Tonight we are bedding down in Tucumcari or as Mahgrit keeps calling it, Tutankhamen. Don’t ask ;-). We are overnighting here because, we’ll because, I wanted to be abler to say I stayed in Tucumcari. Ok, not a strand of logic here but, well, you all know me well enough by now to understand. Actually, it is a decent place. It is an old Rte. 66 stopover with a lot of the original motels and restaurants still operating.of course there are a lot that are no longer operating and are in derelict condition along the road. Mahgrit and I were talking about this on the drive. The interstate system really killed all these small towns. It would have been something to see in the heyday. We had a great dinner at Dels Diner an old Rte. 66 staple. The green chile stew was to die for And the chipotle chicken breast was the best.
Before we left Amerillo we took a walk down antique row. Met a guy known as Crocadile Lyle. A really great guy. He and his friends gave us more tips on things to do and see along Rte. 66. You can see some of his art in Mahgrit’s post. We also went to the Cadillac Ranch and graffitied a buried Caddie.
Mahgrit took some great pictures be sure to read her post.
Tom and Margaret Donnelly 
Sounds like the Pixar movie Cars could be based upon Tucumcari. The Interstate came along and the town just dried up…
Some of the sites in the movie were based on the small towns along Rte. 66. There are some attributions noted in some of the places like the Rock Cafe and one of the characters was based on the owner. Pixar did in fact use 66 for many ideas.