Day 14: And We're Back!

We got back on the road after lunch today and have made it to Gallup, New Mexico. Gail Williams (Hazel's friend in NM) suggested that we stay at the El Rancho Hotel, so here we are. This hotel is a lot of fun, and a Route 66 Treasure. It was built in 1937 by the brother of D.W. Griffith (the father of motion pictures), and many great movie stars have spent quality time here. We'll take some pictures tomorrow and post them. The hotel has a cattle ranch decor...longhorn steer horn chairs, wagon wheel headboards, dual curved staircase to the 2nd floor, and wonderful Zuni rugs on the floors. We are staying in the Spencer Tracy room. Each room is named after a movie star, and autographed pictures of the celebrities that have graced these halls hang on the walls. Hollywood's best like Humphrey Bogart, Lucille Ball, Jackie Cooper, and Rosalind Russell fill the hallways.

So, what have we been up to? Well, we left Amarillo on the 12th and made a brief stop at the Cadillac Ranch. If you blink, you will miss this, so keep your eyes open. The Cadillac Ranch is a row of big ol' land yachts planted on their noses in the middle of a field. Visitors can walk through a break in the barbed wire fence, across a collapsed lawn chair (to get over the mud puddle) and walk round the 10 cars. Evidently spray paint is encouraged as there were several spent cans on the ground, and all the cars have been personalized.

The cars were OK, and fun, but the best part was the Venezuelan Harley Riders! I thought it would be great idea to get a picture of one of the flat boys with this group of Harley travelers. I didn't know when I first spotted them that they were "not from around here." They were just getting ready to hit the road when I asked if they would take a have their picture taken with my dad. The "leader of the pack" was agreeable, but when I pulled flat dad out of the car, he just didn't know what was going on. He explained that they didn't speak English, and I explained that it didn't matter. He was so good looking that I was having a hard time trying to talk without drooling!

Adrian, Texas is the midpoint of Route 66 and the Mid Point Care and Gift Shop sits there. Our EZ66 Travel Guide told us that this great cafe is the home of the ugly crust pie and Fran would welcome us with open arms. We got to meet Fran and Brady, the son of the Ugly Crust Pie maker, and told them our story of the flat boys. They were delighted to meet our guys and pose with them. The food was wonderful and we got a bunch of stuff to bring home. AND we me the Milano Italians! Woo Hoo. Hugs all around.

We decided to take the "Dirt" option to San Hon. This is an 18 mile stretch of Route 66 that is just dirt. No pavement....just red dirt. Baby didn't go very fast, but I'm so glad we did this. We had to avoid the cows on the road, and found several places with these little round gourds growing wild (no, they aren't apples....apples don't grow in the desert), and best of all, I got a skull for Sara!

As we were leisurely driving on the dirt, I made Hazel stop and back up...I saw a wonder of nature. Well, it turned out that there were two cow skulls, one on each side of the road. I was so excited to find desert bones for Sara I just jumped out of the car to get it. While I was pulling the dead head out of the dirt, Hazel was getting pictures of the flora on the other side of the road. OK, she really was laughing her ass off, but didn't want me to see it. The skull I picked up is in great shape, but didn't have a lower jaw, or any teeth. The other skull had a few teeth, and I was going to get that one instead, but Hazel explained to me that the noise I was hearing was not the rattling of dry brush, but the gentle rattle of rattle snakes. It was time to move on.

We arrived in Albuquerque Sunday afternoon and gave Gail and Ted Williams a call. Gail is the Executive Director for that BNI region and had invited us to spend the night with them. They have a wonderful adobe home! We ended up spending 2 night with these truly wonderful people, and I can't wait to see them again! We had dinner at a Brazilian restaurant that was just the best dining experience. They have this enormous salad bar with quail eggs, 2 kinds of beans and rice, and about a million other things. THEN, the wait staff comes around to your table with huge skewers of grilled pineapple, fillet, sausage to die for, shrimp, pork...I lost track. They bring you plates of fried bananas, cheese puffs, bread...it was fantastic! Downtown Albuquerque is beautiful and we had a wonderful walk (waddle) after dinner.

Ted and Gail are the best, and their little dog, Shoy made us feel so much at home. Ted burned some CDs for our road trip, and Shoy gave me the puppy fix I needed. Great food, great company, great conversation (Ted and I talked like long lost buddies the entire time), and great music. What more can a weary woman road warrior ask for.

Still gettin' our kicks on Route 66

Penny S. Head