New Mexico Route 66 - Albuquerque

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO. Classic Art Deco and neon diner on Route 66. The 66 Diner started out as a Phillips 66 gas station and was converted to a "Streamline Modern" style diner in 1987. The restaurant only serves breakfast on weekends, so my Tuesday morning visit resulted in pictures but no pancakes.

New Mexico Route 66 - Albuquerque

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO. The Premier Motel, located across the street from the Aztec Court. Tough choice if the kids were allowed to decide where to stay based on the neon welcome signs.

New Mexico Route 66 - Albuquerque

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO. Aztec Court, 1932 - 2011. In 1937, Route 66 bypassed Santa Fe and took over from New Mexico 6, a more direct road from Santa Rosa. This increased traffic on Central Avenue, and close to 100 motels were built between downtown Albuquerque and the city's historic Nob Hill neighborhood, including the Aztec. The old motor court was demolished in 2011 when it became just too expensive to restore. Only the neon sign remains.

New Mexico Route 66 - Albuquerque

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO. Pioneer Motel on Central Avenue (old 66), with some fashionably tilted neon.

New Mexico Route 66 - Albuquerque

"We ought to make Albuquerque easy by tonight." Porky Pig to Sylvester the Cat, "Jumpin Jupiter" cartoon. And so said countless fathers to their wives and children on old Route 66 in the 1950's.

New Mexico Route 66 - Santa Fe

Santa Fe adobe, sepia. From 2010

Santa Fe Street Scene, sepia. From 2010

Adobe window and lamp, sepia. From 2010.

SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO. The old city captured in sepia.

New Mexico Route 66 - Santa Fe

The cross and bell tower of the San Miguel Chapel, 2010

Santa Fe street light and adobe wall, 2010

Santa Fe, 2010

SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO. More adobe architecture.

New Mexico Route 66 - Santa Fe

Santa Fe adobe restaurant, 2010

Native American pottery in a Santa Fe market, 2010

A Santa Fe adobe shop, 2010

SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO. I took the more direct later alignment of Route 66 on this 2012 trip, in which the old road runs on and alongside Interstate 40 through the little towns of Clines Corners, Moriarty, and Tijeras. On two previous trips, however, I did make the turn north on Highway 84 (old 66) to Santa Fe, and the New Mexico capital is such a unique American city that it must be included in any Route 66 report.

New Mexico Route 66 - Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS, NEW MEXICO. Our Lady of Sorrows Church, sepia.

New Mexico Route 66 - Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS, NEW MEXICO. A short hop from old 66 on the way to Santa Fe there is a Las Vegas just a little less famous than the one in Nevada. The Plaza Hotel in town was called "The Belle of the Southwest" when it was built in 1882, and there just has to be an Old West card game going on inside. From 2010.

New Mexico Route 66 - Santa Rosa

SANTA ROSA, NEW MEXICO. Nearby Joseph's Bar and Grill adopted the famous Fat Man from the old Club Cafe, and how could I dine anywhere else while in town? From 2008.

New Mexico Route 66 - Santa Rosa

SANTA ROSA, NEW MEXICO. During a 2008 visit to Santa Rosa, I found some of the Club Cafe's neon stacked in the parking lot. This section was once attached to the building, and one wonders where this piece of 66 history ended up.

New Mexico Route 66 - Santa Rosa

SANTA ROSA, NEW MEXICO. Club Cafe neon, still going strong even though the restaurant closed way back in 1991. This is the establishment that erected the Smiling Fat Man billboards up and down Route 66.

New Mexico Route 66 - Santa Rosa

SANTA ROSA, NEW MEXICO. The handsome Tower Motel, built in the 1950's, I believe.

New Mexico Route 66 - Santa Rosa

SANTA ROSA, NEW MEXICO. The bright and shiny Sun N' Sand Motel neon.

New Mexico Route 66

NEW MEXICO ROUTE 66. Whenever I see an out of the way 66 ruin like this, I wonder just who may have stopped here for a cold beer, and in which decade - the 1940's? 1950's?

New Mexico Route 66

There are stretches of interstate highway out west that a 66 traveler is forced to drive on, when the old road becomes impassable or just isn't there anymore. I found that during these detours my speed rarely exceeded 60 mph, so attuned was I to the slower paced two-lane.

New Mexico Route 66

NEW MEXICO ROUTE 66. Southern Pacific Railroad tracks disappear into the horizon, at one of my favorite out of the way spots on 66. After squeezing under the Interstate through a narrow one lane tunnel, you can just pull over and watch the trains go by.

New Mexico Route 66

NEW MEXICO ROUTE 66. How many 66ers remember this narrow lane under the Interstate? It's just west of Tucumcari.

New Mexico Route 66 - Tucumcari

TUCUMCARI, NEW MEXICO. Buckaroo Motel. You can still spend the night here, partners.

New Mexico Route 66 - Tucumcari

TUCUMCARI, NEW MEXICO. La Cita Restaurant on Route 66, black and white. From 2008.

New Mexico Route 66 - Tucumcari

TUCUMCARI, NEW MEXICO. The old Westerner Drive-In in Tucumcari. You can still hear Elvis tunes coming from the parked convertibles, if you reminisce hard enough. I wonder if the car hops wore roller skates.

New Mexico Route 66 - Tucumcari

Odeon Theater

Showtimes at the Odeon Theater

Lena's Cafe from 2008

TUCUMCARI, NEW MEXICO. Just a couple of turns off Tucumcari Boulevard (old 66), the small downtown of Tucumcari is perfect for a sunny walkabout. Inspect the fading small town architecture, look out for a couple of murals, and try to find colorful Lena's Cafe. There is also a dinosaur museum on 1st Street which I never seem to have time for, not with all the 66 stuff in town, but it's on my list for a future trip. The Art Deco Odeon Theater, built in 1935, dominates the corner of Main and 2nd Streets.

New Mexico Route 66 - Tucumcari

TUCUMCARI, NEW MEXICO. Opened in 1942, the Blue Swallow Motel is stunning 1940's Americana, with its wonderful neon sign and tourist court garages. The most famous Blue Swallow owners, Lillian and Floyd Redman, purchased the motel in 1958, and Lillian became one of the legends of Route 66 by running the business for the next 50 years. (Floyd died in 1973.) She made an awful lot of 66 friends in those years, and ran a successful operation even after the interstate bypassed the old road through town. I have no images of Lillian, of course, as I was a prisoner in my office and buried in paperwork throughout the 90's.

New Mexico Route 66 - Tucumcari

TUCUMCARI, NEW MEXICO. The Blue Swallow Motel is another 66 landmark in good hands after a recent change in ownership. Kevin and Nancy Mueller took over the old tourist court in July, 2011, and the restoration they initiated continues to improve and brighten up the property. In fact, the Muellers were working the grounds in 103 degree New Mexico heat when I interrupted them for a chat and a photo. (Seems like I slowed down loads of 66 restoration work on this trip.)

New Mexico Route 66 - Tucumcari

TUCUMCARI, NEW MEXICO. A classic Pontiac parked at the Blue Swallow Motel. Just when did this guy check in?

New Mexico Route 66 - Tucumcari

TUCUMCARI, NEW MEXICO. One of the units at the Blue Swallow Motel was recently repainted, and now has a 1940's era tourist court look to it.

New Mexico Route 66 - Tucumcari

TUCUMCARI, NEW MEXICO. The ultimate in Route 66 neon, at the Blue Swallow Motel. New owners just recently returned the sign to its original colors.

New Mexico Route 66 - Tucumcari

TUCUMCARI, NEW MEXICO. The simple and elegant neon of the Apache Motel.

New Mexico Route 66 - Tucumcari

TUCUMCARI, NEW MEXICO. The Lasso Motel on Route 66 is also just a neon sign and a memory.

New Mexico Route 66 - Tucumcari

TUCUMCARI, NEW MEXICO. Tucumcari Tonight! So said the billboards along old Route 66, advertising the town's abundance of motels and motel rooms. 66 travelers were tempted with a good night's sleep about one day's drive away to both the east and west, all the way up to the city limits. Some of those billboards remain today, but they are pointed at the interstate. The Pony Soldier Motel once figured in the local room supply, but now only the sign remains.

New Mexico Route 66 - San Jon

SAN JON, NEW MEXICO. The Western Motel on Route 66, with cabins (and rust) that date back to the 1930's. According to Jack Rittenhouse, San Jon in the 1940's was "still a center where cowboys can come for Saturday night relaxation." The town today may be a little too quiet for cowpokes letting off steam.

New Mexico Route 66 - San Jon

SAN JON, NEW MEXICO. An overgrown auto repair shop on Route 66. The tree blocking the main garage entrance has probably been growing since the arrival of the interstate that bypassed the town.

New Mexico Route 66

The first buttes of a Route 66 trip appear almost immediately upon entering New Mexico. The eastern portion of the state is quite remote, and needless to say, I had the old road pretty much to myself.

Texas Route 66

The Road to Glenrio, Sepia.

Texas Route 66 - Glenrio

GLENRIO, TEXAS. The old diner in Glenrio, which probably specialized in Mexican cuisine as a little painted sombrero can be seen on top if you look closely. It is guarded by a (probably huge) dog that one never actually sees. This was my third stop in this 66 ghost town, where the only sounds ever heard are the Texas winds and that damn dog barking.

Texas Route 66 - Glenrio

GLENRIO, TEXAS. The Texas Longhorn Motel, Cafe and Service Station, referred to by modern day 66ers as the "First and Last Motel in Texas" because of its signature, if decaying, sign. This run down portion of the complex was once the cafe, and the old motel section is not faring much better, left to the weeds out back. It's hard to believe that this ghost town was once a busy 66 thoroughfare, but Homer Ehresman and his family ran a successful business here in the 1950's and 60's. In the 1970's, the new interstate killed the business and Glenrio, so much so that Route 66 has been reduced to dirt roads leading into and out of town. It is most easily accessed by the mysterious sounding Exit 0 on I-40, for those of us traveling in little rental cars.

Texas Route 66 - Glenrio

GLENRIO, TEXAS. From old postcards, we know that this was the cafe portion of the First Motel/Last Motel complex. A chair remains out front for the ghost of the final chef that worked there, still on his last ever cigarette break.

Texas Route 66 - Glenrio

GLENRIO, TEXAS. The First Motel/Last Motel in Texas, depending on your direction. That's what the sign used to read, anyway.

Texas Route 66 - ???

What will we find at the mysterious Exit 0 in Texas?

Texas Route 66 - Adrian

ADRIAN, TEXAS. Signs for cold beer and a modern interstate tempt drivers on old Route 66 in Adrian. Don't be fooled - stay on the two-lane!

Texas Route 66 - Adrian

ADRIAN, TEXAS. A cafe sign plenty tall enough to pull diners off a two-lane highway.

Texas Route 66 - Adrian

Fran Houser, 2010

ADRIAN, TEXAS. Let's not forget Fran Houser, former owner of the MidPoint Cafe, who always had time for a Route 66 visitor even though she was the busiest person in the room. Fran had a real business to run, an operating restaurant that also happened to be a Route 66 landmark, but she was also a top Route 66 ambassador and personality. I understand that Fran appears in the movie "Cars" as Flo, a 1950's auto (with tail fins) that owns Flo's V-8 Cafe in Radiator Springs. (To appear in the movie "Cars" is the ultimate tribute for a Route 66er.) Fran has retired from the restaurant business but not from Route 66, having stayed in town to open a gift shop called Sunflower Station, which is located in the old gas station next to the MidPoint. This is a shot of Fran (with my lunch) from 2010.