Wednesday, May 5th - Tucumcari NM to Santa Fe NM
Another beautiful day dawned for us; we left Tucumcari at 9am (after a donut or two) and headed West (but then you knew that..)
We're very impressed with the Blue Swallow; a great value, clean rooms, plenty of hot water and air-conditioning. If they only had high-speed internet I'd move in permanently.
Today is a 150 mile day; at our normal rate it should take us about fifteen hours. But there's a wrinkle. Corvette friends Bob and Sue Catherwood have graciously planned a get-together to welcome us to Santa Fe -- and we really need to get there by 6pm.
Also, five other Corvette friends from Colorado are coming to meet us at Bob & Sue's and we don't want to let anyone down.
Our style is to drive on nearly every paved inch of Route 66, using the interstate only when there is no Route 66 roadway. We were on such a section of I-40 heading for our first stop, the Route 66 Auto Museum in Santa Rosa, NM when we had an interesting experience. We were driving as we usually do in the right lane, pulling out to the left lane only to pass. We had done that and were passing a semi when, in the rearview mirror we see another semi in the right lane barrelling up to fill the space we vacated. I wondered, "Where does this guy think he's going to go?!?" when Buzz called on the radio and said the driver was just trying to take our picture. Gael waved and we went on down the road to our exit.
When we exited a few miles later at Santa Rosa, I noticed the truck (who had caught up with us handily) also exited there. Could be a coincidence. Not.
It was easy to spot the museum. Their sign is a yellow automobile on a pole about 30' in the air:
As we pulled into the Museum parking lot here came the semi, following us in:
Turns out the owner-driver, Gary, was mesmerized by the CEs. He told us he would have followed us into a McDonalds if that's where we had gone. Jackie's position is that anyone who follows us off the interstate to look at the cars is worthy of a dash plaque (we're going to have to get more of these things...)
(Buzz even pulled the bra down for Gary)
The Route 66 Auto Museum was being run today by Tim, son of the owners:
The Museum is really a storage facility for Tim's dad's great car collection.
There's also a very nice gift shop in the front of the museum:
We spent about a half hour there admiring the 20-30 great looking vehicles:
(Why, yes, they DO have Corvettes..)
One car in particular caught Buzz' attention (and mine) A white/red 1958 Impala convertible. Oh... My... Gawd!
We left before buying anything other than a couple of T-Shirts for tonight's get-together.
We did a quick dash plaque inventory (oh, yes, Tim got one, too) and decided we better have more. Called friend Ed Duprey at Great Lakes Trophies & Engraving and placed an emergency order; he's shipping today to arrive at our overnight stop in Albuquerque tomorrow night. Thanks, Ed!
There used to be a restaurant in Santa Rosa called The Club Cafe. It was a favorite stop for Route 66 travelers for many years. Its symbol is "The Fat Man" which was displayed in signs and on curios for 56 years:
When the Club Cafe closed its doors in 1991 the symbol was taken over by the Campos family when they started Joseph's Bar and Grill on the original Club Cafe site:
We saw a large sign featuring "The Fat Man" in the Route 66 Auto Museum and many more when we stopped at Joseph's for a "Route Beer Float" (get it?) Well, Gael had a margarita but the rest of us had the floats.
 
As we were leaving, a couple drove up in a 2003 Millenium Yellow C5; wish we'd had time to speak more.
A few miles farther west we saw this sign:
(Not our favorite roadsign of the day)
.. and picked up an alternate alignment of Route 66 (now Highway 84) to Santa Fe. This is fairly empty country but a good road with light traffic and an opportunity to hit the speed limit in the CEs; of course, we would never exceed the speed limit...
This is the view to the left:
..to the front:
..and to the right:
Conclusion: Nothing much going on out here...:)
We stopped for an hour or so at the Pecos National Historical Park to view the ruins of what was a very large pueblo. It gave us the opportunity to stretch our legs while we explored.
(Yep; that's snow on those mountaintops)
Back in the cars and off to Santa Fe and our hotel for tonight, the El Rey Inn. We've been pleasantly surprised by all of the "traditional" Route 66 hotels at which we've stayed so far: The Munger Moss in Lebanon, MO, the Blue Swallow in Tucumcari, the Big Texan in Amarillo and now the El Rey Inn in Santa Fe. They've all exceeded our expectations and are spectacular values. Try 'em!
As we arrived at the El Rey at the same moment as did our five Corvettes friends from Colorado. Smiles, handshakes and hugs all around:
Then, after a bit of decompression time (and car cleaning) we all (seven Corvettes) headed over to Bob and Sue's beautiful home for drinks:
(Here we are with our gracious hosts. L to R: Buzz, Bob, Sue, Chaz, Jackie and Gael)
(They're getting this one for their Christmas card this year)
We were joined by several of their local Corvette friends and had a convivial hour there before caravanning to a local Mexican restaurant, La Choza. The food and company were both great.
(Dan Samento shows off his composite done by Paul Eggermann)
(Here, seated, are the Colorado Lost Boys Rt to Left: Bruce Miller, Dan Samento, Bryan Matzdorff, John Gordon and Aaron Gillespie)
So it's now 10pm and I'm starting this writeup. A few more hours to insert the pix and I'll be ready for bed.
Tomorrow we go to Albuquerque (it's only seventy miles so that's, what, seven hours???)
If you find typos or other errors on these pages, please click to
. I can't always respond to the emails promptly (being on the road all day) but I do receive them.
Another great day -- and much, much more to come...
Watch for more tomorrow, Day #10 on the Mother Road!
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