5/14/12- Oh Deer!

We got a late start leaving Tucumcari and were still a little sleepy getting on the road. Well, nothing wakes you up like an adrenaline rush. While driving on a frontage road, a deer came out of nowhere and ran across the road, right in front of the car. That kept me wide awake for a while!

If Texas is the “flattest” place then New Mexico is the most interesting, at least so far. The landscape is full of hills, mesas and canyons. Some of the soil is red, like in Oklahoma and Texas, but cliffs expose the many colors that make up the New Mexican hills. Although towns in this state are few and far between along 66, the beautiful views help to keep your mind occupied.

For lunch we stopped at Joseph’s Bar and Grill in Santa Rosa. We both had great meals, mom had tacos and I had “carne adovada” a local specialty made of pork marinated and cooked in red chili sauce. Both came with homemade pinto beans and Spanish rice, both of which were better than any other such side dishes I’d ever eaten. After a delicious, and spicy, meal we headed back on the road.

Much of Old Route 66 in New Mexico is dirt but since it had been raining the last few days we decided not to chance it. We learned in one of the Oklahoma museums that farmers didn’t want Route 66 to be paved because they had been making money pulling cars out of the mud! Other parts of Old 66 were paved over completely by the interstate; so much of this stretch was on I-40.  As such, driving this leg did not require much thinking, and without much mental stimulation I was getting sleepy- after a while even the beautiful vistas are not enough to overcome highway hypnosis. So we pulled over at the Flying “C” Ranch Truck Stop for a short siesta.

After driving two days in a row as my Mother’s Day present to mom, I was too tired to drive the third straight day so she graciously took over for the rest of this leg. With mom at the helm we took a very pretty scenic drive up among the hills away from the interstate. As we descended Sedillo Hill we entered into the outskirts of Albuquerque. Route 66 takes you right through downtown and past the historic “Old Town.” Our motel, the Monterrey Non-Smokers Motel is just a few blocks away from Old Town. We got to our room and took another siesta then went back in to downtown to see the Avengers. By the time the movie was over it was too late for dinner but we didn’t mind since we had such a big lunch. We were sad, however, that we couldn’t explore much of Albuquerque’s neighborhoods so we decided to stay another night so we could take full advantage of what this city has to offer.

Until We Meet Again, C