Sunday, 11th September - Amarillo, Texas, to Tucumcari, New Mexico

We started the day with breakfast at Denny's and made our way out of Amarillo to the outdoor art installation titled "Cadillac Ranch", 10 Cadillacs buried nose down in a field just off Interstate 40. It is an ever-changing installation as the cars deteriorate and visitors are encouraged to decorate them using spray paint. Weird!

We then veered 20 miles south to the Palo Duro Canyon State Park, a hidden gem in an otherwise pretty flat Texas Panhandle. It is an approximately 18 mile scenic drive through Texas's very own (but much smaller) version of the Grand Canyon. Not so much "wow" but definitely worth the trip. The photos really don't do it justice as there are four very distinct layers of different coloured (red, yellow, pink and brown) rock formations.

Back heading west on a combination of old Route 66 and new Interstate 40 we dropped into Vega to see another historic gas station, the 1920's Magnolia.

We visited the last town in Texas, the abandoned ghost town of Glen Rio before crossing the border into New Mexico and gaining an hour (we are now on Mountain Time, not Central Time, and move 7 hours behind the UK).

Hard as it is to believe, we pass the geographic mid-point of Route 66 at Adrian where there is the marvellous Mid Point Cafe (supposedly the previous owner was the inspiration for the character of Flo in Disney's Cars) selling delicious ugly pie ..... it would have been rude not to ......

Can you spot Suse? 

Finally to our overnight stop in Tucumcari, formerly a thriving and bustling town back in the 50's and 60's during the heyday of Route 66 but now, sadly, a rather shabby shadow of its former self. That said, we are staying at the beautifully renovated Motel Safari.

Spot the Hudson.

Dinner at the Pow Wow restaurant that is, quite literally, the only place open in town!

Comments

  1. Steve CorbettSeptember 13, 2022 at 2:40 PM

    Can imagine some of the old westerns being filmed in that canyon.

    ReplyDelete

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