Writing to you from the public library in Tucumcari, NM.
Texas may be second only to Alalska in size but i terms of the Mother Road it is second only to Kansas for fewest miles having only 173. Therefore we left Elk City, OK about 8 this morning and by 5 had reached this point in New Mexico.
The road today ran mostly along I-40 with only a few opportuniites to diverge away from the superslab. However when we did have that opportunity the views were nothing short of fantastic. We did have a chance to drive about 8 miles of old “dirt 66″ (a portion that was never paved) between McLean and Alanreed, Texas. It was amazing on those stretches away from the interstate just how quiet it all was; just the sound of our engine and the tires against the pavement. A couple of times when we stopped I just sat there for a minute or two enjoying the moment.
We had lunch at the Big Texan in Amarillo. This place is like a tiny South of the Border advertising a free 72oz. steak to anyone who can eat it in an hour along with a salad, baked potato, shrimp cocktail and roll. It also has an old ’50’s motel that has been refurbushed to resemble an Old West street scene. The swimming pool is shaped like the state of Texas.
In Adrian, TX we passed the half-way point to the end of 66. As best we can estimate we shoulod be in Santa Monica around Wednesday of next week, but if something good comes along, wh knows.
For the better part of the day we all alone on the road. When we wnated to see something or check the guide we just stopped in the road and took our time with no worry about other vehicles. After all in a lot places we could easily see several miles in front and behind us. We began with the farmland of Oklahoma, transitioned to the flat plains of Texas and, tonight are in the sahdow of Tumcumcari Mountain, one of the most distinctive outcroppings in New Mexico.
Highlights of the day: 1) Seventy mile an hour speed limits on parts of the old road in Texas, 2) The drive on “Dirt 66″, 3) The Barbed Wire Museum in McLean, TX (Nancy took my picture wearing a barbed wire hat), 4) The largest cross in the western hemisphere (190′) in Groom, TX and my favorite:
The Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo. Ten vintage cadillac’s buried nose down and tail fins high in the middle of a field. They are covered with graffitti as part of the “artwork” and the gr
