We did the morning chores and locked up the house and were on our way back to Missouri by about 10:15. I almost said "back home" but New Mexico is starting to feel "homey" to me. We decided we would try to make it back with only one night in a motel so we targeted Weatherford, Oklahoma, as a good half-way stopping point. We also wanted to see some of historic Route 66 along the way...if time permitted.
The Mother road didn't have a single route across New Mexico but went a variety of routes over the years, including up to Santa Fe and south toward Belen and then several paths through Albuquerque. We were going home on I-40 so we focused on what was close at hand.
We saw a few signs and some abandoned or re-purposed motels and roadside businesses along the way. Cline's Corners (you remember from the trip out) was where the old highway took a turn north toward Santa Fe. Santa Rosa has the old highway snaking through the whole town. Tucumcari is trying to make a living off of it's Route 66 history and is experiencing a small revival due to the stock of old motel that are in reasonable shape and worthy of restoration. They have a big monument dedicated to the old highway.
We stopped for lunch at a Denny's in Santa Rosa. I don't have too many restaurant standards but I expect the bathrooms to be reasonably clean. My advice is to go check out the bathroom before you order food. We didn't and were wondering later if there was an urgent care facility nearby. I haven't seen a bathroom as dirty and disgusting as that one for a long time. There was a sign requiring employees to wash their hands...that made me worry even more. We didn't get sick...yet...but it was just awful.
Some of the old Rt. 66 runs parallel to the interstate so you can see a few Mother Road relics as you drive the interstate. In Shamrock (TX) there is a nice stretch of the old highway that goes through the town and passes a unique restored gas station.
We stopped at the Cadillac Ranch just west of Amarillo. Donna had never seen it and didn't know what it was about. She had that "Why the hell are we stopping here for??" look when I pulled off the highway and parked on the side of the road. There were only a few cars there but folks were busily at work painting the old cars. Donna said that she "got it" once she looked it over for a while and saw people engrossed in spray painting the old cars. I don't want to paint...I like watching the people. The cows were close by and seemed to be coming closer as we left.
The paint is so thick on the old sheet metal that it tries to flow due to the metal heating up and gravity pulling it down. The paint is almost an inch thick in some places. We watched a guy walk up with a bag of about six paint cans of different colors. We thought he was some kind of artist who would do something different. He started by painting a large silver rectangle on the roof of a car bordered in a different color. He then proceeded to write his name in the rectangle....big deal.
Groom, Texas, is still the same as ever...with the 2nd largest cross in North America. I keep expecting them to do something to make theirs bigger....like add a huge flag on top or maybe a big lighted star. This is Texas.
It was getting dark when we finally got to Weatherford. We were booked into a Comfort Inn and saw the sign on the road where we were supposed to get off the highway....we did but couldn't find the motel. it took about 20 minutes to find it. We had the last two rooms.
When I walked in to register the desk clerk greeted me with a cheery "What do you want??". How's that for hospitality?
We ate at the Boomtown Grill...which turned out to be a pretty good restaurant. This was good because most of the other places were closed or almost closed by 9 PM.
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