As we headed out of Amarillo we passed the famous Cadillac Ranch, big brother to the previously mentioned Bug Farm. As we travelled through the rain (yes, it is still raining), we saw our first antelope near Vega, TX.
We hit the official half-way point today! Adrian, TX, home of the Half Way Diner. I strongly recommend stopping in for a piece of their Ugly Crust Pie. It doesn't matter if it is 9am, pie is always good. I had peach!
We approached Tucumcari and saw something tentatively crossing the road ahead of us. It was quite small, and moved very slowly. We got closer and were able to see that it was a tarantula! I had never seen one in the wild before.
Tucumcari is the home of the Blue Swallow Motel. A true relic of the glory days of 66. Beautiful neon sign out front, motel rooms with attached carports, each painted with a mural. Way cool!
OK, those of you who have travelled down the East Coast on I95 will be familiar with South of the Border. Well, the Route 66 version seems to be the Flying C Ranch. We saw dozens of billboards advertising the Flying C Ranch. For MILES! When we arrived, we expected to see something similar to SoB due to the sheer amount of advertising. WRONG! It is a single medium-sized building. A bit of a let down, but we did get a chuckle out of it.
Driving through the plains, you can see for miles on either side of the road. It is vast, empty (except for the antelope and cattle) and impressive. Just east of Cline, NM the landscape suddenly changes to rolling hills covered with small evergreen trees.
From here on, unless you are driving a 4-wheel drive vehicle, I suggest you stay on I40. We tried to stay on 66, but found ourselves thwarted by mudslides and various sections where the road is now private property and therefore inaccessible.
Albequerque brought me yet another giant, this time a lumberjack. I still get a kick out of those giants. We also ran into the NM State Fair. If it hadn't been raining we would have stopped to check it out, but the weather suggested we move on.
We decided to make this a short day and drive an hour north to Santa Fe for some relaxation, visit a few galleries and museums and have a relaxing evening....yeah, right. The best laid plans of mice and men....
After visiting a couple of the galleries, we stopped in to Milagro for a cocktail and met Gordon and Nancy. A lovely retired couple from Texas. We were having such lively conversation with them that we decided to all go to dinner together at the Sleeping Dog Tavern. What started out as an evening of great food and company quickly went south and turned into an experience involving the SFFD when Nancy, without warning, suddenly slumped over and fell out of her chair.
The staff at Sleeping Dog called 911 for us, and I must say the response time for SFFD is fabulous. They were there in under 5 minutes and took good care of Nancy. Apparently she was suffering from the altitude and dehydration and will be fine.
We will be staying in Santa Fe tomorrow to just chill, so I don't know if I will be updating the blog or not, it depends on whether we have any more excitement!
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