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Published: March 5th 2009
Santa Rosa, NM - Route 66 Auto Museum
Vintage 1931 Ford atop a sixteen foot pole for their signDay 11 - Tuesday, November 18th - Santa Rosa, NM to Albuquerque, NM
We catch a few sites additional sites of Santa Rosa as we leave town. We bypass going into the Route 66 Auto Museum so as not to get behind so early in the day. Too late we realize we probably should have wandered in given its unique offering of sixty restored classic cars and trucks on display. We head right to the expressway to begin a busy day. We’ve decided to take the Santa Fe Loop which is an earlier version of Route 66. In addition, we decide to take a side trip to Las Vegas, NM - didn’t even know there was a Las Vegas aside from Las Vegas, Nevada.
From Santa Rosa, NM, we turn off I-40 after just a few miles, on to US 84. We decide against a couple of really early and stranded dirt road portions of route 66 and continue on US 84. We come across of couple of old, old churches in very small towns, some of which remain nameless. The rolling hillsides with southwestern mountains in the distance provide a calm, serene drive - calm at least until
Santa Rosa, NM - Route 66 Auto Museum
We would later regret not stopping in to see some of the sixty restored classic cars/trucks Jerry finds a rousing Mexican radio station. We laugh aloud as we try to mimic the Spanish worded, light hearted music. It provides a perfect background to the landscape.
In Romeoville, we leave this old Route 66 to investigate Las Vegas, NM. The town is bigger than we expected - a city by any standard. It is worth the visit. It takes us awhile to find the visitor center, first believing the signs lead us to a Santa Fe rail car and thanks to some business folks in a nearby building, we are re-directed through town to the visitor center’s new location. There, we get more ideas than we have time for. We go in search of Montezuma Castle. We find it but learn it is on the grounds of a closed campus Armand Hammer United World College of the American West. Security does not allow us up to the castle - tours are on designated days of the month and there’s no entry outside of those days. We sigh and head back to tour more of Las Vegas.
Las Vegas, NM boasts more than 900 buildings on the Register of Historic Places, La Castaneda Hotel and El
Santa Rosa, NM - Esso Station
Was an Amoco station (1960-73). Reopened as Esso in 1975. Well maintained. Still has famous Esso "Happy Motoring" logo. Fidel Hotel, to name two we saw. For history buffs -
Las Vegas, NM was founded in 1935. “The area has been inhabited by Native Americans, Spanish conquerors, Anglo settlers, desperadoes, robber barons, and dance-hall girls over the past four centuries. Doc Holliday and his girlfriend, Kate Elder, moved here in 1879 and opened a saloon; they were followed a few months later by their friend, Wyatt Earp. Butch Cassidy once worked in town as a bartender. Bob Ford, a Las Vegas saloon-keeper was the man who later became known for killing Jesse James. In 1915, Tom Mix made several of his westerns here…The town fire station appears in a scene from
Easy Rider, where Jack Nicholson’s character makes the decision to hit the road with Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper. Scenes from
Charlie Siringo and
Red Dawn were also made here.” (Route 66 Adventure Handbook, Third Edition. Knowles, D. 2006)
We are captivated by the history in Las Vegas, surprised to learn that at one time it was actually two towns. West Las Vegas (“Old Town”) was the the one established in 1835, prospering as a stop on the Santa Fe Trail, and then as the railroad
Santa Rosa, NM - Rio Pecos Ranch
1955 Truck terminal and station, one of few classic truck stops remaining. Cute neon sign says "Howdy" arrived in 1880, the station set up one mile east of the central plaza, creating a separate, rival “New Town” (East Las Vegas). They were naturally divided by the Gallinas River. During the railroad era, Las Vegas became one of the largest American southwest cities featuring all modern amenities including an electric street car, the “Duncan Opera House,” a Carnegie library, etc. The two towns have now combined though there are still two separate school districts.
We catch lunch at one of the historic restaurants and realizing how much time we have spent here, quickly make our way back to US 84/US 25 to continue on to Santa Fe. We note that this part of Route 66 follows pretty close with a part of the Santa Fe Trail, a significant trade route for decades of the nineteenth century. Route 66 on this route was later replaced by the quicker route via I-40 from Santa Rosa through to Albuquerque.
We wind around on a scenic stretch, through small towns with remnants of times long gone. We wonder aloud what those left behind do for work and survival. We pass through Tecolote, Bernal, and San Jose, absolutely gorgeous scenery. We
Santa Rosa, NM - old station
Anybody remember these old gas pumps? take a short dirt road near Bernal and spot a somewhat old, strange cemetery. It was kind voodoo-ish to us and more so when we reviewed the picture because neither one of us recall a picture that now, on the photo, shows a picture imbedded with two people. We honestly do not have any recollection of that picture at the cemetery so who knows what’s up with that. We take another mixed dirt/pave road where we take a brief side trip on a mixed dirt/paved road near San Jose to see the 1826 plaza church and a 1921 thru-truss bridge, now closed.
Pecos National Historic Park, home to pueblo ruins and a mission church, is a must stop for anyone traveling the route. The area saw heavy Civil War action so it is filled with history. We could have gotten Jerry’s scooter out to investigate the pueblo ruins but between time constraints for the day and that it was damp and windy, Rita does a quick walk through the first set of ruins and then we reluctantly move on.
The town of Pecos is memorable, with history galore. We could have easily spent a full day between the
Santa Rosa, NM - Restaurant
Route 66 Restaurant still serving. We almost stopped for breakfast but decided to move on Pecos National Historic Park and the town of Pecos. Sad, but true, one of our most memorable sights in Pecos was the Oscar Meyer Weiner truck. Yes, for real!! (see picture). It looked out of place in the parking lot. Unfortunately, it wasn’t open to tours at that moment.
We make our way through the town of Glorieta and proceed through the striking Glorieta Pass. At over 7,500 feet, it is the highest point on Route 66 (pre-1937).
Since we had been to Santa Fe before, we drive through the ’66 route and quickly proceed out of Santa Fe toward Albuquerque. We stop for a couple of historic places in Bernalillo including a 19th century stone jail. We have no idea how they circulated air in the jail. The sun is setting quickly so we follow the road through Albuquerque to find our hotel and settle in for the night. We will tour the Albuquerque area tomorrow. For tonight, it is a hotel microwave soup night because we are both too tired to even consider going out for dinner. As long as the day was, we’d certainly recommend the Santa Fe loop over the shorter, straighter route along
I-40. It is such an awesome scenic route with so much history you wouldn’t want to miss. However, if you’ve never been to Santa Fe, you’d likely want to plan two days for the loop so that you could still take in Las Vegas, NM (a diversion from Route 66), while still having time for Pecos National Park and enough time for Santa Fe, possibly an overnight stop on the loop.
Day 12 - Wednesday, November 19th -
We get a later start after our long and very busy day yesterday. We take a small loop of route 66 on the southwest side of Albuquerque. This loop passes through Pueblo Indian country. There are posted rules concerning no photos and no trespassing - best to follow the rules.
It is a very scenic area, a mix of residences and farms until we reach Los Lunas. We miss a picture of the Luna Mansion, a historic 1882 mansion still serving dinner. We enjoy riding through the town without much in the way of pictures. We note that there is a St. Patrick’s Day balloon rally held here each year. We bet the area comes alive during the
balloon rally. The rest of the loop drive is beautiful just to kick back, relax, and enjoy the scenery. The shadows of the sun play tricks on the many mesas as we complete the loop drive. It is a stunning, yet uneventful drive.
We jump on to I-40 and exit east of Albuquerque so we can drive back into Albuquerque via the route we bypassed by taking the Santa Fe loop. The drive from the west on I-40 is awesome, well worth the back-tracking. As we exit I-40 and travel the westbound Route 66 into Albuquerque, there are so many historic places that give you the feel you are going back in time. One could easily spend much more than a day in Albuquerque, visiting shops, eating at the many old-time café’s, etc. and just investigating the historical trails through town.
We decide to stop at Kelly’s Pub in honor of our Puerto Vallarta friend, also named Kelly. We have a great home-style meal - pork roast for Jerry and roast turkey for Rita, both with all the trimmings. We have fun with the locals, buy Kelly a t-shirt, and then mosey on our way through Albuquerque Route
Dilia, NM Area
We have made the turn toward Las Vegas, NM/Santa Fe 66. It is so fun driving this area. Rita worked at a client in Albuquerque a few years back so we had been there before. However, our focus wasn’t on Route 66 so we missed a lot of this unique route. We only wished we had more time to spend but due to our late start this morning, we are already hampered by the setting sun. We’ll catch some more of Albuquerque as we leave tomorrow so best to get back to the hotel for some rest/relaxation followed by a good night’s sleep.
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Vickie Hart
non-member comment
Love, love NM
These were awesome pictures! I've actually seen some of them while traveling New Mexico. NM is truly the Land of Enchanment. Look forward to seeing more! Love, Bryan and Vickie