A reminder about photographs: Some photographs appear as thumbnails, all other photographs appear within the text as hyperlinks, so be sure to check them out!
Continuing on the old
alignment in Glenrio into New Mexico, the road became dirt & gravel, and veered away
from
the Interstate, paralleling it with about a mile or so in between. That was enough space
to make you feel a bit isolated, and the country was beautiful! We even saw a
coyote! (right) We later saw a roadrunner (honestly), but he was obviously
fast, and the video is too shaky to try to get a digital picture.
Anyway, this alignment was a little rough and slow in our sedan, not as easy as it would
have been in a 4 X 4. It wasn't too bad, but regardless, this section of alignment,
which runs all the way to San Jon, is 18 miles according to Bob Moore's book, when you
would rejoin the Interstate. I wasn't sure how long it would be dirt and gravel, so
I didn't want to go quite that far on this portion of the road without access to the
Interstate. So, we came upon NM 93 (still dirt and gravel, but a state road
nonetheless!), which was listed on my AAA map. NM 93 does hook back up to the
Interstate, so I took a right onto 93 and headed back toward the Interstate. At
least we had experienced a bit of this old alignment anyway.
We followed the Interstate to San Jon (Exit 356), then followed 66 to Tucumcari.
As we approached Tucumcari, we saw Tucumcari Mountain, to the south. It was about
5:30 or so when we arrived in Tucumcari, and decided to spend the night here, rather than
continue to Santa Rosa as planned.
From always
having heard the slogan "Tucumcari Tonight - 2000 Rooms," I didn't anticipate we
would have any trouble getting a room (though now the billboards read 1200 rooms; see
photo at left taken the previous day, 390 miles east of Tucumcari). Before
anywhere else, I wanted to try the Blue Swallow Motel, a classic Route 66 motel.
They had vacancies, and we stayed in Room #5. 
Not only was it clean and
comfortable, but the decor was so cute! The owners have created the perfect classic
motel - updating it with modern conveniences such as telephones (heavy old rotary dial
phones, but running on a modern telephone system which converts the dial to touch tones),
cable TV and even a data port, while retaining its old-fashioned appeal.
Closeup of one of the neon swallows over the
garage door
A view of the sign from our room
A few of the many other motels which comprise Tucumcari's 1200 rooms: |
||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Route 66 Monument in Tucumcari.
The Westerner Drive-Inn, where we had dinner and breakfast.
Leaving
Tucumcari, we followed Route 66 through Montoya and Newkirk. The
photo at the left is of a Spanish Cemetary outside of Montoya. The alignment
between Cuervo and Santa Rosa is rough, and Bob Moore recommends this only for
those with high clearance vehicles. Therefore, we joined
the Interstate at Exit 291 to Santa Rosa (Exit 277).
After Santa Rosa, it is necessary to join the Interstate at Exit
273, and there are two main options at this point. Taking Exit 256 off I-40 leads
you to the original alignment of Route 66 (pre 1937) up to the state capitol, Santa Fe,
and then down to Albuquerque. The later alignment continued straight westward
toward Albuquerque, saving four hours. Much of this newer alignment is now I-40,
until Exit 197, however, Bob Moore's book describes several old alignments visible from
the Interstate at Exits 267, 263 and 252. I opted for the newer alignment, and followed
the Interstate until Clines Corners, at Exit 218. We shopped in the trading post a
bit (I bought a nice set of sandstone Route 66 coasters), and had lunch here as well. Interestingly, the Clines Corners post office is here,
right in the restaurant.
We continued to follow the Interstate as necessary here, until Exit 196, where we followed
the old road through Moriarty,
where I took the photo at the right
of an old store and cafe on the right side, as described in Bob Moore's book. I
thought it was interesting because he states, "barely visible are the words,
Kathy, NM, on the front of the building. There is no mention in any reference to Kathy,
NM, another mystery of the Mother Road."
We continued on through Edgewood (where I stopped at the post office to buy packing
supplies to ship souvenirs home), Barton, Sedillo and Tijeras, through the Canyon into
Albuquerque.
In Albuquerque, Route 66 is Central Avenue. We stayed in Albuquerque a
little bit, Amber wanted to drop off some of our 
film at a one
hour photo. While we waited, we found a shopping center with a Border's books, where
we did a little shopping. We saw another Muffler Man
here as well. After that, I thought we would go to the Route 66
Malt Shop,
which I found listed at Route66.com. The way the street numbers as well as the
street designation, is odd, because the address to the malt shop is 1720 Central Avenue
N.W. I found 1720 Central Avenue, I didn't think anything of the N.W. The malt shop
wasn't there, so I thought it must have closed. We went back to get the film and I
had a milkshake at a Sonic Drive-In instead. As we left Albuquerque, I saw the malt shop
farther west on Central Avenue! Apparently, the street numbers repeat at some point
when the street becomes Central Avenue N.W. Watch that...!
There are two alignments which can be followed out of
Albuquerque, we chose the newer alignment, Central Avenue to the Rio Grande, and up Nine
Mile Hill. At the top of the hill, is a beautiful view of Albuquerque in the valley.
Out of Albuquerque, there is another old alignment loop, pre 1937, but I opted to stay on
the newer alignment, following the
route as marked on the HERE IT IS map. We did not exit at some
of the later sections into the above towns because I wasn't sure how good the road
conditions were, and the weather was getting stormy. Aside from a brief evening
shower in Tucumcari, this was the only bad weather so far, and even still, it was a bit
late in the afternoon, and we were almost at our next stop for the night. Rather
than risk possible washouts on the old road, we decided to continue on the Interstate
until we arrived at Grants.
We stayed in Grants, as planned, and decided to stay at the Leisure Lodge Motel, on the eastern side of town directly on Route 66, which is Santa Fe Avenue in town. I took these photos in Grants:
 |
Upper left: The Franciscan Lodge |
 |
 |
 |
We had breakfast at Grants Station Restaurant, and both the food and the
service were excellent. We continued on 66 out of Grants, passing through Milan,
Prewitt, and Thoreau. Between Thoreau and the Continental Divide, I took the picture
at the left, of a billboard for the El Rancho in Gallup.
When we reached the Continental Divide, we stopped at the Indian Village Trading Post for a little bit.
We found the marker sign for the Continental
Divide, and then I stopped at the post office here to mail my package home.
We had to join the Interstate here, and we took Exit 36 and followed 66 into Gallup.
 |
GALLUP
Top: Sign |
 |
|
 |
After Gallup, one can follow
the old road without entering the Interstate, though we crossed it alot. We saw a
beautiful wild horse along the road here in Manuelito (left).
 |
Just before the Arizona border, is Fort Yellowhorse Trading Post. |
 |
Next, the Arizona border.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, April 13, 2005
