|
|
| Miles Traveled:
536 Total miles: 4499 Stops: Music selections: Click on highlighted words for pictures... |
|
The word for today is "nostalgia".
I started the day early, spending a little time online and getting caught up on email. I called to reserve my "room" for the evening... Tonight was my evening in a teepee at the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Arizona, and I learned that I had to be there by 9pm to get my room for the evening.. My first stop of the morning was the UFO Museum and Research Center in downtown Roswell, NM. The Museum is dedicated to presenting all the data regarding alleged UFO sightings in the Roswell area, Area 51, as well as other phenomena such as crop circles. There's even a section dedicated to UFO related art. The main focus is a 1947 report of a "flying saucer" crashing in a remote area near Roswell. I think I left there being more of an unbeliever than I was before... but I found the museum very interesting, and quite a cool stop. The coolest part was the look back in time, which seemed to be a recurring theme in my journeys today. I wasn't sure how long it would take to get to Holbrook, and it was kinda of hard to guess considering the number of back roads I was traveling on. I figured it would be best to err on the side of caution, and decided to stay in Roswell until noon, and then hit the road. I headed west out of Roswell towards Hondo on Highway 380, and turned mile 4000 driving through the mountains of central New Mexico. I pulled out the Deep Purple CD, and popped it in. I'm sure the significance of the disc doesn't really make any sense to everyone reading this... But I'll explain. When I was young, my whole family and I took a road trip to Tucson... and on our route we drove though a lot of back roads in New Mexico in a 1975 Mazda Cosmo. On our trip, my brother and I were only allowed to take ONE 8-track tape... and the tape we took was - you guessed it - Deep Purple's "Made In Japan". My parents hated it, so we could only listen to it at a volume where it was just barely audible. This time I listened to it a little louder... hehehe. About the time I passed Carrizozo, the clouds decided to open up and it began dumping rain. I could see ahead that there were a number of isolated storms brewing, as well... The shower only lasted a few minutes, and by the time it cleared, I found myself stuck behind a large truck hauling tires for one of those gigantic dump trucks. The load was so wide, that it took up about a third of the other lane... Oncoming traffic had to pass it in on the shoulder... it was pretty nasty. Passing him proved to be a rather daunting task, and I had to drive on the opposite shoulder to get past, and almost went off the road.. But I managed to keep it together. I hit I-25 north, and headed towards Albuquerque.. I had heard there was nasty construction on the interchange with I-40, so I took an exit Los Lunas to Highway 6... I didn't realize it, but this road was part of the Pre-1937 path of Route 66... That must have been an awesome road to travel... the road was right through the middle of some very scenic cliffs and canyons, with a train running parallel to the highway. A few minutes on Highway 6, and it started to rain again... this time with lightning, which was striking VERY close to the road. There wasn't much delay between the flash and a deafening blast of thunder. For a while I was worried about getting struck, but I continued ahead, and out came the sun. I passed a number of Route 66 oddities on the way... A road side general store built in what looked like an airplane hangar, road side swap meets. And of course the 50's style road signs... A few minutes and I was on I-40 heading towards Gallup with plenty of time to make it to Holbrook.... I made a stop at a Chevron station that was an old Route 66 "Indian Trading Post", and then took a side jaunt down (the aptly named) Highway 666 to get a picture of my car sitting next to the highway sign... There was a short section of construction, and once I got through it I started looking for a good sign to park next to... only to discover there weren't any signs! I drove about 30 miles before I finally gave up the ghost and decided to bag that idea, so I turned around... and about that time I realized, I needed to make a "pit stop"... and not the kind I could just pull over and take care of. Only problem was, those 30 miles I had traveled were 30 miles of NOTHING. No stores, no gas stations. Nothing. So all I could do was hope I made it... Fortunately, there weren't many cops so I managed to make some good time back into town, and arrived just in the nick of time... whew. Okay, now I'm feeling much better. Okay, back to I-40.... I at least got a picture of a sign as a trophy for my efforts. At this point, all I wanted to do was get to Holbrook and call it a day for driving...So I got off the Highway to Hell, and blasted towards the Arizona border. Thank god for 75 mph speed limits on the freeways out here... I arrived in Holbrook about 7:00, and checked into my teepee for the evening... The road is a part of what used to be Route 66, and this was yet another of one of those odd leftovers from a time gone by. Let's just say that the place probably hasn't changed much since the 50's. The interior decor looks like it's 50 years old... The weirdest thing... there's no phone. So I'm offline for the evening... The teepee is surprisingly spacious, but very cheezy. There are railroad tracks that run right behind the hotel, and when a train goes by I can feel the ground shake. They seem to be fairly active, also.. The town itself looks like it went back in time 40 years. I can tell this is going to be a weird night... But, in the name of online entertainment, I am committed to forge on. Maybe I should be committed... hahaha. Tomorrow morning I get up early, and leave my wigwam behind, in favor of the amazing spectacle of the Grand Canyon, then tomorrow night... Sin City. I can hardly wait! <<previous ----- <<schedule>> ----- next->> |
