Day Three: Blue Hole Of Santa Rosa And Dinosaurs of Tucumcari

Continuing through New Mexico, your next stop is Santa Rosa, home to 12 spring fed lakes (including 80-foot deep Blue Hole), a great Route 66-era diner, The Route 66 Auto Museum, and an ancient Adobe Village, Puerto de Luna, about 10 miles from town. Joseph's Bar & Grill is our favorite stop for roadside fare.
The first time we stayed in Santa Rosa, we camped at the KOA. With Wireless Internet and "room service" (they bring meals to your campsite in a golf cart); it sure didn't feel like we were roughing it, but when we took down the tent in the morning and found the Tarantula sleeping under it, we knew we had experienced an outdoor adventure. Of course, after that experience, I'm always a bit disappointed when the campground doesn't have Wi Fi, but I don't miss the spider.


Tucumcari has great examples of Route 66 roadside Motels

Our next stop is Tucumcari, home of some of the best examples of Mother Road roadside Motels, 50's dining and Route 66 neon. With themed hotels like the Blue Swallow, which has an enclosed garages for the car next to each room, truly a "no tell motel". Other Tucumcari gems include The Safari Inn, Teepee Curio, a souvenir shop inside a cement teepee, and our favorite local restaurant, Del's.

Teepee Curio is a classic Mother Road stop with great Route 66 Souvenirs

But 50's memorabilia and culture is not all you'll find in Tucumcari. It's also in the heart of one of the worlds' great fossil beds, which has transformed the local community college into a world class paleontology/geology laboratory and created the fabulous Mesalands Dinosaur Museum.

Because the facility has its own Bronze casting foundry, they have the world's largest collection of bronze skeletons, fossils and replicas of prehistoric creatures which offer you an incredible hands on experience touching and feeling life-size casts of dinosaurs, dinosaur parts and, of course, dinosaur poo.

Unlike most museums, at Mesalands Dinosaur Museum, a lot of the exhibits say "Please Touch"! 

Bunking in for the night at the Tucumcari Hampton Inn. Tomorrow, we're headed to Texas.

In the next post, we're headed to explore roadside art at Cadillac Ranch and other wonders in Amarillo and beyond.

Day Three: Entering The Land Of Enchantment, New Mexico

New Mexico truly does enchant. You won't be able to drive through the state without seeing a beautiful sunset or dramatic storm. From Gallup to Tucumcari is a magical journey that you can make in one day, but you may want to take more to savor this brew of Southwestern culture and Prehistoric landscape.


A trip across New Mexico on Highway 40 (with cultural detours on Route 66) is a trip through the best the Southwest has to offer

Shortly after crossing the western border of the state, you'll reach Gallup and the historic El Rancho Hotel, I-40, exit 22. For several decades the local mountains were the scene of hundreds of movies, so hundreds of stars from the 20's through the 60's have stayed here. It's truly worth a stop if only to board the grand staircase to the beautifully old balcony on the second floor to see the autographed photos of these bygone legends of the big screen.

El Rancho Hotel has all the elements of a great Route 66 Roadside stop: historic artifacts, local food and culture, a gift shop and just enough kitsch
The next stop is Albuquerque, where you could spend an hour or a week, enjoying the food and attractions of this little jewel of a Southwest City. We like to go up the Sandia Peak Tramway to High Finance Restaurant for a nice dinner and beautiful panoramic view of the sunset.




In the next post, we'll continue onto Santa Rosa where we camped once at the KOA and awoke to find this tarantula sleeping under our tent. Then, we'll continue through the wondrous New Mexico landscape to Tucumcari where we'll bunk down for the night.

Amazing Arizona Route 66 Side Trips

Williams, AZ
In the charming, Frontier-town buildings, you can watch a Wild West gunfight before taking an old steam train into the Grand Canyon. We've even camped in one of the Williams KOA Kamping Kabins, and relived the adventures of the day by a warm fire while the fall night fell and the temperature dipped below freezing. If you get tired of drinking your Sapphire and Tonics from cold stainless steel camping cups, I heartily recommend a drink at the Grand Canyon Lodge Lobby Bar, close to where you'll disembark the Grand Canyon Railway.

This was in 2005. My daughter was so little, and a little scared of the mock gunfight in Williams

At four, our little girl hiked 2 miles on the rim of the Grand Canyon. Here she's taking a break with her mom. Now, at 8, she can hike up the California Sierras like an adult. I guess this Grand Canyon adventure started her off on the right foot.

Flagstaff
Even less of a detour, plan your overnight stop to occur at the Hampton Inn Flagstaff, and you can see the beauty of Coconino National Forest from your room.

Kingman
If you decided to bunk in Kingman after your first day of travel, there's plenty to see as you head east on Old 66 from downtown Kingman. Follow the Mother Road across the rugged desert, 30 miles to the old-fashioned gas pumps and weather-beatensign collection at the Hackberry General Store. Continue 40 miles to the cement Dinosaur in front of Grand Canyon Caverns, a nostalgic and interesting stop on Route 66.

Hiking to one of the vortexes in Sedona

Sedona
30 miles south of Flagstaff is our family's favorite Arizona 66 side trip, Sedona. We usually stay at the Hampton Inn and then hike up to the Vortex at Red Rock (you can find out at a crystal shop, but don't pay for a map or a tour; the vortexes are easy to get to) to meditate on things that we want to happen in our lives. We've done it a couple of times and our "wishes" have all come tree. It's the kind of place that takes hold of you and transports you. It seems crazy, but take a sidetrip to Sedona, and watch your dreams come true. Even if I'm wrong, you'll still enjoy the breathtaking beauty of the red rocks.

I have a close friend that says that he pulled over at a gas station close to the parking lot that we use when we go on this hike to one of the vortexes, and he suddenly felt like he had drunk a 6-pack. When he asked the attendant what was happening, the reply was that it was the effect of the vortexes. For us, it's different. It feels "special", reverent, and commanding, just like a lot of back country spaces - Mount Whitney, Yosemite Falls, to name a few of the ones I've experienced. But, the amazing thing here is that if you meditate on manifesting something in your life, a thing, experience or achievement, it usually comes to pass within 12 months of the hike. Last time we hiked to the "spot", there was an Native American lady dressed in jeans and a t-shirt up in one of the cracks between the rocks above us chanting and singing; that enhanced the experience. The first time we went there, we asked for my wife's car, just as a test to see if anything would happen. The second time, we asked for something more serious, more important, and it came to pass in the most unusual way, but nonetheless happened within 12 months.

Vortexes are convergences of energy. They amplify thoughts and give them the strength to objectify your ideas. The operative word is amplify. Again, besides, the place is beautiful. Pardon me for not remembering the exact number, but I think there are 8 vortexes in the world and Sedona has three of them. When we go there, we just kind of run through town after staying at the Hampton Inn, and on the other side, after some winding road along the Redrock, there's a parking lot from which you can see the photo above.

I remember the first time we went there, when my 4-yr-old hiked back to the car for a half hour or so in complete silence, transformed by a meditative state, unbelievable for a child that age, but her ability to meditate was a child's casual attempt, amplified by this vortex in Sedona to the point where she was more calm and focused than most adults could be.

In the next post, we'll be leaving Arizona and headed into magical New Mexico, where there's plenty of beauty and adventure. See you there!

A Giant Jack Rabbit and Trees Turned To Stone

It's signs like this that make Route 66 Roadside Attractions unlike any other in America

Back on the I-40 after exploring Meteor Crater, we have a new respect for the Desert stretches of Planet Earth of Desert that we traverse on Old 66. Before we can get too deep in contemplating Prehistoric Times and huge Meteors crashing into Earth, we see exit 269, coming up, and it's time to make a quick stop at Jack Rabbit Trading Post.
We'll take another picture on the giant jackrabbit statue, check out the souvenirs inside that are very much like the souvenirs form the Mother Road's heyday, tomahawks, moccasins, collectible stones, and of course Route 66 memorabilia. It's a quick stop, but we never miss it.


Someday, we'll have a series of pictures of our family posing on the Jack Rabbit through the years.


We don't always take the detour to Petrified Forest, but if you've never been, block out some time on this leg of the journey to explore the fascinating park. Take exit #311/PETRIFIED FOREST NATIONAL PARK onto PETRIFIED FOREST RD - go 1.82.8 mi. You won't be disappointed by this world-class National Park with fascinating formations and a beautiful vista of the adjacent Painted Desert.


The joy of family vacations. All ages are awestruck by the scenic beauty and intense geologic formation of The Petrified Forest and Painted Desert

On the next leg of the journey, we'll be heading out of Arizona, onto New Mexico, the land of enchantment. Before we do that, my next post will detail some side trips that you can take from the Arizona stretch of Route 66, in case you wanted more adventure before you leave this state.