On To Gallup

I convinced my fellow travelers to stop at Acoma Pueblo on the way to Gallup. Acoma is the oldest continually inhabited pueblo in North America (2,000 yrs). Commonly referred to as sky city it is set upon a mesa jutting up 375 ft from the valley floor. A really beautiful place to see. Since I had been there before I didn't take any pictures, sorry about that. If you are ever in this part of NM it is a must see.

We camped that night in the Cibillo National Forest, a much needed break from the KOA. A lovely relaxing evening. Pete entertained us with a flute concert. Both Native American and Celtic music. We had a huge campfire and ate brats that Maureen fixed. I must say that I was so tired from the day that I could hardly keep my eyes open. Foxy and Pete's pup, Oscar, had a high old time playing ball together. What a pair. They both needed to run off a little excess energy.

The next morning I had to leave the group and head home. Truly, I will miss them, such a lovely group of people and I enjoyed traveling with them so much. I really hated to leave. But. . . since I had to be at another Casita Rally at Cheyenne Mt. State Park on Friday, it was time to say good by.

The Fox and I drove to Shiprock then turned right and headed into Chama. I wanted to make it all the way to LaVeta but was much too tired so we stopped at a camp by the river and rested for the night. When we pulled into La Veta the next day we stopped for the mail, milk at Charlie's and took off for home. My first job when I walked in the door was to lie down and nap for 2 yrs. Then I got up to do wash and get ready to leave the next morning. Thurs night is always Taco night at Sammie's so Deb and Larry picked me up (didn't want to unhook the Casita) and we went to dinner. Wow, what a trip! Great fun and great people.

A Few Pictures

Moving on to Albuquerque

I am so tired when the day ends that I don't have much energy left to blog. Maybe I can catch up some. On the way out of Amarillo we had to stop at Cadillac Ranch. . . old cars with fins buried half-way in the ground. This is the work of Stanley Marsh who has a ranch in Amarillo and is somewhat famous for his "doings" in the '60s. The cars are located on old route 66 west. I remember when Stanley had them on his ranch and they weren't covered with graffiti, they were kinda neat then. But, it's worth the look see if you're in Amarillo.

Take a look at the Bates Motel sign. Gotta a laugh out of that. Moving on at a turtle's pace we stopped at the midway point of route 66. A great little cafe with the best pie ever, despite the ugly crust. I had pecan to go. Further down the road about 40 min we stopped for ice cream. I had pecan praline and put it on top of my pie for lunch. Oh wow, was that the best. Our group is so lay-back and friendly, we take it slow and make lots of stops for fun and photo opps. The plan is to stay on old 66 as much as possible and when we can't, get back on the freeway. I was happy to get to Albuquerque, set up camp and kick back for awhile.

Next day four of us went to old town to shop and have lunch. On the way down Route 66 we stopped and took pics of old motels and scenic spots. I have so many memories of that time in 1960 after I graduated from high school and the family took 66 to CA. A new gal joined us, Carol, from Sholow, AZ. She is my age and a solo traveler. Great gal and she drove us down to old town. We had a super New Mexican lunch in a lovely courtyard. The food was great. While we were eating another gal joined us. That made me, Carol, Gloria (Washington state), Diane (N Carolina) and Maureen (Indiana). After leaving Old Town we just had to find a Route 66 Diner and Malt shop. Oh yes, we all sat at the bar in the diner and had malts. Oh boy was mine the best.

We planned to leave Albu early the next day so we could stop at Acoma Pueblo on the way to Gallup, NM.

Big Texan

Dinner at the Big Texan was a "tourist" experience to be remembered. We all gathered at the KOA for our free Limo ride to the restaurant. Please note pic with Limo Bull Horns and real Texas drivers. "Drivers" is what they call 'em in Texas cause they got no cattle "chauffeurs". After arrival we, of course, had to take a few pics of us at the hooves of the big bull, etc. Inside was one room after the other of gifts, stuffed heads, fudge of all kinds and finally a place to eat. We were seated at long tables with cowhide cloths (fake) and began our experience. In the middle of the room was an elevated deck so we could gaze upon those fools who attempted to eat the 72oz steak, shrimp, salad and baked potato (gotta eat it all to win). Two adversaries took their seat and commenced to eat, and eat, and eat, and, oh you know. One fellow was kinda a nondescript skinny one who you figured would fail right off. The other. . . well that was a different story Big Daddy! A huge black guy sporting a tee shirt that said "I Love it When You Call Me Big Daddy." Whoa, this guy just might take the prize, they had 1 hr to do it and you could see the big timer counting down the minutes.

We all ordered our steak and took pictures of the local color. The "Sons of the Pioneers" serenaded us with such oldies as "The Yellow Rose of Texas". They looked liked the last living vets in the US. I did include a picture of the Texan Beer, a yard tall drink. The table behind us was a couple with like 10 kids, half of 'em were black and the other half white. Mamma was pregnant. The only ones drinking the beer were mom and dad. Guess they needed to chill out.

By the time we finished dinner, bought some fudge, and pulled up in front of the KOA, I was ready for bed and Fox was ready to walk. That's how it usually goes with us. Fox got his walk then I turned in for the night.

Oh, Big Daddy didn't make it and neither did Skinny Fellow. Both had to pay $82 for their 72oz failure.

A Day in Amarillo

Last night we met the Route 66 group, 12 of us in all. Folks are from all over, VA, WA, CA, TX and Indiana. Lane, who put the tour together, brought along his 15 yr. old grandson, Matthew, a really nice kid. Most of us did our own thing on Saturday and joined up again Sat night to go to dinner.

I took a drive out to the long ago closed air force base where we used to live. What do ya know, I managed to find the house (note pic). Driving through base housing I remembered houses of high school buddies. Most of the places were in ill repair with unkept lawns. One nice thing, the trees were huge. No more golf course, it was left to go to weeds with piled up junk next to what might have been the club house. Most all of the buildings on the base were gone. Just rows of trees and overgrown sidewalks to suggest people once walked there. I remember how I could see the big tails of the B-52s towering over everything else on the base. . . all gone. The pool still had the white wooden fence around it but the white had long ago turned to black. I felt I was looking out on a town that had been blown away by the bombs the big planes carried. Very sad for me.

From there I took a ride through town on Polk Street, a favorite place for teenagers to cruise on Sat. night just to see who was out and about. I remember those nights well. There was the Paramount Theater where I hid my face through most of Psycho in 1960. I never did recover from that. Parts of Polk are still cobbled but the whole area was for the most part deserted. On a lovely Sat morning no one was cruising Polk but me.

Driving down Amarillo Blvd. I could see the buildings along old route 66. Many of them were recognizable and many had new Mexican and Asian names. Still not the best part of town, just like in the 60s. I passed Toad Hall off Western ST where Stanley Marsh lives on his ranch. His famous Cadillac Ranch has been moved and we'll swing by there on our way out of Amarillo tomorrow. I drive out Western and remember more times . . . specifically, one time when Clay was in Viet Nam and the kids and I were visiting Mom and Dad. I had some kind of infection and was really sick with a high fever. Mom took me to the Doc and on the way home she stopped at the grocery store to fill my prescription. It was in July and hot and I was burning up. I remember thinking that a butter pecan ice cream cone would really be good. And what do ya know, mom walks out, gets in the car and hands me a butter pecan ice cream cone. She said, "Here, I thought you could use this."

Tonight we go to dinner, of course, it's the Big Texan!

Amarillo by Friday

The Fox and I left for Amarillo Friday, May 28th to join the Casita Route 66 Group. Needless to say we didn't pull out at 6am as anticipated, although, three hrs later wasn't too much of a delay. Our route took us down I25 to Raton then 87 into Dalhart. From there I hooked into Boy's Ranch Road (County Rd 1601). Well, that was nostalgic to say the least. All the way through NM my mind was flooded with memories of long ago when me, and the kids would stop on our way to Canyon at the Hi Ho Cafe in Clayton and have a piece of homemade pie. We always looked forward to that stop and then getting to Boy's Ranch Road and closer to Mom and Dad's. This time the Canadian River actually had red water in it. The red is not unusual but the fact there was water is. We left the flat planes of Dalhart for the gentle slop of new arroyos close to Boy's Ranch. Thirty-six miles to Amarillo. I remember that drive seemed so long 50 yrs ago when I was a senior in high school.

The yucca was blooming and nearly covered every sq inch of ground. So many wild flowers. Yucca is not a good thing on a ranch. . . that means the country has been overgrazed by cattle. Coming into Amarillo nice homes were built on both sides of the road, something that didn't exist in the early days. You could see Amarillo off in the distance. . . 4 - 5 skyscrapers. That sight used to be so exciting for us. I remember we used to stop at Stucky's on HWY 27 to use their phone to call mom and dad so they would meet us at the Palo Duro Club gate and let us in.

Arriving there after a long drive from Denver we would sit in the "air conditioned" house having a drink while the kids checked the creek and water depth at the first and second crossings. They loved it there. So did I, it was like an escape to another time and place for me, all my problems seemed to melt away. Maybe that's because it was home to me. The reference to "air conditioned" was the memory of my Dad trying in vain to keep the double A Frame cool in the summer. One visit we pulled up to see a water sprinkler on the roof fanning back and forth to keep the house cool. My Dad had one goal that I'll never forget, keeping the inside of whatever house we lived in cool. Once, I came home from high school and the refrigerator was in the dinning room, door open, freezer door open with a fan sitting in front of it. He was always saying "shut the door and don't let the hot air in".

This time we were headed to the KOA campgrounds on the northwest side of Amarillo right off of Amarillo Blvd which used to be Route 66. I was amazed when I merged onto Loop 335 to skirt the city on the way north. Wow, how time changed things. It was good to get there. I was tired of driving and ready to rest up and meet the folks in our group. 85 degrees, oh yes, oh yes! Finally, a touch of summer weather. Better not be too grateful because I remember how hot and windy it can get here.

Home At Last

Now I know where all the water in the Rio Grande goes. There are a series of lakes from Las Cruces to Santa Fe and probably more upstream. Our last night was spent on Cochiti Lake 17 miles south of Santa Fe. Cochiti is a corps. of engineers project and a beautiful camping area. Cost the Golden Agers $7 for E/W for a night. Wow, can't beat that. Part of the area is on the river and looks like good kayaking. Fox and I had a restful night preparing for the flight home.

Always a pretty drive from Santa Fe to La Veta via LV Pass. Just as we were traveling through Wild Horse Mesa country there they were. . . a herd of wild ones. Seeing the horses is always a thrill for me. The roads were fine all the way and we pulled into LV around 2:30. My drive was covered in more than a foot of snow so I dropped the Casita in front of friend Janey's house. Then I was off to the hardware store to pick up some antifreeze then back to the Casita to winterize, clean out the fridge and load the car with food and necessities. The Fox was having an anxious time during all of this and indicated by his glare that he wanted to be home!

We finally made it 1/3 of the way up the drive only to bog down in the deep stuff. Fox was thrilled to jump out and struggle up the hill. He loved it, me, on the other hand, huffed and puffed under my load of essentials to the house. Needless to say, I made a few recuperative stops along the way. Wow, the house looked so clean and bright, like a welcome beacon. I put down my bags and flopped down to catch my breath.

Good to be back. And just in time because the next day we got dumped on again. Another foot of snow. I have every hope that today I will be able to extract the old jeep from its white grip and begin to get back to normal. Figuring out what normal is will be a challenge. Next trip, Route 66 and Little Plastic Trailers starting in May. Until then, we remain:

Judy Colorado and the Travelin Fox