Memories of Route 66

Just a few things to describe today. From our hotel in Albuquerque, we were facing (but could not see) the balloon launch field, which was probably 7 miles away. During our breakfast there this morning, we suddenly saw the tiny balloons in the sky, looking like a flock of birds, or bubbles rising from a bottle. There were easily over a hundred of them, and they just kept rising out of the field. We drove toward them, and were able to see several as they came in for a landing. That was a perfect way to end our Fiesta time. Our drive today was across the east half of New Mexico, the panhandle of Texas, and a few miles into Oklahoma. The scenery was flat almost the entire drive. One interesting thing we saw was just west of Amarillo, Texas. A very rich man lives there who is a fan of pop culture and pop art. He sometimes commissions or buys unusual sculptures. One of them is called “Hood Ornament of Route 66,” and we saw it. It consists of ten vintage Cadillacs buried nose-first in a muddy field. Apparently, people constantly are painting graffiti on the cars. I guess the graffiti is (or has become) part of the artwork. A woman was there painting when we stopped to look at it. Very interesting. By the way, Route 66 (or, I should say, what used to be Route 66) runs right through the towns that our highway (40) bypasses, as it runs through these states we’ve been driving in. We’ve exited from the highway several times to drive through these towns, and they are often just about ghost towns. One of them is Tucumcari, New Mexico, where we stopped to buy a few groceries. Those old motel buildings were still standing (some of them), but they were no longer motels. Sometimes, only the sign was there. Nearly everything on that motel strip was defunct. The entire downtown seemed to be empty buildings. The only actual businesses were the grocery store, a Dollar Store, and a feed store. I couldn’t bring myself to take any pictures of Tucumcari. For those who don't know, Route 66 used to run from Chicago to L.A. It was removed from the highway system in 1985, when the interstate highway system became established. Some travelers continue to seek out the old route, and in some places it is now a designated Historic Route.

Can you see the tiny balloons?

"Hood Ornament of Route 66"

Ten Cadillacs buried in a muddy field

A woman is adding graffiti to the second car.

Flat Texas

I don't know what's up with this water tower.  We could see that two of the legs were completely out of the ground.  I've always thought it would be interesting to have a photo album of water towers.  This would be a good addition to the album.