In the canyon we were sheltered from the sun’s earliest rays and the morning was brisk. We completed our morning routine, vacated our campsite and dumped the tanks (no mess on me).
Our route took us North into Amarillo where we again joined I-40West towards New Mexico. We soon passed the ‘Cadillac Ranch’ where we had stopped last year. The winds were light being early and there were many people adding to the spray paint on the cars embedded in the field.
We stopped again in Adrian, TX to visit the Midpoint Café and enjoy an early lunch. A 50’s style roadside café, they serve the BEST homemade hamburgers we’ve ever tasted.
As we leave Adrian, the landscape begins to change rapidly towards open rangeland. There are very few trees and endless expanses of grasslands.
We head towards New Mexico but stop just before entering at a small mostly vacated town called Glenrio, NM. It technically just across the state line and has 1 visibly operating business, a cannabis shop (now legal in NM).
We didn’t stop for that however, we stopped to look at a now abandoned Post Office and Cafe. Ghosts of a simpler time along old Route 66.
As we head across New Mexico’s barren landscape the temperatures rise and hit 29C by early afternoon. The A/C is deployed. The pictures below don’t do the vastness of the spaces justice and at times you really wonder if you’ll reach to ridge on the distance and what could be beyond? Yep, more trains, plains & automobiles.
Below is a collection of pictures from the day. The sixth picture is of a mountain that we felt reminded us of ‘Jabba-the-Hutt’ from Star Wars. Yep, it was a long day in the sun.
We stopped in Grants, NM at the KOA Journey as a place to rest for the evening. To remind us that we are now at a higher elevation, the chip bag has puffed up due to the lower air pressure. Must remember to be careful opening other containers! (ask me how I know!)
Tomorrow we head into Arizona and make a few more Route 66 stops.
Route 66 sounds as though you will not be returning, horrendous places & sooo hot.
Au contraire. Route 66 doesn’t truly exist as a road anymore and all towns and businesses suffered horribly in the 1950’s with the opening of Interstate 40 (I-40) as it by-passed most of them. The drive now is to witness what was and what is left of a simpler time. Route 66 harkens back to an era when people were still migrating across the continent in search of something, someplace better. It took weeks to drive and thus there were motels and hotels in every town along with cafes and restaurants. These are mostly gone now or what remains is left for us to discover and explore.