In Albuquerque, Route 66 has a split in the road; you can head directly to Santa Rosa along I-40. The alternate takes you North to Santa Fe and back down through the Pecos National Park and back South into Santa Rosa. Known as the Santa Fe loop, of course, I knew which route I would take.
Santa Fe was a really cool city. As you make your way through downtown, the buildings are made of orange clay. The town feels like it’s still from the 1800’s. I made my way to the Santa Fe railyard, where there was a car show going on. So many pretty old cars lined the sidewalk along the train platform. I know nothing about cars; I just know they look cool and the colors really pop.
One thing that stands out about Santa Fe is its a city that celebrates art. There was an art market that spanned both sides of the tracks. Dozens of vendors selling art, blankets, leather work, jewelry, and more. Even as I was in Downtown, there were art installations peppered around the sidewalks. Santa Fe also hosts the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.
You continue down Route 66, on the original Santa Fe Trail through the town of Las Vegas, NM. It’s a lot different than the Nevada one. It had an old downtown strip with original brick buildings down its main street. The route eventually takes you through the Pecos forest and through the canyon. This follows the original Santa Fe Trail, which saw many travel the route into the Southwest territory. Along the way, the terrain changes from rocky red roadsides as more greenery emerges. It’s clear that I have finally reached the edge of the Southwest.
When I made it to Santa Rosa, much like many of these towns, Route 66 cuts straight down the middle. Santa Rosa has more abandoned signs and hotels, so I looked into how the next town was for neon signs. Tucumacari looked promising for the number of available signs. It would be a 2-hour round trip to go and come back to my hotel. It was well worth the trip, though. These old neon signs only really pop when you get to see them in the dark of the night.
I drove up and down the 2-mile stretch of 66, finding the most interesting angles of the various signs and buildings. I was not the only one, as I saw several cars pulling over and turning around to take in all the bright, glowing neon. I happened to catch the full moon on the rise. I had started back west but decided to flip back around one more time to get one more photo of the Teepee Curios Hotel, since there had been people outside and I saw they had left. As I did, I saw the glowing red moon peeking up over the Roadrunner Lodge.
Tomorrow I will make it to Texas and the half. way point of the route. Moving further east, leaving the beauty that was the American Southwest in my rearview. Until next time, New Mexico, I’ll be back.