This is a small house we saw on the west side of town.
I wonder how old this place is.....
See those poles sticking out over the door? Those are called vigas. They are used to support the roof. Occasionally you'll see these added to buildings as decorations, but these are the real thing.
This is the daytime shot of the Grandview Motel.
It's very well maintained.
You can see the neons along the top edge of the buildings. They all work. And the mature shrubs are healthy and neatly trimmed.
There must have been a booming business for auto repair on Route 66. This building could have serviced 5 vehicles at once.
I like the little touch of style to the angled office section. Look closely at the windows. The bottom is even with the outside wall, but they slant so the top is even with the inside wall. Interesting.
The Westward Ho Motel is for sale.
It's also in very good shape. I like the fact that this motel still has it's garages intact. So often the garages were converted to 'rentable' space.
And nearby is the Adobe Manor Motel.
I think this one might be used as apartments, but I'm not sure.
So many of the vintage signs are along Route 66 are falling into ruin, and will soon be gone. I'd love to know what this one looked like.
I like how the bricks on the chimney are set to look like the corners of a log cabin.
Albuquerque's signs over Route 66 look pretty good in the daytime, too.
Here's Mac's Coffee Shop in the daylight. The cow turns out to be a bull, and maybe I've figured out what it has to do with the coffee shop.
The second sign, near the street, proclaims that they serve steaks. That must be it.
Here's the Motel Hacienda.
The name definitely describes the style. This motel is also in good repair.
This is the Americana in the day time.
The sign could obviously use some restoration. Look at the blocks on the office--they line up instead of being offset.
You can see the same thing on the front building.
The back building must have been built later. The blocks have the more common offset style.
The Hill Top Lodge sign is about to go. It was in rough shape in David Wickline's picture in Images of 66, but it's much worse now. I hope someone will save this old gem.
I wish I'd seen this sign when it was lit. It looks like it's still in good shape.
This is the other Route 66 sign that Albuquerque has erected at the Rio Grande bridge.
And here's a daytime shot of the apartments with the neon we got last night. They're new, but still striking.
And this is the El Vado Motel. It's a truly special place.
It is as close to being in original condition as you can get. Unfortunately, the El Vado was sold to a developer in 2005. It was in danger of being demolished. It may still be, for all I know, but when we were there, it was for sale again. I sincerely hope that someone with the money will purchase the El Vado and open it again.
This beautiful place was originally called the El Vado Auto Court. The garages are still intact. The buildings are made from native adobe brick covered in cement stucco. The parking lot is showing some grass in the cracks now, but it was freshly repaved when it was sold in 2005. And the buildings had just been repainted as well. It wouldn't take much to put this back in shape. It simply can't be lost.
This is the Monterey Motel for Non-Smokers. The night shot of their sign is in the last post.
This place is in top-notch condition.
They have a Guest Laundry,
and a pool. The pool is behind a wall, so you can't be seen in your bathing suit by every car passing on the road.
There are beautiful roses all over the place. I've never seen one in person, but I'm pretty sure this is a Joseph's Coat Rose. It's named that because the blooms range in color from pale yellow to deep pink, often many colors on one flower.
There are red and pale pink beside the pool.
And a gorgeous salmon pink near the rooms. Somebody has a green thumb.
Even the back of the buildings is in good condition. If we do another trip out west on Route 66, this will definitely be one of the places we stay. You can visit their website if you're interested in booking a room.
This is the 21 Motel next door to the Monterey. I suspect that sign once had more to it.
It isn't as elaborately landscaped as the Monterey, but it's still in pretty good shape.
I'm not sure what this is. It looks like a barber pole. It's just sitting out in the parking lot near the street. There's no barber shop in sight.
And finally, this is the wonderful El Don Motel sign. It's fabulous.
We went from here to Historic Old Town. That will be a post of its own.
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