Left Tucumcari this morning headed to Santa Fe. Had to use the interstate for about 50 miles as there was no other way to go. Rte. 66 is a dirt road for most of the way. Since we had plenty of time, Mahgrit found another set of back roads for us to follow. We headed up to Las Vegas ( no not the Nevada one) which was on the back way into Santa Fe. We have been going through a lot of small run down towns and Las Vegas proved to be something very different. It was a nice, clean, prosperous place. As usual full of very friendly people. There is something about mini dachshunds that draws out friendly people. As we were walking through town, we spotted a quilt shop. So we crossed the street so that Mahgrit could go in. As we crossed a nice gentleman from a gallery saw the girls and came out of his shop to talk to us. Mahgrit went into the quilt shop and I chatted with the shop owner. He told me that we were at elevation 8,000 feet. I knew we were going up since we left Tucumcari but I didn’t realize we had gone so high. As we drove into Las Vegas we could see snow in the mountains. He also told me that there was a university there that had been started by Armand Hammer. This explained the better prosperity we saw.

From Las Vegas, we went on to Pecos National Park. I got to use my senior citizen national park pass. Whoo hoo!! This was the first pueblo we have seen up to now. It has been abandoned since the 1700s. There is an old Spanish church made from adobe that is pretty run down. Weather takes a toll on adobe. There were two pueblos that are being excavated and the trash dump that has provided most of the artifacts so far. The park was donated to the National Park Service by the late actress Greer Garson and her husband.

All in all this was a pretty drive. After crossing the Texas panhandle New Mexico is fabulous.

We arrived in Santa Fe where we are going to spend a couple of days. We walked around the downtown area for awhile to get the lay of the land. Tomorrow will be a museum and gallery day. We are getting a sitter for the girls so we will have more time in these spots.

It will be good to decompress and stop driving for awhile.

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.

Slow cruise down the road from Elk City Oklahoma to Amerillo Texas. Only 145 miles but almost all of it on old Rte 66 concrete roads. Meandered through small towns with remnants of old gas stations and abandoned motels. Most of the old signs were still in place and a few we’re refurbished to the original.

Stopped at the Devils Rope Museum. Saw more barbed wire and the history of barbed wire. Also, there was the history of the ranchers who started the cattle industry in the area. The one guy , Glidden, managed to win the patent for two strand barbed wire and made millions. He bought a 250,000 acre ranch in McClean and then completely enclosed it with 120 miles of barbed wire at a cost of $40,000. This is in 1898 dollars. As I said yesterday who would think barbed wire could be interesting.

An interesting note is that when we passed into Texas the landscape changed. It was subtle at first more drastic as we moved on. The Texas panhandle is not as pretty as Oklahoma. It is flatter and drier. The lush green grasses of Oklahoma changed to dry scraggly scrub in Texas. The roads are flatter and straighter. At one point, the road ran arrow straight and the speed limit was 70 MPH.

Had dinner at the Big Texan in Amerillo. I had a 12oz. filet which was fork tender. On Yelp the criticisms were ” it was touristy” we’ll duh!! It is a tourist stop with a motel and gift shop well duh!!  But the steaks were fabulous. They also have their own brewery and the beers are excellent also.

Tomorrow, on to New Mexico.

Whew, long subject line 😉 . But, wow does the wind blow here. It has been hot (89 – 90) but the wind made it bearable when we were outside.

We  only did a little over a hundred miles today but we saw a lot. We meandered back and forth along Rte. 66 and didn’t get on the highway at all. Visited a few trading posts and ended up in Elk City for the night. There is a really good Rte. 66 museum here in Elk City. We parked the dogs at the motel and spent the afternoon at the museum.

We found a great little place for dinner Praire Fire and had a really great salmon salad.

We will be in Amerillo Texas tomorrow and Tucumcarie New Mexico on Thursday. With a little luck an not too much dawdling, we will be in Santa Fe on Friday. We are thinking of spending a few days here.

Still having good weather and meeting friendly people. Everyone wants to chat and seems to have the time.

At the museum in Elk City, there was a farm equipment section. Oddly enough, I found the barbed wire collection interesting. I didn’t know there were so many different manufacturers and types of wire. Weird huh?

We keep getting great weather. It hit the 90s today. Not a cloud in the brilliasky azure blue sky.

Started the day as a ” mahgrit” day. Hit a couple of fabric shops so Mahgrit could get Rte.66 fabric for a new quilt.

Then we tried to get out of Tulsa. Every direction we tried was clogged by road work. In weaving our way out of time we drove through some sensational sections of Tulsa. Sometimes when you get lemons you accidentally wind up with lemonade.

Its kind of funny running into the same people at different spots. Some people we were ahead of are now ahead of us.we wander, we ramble we see all kinds of great things.

We got to Oklahoma City today but, can’t quite figure where we will get to tomorrow. We made two hotel reservations just in case. We will figure it out around 3 tomorrow. We may still be in Ok. or we may slip inti Texas, we’ll see. There are are so many interesting and strange things to see.

We are also speculating that we may be another week longer. Who knows?

Tomorrow starts week 3 of our adventure. We are having a ball. Another short driving day with a lot of interesting stops. Again, Mahgrit’s post with the pictures will give the details. Today we went from Joplin, Mo. Through Kansas to Tulsa, Ok. Tomorrow we should hit Oklahoma City, maybe.

as we went through Kansas, the home state of our friend Mark U. We threw out pieces of paper with his name and email address on them that way every fine he gets for littering will show him people from Kansas are thinking of him.

Saw some awesome antique Packards today, more beautiful countryside band met more really friendly people.

We have been really lucky with the weather. So far we have skirted all the big storms. There has been some very heavy rain but always after we put in for the night.

Looking forward to a really good steak in Oklahoma City tomorrow night.

Today was an unusual day. We only drove for 82 miles today but, we had a ball. I will leave the details of our day to Mahgrit’s post (she does a better job of it anyway).

Some points of my own though: we saw and did more today than any other day. The stop at the old gas station brought back thoughts of my Dad. He would have loved to see the pictures and hear the stories from Gary Turner, the guy who completely rebuilt the old run down station on his own. All of the antique gas pumps (they were hand pumps at the time) were restored to pristine condition. We spent over an hour listening to Gary and his wife’s stories. They also gave us numerous tips on places to go and things to see.

This damned cold is really starting to bug me. Hopefully a good nights rest will settle it out.

Overnighting in Joplin Mo. tonight. Tomorrow is on through Kansas and into Oklahoma.

On another note, there have been road signs along the roadside in a few places such as”repent and you will … Or the way to heaven is …” I kept waiting to see at the end “Burma Shave” but I never saw it. 😉

Felt a little under the weather yesterday since Mahgrit gave me her cold So I didn’t post anything. But, today I feel a little better so here goes.

We had a fabulous drive yesterday through the Mark Twain National Forest. Mahgrit, the navigator kept finding these small roads to drive on. At one point we went almost three  hours without seeing another vehicle. I am getting to dislike civilization. Funny thing, the asphalt here has a purple tint and the concrete roads had a red tint. What’s up with that? We crossed some of the waterways 5 and 6 times on the back roads. This drive would be fabulous on a motorcycle. In fact there is enough area to travel that you could spend about 4 days cruising through the mountains.

We went by the Chrisco Cemetary and I told Mahgrit  that this was the place where they buried all the ” lard asses” . She tried really, really, REALLY hard not to laugh but, … She failed. 🙂

We stayed at the Wagon Wheel Motel last night. It is the first stop on the Rte. 66 portion of the trip. It was small but quaint. I had a Missouri slider for breakfast this morning. It is a Misourri take on a loco moco. It was biscuits and graveyard topped by hash browns, topped by chili, topped by a hamburger, topped by two eggs over easy. I managed to get through about half of it, but not for want of trying.

We are currently at our second Drury Hotel. These are really nice places. I took a jacuzzi and ran into a guy and his wife from Hampshire U.K. Interesting since we are from New Hampshire. Also, interesting, was that he and I were relaxing in the spa while our wives were meeting each other in the laundry room. How’s that for karma? They started from Chicago on the 29th where we started from N.H. On the 29 th. we met them later at dinner and had an enjoyable evening?

Tomorrow it is off to Kansas and Okalahoma.

As Mahgrit said in her post, it was a great day. We have been fortunate with the weather. Somehow we have missed the torrential rains and had nice sunny days (well mostly) . We have been caught in some rain but almost always after we stopped for the day. Last night there was a heavy thunder and lightning storm. The girls got really restless and needed calming.

Today was great but not for the dozens of turtles and armidillos that couldn’t get across the road fast enough. Even though we are using secondary roads the speed limits are 55 to 60. This was a little disconcerting at first but I got used to it. However, the big semis only consider the speed limit to be a suggestion. There was a portion of the drive that had a lot of truck traffic. I pulled over a lot and let them blow by me.

The farm that has the conveyor system (in Mahgrit’s pictures) went as far as the eye could see. It must be a corporate farm but, I could not find any name.

This was the first time I have crossed the Mississippi on the ground and not in a plane.

Tomorrow we should hit our first section of Rte. 66 and start that part of the adventure.

Ok, after a week, here I am.

What a trip. I am sure you have seen all of Mahgrit’s posts, and I don’t come close to her writing style.

We are having a great time. This is one beautiful country. I like to drive and this has been one of the things I have always wanted to do. The dogs are settling in nicely and we have found nice places to stay.

Mahgrit is a great navigator and I am getting a good packing and unpacking system going.

The rivers of this country are awesome. The farms are huge and well kept. People wave to us and smile as we drive by. We have stuck to secondary roads as much as possible and only use the interstates to scoot around the cities.