Day 11 Route 66 - Tucumcari to Santa Fe 216.5 miles

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This morning we started out on I-40 until we were able to exit at Palomas onto Historic Route 66 running to the south of the interstate. This section was pretty boring because it had been freshly tarred. But for the zigzagging to the the north and south of the interstate and the dips, humps and cattle grids it wouldn't have had any character at all. There was very little to see in the first few abandoned towns that we passed through.

It was only when we reached the south side of Cuervo that we found some picturesque ruins to photograph. From Cuervo we continued on to Santa Rosa where we visited the Route 66 Auto Museum that houses a collection of custom cars, hot rods and restored vintage cars.

After Santa Rosa we had to re-join the interstate until we reached the junction with US 84 where we turned off to take the Santa Fe Loop. Before 1937, Route 66 headed north-west to Santa Fe before it headed south again to Albuquerque and Los Lunas. This route is longer, but we have the time to include it so decided to head on up to Santa Fe for the magnificent scenery and the history.

The scenery has become much more spectacular as we have headed west. The mesas (flat topped hills) make the views from the road much more interesting than the plains of Oklahoma. We snapped a photogenic old church north of Dilia and continued north towards the junction with Interstate 25.

At Romeroville we decided not to attempt either of the suggested side trips on unmade road, instead we continued up I-25 to Las Vegas, that's Las Vegas, New Mexico not Las Vegas, Nevada! The area has been inhabited by native Americans, Spanish conquerors, Anglo settlers, desperadoes and robber barons over four centuries with the township being founded in 1835. This Las Vegas has links with Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp, Butch Cassidy and Bob Ford, the man who killed Jesse James.

Las Vegas also boasts more than 900 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places so we ventured into town with great expectations. Despite this wealth of history, Las Vegas struck us as being very unloved. Many of the classic buildings in the Bridge Street Historic District were empty and deteriorating. It was also frustrating that the building housing the historic preservation committee was closed - despite a sign on the door indicating that it should be open!

Still there were some signs that improvements are on the way. The town square was being dug up and there were lots of people working on it (on a Saturday) presumably to beautify it??? We had lunch in a restaurant serving Mexican food, surrounded by people celebrating a family reunion. They were all wearing colour-coordinated T-shirts to show which branch of the family they were descended from. Bizarre!

After lunch, we headed back to the the junction of Highway 84 and Interstate 25 to continue on the Santa Fe Trail/Route 66 through Tecolote and Bernal. We moseyed into San Jose for the 1826 plaza church and the closed 1921 thru-truss bridge.

The route was very scenic as we drove alongside the tree-covered Glorietta Mesa. The towns of Ilfield and Rowe were pretty uninteresting though. Just south of Pecos we visited the Pecos National Historic Park, home to the impressive ruins of a pueblo (old native American settlement) and mission church. We purchased an annual national parks pass for US$80.00 because we plan to visit a few more national parks ... and if we don't quite get our money's worth we don't mind that we are donating the balance to the National Parks Service.

There were signs up everywhere saying that rattlesnakes live on the site, but the rangers assured me that I would be very unlikely to see one. Then, just when they had me convinced, the younger ranger admitted that one was sighted just this morning!!! With great trepidation (on my part) we ventured out to walk the 11/4-mile trail. We felt a bit breathless on the trail and thought it was just the heat but, when we read that the elevation of the site is 6,900 feet, we realised that the altitude could be the reason. As we walked around the site we were joined by some German tourists and some strapping young men from the Denver Fire Department.

From the park we continued on to Glorietta where we re-joined I-25 briefly before exiting at Canoncito to follow the Old Las Vegas Highway into Santa Fe. We have booked the El Rey Inn, an inn that dates back to Route 66's heyday for our two night stay. We enjoyed a swim in the El Rey's lovely outdoor pool before thinking about what to have for dinner. There was a Thai restaurant within walking distance so we wandered along to it. Whoa, a bit spicier than we are used to!

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