As we headed out of Amarillo, we spotted on the left of us as we left the Interstate, a remarkable, if odd site, that is ingrained in the conscience of Route 66 lovers everywhere. Lying in the middle of a dusty field, just off the highway, are 10 upturned and buried Cadillacs, sprayed with various different colours by the people who come to visit them. Named Cadillac Ranch, it was concieved by an art group called 'The Ant Farm', and it is felt the piece represents the mobility and freedom of the automobile - so it was rather fitting that we paid it a visit.
Back onto the road we went, and Texas continued to be flat, and rather dull, although we did pull up to see a couple of other ghost towns, and stopped off at a place called Adrian, which is home to the Midway cafe, and a sign stating that we were indeed midway along Route 66, halfway between Chicago and Los Angeles. The cafe itself was a definitive throwback joint, decorated straight out of the fifties, with the inevitable 66 gift shop attached.
Back on the Interstate and Route 66, which for the most part became one and the same, we headed out of Texas and into New Mexico, where the land slowly became more barren, and more flat. Now this is not to say that it wasn't without beauty, because there was no denying the visual impression it made on us, it was just very repetitive, as we spent around 3 hours basically looking at the same view.
We stopped off at yet another tribute to the automobile at Santa Rosa, in the form of the Route 66 Auto Museum. Much to my delight they had three fantastic examples of classic 60s Mustangs parked up inside, which I spent a bit of time drooling over. The other cars in the place were equaling beautiful, and some of them were even for sale (don't worry Mum, I kept my wallet in my pocket).We headed back onto the road and continued on our journey toward Albuquerque, which after the dissapointments of Amarillo, didn't exactly excite us as we wound down the mountains in the rain, toward the city. However, the place sprung a very welcome surprise, for the long stretch of Route 66 that runs through the city, named Central Avenue, held a bevy of old-style bars, restaurants and shops. We found a cheap motel, and the nice chap at reception, Jason, told us that he'd be glad to shuttle us to the best bars and back that evening. We took him up on his offer, and headed onto into a couple of bars for some food, beer and tequila, all of which ended up being rather good in this part of the world. Heading into our last joint of the evening, Adam strolled up to two guys playing pool, and challanged them to a couple of games. You'll be glad to know the Brits triumphed in this little battle!
There was something else that happened today as well - as we drove around Albuquerque, the tripometer on the car clicked over for the third time on our journey, which means that we've now done 3000 miles since arriving. Phew - exhausting stuff! Great fun though.
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CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS FROM THE JOURNEY TO ALBUQUERQUE HERE
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