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Published: March 9th 2017
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Tucumcari, New Mexico
Technological change hits rural America hard and fast. Take the simple changes in how we travel. Modern vehicles not only go faster, but they are more efficient, traveling further on a gallon of gasoline, which has also become more efficient. And the changes are on the inside too, making hours of travel much easier on the occupants. All of which means that, although they travel more miles, they are stopping less frequently, especially in the towns in-between destinations.
Towns like Tucumcari, New Mexico. In the forties, fifties, and sixties, Route 66 went through this town and it was, more or less, a popular stop. You can tell that because of the many motel lodges scattered up and down the main, Route 66, drag. With original names like Cactus and Apache, these motor inns were icons to the American road trip, here in the arid southwest.
But travelers don't stop here as much anymore. You can now make it from Oklahoma City to Albuquerque in one long day driving 75 mph on Interstate 40 - why stop in a dusty cowtown? And so the motor inns have become obsolete. Many here in Tucumcari are boarded up,
empty shells of what they once were. Some have been down-sized, with entire wings restored as out-door museums to what was once an American dream.
Some have been re-purposes, like the one we stayed at last night, Cactus RV Park. The motel rooms still stand, although the windows are broken and, in one case, an entire room right in the middle of the wing has been knocked down to the foundation bricks in order to allow trucks with trailers and motor homes to drive through it to the parking lot beyond where they can hook up to power, water, and sewer. In other places, here on the main drag, restaurants have been erected right in the parking lots of abandoned motels. Most people no longer spend the night here in Tucumcari, but they might stop for a meal.
And so that's how we spent our first night on the road, in a graveled, no-nonsense parking lot with just the basics, at just a basic price of $25. Joan found the spot as we headed East on I40 and dusk was beginning to turn into night. We got a late start yesterday, confounded by water problems on the trailer
and a need to get the house looking half-way decent for potential buyers. And we had to stop at an RV place in Santa Fe to find some small parts that the trailer demanded we get fixed. We had hoped to get to Amarillo on our first day's travel, but will have to make up the time, and mileage today.
Still, we traveled 280 miles, down from Questa to Taos, to Santa Fe, and then south on 285 through Eldorado, Lamy, and on into Clines Corners. There we entered the modern version of Route 66, Interstate 40, which will be our route for several more days as we head east. The 10,000 pound rig is driving well and, although I'm not supposed drive faster than 65, it easily inches up over 70. We're going, mostly, downhill, so the mileage is not all that bad.
But the important thing is that we are off - our big adventure for 2017 has officially started. We are calling it Southern Charms, for reasons that will become obvious as we travel on. The trip plan has us on the road for a full 80 days, by far the longest trip we've done
yet. We have some issues with the water system on the trailer, but I'm hoping to fix those in Oklahoma City tomorrow. Otherwise the excitement is building and all systems are go!
17.1.1.
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Traci Money
Traci Money
Tucumcari
Tucumcari makes me so sad ... it's like a ghost of American history. I do like the people there and it's the reason we have stopped there many times.