Day 5 Amarillo, TX to Tucumcari, NM

Route 66 starting Mileage 196245

We finally reached Route 66 - The Mother Road. We got up and had buffet breakfast at the Big Texan, yum, then headed off to find Route 66. We have directions through part of Amarillo but decide to take a short off route to see the Big Cowboy. He is a 47 feet tall. He is definitely Route 66 kitschy. We then head over to the Amarillo Historic Route 66 path. We drive along and see so many buildings in disrepair. It is sad. I hope that with all the movies about the area people will consider taking more trips along the route to help rejuvenate this American Legacy. We drive from Amarillo through Vega and Adrian both towns claim to be the midpoint of Route 66 but no one knows which is actually due to the constant changes to the road. Unfortunately due to renovations the Midpoint Café is closed. We do drop by Dot's Museum. It is a sight.

Bill's comments - Unfortunately the Midpoint Café is closed - I would say it is more than unfortunate - all I heard about for miles is how good the pie will be and then we could not get any.

Along our way we reach Tucumcari, New Mexico. Tucumcari is known as the town of 2000 hotel rooms. This was the boast on signs in the 50s and 60s and it became common to here "Tucumcari Tonight" which was a popular song about the common rest area for thousands of Americans on their way to or from the West Coast. Nowadays the town is known for it's restored hotels and it's bright NEON signs. As we arrive we realize that we have not arrived at the best time to see these signs (3 pm) and decided to consider staying over. We have lunch at Del's Restaurant and decide to stay over in the infamous Blue Swallow Motel. In the movie Cars you will see a sign "100% Refrigerated Air" that is the copywrited sign for the Blue Swallow. This is THE place to stay on Route 66 so we figured what the hay? I am so glad we are here. The owner of the Motel is a fantastic guy. He is very chatty and loves to talk about Route 66, the history and the future. Bill and I both pick up T-shirts with the Blue Swallow Motel on them. It is exciting to be in a place with so much American history. We find a map of the town in our room that has a map with a list of all the Murals that are painted around town. We take off and take pictures of the majority of the murals then head back to have our picture taken in front of the sign.

This is Bill again - As Leslie is sitting in a large nice wooden porch chair outside the room of the Blue Swallow I am outside talking to Bill who purchased the motel a few years back and is working to truly restore it to its one time glory. He is a very friendly guy and offers all of his guests the opportunity for him to take their picture in front of the sign. The time is near to take the pictures and we wonder over to the front sign where he is waiting for just the right time. He strikes up conversation and is asking us where we work and what we do - Leslie tries to explain about the games that WizKids makes and then he asks me where I work - when I say a small software company that he might have heard of at (Microsoft) - he goes into the "Oh so you know about computers, I know you are on vacation but if you have a few minutes before you leave can you help with something." He is such a nice friendly guy that after he takes the pictures - I say "lets take a look at what you need." Well he has a beautiful picture of the Blue Swallow sign in the sunset and wants to get some postcards made from a place on line - but can not figure out what all the stuff on the site is telling him to do or how to get the graphics to the right size. Leslie and I get my laptop (which just happens to have a graphics program on it) we take care of his picture and help him navigate his way thru the site and he has 1000 postcards on order now. He has promised to send a postcard as thank you once they are complete.

And back to Leslie - It is so cool to meet people that are so friendly and down to earth. Not to mention it's a heck of a thing for us to have helped him with this project and to always know that we helped get those postcards printed that will be sent around the world and enjoyed by so many people.

One of the websites I read up on mentioned that someone that had travelled Route 66 had asked many of the people along the way to sign a book they had bought that had pictures in it of the places. While researching our trip Bill and I picked up a number of cool books. The one I think really grabs the essence of Route 66 is called "Route 66 Lost & Found Ruins and Relics" This book includes pictures of each place from early in it's heyday and then another picture of it today. The Blue Swallow is there and we ask if they will sign it. Terri (the owners wife) was happy to sign it. We will see how many people we can get to sign the book along the way.

Tonight we will sleep wrapped in the arms of the Mother Road.