Day 11, Friday, May 9, 2008 New Mexico

We left Albuquerque on I-40.


The traffic was fairly light, since we were leaving mid-afternoon. That was good, because we wanted to try to get back to Glen Rio with enough light left to get a picture of the bridge we'd missed on the way out. If it had been a straight drive, that would have been a cinch, but we were planning to make strategic stops along the way to see other things.


The mountains were lovely. I probably wouldn't have said that on the way out, but after awhile, you get accustomed to the arid landscape, and your perspective shifts. Mine did, anyway. (I still couldn't live out here. I need TREES.)


This is what it would have looked like from Route 66--if you ignore the interstate to your left, of course.


We got back on 66 to stop by this not-to-be-missed place in Barton, NM. This used to be Lester's Conoco Station. The 1950 era pumps are still there. But that's not the main attraction here.


This property now belongs to Bob Audette, a huge fan of Route 66. He has the original Barton Jail on the property. The jail once held the Dawson Gang (couldn't find any info on them, sorry).


There's also a 1937 truck that says 'Busted on 66' on the door. I don't know whether that refers to the Dawson Gang or not.


Anyway, here's the original jail--on wheels. Very innovative, I think. The jail now holds 'Billy the Kid.' Cute.


After Barton, there are more miles of desert landscape.


If you click on this photo, you can see it large maximized. The bit of I-40 you can see on the far hill is at least 12 miles away. Miles and miles......


There are a few hills in the distance to look at.


There's the occasional man-made distraction in the landscape, like these windmills far off in the distance. I'm amazed they showed up on the photo. We could barely see them. We got better shots of windmill farms later.


And then there's this ranch sign. (It was taken traveling about 80 mph, so the centering is off.) Wonder where that boxcar came from, and how they got it up there. And why would they think this was a good idea?


One of the interesting things about being able to see for such distances out here is that you can see whole trains. This is a short one so it fits in the picture. I did get a longer one, but it's so far away, it's hard to tell what it is. We saw lots and lots of trains on our trip. It makes sense that that's the most efficient way to move freight across these distances.


Finally the mesas started. That gave me more to take pictures of, at least.


The colors in the hills were spectacular. It was still very hazy in the area, probably due to the California wild fires, so the pictures don't show the true colors. The reds and oranges and pinks were beautiful, though.


Especially the red. My favorite, of course.


You can catch a glimpse of abandoned buildings near the road.


Some of the hills looked like a huge load of sand had been dumped on them. We saw this repeatedly. It was interesting.


Our next stop was in Newkirk, New Mexico. This is a church we saw on the way into town.


Newkirk has a couple of wonderful old buildings. This is a multipurpose place built in 1910.


It served as a gas station, store, and the Newkirk Post Office.


Look at the construction. What's that back wall made from?


This is Wilkerson's Gulf Station.


It operated from 1940 to 1989.


It was also a Motel. It had 4 units, with 2 double garages for the travelers' cars. Great.


But this is the best building in Newkirk. It's first purpose in life was to serve as the Court House for the traveling Circuit Court Judge. I guess the plate glass windows were so the citizens could see what was going on. Perfect. Later in life the building housed a figural bottle collection.


There are old cars all over the place here just like everywhere else out west. This looks like an old International truck. Maybe he's related to 'Mator. His hood is in the bed.


And this is an old Nash Ambassador. It's in pretty good shape, considering.


We stopped in Montoya, NM, to see one place. This is Richardson's Store and Good Gulf Station from 1925.


The skeleton of the old Gulf sign still stands outside the fence that surrounds the station.


The store was open until the mid '70s, when the owner died. The old gas pumps were still in place when David Wickline took his picture for Images of 66, but they're gone now.


Richardson's, like so many other country stores, also served as the local Post Office. Things change slowly in the country. The Post Office is still here, at the back of the old store. Note that Richardson's must have been a Sinclair Station at some point. You can still make out the ad painted on the side of the building.


We stayed on Route 66 leaving Montoya. We're on the north side of the interstate. We were looking for a one lane tunnels that 66 travelers used to cross under I-40.


We found this one, but it's dirt through there, so that couldn't be it.


Maybe this one. But no, it doesn't look right, either.


Ah, finally. This one has signage that indicates it's tall enough for big rigs (which are usually 13' 6"). I wouldn't want to try to take a tractor-trailer through here, though. I guess cars had to take turns, because only one will fit, for sure.


There were swallow nests inside the tunnel. These nests are common under bridges and overpasses in this part of the country.


Here we are going through. See how little extra space there is on the sides? Amazing.


And now we're on the south side of I-40. Notice how the old road followed the contour of the land, unlike the interstate, where the roadbed was made as flat and straight as possible. The old road dipped...


...and curved with the landscape. This took longer to travel, of course, but it also connected the traveler to the land in a more personal way. It's very relaxing to follow the old road.


You notice more of the natural surroundings on the Route. Here are a couple of neighborly cacti.


We even caught a glimpse of fuchsia from time to time, which was a cactus in bloom. This one is just to the right of the center of the picture.



Here's one that we zoomed on.


I don't know what this plant is, but it was certainly interesting. The green is more vibrant than most in this dry landscape.


More cactus in bloom. Lovely.


And grasses that look a bit like yucca. If anybody knows what this is, please let me know.


This is the Blanca Creek Bridge. It can be seen between mile markers 323 and 324 on I-40.


It was already in existence when it was included as part of Route 66 in 1926. The bridge looks like it's in perfect shape, with its decorative concrete railings.


It's hard to get to this bridge, which appears to be on private property now. You can only see it from different vantages on I-40. You can see that the old road has returned to dirt beyond the bridge.


The old pavement runs right up to the I-40 fence line at the top of the hill. Here's a shot of the road surface, which will soon be gone. It's quickly eroding back to dirt.


This is an old squat tower. It's very picturesque, with the horses in the background.


They are old pump houses, no longer in use.


There are several of these just west of Tucumcari, New Mexico.


We made Glen Rio to get pictures of the bridge before dark.


You can see the old roadbed leading to the bridge here.


The road leaves Glen Rio on the west side of town,


travels across this bridge,


and then ends at the I-40 fence line.


The pavement is being slowly taken over by grass. It won't be too long before it's gone.


The bridge itself looks to be in great shape. We didn't take the time to go back through Glen Rio and see if we could get to the bridge. Maybe next time...

Well, that's it for New Mexico. We made it to Amarillo to spend the night, and we took just a couple of night shots, which I'll include with Saturday's pictures in the next post. 'Til then....