Route 66 road trip day 3 - on to Albuquerque!

Our "Tucumcari Tonight" was perfectly pleasant. In the morning, we had more of a chance to explore the town, which is chock-full of great retro motel signs and filling station murals, putting us in the Route 66 spirit.



A morning view of the garage bays at the Blue Swallow Motel. Each has its own mural, including this adorable tribute to Pixar's "Cars."



On the recommendation of our hotel owner, we had breakfast at Kix On 66, a wonderful upgraded diner. Breakfast portions were so big we would be able to skip lunch!



There were interesting sights up and down the main drag.











Even the abandoned lots were interesting to look at.



Before we left Tucumcari, we stopped in to check out the Mesalands Dinosaur Museum, the public educational arm of Mesalands Community College's paleontology department. For a small school in a small town, they have a really great collection!



Fluorescent minerals before...



...and after!



I never knew trilobites had horns!



The museum is adjacent to the paleo lab, where ongoing projects are under way.



The school also has access to a brass foundry, so many fossils and skeletons in the museum are brass casts, often allowing for a "hands on" experience with interesting finds.



After exploring the museum, we were back on the open highway and en route to Albuquerque!



We didn't take much time as we passed through Santa Rosa, NM, but we tried to keep an eye out for familiar buildings; supposedly the landscape and architecture featured in Pixar's "Cars" is based on locations in town!







The other major sights between Tucumcari and Albuquerque are a couple of bustling tourist rest stops.

We got ice cream at the Flying C Ranch, where among other tchotchkes and souvenirs one could pick up a refrigerator-sized box of assorted fireworks ($499.99), a mounted buffalo head and shoulders ($5000), or even an entire full-grown free-standing taxidermied buffalo ($19,999.99).

The next tourist stop was Clines Corners, but we didn't feel the need to stop.



Later on the road was a third example of the Route 66 tourist mecca, but one that has fallen by the wayside. About all that remains of the Longhorn Ranch (according to our guidebook, once the glitziest of them all) is a worn and lonely sign.



As we made our way, more interesting geography became apparent. These rounded hills are the preserved cores of volcanos with the outer layers eroded away.



The road began to wind and curve among brush-covered hills as we approached Albuquerque, which is nestled at the foot of the Sandia Mountains.



Once in town, we saw many remnants of old Route 66 businesses along Central Avenue.















We came back that way with Mike's Aunt Mindy and got to see a few more local landmarks, including this crazy house by architect Bart Prince.



We spent the evening with Mike's relatives, having dinner at a restaurant at the bottom of the tramway up the mountain. My camera battery gave out before we were treated to a great view of the sunset, but I have lots of pictures from today's day trip to Santa Fe with Aunt Mindy. But that will have to be another post!