As we completed half of Route 66 in the summer of 2023, we took the Sandia Peak Tramway to the top of the mountain to get an aerial view of Albuquerque. We’d decided to fly into Chicago and home from Albuquerque, having rented a car with my husband’s brother and sister in law to complete a little more than half the journey that summer.
From this vista, you can see the entire city of Albuquerque and surrounding areas. It’s a magnificent view of the west, and I highly recommend it.
Another great stop on our Route 66 trip was The Big Texan Steakhouse in Amarillo, Texas. It’s one of those places where you can get a free meal if you can eat a ton of food in a certain amount of time. We didn’t attempt that, but I can testify to the delicious food and the western atmosphere of the place. Plus, their gift shop has some of the best Route 66 souvenirs we found between Chicago and Albuquerque!
Fitz was a camping dog. I think he liked camping so much because the space was more confined, always keeping him closer to me. We had to say goodbye when CUPS disease and an enlarged liver got in the way of his quality of life, so I held him in my arms as he crossed the rainbow bridge. I held him in my arms every day we had together, and although he is gone from the physical realm, I still hold him in my heart. Not a day goes by that I don’t miss my Fitz.
Life hasn’t been the same since. I hope the good Lord has a space in heaven so I can see him again someday.
Normally I’m reluctant to stay in old motels, preferring a good, clean Hampton Inn with doors that open into hallways instead of out directly into the world. But as we did our research about the things to do ( don’t miss Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, for example) and iconic places to stay along Route 66 when we drove from Chicago to Albuquerque in June of 2023, we learned that we’d be missing a big part of the Route 66 experience if we ruled out motels. So we stayed at the Wagon Wheel in Cuba, Missouri and the Blue Swallow in Tucumcari, New Mexico as two of our “iconic motel” choices.
These motels have largely been “redone” over time to make improvements in plumbing and HVAC systems, but they have preserved the retro feel of the rooms, right down to issuing metal keys on triangular keyrings that have the room number on them. If you’re planning a trip down 66 anytime for the 100th Anniversary of The Mother Road, I highly recommend The Blue Swallow Motel. And if you’re into souvenirs, you can buy a keyring to take with you!
Our host for the third and final day of the July Open Write at http://www.ethicalela.com is Glenda Funk of Idaho, who inspires us to write clerihews. A clerihew has four lines with an aabb rhyme scheme and focuses on a person. You can read more about this form and read the poems of others here. Like Glenda, I took liberty with the poem. I created mine about a group of people rather than just one person.
My People
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In keeping with my travel theme for July, I’ve also unearthed a photo of our trip to Colonial Williamsburg from July 1976. Hard to believe that this was taken a half century ago, but here we are. We’ve come a long way, Baby……but I’m not sure whether we’ve moved forward or backward.
Colonial Williamsburg, 1976
While Mom was taking this photo, my brother, Dad and I were posing on a cannon in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia in 1976, during the nation’s 200th birthday month. Like so many families nationwide, we visited our nation’s capital and Colonial Virginia during this iconic year in our nation’s history.
Common Threads 