "feeding folks since 1950"! This is the home of the 72 oz. "free" steak.  Well, it is if you can eat it, along with all the fixin's in 1 hour.  I didn't even try.  Sorry to disappoint but I was full after about 8 oz of the steak I ordered!



We are now 2 hours behind the East coast.  We plan to stay the weekend in Albuquerque, fill our time with many adventures, and then head West yet again.  These states are BIG.  That must mean there's more room in which to hide adventure! ;)