Yesterday I was maybe a little bit negative about my experience so far on the route. There is a level of consumerism, always being sold something. It doesn’t take away the fondness of nostalgia, which seems to be a common theme among Millennials. We would love to look back on our past with fondness. I woke up today just wanting to go home, but I’m willing to see this through. By the end of the day, my desire to get home subsided.
I spent the morning catching up on postcards that needed to be sent out. I typed up my previous entries for the website. This removed the stress of being behind I then pushed myself to go out and see this miniature museum about 20 minutes outside of Albuquerque that Kady had told me about on Wednesday. I promised I would go so I did.
I’m glad I did think; it felt better to interact with people. That’s the hard part of the road is feeling alone, being alone in the car, just thinking. Talking to people reminds me its not as bad as it seems. I talked to a couple at the museum. They showed some genuine interest in my journey. Honestly, pretty much everyone I’ve told came off positive about me going out on the road. Except a woman in rural California at the post office, she was rude when I said I was going to Chicago. Anyways, my point is, I shouldn’t undermine my trip; it’s something for me that I will be proud of and share stories of once I’ve completed it.
Back to the museum – Tinkertown is a walk-through museum created by Ross Ward. Throughout his life, he would create these hand-carved wooden miniatures. He built this museum to collect all his art. The level of detail and craftsmanship was beyond amazing. I walked around until they closed, the museum collects thousands of these figurines Ross has made. Every time I looked, I would see something I had missed. Ross’ wife is the caretaker of the museum after his passing, and she was a pleasure to talk to for a bit. She shared some more of Ross’ history with me. Additionally, she recommended I stop in Cuba, Missouri, where her relative has some of the murals in town.
I got back to the hotel, ordered a pizza and when I went to pick it up, I went out and photographed some of Albuquerque’s neon along its main drag of Route 66 in town. Tomorrow I’ll be heading for Santa Fe and seeing where I end up. Ideally I will be in Texas Monday night.